CONCERT promoter, former club owner, and one of the Oxford music scene’s best-known figures, Philip Guy Davis has died at the age of 78.

A charismatic music-lover, he led a rich life, which took him from his native Cheltenham, to London, Spain, the French Riviera, Texas and latterly Oxford, where he is best known for rescuing the city’s long-running blues night The Famous Monday Blues – held at a number of Oxford venues.

The blues night was held most recently at the Jericho Tavern – a short distance from his home in Walton Street, from where he ran his business, Euro-American music.

With his distinctive mane of silver hair and loops of silver jewellery, he was known to many as Silver Phil. Mr Guy Davis ran the Monday Blues for 14 years, turning it into the country’s longest-running weekly blues and rock night.

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Initially housed at the Red Lion in Gloucester Green, Mr Guy Davis took Monday Blues to Jongleurs, The Bullingdon, and finally to Jericho, where it still continues after 20 years.

He stepped down from running the night in September, as a result of poor health, ending half a century in the music business.

Born in Ipswich, he was brought up in Gloucestershire, where his father Guy H Davis was Clerk of the Council and Clerk of the Peace, whose achievements included overseeing the construction of the Severn Bridge.

A keen show jumper, he was encouraged in his equestrian pursuits by Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort and The Queen’s Master of the Horse, who was a family friend.

He went on to graduate in hydraulic engineering at Cheltenham Technical College and took a job, but became more interested in opening a club in the town, which he did in 1962 – calling it C’est La Vie.

It was in Cheltenham that he met the future Rolling Stone, Brian Jones, the pair becoming firm friends.

Jones went on to lead the band but left in June 1969. He was found dead in his swimming pool a month later.

Mr Guy Davis never recovered from the shock and refused to believe it was an accident.

It was in Cheltenham Mr Guy Davis met his first wife, a German model called Roswitha Kruger.

The pair had a son, Marcel, who still lives in Gloucester and works as a nautical expert, rigging tall ships.

The marriage was shortlived, with Mr Guy Davis instead falling for the charms of a Bunny Girl from the Playboy Club.

He raced classic cars, owning a string of Mercedes and Rileys, an Aston Martin and a Lancia, and several classic motorcycles. He also rubbed shoulders with the stars on the French Riviera – including Bridget Bardot, who he met through a mutual friend in St Tropez.

Drawn to the glamour of the Mediterranean, he decided to leave England and seek his fortune in Spain. He sailed his own boat to Spain and opened a bar in Javea, marrying the fashion designer Sally Brunsdon.

After three years they sold the business, his boat and his six Mercedes cars and returned to England – only to split up shortly after.

In 1980, he moved to Oxford, and took over an antique pine furniture shop in Cowley Road.

It was there that his son Jools was born to his then partner. Mr Guy Davis raised him single-handedly from the age of 17 months.

He also got involved in the city’s music scene, booking American country artists for the Jericho Tavern and making regular trips to Texas to meet artists.

That developed into putting on rock and blues artists at the Red Lion, ultimately taking over the Famous Monday Blues, which has since played host to a string of international acts, including the late Texan blues artist Jessie ‘Guitar’ Taylor, Kent DuChaine, Matt Schofield, and Sherman Robertson.

He died last Tuesday of a heart attack after being ill for some time. He was single at the time of his death and is survived by his two sons.

* Philip Guy Davis's funeral takes place in the large chapel at Cheltenham Crematorium at 12 noon on December 2. There will be a gathering afterwards at a pub yet to be arranged.

 

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