Knew Billy pretty well when we were both i9n our teens, first met him when he was singing with Tam Harvey...before the humblebums.
They did a lot of bluegrass stuff interspersed with Billy's patter...it wis rerr!
Off stage Billy was quiet and interested in everybody, loved talking about politics, I always thought he was searching for his soul.
No foul language in these days, just wistful observation delivered with kind humour. Matt McGinn was a sort of father figure to Billy I thought, he loved Matt like a son a tried to keep him on the straight and narrow regarding the hard stuff(whiskey). Billy was never a big drinker as far as I remember.
As his career took off, Billy started to play the fool.....gave the TV punters what they wanted, but that wasn't the real Billy.
In my opinion he wasn't much of an actor saw him in a few TV plays, but he seemed self conscious...couldn't hold a candle to Frankie Millar Autentic 60's clydeside, watch it right to the end!
All in all Billy was a nice guy who grew a wee bit too big for his big banana boots. Still proud to have known him.