Best known as the leader of the Ian Campbell Folk Group, one of the most respected and popular acts of the 1960s British folk revival, Ian Campbell was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1933. He moved to Birmingham, England while still in his teens, and founded the fledgling act in 1956 under the moniker the Clarion Skiffle Group. Switching to the more familiar nom de plume in 1958, the original lineup comprised Campbell (guitar, vocals), his sister Lorna Campbell (vocals), Dave Philips (guitar), and Gordon McCulloch (banjo). McCulloch departed in 1959 and was replaced by John Dunkerley (banjo, guitar, accordion), and in 1960 the band was joined by fiddler Dave Swarbrick. During the early '60s, the group appeared on television programs like the Hootenanny Show, Barn Dance, and Hullabaloo. In addition, they regularly played to full houses at the Royal Albert Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall in London, and in 1965, they became the first non-U.S. group to record a Bob Dylan song; their cover version of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" reached the U.K. Top 50 in March 1965. The band continued to evolve over the years, releasing albums, performing live, and adding and subtracting talented musicians, including Brian Clark, Dave Pegg, and George Watts, well into the late '70s before officially disbanding in 1978. Campbell went on to work as an editor and television presenter, as well as a community arts worker, but eventually returned to his original love, singing and performing. Campbell passed away on November 24, 2012 at the age of 79. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi