Chas Hodges – in company with Dave Peacock – was one of the most original British musicians to have come out of the rock’n’roll era. Hodges was initially encouraged to play music by his mother, a pub pianist, and then he was inspired by Lonnie Donegan. There was never anyone quite like Chas Hodges. And whether or not you actually like Chas and Dave, to lose someone who made music so tied to its place is a shame. He was one of the most significant English folk musicians, because he sang about the working classes of the city – the voices the folk revivalists often ignored – and that’s how he should be remembered.

Source: The Guardian September 22, 2018 15:33 UTC