People are eager to see legendary rocker Joe Brown each time he vists Skegness because they know they are in for a special treat from one of the best in the business who speaks for a generation and reaches out to new and younger audiences that discover him each year.
Joe has been in the music business for 50 years and many of those have seen him return to Skegness. A former Butlins Redcoat, he began his career in Filey, and has played Skegness many times as a professional artist.
“I have seen quite a few changes in Skegness over the years and I’ve played here about 20 times in those years,” Joe said.
“We mostly do theatres now and the idea is to put on a good show. We play to packed houses. The great thing about that is that people come back because they liked the show before and not because we have done any particular promotion on TV or anywhere else to draw them in.”
With a gruelling tour ahead, some might think that at almost 70 years old, Joe deserves a break and time to put his feet up but he admits that his greatest motivating factor to keep on touring is the fact that he loves what he does.
“You can’t go out on stage if you don’t enjoy it and then expect the audience to enjoy it too,” he said.
“There are people who do go out there and do their act, and then go out and do their act and keep on doing it. It could be fabulous but it’s still doing the same act and they are doing the same thing. I don’t like that. We don’t put on an act, we put on a show and we change it every time we go out because people who come like to see new stuff and we know from experience what they like and what they don’t.”
Joe is from the first generation of teenagers who had their own music, fashion and point of view. As a young man, getting his first gig at 16, the war was not far behind and rations had only just ended. Skiffle was the first sound they could call their own.
Anyone with a modicum of talent chucked out the three chord tunes, they danced to the likes of Lonnie Donnegan, and they all thought they could be the next somebody. Then two years down the line, rock and roll, Elvis, and then the Beatles and the Shadows changed youth music forever. Joe is part of that young revolution and he inspires the youth of today.
“I think when the young ones come to the show the first time they are dragged by their parents - but then they come back time and again of their own accord so we must be doing something right,” he said.
With such a long and illustrious career behind him, Joe says there are far too many exciting highlights in his career including playing at George Harrison’s memorial gig, to name just one, but he knows for sure the one thing he hasn’t done that he'd like to do before he hangs up his guitar.
“I’d love to write just one song and then live off the Royalties like some other great artists and songwriters do,” he said.
But then Joe Brown might retire, stop doing what he loves best, and deprive audiences of one of the best live shows they will ever see and experience.
Joe plays tonight at the Embassy Theatre Skegness at 7.30pm.
See here for more UK tour dates