NOT many rock’n’rollers can claim a young, up-and-coming band called The Beatles used to open shows for them on stage.

The evergreen Joe Brown’s link to the Fab Four go back to their early days – when he was already one of Britain’s early big-name stars.

He was one of the first generation of rock ‘n’ rollers to come out of the UK in the Fifties.

His early career saw him playing guitar with the likes of American superstars Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Johnny Cash when they toured Europe.

Joe went on to top the charts with his own band and was even supported by a young Liverpool fourpiece called The Beatles.

More than 50 years later, he is still going strong.

He has presented several series of the Joe Brown Show on television, two series of Rock Show for Radio 2 and still plays about 100 live shows a year in the UK.

In 2002, he performed Here Comes the Sun at the Concert For George, in memory of pal George Harrison.

The Beatle was best man when Brown remarried two years earlier.

Then in 2008, Joe returned to the Top 20 with a new album, which sold more than 120,000 copies in the UK alone.

His 50th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall was a sell-out and in 2009 he was awarded the coveted MOJO Music Magazine award for lifetime achievement, as well as an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list.

His latest tour is packed with timeless classics, rockabilly, gospel, country, folk, and rock’n’roll, all interwoven with Joe’s effervescent humour, and backed by his five-piece band.

It comes to Clacton’s West Cliff Theatre tomorrow at 7.30pm. Tickets are £26.50 on 01255 433344.