Over the years Joe Brown has earned the respect of his peers and the love of his many fans. He has never stopped working and has never lost the twinkle in his eye.

Now in his mid-sixties our Joe is as busy as ever and has a touring schedule that would leave most of today's artists begging for mercy. His diverse career has now been at full throttle for 50 years.

What did he think was the biggest change in music in all that time?

"On balance computerisation is the biggest change, and as with anything innovative, if it's used in the right way it's great," he says.

He was spotted by Jack Good playing his guitar (actually Joe is a multi-instrumentalist, playing mandolin, fiddle, banjo and dobro to name but a few) and he put Joe in the Boy Meets Girls show of 1959.

Allegedly impresario Larry Parnes tried to make him change his name to Elmer Twitch, but Joe was having none of it. In the early days, he played guitar with the likes of Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran; and in some of his tours in the North West the opening slot of the show was given to an upcoming band called The Beatles.

In 1960 he formed his own group – Joe Brown and The Bruvvers and had a string of chart hits, most notably Picture Of You which topped the charts.

Not content with chart success, Joe set about becoming an all-round entertainer, and his happy-go-lucky persona meant it wasn't long before he became one of the country's most popular acts. He even made six films!

The stage also beckoned and he played opposite Dame Anna Neagle in Charlie Girl and even acted in a stage version of Sleuth. Joe also took time out to have his own TV shows. Was there nothing he couldn't do?

A big country music fan, he has in recent years worked extensively in Nashville both writing songs for the American market and recording his own albums.

In 1992, he won the BASCA Sold Badge of Merit for services to British Music, as judged by his peers in the songwriting and music publishing communities.

Joe tours seemingly incessantly and the current version of The Bruvvers has been with him for nearly 15 years. In November 2002, he played what he calls the highlight of his career, in the Concert for George Harrison at the Royal Albert Hall. He was asked especially by George's widow Olivia to take part (George was best man at Joe's second marriage in 2000) and he brought the house down with the show's finale – the emotive I'll See You In My Dreams.

But of course there's been many highlights: "I could name a thousand and that's lovely. It's the reason we all do it. Even if you're feeling down you can get up on stage and if it's a good show then that's great. It's when it starts to get boring that I'll pack in.

"But the main thing this year is the celebration of his 50 years in showbiz. Not only do we have this compilation, but a 50th-anniversary tour which started in January. The tour started up again this month when Joe released a brand new studio album.

Having achieved practically everything there is to achieve in showbusiness, I wondered whether he still had any ambitions … and he does! "I've not really been ambitious," he began, "but I'd really like to write a hit song. Not for me, but for someone else. It'd be like a pension."

* Joe Brown is at Blackpool Grand on October 11. He's joined by his long serving band The Bruvvers, his daughter Sam Brown and newest band member – record-producing son Pete Brown. Box office: 01253 290190 or www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk