Roy Guest

Roy Norman Guest (13 March 1934 – 23 September 1996) was a British folk singer and music promoter.

Roy Guest
Born	Roy Norman Guest (1934-03-13)13 March 1934 İzmir, Turkey
Died	23 September 1996(1996-09-23) (aged 62) Faversham, Kent, England
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Musician, 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]