JOE BROWN: GOLDEN BROWN.

Joe Brown's recent Very Best Of album - released to coincide with his 50th anniversary - has been his most successful record yet. Adam Woods discovers how relentless reinvention and touring have sold the Joe Brown experience to old and new fans alike

Joe Brown's manager John Taylor was a soundman for Brown in the early Seventies and he is programming the sound desk for his artist's show at the Royal Albert Hall as he reflects on the long road back.

"I have been Joe's manager for 19 years now, close on, and it has been a story of repositioning and rebranding," he says. "The thing with Joe is, he is a household name, everybody knows him when they walk past him in the street, but it is very hard to dispel old ideas about someone. We have worked hard at it for a long time to bring it round to where it is."

This year's Very Best Of, issued by Universal Music TV and inspired by a similar disc which did well for Joe's friend and contemporary Marty Wilde on his 50th anniversary in the business, demonstrated the demand for Brown's golden greats, selling more than 100,000 copies.

"It is the biggest album he has ever had," says Universal Music TV managing director Brian Berg. "He fits perfectly into that huge 50-plus market who don't want to download - they are happy to buy a physical product of the stuff they have grown up with."

Those who have seen Brown on tour in recent years will already know about the demand for his music, and not just the old stuff.

"We started out touring theatres 20 years ago and we'd be drawing 200 people," says Brown. "Now, we are playing the same theatres and doing three nights, and you can't get a seat. That, to me, is a wonderful tribute to the fact that people really like the show. It's not because I've been on the telly; it is just that they like the show and they bring their friends back to see it. I tell you, man, I'm very humbled."