Joe Phillips
During national service in 1955, Joe played and sang in a very early Rock 'n Roll band called The Scat Cats, but they always let him sing at least two country songs in the course of a gig. When he was fourteen his brother came back on leave from Germany, where he was doing military national service along with a lot of Americans forces. He had a 78 rpm record of The Lovesick Blues, which he’d bought from the U.S army equivalent of the NAFFI. From that moment Joe was completely hooked by Hank Williams' music; he just wanted to play guitar and sing!
In the USA Elvis Presley, who was four months older than Joe, was equally as smitten, along with Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merl Haggard, Buddy Holly and an unbelievable amount of other singers, both professional and semi-amateurs like Joe.
When Joe got married in 1960 he gave up singing and playing until that special September evening in 1973 when he became a founder member of Bingham Folk Club. He is not by nature a 'clubbable' type of person and he reckons that he's never stood on a stage and sung a 'folk' song in his life. But he says that this is why BFC has worked over the years - anyone can turn up and they will be welcome. They don’t have to be committed to folk music or feel that they are “one of the in crowd”. Joe is proud to have been in right from the start. In his view the Folk Club is a much-underrated organisation.
In the USA Elvis Presley, who was four months older than Joe, was equally as smitten, along with Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merl Haggard, Buddy Holly and an unbelievable amount of other singers, both professional and semi-amateurs like Joe.
When Joe got married in 1960 he gave up singing and playing until that special September evening in 1973 when he became a founder member of Bingham Folk Club. He is not by nature a 'clubbable' type of person and he reckons that he's never stood on a stage and sung a 'folk' song in his life. But he says that this is why BFC has worked over the years - anyone can turn up and they will be welcome. They don’t have to be committed to folk music or feel that they are “one of the in crowd”. Joe is proud to have been in right from the start. In his view the Folk Club is a much-underrated organisation.
