Charles Scott has had a lifelong love of music and still ranks Joe Cocker as one of the best – he even flew to Vegas and then drove 1,000 miles just to see him perform!

Charles Scott, 67, who lives at Crook, is one of the directors of Kendal-based Macbeth Scott & Co insurance brokers and independent financial advisers, which are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. He has had a lifelong interest in rock music and the company regularly sponsors concerts across Cumbria.

The first album I bought was Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard and The Shadows in 1963 when I was around seven or eight years old, after I had been to see the film with my parents. It cost 27s 6d.

There is no better night out than going to see live music. My first gig was seeing Led Zeppelin on January 30, 1973 at Preston Guild Hall at the age of 17. My cousin had tickets but then could not go and I bought them from him for £3 each and went with a friend.

We were waiting for them to play Stairway to Heaven but they went off at 11pm without playing it. About ten minutes later they came back on stage and launched into the song, jamming so it lasted for about 40 minutes. It was absolute bliss! The lighting effects were pretty basic but you had this lead singer, Robert Plant, with his shoulder-length hair and wearing an unbuttoned denim jacket - the charisma of the man was amazing.

Barry Lucas was the social secretary at Lancaster University and brought many great bands to play there. I remember seeing Chuck Berry, Free, Wishbone Ash and Rory Gallagher. I used to buy the tickets from George Edwardian in Kendal.

Other early records I bought were John Barleycorn Must Die by Traffic and Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John. My uncle Donald was an engineer and he built me a radiogram, which played vinyl records and the radio and included a Ferrograph reel-to-reel tape player.

Life-changing albums at that stage of my life were Argus by Wishbone Ash and Abandoned Luncheonette by Hall and Oates. Jan, who later became my wife, had the album and lent it to me and I could not switch it off. I have two copies even now.

Then came the Bruce Springsteen era. I have seen him play many times. His is still the best live show I have seen.

I could not really understand punk and new wave music. It was not my thing at all, though I can appreciate it now.

Another of my favourite artists is Joe Cocker. He played a lot of concerts in Germany and in 2010 I bought some tickets for a show he was doing for charity, thinking it was in Germany, later to discover the gig was in Hotchkiss, Colorado, where he lived.

A friend and I flew to Las Vegas and then drove 1,000 miles due east to Hotchkiss. We met Joe Cocker’s secretary and, after what was an incredible show, we were invited backstage to meet Joe. He was fantastic. He is from Sheffield and all he wanted to know about was the football results back in England. He was a thoroughly decent guy.

Macbeth Scott & Co has sponsored many concerts in Kendal and the surrounding area over the years. In 2010 we sponsored 10CC to play at the county showground at Crooklands. This was followed in 2016 by sponsorship of the three-day-long Rock on Windermere, which featured Status Quo, 10CC and Toploader. The last open-air concert we sponsored was in 2018 at Kendal Rugby Club. I’m a local lad and Macbeth Scott & Co is a community company so we just want to do something for the town.

Among the shows we are sponsoring this year are Sean Webster at Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre on July 8, Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra at Kendal Leisure Centre on July 22 and Wishbone Ash at the Brewery on October 25