Diminutive, widely-loved, with the ability to raise a smile – Joe Brown shares much with the instrument he's become synonymous with, the humble ukulele.

It was the first instrument the spiky-haired rock ‘n’ roll star picked up, at The Sultan pub in Plaistow where he grew up, and it’s rarely left his side since.

“I must have been about five years old I think,“ says Joe in his cheeky-chappy Cockney accent. “I lived in a pub and there used to be all sorts of songs going about out there. It was the first thing I played.

“When I was a kid, they were really popular, everyone had a ukulele.“

The four-stringed instrument has experienced something of a renaissance of late, in no small part down to Joe’s performance of I’ll See You in My Dreams, to close the concert for George Harrison (a fellow ukulele fan) at the Royal Albert Hall.

“Back then, because they were so cheap they were put in the toy bracket,“ explains Joe. “It didn’t do the instrument any good. It’s not the way, it’s a proper musical instrument!

“I don’t know if I had something to do with its popularity. It’s boomed in recent years and good luck to it. People don’t realise it’s a proper musical instrument, but I think people are now.“

As well as the hits he’s best known for, A Picture Of You, Shine, and I’m Henery the Eighth I Am, Joe was releasing ukulele tracks as early as 1963, with his cover of George Formby’s My Little Ukulele. It was one of the first songs to be banned by the BBC – “a bit too close,“ chuckles Joe.

At the end of last year, Joe released his album of ukulele-led songs, simply titled The Ukulele Album. There’s a real range of songs on offer from small-stringed classic covers like When I’m Dead and Gone by McGuiness Flint and George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows to tunes from a more hard-rocking repertoire like Ace Of Spades, Pinball Wizard and Mr Blue Sky. He’ll be mixing old hits and new versions when he comes to The Alban Arena next month.

“I’ve always had a uke’ around,“ says Joe. “I thought it was time that we made an album. I picked songs to show what the uke can sound like if you use it in different ways.“

The album features The International Ukulele Club of Sonning Common, an amateur group taught by Joe’s daughter Sam Brown (who had the 1989 hit Stop!). It’s all part of a bid to get everyone playing a uke.

“That feel which comes over is wonderful,“ says Joe. “Any group playing together, it’s great mate, it’s what it’s all about.

“It’s a very forgiving little instrument. You only have to play a few chords on it and it’s giving back straight away. I reckon they should put them in schools rather than them recorders they give kids to play. Awful! At least they’d be able to sing while they’re playing it.

“You’re not limited by it, that’s the great thing about it. Everyone should have one.“

  • Joe Brown is at The Alban Arena on Friday, April 5 at 7.30pm. Details: 01727 844488