Hi Steve, in the UK/EU, any pre-1963 recording is out of copyright... though the songs often aren't. You can take any such recording and do what the heck you like with it, as long as you pay royalties on the song (if it's a registered copyright arrangement work he sings). They have extended copyright for recordings made after 1963 to 70 years, due to the interests of the Beatles and others (70 years after the death of the author/composer on the song itself - not the recording). The song he sings will have a separate publishing copyright depending on its own status and whether it is a trad. folk ballad etc.