Roy Guest
British folk singer and impresario (1934–96)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roy Norman Guest (13 March 1934 – 23 September 1996) was a British folk singer and music promoter.
Life and career
Born in İzmir, Turkey, to a British father and Ukrainian Greek mother, he grew up in Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire. He trained as an actor, and began singing and playing guitar when a teacher at Summerhill School. After moving to Edinburgh to study anthropology and psychology, he met Jim Haynes of the Traverse Theatre, and the pair collaborated on producing a series of "Howffs" or folk nights.[1] Notably, Bert Jansch started his career at the club which became a meeting place for folk musicians including Archie Fisher and Owen Hand, and the folk duo of Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor.[2]
He came to wider prominence in the 1960s as a promoter with Harold Davison, and with Brian Epstein's NEMS enterprises. He oversaw the London concert debuts of Simon and Garfunkel,[3] the Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention. Other concerts he promoted included those by Benny Goodman, Joan Baez, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.[1] He was also an agent during the early careers of Al Stewart and Sandy Denny.[4]
He later set up an agency and information service for the English Folk Dance and Song Society; established his own agency, Folk Directions; and organised folk festivals in the 1980s at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon. After moving to Faversham, Kent, he stood as an independent candidate in local elections, and chaired a local theatre group.[1]
He died in Faversham in September, 1996, at the age of 62.[4]