Frailers couldn’t be more tucked away, but it is a favourite of Billy Connolly, the man known by his Scots nickname the Big Yin (“the Big One”)
By Jonathan Blackburn
It seems an unlikely place to find Billy Connolly’s favourite banjo shop, which couldn’t be more tucked away.
The term ‘hidden gem’ is overused, but if ever it were apt, Frailers is the place. On a quiet street lined by takeaways in the small industrial town of Runcorn, Cheshire, Frailers has had a host of famous faces come through the door.
The shop seems to go back forever, with rows upon rows of shimmering guitars and banjos, music memorabilia and photos of the many stars who have visited Frailers since it opened in 1979.
Glasgow’s favourite son has made six visits to Frailers, staying for hours at a time, according to Frank Murphy, 82, who opened the shop more than half a century ago and can still be found behind the counter six days a week. A signed picture of Billy takes pride of place on the wall, showing the the Big Yin strumming away in the shop’s banjo room, past shimmering rows of guitars.
Frank says Billy first visited the shop more than 25 years ago to have his famous banjo repaired at the recommendation of folk singer Mike Harding. Frank said: ”Billy came in and I thought, ‘I know this face.’
“He came in again the following Monday and we got talking. We knew a lot of the same people on the folk scene and liked the same music, Appalachian mountain music.
“Someone asked for an autograph. I said to him, ‘Billy, don’t you get sick of people recognising you?’ And he said, ‘No, not at all. It’s better than working in a ship yard.
“The last time he came through, he’d been playing the Apollo and was going through to Llandudno, and he had a Martin guitar he’d been given by Eric Idle that needed fixing. He said, ‘I love this shop. I’ve never seen so many Martins in one place.’”
Around the photo of Billy are pictures of the shop’s other famous visitors with Frank, including Noddy Holder (who has bought five guitars from the shop), Joe Bonamassa, Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, and John Renbourn of Pentangle. There are also pictures of Miles Kane, Lisa Stansfield, Whitesnake, Joe Brown, The Coral, The La’s, Roy Wood, Ian Broudie, Fairport Convention, Jamie Webster and others who have visited the shop.
Frank said: “The main thing is that people want to come here, that’s what matters to me,” says Frank. “I look forward to every day, and I don’t have days off – except when I’m closed.”
Born in Liverpool, Frank knew many of the biggest Merseybeat bands personally, and attended college with Cilla Black (Priscilla White in those days), where he trained to be a sports reporter. After almost a decade in London, Frank settled in Runcorn in 1972 and opened a fashion shop called ‘Banjo’.
“Whenever any of the big bands are playing in Manchester or Liverpool, they’ve done their sound check and they’re just killing time, they all walk along here and try out the instruments,” Frank’s friend Steve Kelly says. “About four years ago, it was a rainy Thursday afternoon, and these two heavies came in.
“There was a little guy who came in behind them. I said, ‘I wonder if it is him?’. It was Joe Bonamassa.”
Bonamassa had come in because he had heard about the memorabilia Frank has built up in the shop, and wanted to buy the Gibson clock that hangs behind the counter.
Frank Murphy opened Frailers in 1979. -Credit:Frank Murphy/FrailersFrank’s shop is busy, with the door swinging open and musicians of all ages walking through. He has no plans to retire, saying: “The only time I see the inside of the house is one day of the year, which is Christmas Day, I don’t want to either. Every Sunday or Bank Holiday we’re out anyway.
“People ask me ‘when are you going to retire?’ And I say ‘Not a chance.’”
Source: Billy Connolly’s favourite banjo shop is in an unlikely place after first visit 25 years ago