GEORGE Hamilton IV unloads his luggage and settles into his Somerset hotel room. It is Tuesday afternoon - four days before his concerts this weekend in Christian centres in Dwygyfylchi and Bangor on a three-week UK tour. Once ensconced in his room, he speaks politely down the phone in a North Carolina drawl. Tomorrow he makes a welcome return to the Oasis Christian Centre in Dwygyfylchi. Hamilton says: "I'm lookin' forward to it. They do a lot of work for poor and underprivileged people. They are warm and gracious folks from a group called International Gospel Outreach. "I've done a bit of everything - playing in nightclubs, bars, theatres and halls. I must admit it's very refreshing to be in a small church where you get a sort of intimacy (pronounced "innamacy"). It's me and my guitar, up close to the people. Lotta times, they'll holler out requests or send a note. It's a joy. "We have a break in the middle when I meet and greet, and shake and howdee with people." Afterwards there's usually "a little fellowship time" where ladies bring cakes and pies. "It's a homely, warm tour. It's not grand and glorious." On Sunday, Hamilton sings in Bangor where he has previously played with Slim Whitman. As he celebrates 50 years in showbusiness, I ask about Hamilton's earliest memories of touring with Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. Hamilton, 68, says: "Unfortunately, I have my regrets about that. I thought there'd be time to tell them how much I thought of them. All of a sudden they were gone. "We all thought we would live forever. I don't know if it was the arrogance of youth." Holly died in a plane crash in Iowa in 1959 aged 22, Cochran died in a road accident in Wiltshire in 1960, aged 21. And Vincent, who survived that crash, died from a bleeding ulcer in California in 1971, aged 36. Hamilton remembers: "I was touring with Buddy in spring 1958 and he died in February 1959. Buddy was full of energy, charisma and magnetism on stage. He was pretty quiet and a gentleman off stage." While those tragic stars favoured rock and roll, self-confessed hillbilly Hamilton's dream was to be a country singer. He is duly grateful to Elvis Presley for paving the way for artists from southern states like himself, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis to secure record contracts. Later, Hamilton got into gospel music and teamed up with evangelist Dr Billy Graham, who also came from North Carolina. They toured Great Britain in 1984. "I'm grateful to have had a 50-year career doing something that's certainly not work. It's so much fun," says Hamilton whose hits include A Rose And A Baby Ruth (1956), Why Don't They Understand (1958) and Abilene (1963). Unsurprisingly, Hamilton relaxes by listening to music. Favourites are Don Williams, the late Chet Atkins and Johnny Cash. Hamilton also enjoys spending time with his family. He has three grown up children Peyton, George Hamilton V and Mary, and three grandchildren. * George Hamilton IV sings at the Oasis Christian Centre in Dwygyfylchi tomorrow at 7pm and at the Assemblies of God Church, in Princes Road, Upper Bangor, on Sunday, April 2 at 6.30pm | 
