I would like to pay my tribute to Bill whose death was announced yesterday. Bill had been active on the folk scene for decades and we first booked him back in the 1960s. He was deservedly popular as a solo performer and became one of the scene's most respected songwriters with a unique recognisable style of writing and performing., He was the lead singer in the hugely popular band 'Home Service' for a number of years and through them became involved with the National Theatre as musician, singer and writer, contributing to and appearing in several plays which included "Don Quixote", and "The Mysteries".
One of the things that made him such a popular figure was the warmth of his personality and his enthusiasm for the performances of others. Sometimes, I thought that Bill was unaware of his impact and the status that he has achieved. He was always the same friendly-faced person that I had met in his early days in folk clubs.
About two years ago, I followed up my junior school aged grandaughter's obsession with Unicorns by playing a recording of Chris Foster's recording of that song. She was transfixed. I had to make a copy of of it for her. She provided a photo of a unicorn on fairly stiff card and I typed the words to go on the other side. This was because she wanted to sing it at a school assembly. I thought that I would tell Bill about this when I saw him again.
Sadly, I never did.