IN A long career in amateur dramatics, musical director Fred Jones was simply known as the ‘music man’.

After learning the piano as a boy, he went on to help stage some 50 shows for drama clubs and societies in East Lancashire.

Among them was Blackburn Amateurs and during productions such as The King and I, Desert Song, Oklahoma and Carousel he could be seen with his baton, leading the orchestra.

This photo (right) from the 1950s shows Fred following the score for a show with an Amateurs’ pianist. Does anyone know who he was?

Fred lived with his wife Mabal in St James’ Road, Blackburn, and his story has been told to Looking Back this week by his daughter Hilary Knagg of Rishton.

Born in 1911, Fred attended QEGS and developed a fervour for music, taking lessons with teacher Herman Brearley, who was organist at Blackburn Cathedral.

Dr Brearley was instrumental in furthering his interest in music and Fred went on to play the piano, as well as the organ, at concerts and on the working men’s club scene.

In the early 1930s he also had his own dance band, which toured local dance halls and community events.

With St Thomas’ Society he played the piano in concerts and operettas and joined several local bands. He travelled around the countryside playing at weddings, parties and charity concerts.

During the war he also played for the troops at garrison theatres and in hospitals.

Later he directed several pantomimes for Philips at the Grand Theatre in Blackburn, which were also broadcast on the radio. In 1951, a shortened version of that year’s panto, Aladdin, was performed in the worl’s canteen and aired live on the BBC Workers’ Playtime slot. Hilary still has the original script, signed by the producer Philip Robinson.

When Blackburn Light Operatic and Music Society was formed, Fred helped with rehearsals and later did the same with the Amateurs, before he was asked to become their regular musical director.

In 1968, he directed the music for Accrington Amateurs’ ‘New Moon’ and St Gabriel’s The Boyfriend, but he also found the time to take care of the musical arrangements for local churches when they staged productions In his working life, Fred went into the family coal business after leaving school and then worked for the National Coal Board after nationalisation, but for 10 years before retiring was a clerical worker at Duttons Brewery.