Poignant trip down memory lane for Peter (From Keighley News)

Poignant trip down memory lane for Peter

5:00pm Tuesday 25th December 2012 in Keighley

A Keighley man saw the face of his father for the first time in almost three decades when he saw a Keighley News Memory Lane picture.

Peter Russell does not have any pictures of his father Reuben, who died in 1984, and his own children have never seen him.

So a fortnight ago he was shocked to see Reuben at the forefront of our picture of local entertainers in the early 1970s.

The photograph showed the cast of an event, organised by well-known fundraiser Big Tom Best, that became known as the “benefit concert that never happened”.

Reuben, renowned for his solo harmonica act under the name RT Russell, was unhappy that nobody went along to watch it.

Peter said: “I remember him coming home and he wouldn’t speak to anyone. He’d bought a new suit and dicky bow for the concert and nobody turned up. He told me about it years later. My dad did a lot of shows for Big Tom. I performed in some of them. I was about 20 and I sang with the band Look Back.”

Peter’s brother Chris, who has played in local bands like Stuart Jackson’s Applejacks and Reflex, was also surprised to see his father’s picture after so many years.

He said Reuben was also known for playing the spoons and sometimes dressed as a clown while performing.