Was it really true he told Janis Joplin to her face that she was the worst blues singer he'd ever heard? For sure, there's a lot of choice Bellamylore out there, but my limited experience of the man himself was a gentle soul with the voice of an angelic demon whose causticity was very much part of the act. I often wonder if it wasn't a defence to how he was treated by much of the folk scene who took exception to his supposed political stance with respect of his father being who he was and his unapolegetic championing of of Maggie Thatcher's favourite poet at a time when (to nab a phrase from Flann O'Brien) it was neither popular nor profitable to do so.

A wee while ago I took the liberty of YouTubing parts of a very low-grade VHS cassette featuring an interview that finds our hero sitting proudly in front of his famously eclectic cassette collection (Elton John, Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention) with the crown missing from his front tooth. I remember Esme Ryder (the only singer I've ever heard with a voice to match Bellamy's) telling me she was at the gig (again in Durham) where it fell off mid song.

Peter Bellamy VHS - Part One : The Interview