Stephen George "Steve" Benbow (29 November 1931 – 17 November 2006), was a British folk guitar player, singer and music director, who was influential in the English folk music revival of the 1960s. His obituary in ''The Times'' described him as "a seminal influence on a whole generation of guitarists".''The Times'', Friday 1 December 2006, p. 86. Obituary of Steve Benbow.

Early life

He was born in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

, Surrey and educated at

Reigate Grammar School Reigate Grammar School is a 2–18 mixed independent day school in Reigate, Surrey, England. It was established in 1675 by Henry Smith. History The school was founded as a free school for poor boys in 1675 by Alderman Henry Smith with Jon Will ...

. On leaving school, despite an aptitude for languages, he took a job on a farm in

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Axmou ...

, Devon. He did his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Army Veterinary Corps The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and ca ...

, and was stationed in the Middle East. There, he learnt the guitar and quickly gained popularity entertaining the troops, including appearances on forces radio where he reportedly sang songs in eight languages. After completing his stint in the army, he returned to farming but also began working as a part-time musician. He played

trad jazz Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, played by musicians such as Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer and Monty Sunshine, based on a revival ...

with Dave Kier's jazz band and began accompanying some of the emerging British folk singers such as

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

and A. L. Lloyd.

Musical career

His solo recording began in 1957 when he recorded two albums: ''Steve Benbow Sings English Folk Songs'' and ''Steve Benbow sings American Folk Songs''. He went on to record over 20 albums. The last, ''Don't Monkey with My Gun'' was recorded in 2003. He was a successful broadcaster, especially during the 1950s, appearing on ''Guitar Club'', ''Saturday Skiffle Club'' and '' Easy Beat''. He also hosted a show on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

in the 1960s. He collaborated with

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

on a West End stage show and a television series ''Muses with Milligan''. He worked as a producer with

Dominic Behan Dominic Behan ( ; ga, Doiminic Ó Beacháin; 22 October 1928 – 3 August 1989) was an Irish songwriter, singer, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in Irish and English. He was also a socialist and an Irish republican. Born i ...

and

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

: he was, for example, credited as arranger and musical director of Moore's 1969 album ''Paddy on the Road''. Throughout his career he worked with a wide range of musicians, including

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

Robin Hall Robin Hall (27 June 1936 – 18 November 1998) was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of th ...

and

Jimmie Macgregor Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall. Biography Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...

Pete Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to: People * Pete (given name) * Pete (nickname) * Pete (surname) Fictional characters * Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe * Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...

and

Peggy Seeger Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American Folk music, folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl until his death in 1989. First American period Seeg ...

Denny Wright Denys Justin Wright (6 May 1924 – 8 February 1992), known professionally as Denny Wright, was a British jazz guitarist. A session musician for many years, Wright frequently acted as arranger and "fixer" for recording sessions. He was a proli ...

, Alex Campbell,

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as ...

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Michael Holliday Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 – 29 October 1963) was a British singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a number of chart hits in the UK, including two number one si ...

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Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

and

Don Partridge Donald Eric Partridge (27 October 1941 – 21 September 2010)Report of death< ...

. He is credited with being an early influence on

Davey Graham David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham (originally spelled Davy Graham) (26 November 1940 – 15 December 2008) was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners ...

and

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and sound recording an ...

Later years

In later years, he worked as a London cabbie, but continued to appear at folk clubs. He also retained his affinity with domestic animals, keeping goats and a donkey at his home in

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

. He maintained a traditional London trolley and was often seen navigating suburban streets in this donkey-drawn cart.''The Daily Telegraph'', 28 November 2006. Obituary Steve Benbow was still playing in pubs around

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

and

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

until the Friday before his death.''The Independent'', 22 November 2006. Obituary of Steve Benbow

Personal life

He was married twice, having a son and a daughter by his first marriage.

Discography

*1957 ''Steve Benbow Sings English Folk Songs'' *1957 ''Steve Benbow Sings American Folk Songs'' *1958 ''Sinful Songs'' *1959 ''Steve Benbow's Folk Four'' *1959 ''Mixed Bag'' *1960 ''A Jug of Punch'' *1960 ''Rocket Along'' *1960 ''A Pinch of Salt'' *1960 ''The Hermit & The Mole Catcher And Other Songs'' *1961 ''Ballad of Little Musgrave'' *1962 ''Steve Benbow Sings Admiral Benbow'' *1963 ''I Travel The World'' *1964 ''Steve Benbow Tells About This That and the Other'' *1965 ''Irish Songs'' *1965 ''Journey into The Sun'' *1966 ''Songs of Ireland'' (with The Strawberry Hill Boys) ( Monitor Records) *1967 ''Of Situations And Predicaments'' *1970 ''Little Drummer Boy'' *1970 ''Next Time Round'' *1970 ''Little Red Donkey'' *1971 ''Steve Benbow Sings Irish Songs'' *1971 ''Steve Benbow With Denny Wright'' *1972 ''Friendly Folk'' *1977 ''Steve Benbow Sings Irish And Other Songs'' *2003 ''Don't Monkey with My Gun''

References

External links

*
''Songs of Ireland'' Album Details
at

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benbow, Steve British folk guitarists British male guitarists People educated at Reigate Grammar School 1931 births 2006 deaths Royal Army Veterinary Corps soldiers 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century British musicians