Many men have hobbies which they pursue in splendid
isolation in their garden shed. But how many could claim that their labours
gave birth to something which would bring one of the greatest legends of folk
music calling on you ? Well one did and his name was Stan Francis.
George Stanley Francis was born in Barton, Lancashire on the
16th September 1926, the son of John George Francis and Louisa (née
Baxter). By the early 1930’s the family had settled in Liverpool and would live
for many years at 7 Lorenzo Drive L14. After attending Alsop High School Stan
followed an apprenticeship at Camell Laird and then spent some time as an
engineer in the merchant navy. He later worked for a variety of companies in
Liverpool. In 1950 he found Love – literally – meeting and marrying a nurse
named June Love.
Stan inherited two of his father’s interests – woodworking
and playing the banjo and in the 1950’s he and his wife were lively
participants in the local folk scene. In May 1958 he was persuaded by some
friends to join them in a group to perform at a Conservative Party fete held at
Aigburth cricket club. The friends were Tony Davis and Mick Groves and the
group became the celebrated Spinners. Stan soon decided that the life was not
for him and left the group, being replaced by Hughie Jones. It was not the end
of his performing life and in the 60’s and 70’s he was a member of Liverpool
Fishermen led by Brian Jacques. But his passion for music was to find
another outlet in the making of guitars and mandolins.
He produced his first mandolin in 1957, followed by a
succession of six and twelve-stringed guitars. High quality steel-strung
acoustic guitars were not readily available and as word spread about the unique
qualities of his instruments a queue of customers grew which included Lonnie
Donegan, Brian Jones and Tom Springfield. Then, in 1960, Pete Seeger visited
him in search of a new robust 12-string guitar. Seeger was enthralled by the
way Stan drew on his engineering background to create his guitars. He later
recalled “He’d worked out this slightly different way of
bracing it inside. After all, there’s a lot of pressure in there. He had these
diagonal braces, so he had a triangular hole. He made one for a friend, and I
saw it and I said, That’s got a beautiful tone.”. The guitar became as iconic a piece of Seeger’s image as
his banjo and he subjected it to such labour that by 1966 Stan had to supply a
replacement.
Intrigued by the technology of
construction Stan Francis had little interest in churning out ‘repeat orders’
each new instrument being a variation and development. The ‘replacement’ he
provided to Pete Seeger bore little resemblance to the original. He had no
interest in developing his efforts on a commercial basis and was unaffected by
the celebrity status that some might confer on him. His guitars now sell for a considerable sum (I saw one advertised recently for £6000).In all he made 18 mandolins
and 71 guitars, the last of which he finished in 2009 when he was 83. He died
on 27th December 2017.
After he and June married they
lived initially in Huyton, moving in 1961 to 8 Glenmarsh Close L12 which
remained the family home until his death.
