Beau

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For a definition of the word "beau", see the Wiktionary entry beau.

This article is about the guitarist. For a dandiacal dresser, see dandy.

Beau is a specialist twelve-string guitar player who first became known in the late 1960s through his recordings for John Peel's Dandelion label. He released two albums on Dandelion - Beau (1969) and Creation (1971) which featured Jim Milne and Steve Clayton from Tractor as backing musicians on some tracks, plus the single "1917 Revolution" which had greater success abroad than it did in the UK. "1917 Revolution" is said to have been the inspiration for America's "A Horse With No Name".

His best known song however is probably "The Roses Of Eyam" (written under the name of John Trevor) which folk singer Roy Bailey took around the world and which he recorded on his Hard Times LP in 1985. This version was subsequently re-released on Bailey's Past Masters CD in 1998. Beau himself released the song officially for the first time as a bonus track on the 2007 UK reissue of the original Beau disc (Cherry Red), and on the 2008 Japanese release of the same album (Airmail Recordings).

Beau has produced several hundred songs, and has also recorded under the names of John Trevor and Trevor Midgley. Though mostly known as a "folk" performer, his writing has also been strongly influenced by blues and rock.

He co-wrote "WARHOL - The Musical" with Steve Clayton of the band Tractor.