Q Why did Nic Jones produce only one album?

A Nic Jones has in fact produced eight solo albums - five studio recordings and three sets of remastered live material - but the critically acclaimed Penguin Eggs (1980) is the only studio album widely available.

The four earlier ones, Ballads & Songs (1970), Nic Jones (1971), Noah's Ark Trap (1977) and From The Devil To A Stranger (1978) remain highly prized among collectors of vinyl.

Jones was part of the English folk revival of the late Sixties and early Seventies, first as a memeber of the group The Halliard, with whom he produced the albums It's The Irish In Me (1967) and The Halliard And Jon Raven (1967). He enjoyed rave reviews for his moving vocals as wel as his prowess on guitar and fiddle.

Jones' guitar style was unique in its day and has been much imitated since. He played with a plastic thumb pick but not his finger nails. Instead he opted to grasp and pluck the strings of his guitar which led to the slapping down onto the fingerboard with no small force, a technique similar to that employed when plucking the lute.

Jones was much in demand in the Seventies and played on some of the top folk albums of the time, appearing for luminaries such as Richard Thompson, Maddie (sic) Pryor and June Tabor. He also contributed to a short-lived folk outfit called Bandoggs who produced a single eponymous album in 1978.

His legend was secured by the release of Penguin Eggs in 1980, the decade's finest folk album which brilliiantly showcased his talents. His arrangement of Canadee-i-o, an excellent example of his guitar style, was copied by Bob Dylan and used on his 1992 album Good As I Been To You. Despite this being an excellent album, many feel that Jones should have been credited for the arrangement.

Disaster struck in 1982 when Jones was involved in a serious car acceident when driving home from a gig at Glossop Folk Club. He broke several bones, suffered brain damage and was hospitalised for eight months. Sadly he still suffers some co-ordination problems and feels he is unable to play the guitar well enough to perform. He lives in York where he does daily battle with his guitar and continues a long love affair with the game of chess.

His wife Julia set up the label Mollie Music which has issues albums of remastered live material from Jones' early career.

Henry Giggs, Newcastle Upon Tyne

ex Daily Mail, 6 February 2007