Please share any memories of the Gin Mill Blues Club in Godalming. Who did you see there? When? etc. The local museum has no information on this once amazing venue and I'm trying to fill the gap.
i have vague memories of regular sunday nights there for 2/6d!! we saw duster bennett, chicken shack, fleetwood mac, free, black cat bone, i have a feeling howlin wolf played one night but i may be mistaken. we came over from horsham when i was about 17. its all a bit hazy!!can anyone remember more gigs.??
I saw all of the above there (and booked Duster Bennett for the Farnham Blues Festival)… also remember seeing Bakerloo, with Clem Clempson at the Gin Mill.
I canfirm most of the above as I also saw Duster Bennett, Chicken Shack, Fleetwood Mac, Christine Perfect (McVie), & several others that time, tide & othe influences, has faded from my memory. I also remember that the bar consisted or pretty much just bottled Newcastle brown ale with a plastic beaker. I used to travel over from Gomshall, & mostly walked back. That was back in '69/70 when I was just 15/16 yrs old. Best memory was of my mate shouting out 'Bright Lights' at the start of the live recording of Dusters Bennett's title track, which you can plainly hear on the album. When I hear it, it always takes me back to those time.
Fantastic Sunday nights. Groups: Free (at least twice); Genesis (at least twice - they were at Charterhouse); Mick Abraham's Blodwyn Pig, Black Sabbath, Arthur Big Boy Crudup (I think); Duster Bennett; otherwise as above. Great place - run by a guy named Peter I recall. I went there more or less every Sunday during 1968-71 when at Royal Grammar Guildford, then Guildford Tech, when living at Witley aged 16-19. My tipple was mild in one of those floppy plastic 1 pint beakers - your feet used to get stuck to the floor, there was so much beer spilt on it. John Burnell (aka Jean Jacques later of the Stranglers) also used to go there - he was at RGS Guildford same time as me.
@David - we probably know each other - I was at RGS with Jean Jacques way back when. Pete Newbury ran the Gin Mill - ably assisted by a number of "helpers". The idea was to glean enough money at the door, pay the band and then spend the rest at the bar in the Angel Hotel. Pete later ran a failed outdoor festival at the old Guildford City ground in Joseph's Road. Colin Blunstone was headline act, as far as I can recollect. One of the excellent bands I remember from those days was Coliseum, who are still gigging, I think (sadly without Dick Heckstall Smith, who is no longer with us) Christine Perfect singing "I'd rather go blind" is stuck in my memory for ever.. Peter Green too.
I went to the Gin Mill a number of times between January and June 1971, whilst I was at the Applegarth A-Level coaching establishment at the top of Charterhouse Hill.
The two highlights for me were Rare Bird, who were outstanding, and Skid Row (featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels). It was so packed that night that I was actually sat with my legs under the chipboard-and-beercrate stage!
I also saw a band called Journey, and Jungle Pilot (which featured a lot of the Melody Maker staff writers, including Chris Welch). I wish I could remember the others ... I am envious of those who saw Duster Bennett and Fleetwood Mac. I'd love to have been there when Duster recorded his live album there!
Ahhhh ... great memories (but some sadly dimmed!) ... and great times!
Finally if Pete Newbury is still about, he may remember a friend called Tim Duquenoy, who I played with in a band many years later up here in Oxfordshire. Tim was a regular Gin Mill attendee but I never knew him then.
Oh ... and I still have my "Duster Bennett Circle" membership card!
I did have a 'Gin Mill' card for many years. I think it was a membership card, but can't remember if it gave a discount? Agree with David's list of groups I saw. Remember being 'clinically deaf' for two days after Black Sabbath's gig and thought Pete (who always wore his Afghan coat) was ripping us off when he raised the price for Blodwyn Pig. I also remember standing on the back of chairs against the wall and holding the roof beam - half the time you had to look the other way!? Moved to Sydney in 1974 and found it's 'Gin Mill' called the 'Bondi Life Saver' where the unscheduled AC/DC played EVERY NIGHT after the billed band - as long as they beat the roadie to the instruments!!!
Just remembered a couple more: Audience, Champion Jack Dupree
@stevejones13 - just came back here, saw your post. We probably did know each other, but I'm afraid it's all a bit hazy now. I see that the Angel & Gin Mill have been 'developed' now....http://goo.gl/maps/H1f32 ....Angel used to be on the right I think, Gin Mill at the far end.
@David K - hazy for both of us! Yes, I recall that layout - the Angel bar on the right, walking down the mews etc. They must have sold more Newcastle Brown than any other brand.
I am trying to get a list of gigs/bands who performed at the Gin Mill together. Please check out the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gin-Mill/273860106032514
Hopefully we can document as much as possible in this way. We just need a few more page "likes" to get a "proper page"
Jim Cook kindly authorised us to use the original artwork used for posters - "back in the day". Hope it brings back good memories, as it did for me!
I remember seeing Duster Bennett, Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack. I also think Jethro Tull played there. I remember Tim Duquenoy when we were both in Guildford Cathedral choir circa 1963.
I also remember Keith Christmas, Barclay James Harvest, Blitzgrieg, Savoy Brown, Van de Graph Generator, Stray as well as all the above. I also remember the windows rattling cos Skid Row were so loud, people booing Tomi Iommi's long guitar solo and being asked 'to be quiet and listen to the music man' by a member of the BJH crew. I fondly remember the Newky Brown and having my hand stamped each week when we went in - I remember one stamp said 'Lust of the Moheicans' when printed on you. High point was when Peter Green turned up but his band and equipment didn't. Someone lent him an amp and he played solo - it was sublime.
The wonderful gin mill,sometimes we forget just how rare live music was back in the late 60 s . Pete newberrys changed all that ,live bands,no rip off prices(2&6 old money 12.5p today!!!) what people say in respect of Pete and costs is absolutely right when the band and bills were paid look out newky brown all round.! Have a few names that come to mind on the door,Pob Stevens,willy Anderson,and Phil, (all rgs ) two other thoughts come to mind, champion jack Dupree did try to record a live album ,sound system failed but he still did 3 hours live anyway,and the road back to Guildford after was a bit a bit of a gamble
Just posted these thoughts on the "Do You Recall Days Of Godalming’s Gin Mill Club?" article, Guildford Dragon site:
David Rogers Reply
October 4, 2014 at 1:40 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Have only just found this site, and reading the comments above brings back wonderful memories of those teenage Sunday nights! I lived in Haslemere and went to the RGS in Guildford, so the train journey was covered by my season ticket (thanks Surrey CC). I remember seeing the vast majority of bands listed above; in particular share Barry, Mike, and Andy’s recollections of being part of the ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ recording (still have the vinyl album); Mike’s opinion about the merits of Free; Andy’s memory of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Orange’ speakers (was it the night ‘Albatross’ went to number one, although of course they’d been booked long before…?); and John’s description of summer 1969, being in the garden for the moon landing. Then there was the night Genesis played, and either over-ran or played encores…result being that I missed that last train home. Some time later, walking in the dark trying to hitch a lift, a car stopped (my memory tells me it was on Milford Common, but I’m not sure of that detail). The kindly couple turned out to be Mr & Mrs Rutherford, who had been watching their son…..so years later, and indeed ever since, ‘In the living years’ has always meant a great deal to me.
David Rogers Reply
October 4, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
P.S. re original article: I was a friend of JJ Burnel at the RGS, and remember once or twice going home with him after school – so visiting his parent’s restaurant, and also Muscott’s (?) stamp dealers, nearby.
My brother and I were trying to remember who we saw, and I found my diaries for 1970 and 1971. On Feb 21st 1971 I wrote: 'had to wait ages until doors opened and got my membership card. Stood for first group - Emily Wolf who were very good. Sat down against table for Audience – also very good with fantastic guitarist who played solo as did the drummer with a school bell and packet of bird seed.’ Let me know if you want any more memories as I plough through the diaries.
So, does anyone know what happened to Mr Peter Newbury? I remember the following acts as well as those mentioned so far on this blog: -
Stone the Crows (with Les Harvey, brother of Alex) Liverpool Scene Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation Alexis Corner (with members of his family?) Savoy Brown Jo-Anne Kelly
Just after I met my wife in September 1969 we started going to the Gin Mill club - the first time was Sunday 14th September, which was our first actual date, and Clouds were the band playing. The following Sunday (21st) was Audience, the Sunday after that Free, and the Sunday after that Blodwyn Pig. I think the fifth Sunday The Spirit of John Morgan were on, unknowns who would become favorites there. In the next couple of years we saw Stone the Crows, Mott the Hoople (ran out of songs so had to repeat some!), Juke Boy Bonner (Duster Bennett's biggest influence apparently), Spirit of John Morgan again, Keef Hartley Band and Peter Green, just after he left F.Mac (I think July 1970) - it was just him and another guy jamming as most of his equipment didn't turn up because of an accident on the way down? I think we also saw the local band Circus play there as well, and a band called Wild ?something who had some former members of Thunderclap Newman? I went to the Guildford City FC festival - a poor turnout on a windy day - I have some tapes from it somewhere. It included Duster Bennett, Duffy, can't remember who else. Capability Brown were supposed to play but wouldn't because of the small crowd. Colin Blunstone would have been happy to perform but they ran out of time. These comments from Pete Newberry on the tapes I have, just bits and pieces really. It was a good day out though, if cold.
Leaning against the wall watching McKenna Mendelsohn Mainline (Canadian band?) and I felt an enormous presence next to me, looked left and up to see Mick Fleetwood. Saw Duster Bennet, Blodwyn Pig, Chicken Shack - Stan Webb later got me backstage at the Albert Hall when they were supporting Jethro Tull, sat on stage on the semi-circular orchestra seating behind the band (a couple of my super jealous mates from Guildford Tech were in the audience and saw me, huge kudos), I remember how disappointed I was in Jethro Tull's dressing room after the gig when wild man Ian Anderson changed from his court jester outfit into a tweed jacket, grey slacks and Oxford brogues, and went off to dinner with his parents. Can't remember other bands, but I was there at least ten times - vague memory of Canned Heat, but that could have been somewhere else. All of this around 1969/70, and often difficult to hitch home to Camberley afterwards. Funny, until today I didn't know it as the Gin Mill Club, it was always just the Angel Godalming.
The Gin Mill seemed to be a showcase for Blue Horizon records with regular appearances by Fleetwood Mac Mk1, Chicken Shack, Jellybread and the legendary Duster Bennett. Label supremo Mike Vernon also recorded authentic roots bluesmen and they made the obligatory Gin Mill performance: Arthur Big Boy Crudup - grumpy and a prodigious boozer, Bobby Parker, prematurely overhyped as the next Hendrix, Champion Jack Dupree backed by most of Fleetwood Mac.
There seemed to be three phases of the club; early bookings by obscure blues boom bands like Doc K's, Shakey Vick and John Dummer. Second phase, pub rock royalty Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, Free, Savoy Brown etc. Third phase diversifying, not altogether successfully into other genres, Genesis - local but frankly not very good at that time, the Wild Angels - old time Rock 'n Roll; party time for a generation for whom partying was uncool - and the Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra, 1930s jazz; Sunny Side Of The Street? Not for this audience. Caravan, I recall were outstanding though. Strangely by coincidence, Caravan did a warm up gig for their 50th anniversary tour at nearby St John's church Farncombe in 2019. It was rammed and they are still outstanding...
The live recording of Duster Bennett, again including F Mac, in April 1970 was the Apogee of the club. My recollection of it's closure was nothing to do with either conflagrations or inadequate fire escapes but a desire by the key players simply to get Proper Jobs.
Would love to reconnect with Pete Newberry and share photos and memories
It was my favourite haunt on a Sunday Night. All of the above posts make it seem like yesterday was a long time ago. I remember sharing a joint with Mick Abrahams on the grass outside. I remember Fleetwood Mac turning up late! I remember Peter playing on his own! I also remember a redhead called Sue who I met there! Her father was a Doctor in Woking. I'm sure he thought I was a real scruffbag. At least I had a regular job. I worked in One Stop in Dean Street and the likes of Ian Anderson and Peter Green were regular customers. As were a lot of other famous faces. One Stop at the time was one of the best half dozen record shops in London. Even Hendrix bought his records in the South Moulton Street branch. Handy for him, as he only lived round the corner! Sadly he never made it as far as Dean Street, at least not while I was working there. In those days, if you wanted Jazz And Blues you went to Dobells, if you wanted Rock and the latest Imports you had One Stop/The Magic Phonograph and Musicland in Berwick Street. Most of the rest of the UK didn't get a look in as far as imports went until Virgin started their mail order business on the back page of Melody Maker! It was as much a music revolution then as New Wave was a decade later! Probably more so....it was all new then!
i have vague memories of regular sunday nights there for 2/6d!! we saw duster bennett, chicken shack, fleetwood mac, free, black cat bone, i have a feeling howlin wolf played one night but i may be mistaken. we came over from horsham when i was about 17. its all a bit hazy!!can anyone remember more gigs.??
ReplyDeleteI saw all of the above there (and booked Duster Bennett for the Farnham Blues Festival)… also remember seeing Bakerloo, with Clem Clempson at the Gin Mill.
DeleteI canfirm most of the above as I also saw Duster Bennett, Chicken Shack, Fleetwood Mac, Christine Perfect (McVie), & several others that time, tide & othe influences, has faded from my memory. I also remember that the bar consisted or pretty much just bottled Newcastle brown ale with a plastic beaker. I used to travel over from Gomshall, & mostly walked back. That was back in '69/70 when I was just 15/16 yrs old. Best memory was of my mate shouting out 'Bright Lights' at the start of the live recording of Dusters Bennett's title track, which you can plainly hear on the album. When I hear it, it always takes me back to those time.
ReplyDeleteFantastic Sunday nights.
ReplyDeleteGroups: Free (at least twice); Genesis (at least twice - they were at Charterhouse); Mick Abraham's Blodwyn Pig, Black Sabbath, Arthur Big Boy Crudup (I think); Duster Bennett; otherwise as above. Great place - run by a guy named Peter I recall. I went there more or less every Sunday during 1968-71 when at Royal Grammar Guildford, then Guildford Tech, when living at Witley aged 16-19. My tipple was mild in one of those floppy plastic 1 pint beakers - your feet used to get stuck to the floor, there was so much beer spilt on it. John Burnell (aka Jean Jacques later of the Stranglers) also used to go there - he was at RGS Guildford same time as me.
@David - we probably know each other - I was at RGS with Jean Jacques way back when. Pete Newbury ran the Gin Mill - ably assisted by a number of "helpers". The idea was to glean enough money at the door, pay the band and then spend the rest at the bar in the Angel Hotel. Pete later ran a failed outdoor festival at the old Guildford City ground in Joseph's Road. Colin Blunstone was headline act, as far as I can recollect. One of the excellent bands I remember from those days was Coliseum, who are still gigging, I think (sadly without Dick Heckstall Smith, who is no longer with us) Christine Perfect singing "I'd rather go blind" is stuck in my memory for ever.. Peter Green too.
ReplyDeleteCheck out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAIRRu3UPXY "Bright lights" - Duster Bennett
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/m6SQ1A0kvc0 Keef Hartley
http://youtu.be/pZDs_4qYObA Mick Abrahams (Blodwyn Pig)
http://youtu.be/pZDs_4qYObA Stray
I went to the Gin Mill a number of times between January and June 1971, whilst I was at the Applegarth A-Level coaching establishment at the top of Charterhouse Hill.
ReplyDeleteThe two highlights for me were Rare Bird, who were outstanding, and Skid Row (featuring Gary Moore and Brush Shiels). It was so packed that night that I was actually sat with my legs under the chipboard-and-beercrate stage!
I also saw a band called Journey, and Jungle Pilot (which featured a lot of the Melody Maker staff writers, including Chris Welch). I wish I could remember the others ... I am envious of those who saw Duster Bennett and Fleetwood Mac. I'd love to have been there when Duster recorded his live album there!
Ahhhh ... great memories (but some sadly dimmed!) ... and great times!
Finally if Pete Newbury is still about, he may remember a friend called Tim Duquenoy, who I played with in a band many years later up here in Oxfordshire. Tim was a regular Gin Mill attendee but I never knew him then.
Oh ... and I still have my "Duster Bennett Circle" membership card!
I did have a 'Gin Mill' card for many years. I think it was a membership card, but can't remember if it gave a discount?
ReplyDeleteAgree with David's list of groups I saw.
Remember being 'clinically deaf' for two days after Black Sabbath's gig and thought Pete (who always wore his Afghan coat) was ripping us off when he raised the price for Blodwyn Pig. I also remember standing on the back of chairs against the wall and holding the roof beam - half the time you had to look the other way!?
Moved to Sydney in 1974 and found it's 'Gin Mill' called the 'Bondi Life Saver' where the unscheduled AC/DC played EVERY NIGHT after the billed band - as long as they beat the roadie to the instruments!!!
Just remembered a couple more: Audience, Champion Jack Dupree
ReplyDelete@stevejones13 - just came back here, saw your post. We probably did know each other, but I'm afraid it's all a bit hazy now. I see that the Angel & Gin Mill have been 'developed' now....http://goo.gl/maps/H1f32 ....Angel used to be on the right I think, Gin Mill at the far end.
@David K - hazy for both of us! Yes, I recall that layout - the Angel bar on the right, walking down the mews etc. They must have sold more Newcastle Brown than any other brand.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to get a list of gigs/bands who performed at the Gin Mill together. Please check out the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gin-Mill/273860106032514
Hopefully we can document as much as possible in this way. We just need a few more page "likes" to get a "proper page"
Jim Cook kindly authorised us to use the original artwork used for posters - "back in the day". Hope it brings back good memories, as it did for me!
I remember seeing Duster Bennett, Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack. I also think Jethro Tull played there. I remember Tim Duquenoy when we were both in Guildford Cathedral choir circa 1963.
ReplyDeleteI also remember Keith Christmas, Barclay James Harvest, Blitzgrieg, Savoy Brown, Van de Graph Generator, Stray as well as all the above. I also remember the windows rattling cos Skid Row were so loud, people booing Tomi Iommi's long guitar solo and being asked 'to be quiet and listen to the music man' by a member of the BJH crew. I fondly remember the Newky Brown and having my hand stamped each week when we went in - I remember one stamp said 'Lust of the Moheicans' when printed on you. High point was when Peter Green turned up but his band and equipment didn't. Someone lent him an amp and he played solo - it was sublime.
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful gin mill,sometimes we forget just how rare live music was back in the late 60 s . Pete newberrys changed all that ,live bands,no rip off prices(2&6 old money 12.5p today!!!) what people say in respect of Pete and costs is absolutely right when the band and bills were paid look out newky brown all round.! Have a few names that come to mind on the door,Pob Stevens,willy Anderson,and Phil, (all rgs ) two other thoughts come to mind, champion jack Dupree did try to record a live album ,sound system failed but he still did 3 hours live anyway,and the road back to Guildford after was a bit a bit of a gamble
ReplyDeleteOh the memories from reading all this - particularly the Peter Green solo set, I can see it now.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember McKenna Mendholson Mainline and the chorus of 'We don't, we don't want you Enoch'?
ReplyDeleteYes I do, think they were Canadian. When I tell people some of the bands I saw there they just don't believe . Happy memories indeed !
DeleteJust posted these thoughts on the "Do You Recall Days Of Godalming’s Gin Mill Club?" article, Guildford Dragon site:
ReplyDeleteDavid Rogers Reply
October 4, 2014 at 1:40 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Have only just found this site, and reading the comments above brings back wonderful memories of those teenage Sunday nights! I lived in Haslemere and went to the RGS in Guildford, so the train journey was covered by my season ticket (thanks Surrey CC). I remember seeing the vast majority of bands listed above; in particular share Barry, Mike, and Andy’s recollections of being part of the ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ recording (still have the vinyl album); Mike’s opinion about the merits of Free; Andy’s memory of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Orange’ speakers (was it the night ‘Albatross’ went to number one, although of course they’d been booked long before…?); and John’s description of summer 1969, being in the garden for the moon landing. Then there was the night Genesis played, and either over-ran or played encores…result being that I missed that last train home. Some time later, walking in the dark trying to hitch a lift, a car stopped (my memory tells me it was on Milford Common, but I’m not sure of that detail). The kindly couple turned out to be Mr & Mrs Rutherford, who had been watching their son…..so years later, and indeed ever since, ‘In the living years’ has always meant a great deal to me.
David Rogers Reply
October 4, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
P.S. re original article: I was a friend of JJ Burnel at the RGS, and remember once or twice going home with him after school – so visiting his parent’s restaurant, and also Muscott’s (?) stamp dealers, nearby.
www.facebook.com/GinMillBluesClub
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I were trying to remember who we saw, and I found my diaries for 1970 and 1971. On Feb 21st 1971 I wrote: 'had to wait ages until doors opened and got my membership card. Stood for first group - Emily Wolf who were very good. Sat down against table for Audience – also very good with fantastic guitarist who played solo as did the drummer with a school bell and packet of bird seed.’ Let me know if you want any more memories as I plough through the diaries.
ReplyDeletePS I was 15.
ReplyDeleteSo, does anyone know what happened to Mr Peter Newbury? I remember the following acts as well as those mentioned so far on this blog: -
ReplyDeleteStone the Crows (with Les Harvey, brother of Alex)
Liverpool Scene
Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
Alexis Corner (with members of his family?)
Savoy Brown
Jo-Anne Kelly
Probably more - but can't remember!
Just after I met my wife in September 1969 we started going to the Gin Mill club - the first time was Sunday 14th September, which was our first actual date, and Clouds were the band playing. The following Sunday (21st) was Audience, the Sunday after that Free, and the Sunday after that Blodwyn Pig. I think the fifth Sunday The Spirit of John Morgan were on, unknowns who would become favorites there. In the next couple of years we saw Stone the Crows, Mott the Hoople (ran out of songs so had to repeat some!), Juke Boy Bonner (Duster Bennett's biggest influence apparently), Spirit of John Morgan again, Keef Hartley Band and Peter Green, just after he left F.Mac (I think July 1970) - it was just him and another guy jamming as most of his equipment didn't turn up because of an accident on the way down? I think we also saw the local band Circus play there as well, and a band called Wild ?something who had some former members of Thunderclap Newman? I went to the Guildford City FC festival - a poor turnout on a windy day - I have some tapes from it somewhere. It included Duster Bennett, Duffy, can't remember who else. Capability Brown were supposed to play but wouldn't because of the small crowd. Colin Blunstone would have been happy to perform but they ran out of time. These comments from Pete Newberry on the tapes I have, just bits and pieces really. It was a good day out though, if cold.
ReplyDeleteBest moment was before the rammed Duster Bennett live recording, Phil Davis shouting "They're all in now. You can turn the gas on."
ReplyDeleteLeaning against the wall watching McKenna Mendelsohn Mainline (Canadian band?) and I felt an enormous presence next to me, looked left and up to see Mick Fleetwood. Saw Duster Bennet, Blodwyn Pig, Chicken Shack - Stan Webb later got me backstage at the Albert Hall when they were supporting Jethro Tull, sat on stage on the semi-circular orchestra seating behind the band (a couple of my super jealous mates from Guildford Tech were in the audience and saw me, huge kudos), I remember how disappointed I was in Jethro Tull's dressing room after the gig when wild man Ian Anderson changed from his court jester outfit into a tweed jacket, grey slacks and Oxford brogues, and went off to dinner with his parents. Can't remember other bands, but I was there at least ten times - vague memory of Canned Heat, but that could have been somewhere else. All of this around 1969/70, and often difficult to hitch home to Camberley afterwards. Funny, until today I didn't know it as the Gin Mill Club, it was always just the Angel Godalming.
ReplyDeleteThe Gin Mill seemed to be a showcase for Blue Horizon records with regular appearances by Fleetwood Mac Mk1, Chicken Shack, Jellybread and the legendary Duster Bennett. Label supremo Mike Vernon also recorded authentic roots bluesmen and they made the obligatory Gin Mill performance: Arthur Big Boy Crudup - grumpy and a prodigious boozer, Bobby Parker, prematurely overhyped as the next Hendrix, Champion Jack Dupree backed by most of Fleetwood Mac.
ReplyDeleteThere seemed to be three phases of the club; early bookings by obscure blues boom bands like Doc K's, Shakey Vick and John Dummer. Second phase, pub rock royalty Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, Free, Savoy Brown etc. Third phase diversifying, not altogether successfully into other genres, Genesis - local but frankly not very good at that time, the Wild Angels - old time Rock 'n Roll; party time for a generation for whom partying was uncool - and the Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra, 1930s jazz; Sunny Side Of The Street? Not for this audience. Caravan, I recall were outstanding though. Strangely by coincidence, Caravan did a warm up gig for their 50th anniversary tour at nearby St John's church Farncombe in 2019. It was rammed and they are still outstanding...
The live recording of Duster Bennett, again including F Mac, in April 1970 was the Apogee of the club. My recollection of it's closure was nothing to do with either conflagrations or inadequate fire escapes but a desire by the key players simply to get Proper Jobs.
Would love to reconnect with Pete Newberry and share photos and memories
It was my favourite haunt on a Sunday Night. All of the above posts make it seem like yesterday was a long time ago. I remember sharing a joint with Mick Abrahams on the grass outside. I remember Fleetwood Mac turning up late! I remember Peter playing on his own! I also remember a redhead called Sue who I met there! Her father was a Doctor in Woking. I'm sure he thought I was a real scruffbag. At least I had a regular job. I worked in One Stop in Dean Street and the likes of Ian Anderson and Peter Green were regular customers. As were a lot of other famous faces. One Stop at the time was one of the best half dozen record shops in London. Even Hendrix bought his records in the South Moulton Street branch. Handy for him, as he only lived round the corner! Sadly he never made it as far as Dean Street, at least not while I was working there. In those days, if you wanted Jazz And Blues you went to Dobells, if you wanted Rock and the latest Imports you had One Stop/The Magic Phonograph and Musicland in Berwick Street. Most of the rest of the UK didn't get a look in as far as imports went until Virgin started their mail order business on the back page of Melody Maker! It was as much a music revolution then as New Wave was a decade later! Probably more so....it was all new then!
ReplyDeleteIs this site still active. I was one of Pete’s original helpers and can contribute a little bit more
ReplyDelete