"wouldn't sing without a pint and quite right too!"
There are those who would have disagreed with you
In his gentle way Walter Pardon was quite critical of Fred's drinking too much - in private, of course
He believed singing in public was a commitment you needed all your faculties for
I was at a lecture on Ballads Bert gave at Keele where he took Fred on Stage with him to illustrate his subject
The stage was in the middle of the room below a domed window in the ceiling, in the middle of the lecture Fred fell asleep
A beam of sunlight came through the window and flooded Fred in a glorious glow - a photographer (Brian Shuel, I think) captured the moment for Dance and Song
Jim Carroll