Retrosonic Podcast - Eel Pie Island Museum, The History and Legacy of The Thames Delta 1960's British Beat and R'n'B Explosion

In the latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast, Steve from Retro Man Blog and Buddy Ascott of The Fallen Leaves are on location at the excellent Eel Pie Island Museum in Twickenham in the company of museum curator Michele Whitby and music historian Pete Watt. We discuss the rich musical heritage of what has become known as the Thames Delta and the birthplace of 60's British Beat and R'n'B, focusing on the legendary Eel Pie Island Hotel and some of the famous acts who played there. From it's opening night in 1956 and the Trad Jazz of Acker Bilk, Chris Barber and George Melly to the last show in 1970, the Hotel hosted gigs by many hugely influential bands and artists. There were shows by the leading importers of American Blues and R'n'B such as Alexis Corner, Long John Baldry and John Mayall, the originators Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker and of course, their young acolytes such as the Rolling Stones, The Artwoods and Downliners Sect. That's not to forget Soul acts like Jimmy Cliff and Geno Washington and even the later incarnation when the Hotel was transformed into Colonel Barefoot's Rock Garden and started putting on Heavy Rock and Psychedelic acts such as Deep Purple, Joe Cocker and Black Sabbath. One of the most fascinating aspects is discovering all the now legendary names who made early pre-fame and fortune appearances at the Eel Pie Hotel including David Bowie with The Manish Boys, Jeff Beck with The Tridents, Ian McLagan with The Muleskinners and Eel Pie audience regular, Rod 'The Mod' Stewart with Steampacket. 

Surprisingly, despite Pete Townshend's strong links with Twickenham - after all, his studios and publishing company were named after the Eel Pie Island - The Who only played there once and you might be surprised to find out when. The answer can be found in the episode along with other interesting facts and anecdotes - for example, just how did bands get their equipment to the Hotel before the bridge was built? Did you really need a passport to cross to the Island? Why did The Pretty Things never get to play there? The Hotel was sadly destroyed by fire in 1971 and is now the site of luxury flats but thankfully, the Eel Pie Island Museum is keeping the remarkable legacy of Eel Pie Island alive in such a vibrant and enthusiastic way. To find out more about the Museum and the history of Eel Pie Island, including their mightily impressive list of bands and artists who played at the Hotel, details on visiting, yearly membership, merchandise and much more please check out the official web-site here. If you're going along to the Museum we'd also recommend a visit to the excellent Eel Pie Records, check out the regular live shows at The Eel Pie Club at the Cabbage Patch and of course enjoy a pint or two at the Eel Pie pub. For our report on the recent Don Craine tribute and fund-raising gig at The Half Moon Putney, please check out the feature in our archive here. Retrosonic Podcast Episode 48 features Buddy and Rob Green of The Fallen Leaves discussing the show and there's also an exclusive new song from Thee Headcoats Sect, the band that Billy Childish formed with Don Craine. We'd also recommend the books "British Beat Explosion: Rock 'n' Roll Island" and "Raving Upon Thames: An Untold Story of Sixties London" by Andrew Humphreys for further reference and inspiration. You can subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for free at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Amazon Music or direct from SoundCloud below:

Retrosonic Podcast · Eel Pie Island Museum - The Legacy of The Thames Delta 60's British Beat and R'n'B Explosion

Here's a few more photos of the Museum and Eel Pie Island itself (copyright Retro Man Blog).

Michele, Pete and Buddy Ascott

The bridge to Eel Pie Island

The site of the old Eel Pie Island Hotel

The impressive list of Eel Pie Island Hotel shows

Tracklisting

Downliners Sect "Glendora"

Rolling Stones "I Just Want To Make Love To You"

Rolling Stones "Not Fade Away"

The Artwoods "If I Ever Get My Hands On You"

The Muleskinners "Back Door Man"

The Who "I'm A Boy"

Downliners Sect "Why Don't You Smile Now?"

The Steampacket "Can I Get A Witness?"

Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames "Yeh, Yeh"

Geno Washington "Hold On I'm Comin'"

The Manish Boys "Take My Tip"

With sincere thanks to Michele and Pete at The Eel Pie Island Museum. Eel Pie Island resident Sheba from Bitter & Twisted Cartoons designed the fantastic Eel Pie caricatures picture (as seen below), which can be found on tea towels, posters and postcards in the museum shop.   

The Others - Local 60's R'n'B Legends Celebrate the Reformed Crawdaddy Club's Tenth Anniversary - Photos & Report by Paul Slattery

The Others by Paul Slattery - Pete Hammerton & Paul Stewart

Last week the Tenth anniversary of the reformed Crawdaddy Club at Richmond Athletic Ground was celebrated in true style by R&B maestros The Others, a fitting band for such a tribute. The band who originally formed at the local Hampton Grammar School back in 1963, played a fantastic two set gig of around thirty songs laced with legendary R&B standards such as "Route 66", "Oh Yeah", "Goin’ Down" and "Can’t Judge a Book" alongside Paul Stewart’s own superb compositions "I’m Taking Her Home", "What’s Wrong With Me?", "Redwood League" and "Rockman".  I love this place as it’s so friendly and has a real authentic vibe to it, after all The Stones, The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things, The Others, and The Downliners Sect all played here back in the Sixties. Sad to note the recent passing of The Downliners Sect Don Craine who was a lovely guy and a local legend. You can see our features on the Downliners Sect live at The 100 Club and recording a BBC Session at our archive here.  

The Others by Paul Slattery - Paul Stewart

The Others by Paul Slattery - Geoff Grange from The Blue Bishops

After the Crawdaddy Club closed down, forty years passed by until it was resurrected back at The Athletic Ground by fans Mike and Sylvie Rivers just over ten years ago. They’ve tried to recapture some of the atmosphere of those times and host monthly gigs with new and established top name acts, both veteran and current bands. Unfortunately, Mike’s been ill for a while and was unable to make it to the gig, but by the wonders of technology was able to give his congratulations to the assembled crowd during the interval, receiving a great round of applause. The second set saw the band ramp up the pace and the dance floor fill up with some amazing shapes thrown by an energetic and lively crowd. Pete Hammerton on guitar & vocals, Geoff Coxon on drums and Paul Stewart on guitar and lead vocals all go right back to the beginning of The Others in 1964. Paul saw the Stones play the original Crawdaddy back in ’63 and the Others played at the Club in ’64 so you can’t get much more of a West London pedigree than that! Paul’s a mean mouth harp player too. 

The Others by Paul Slattery

The Others by Paul Slattery - Geoff Coxon

Bassist Rob Tolchard is now based in Australia so Steve King from The Great West Groove stepped up superbly to fill in on bass and Tim Staffell who plays regularly with Paul added a superb third guitar and vocals. Tim also went to Hampton Grammar School where he met Brian May and became the lead singer in the pre-Queen trio Smile. Geoff Grange from the Blue Bishops made an appreciated guest appearance on vocals for a couple of songs, accompanied by some of his excellent mouth harp playing. The Stones traditionally finished their sets at the club with "Hey Crawdaddy" and in the spirit of the night so did the Others with a few local lyrics added for the occasion! This band may be veteran but they are steeped in blues and R&B and it really shows. What a great night! They got soul! You can read our feature on the story of The Others in the archive here and there’s also a good piece in Garage Hangover here. 

The Others by Paul Slattery - Steve King

The Others by Paul Slattery - Tim Staffell

Just to prove it's not all about nostalgia, Tim Staffel and Paul Stewart got together in 2019 to record "How High" which also features Steve King on bass and the Great West Groove’s drummer Paul White. Incidentally, The Great West Groove have now resumed their superb blues night at The Brewery Tap in Brentford on the third Wednesday of each month and Tim and Paul often drop by to play. This is always a great night – it feels like Louisiana even though you’re in the West Thames Delta! You can find our more information on The Great West Groove at their official Facebook page here.

A big thanks to Julia Lewis at The Crawdaddy for all her help - Paul Slattery, March 2022.

Please click on the highlighted links below for further information.

The Crawdaddy Club - Official web-site and Facebook page

Tim Staffell - Official web-site and Bandcamp site

The Great West Groove - Official Facebook page

Paul Slattery on Amazon 

The Others by Paul Slattery - Paul Stewart

All photos copyright Paul Slattery.

Soho & The Roots of the Swinging 60's - by Back In The Day

Photo taken from BITD's website

I attended a great guided walk recently entitled “Soho and the roots of the Swinging Sixties”, it was organised by a company called Back In The Day and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Our Guide was Barrie Greene, a very engaging and friendly chap who had an infectious enthusiasm for the Soho area, the music and fashion of the early sixties.

Barrie concentrated more on the beginnings of the Swinging Sixties, the original scene setters and music of the time. This was interesting to me as most of the real movers and shakers were either overshadowed by their acolytes or remained in the background, so often get overlooked. You might be surprised to learn that some names, probably considered a little "un-cool" now, were in fact right there on the front lines! Who could they be...?

He explained how the Mods got their name and what they really listened and danced to, aswell as where they bought their clothes. You will learn about the various eclectic foreign influences on what is considered a very British youth movement.

Barrie talks passionately about some of the live acts he saw and also about some of the future stars that were starting out. He tells us exactly who gave the young Charlie Watts, Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger their first breaks in the music business. 

We are also regaled with many interesting and humourous anecdotes that put in place various diverse characters ranging from Christine Keeler to the infamous Kray Twins. Learn how Ready Steady Go! recruited their ultra-hip audience and what linked The Scene nightclub to a future Mott The Hoople and Clash producer. Find out which Sixties fashion guru has a plaque dedicated to them on Carnbaby Street, and it's not Mary Quant!

Barrie outside O'Neill's Irish Pub where he explains what famous venue this used to be - Photo by Steve Worrall

So, a great fun and informative way to see and learn not only about the legendary musical sites and characters of Soho, but also the development of music and fashion in the Sixties. To find out more information and enquire about future Back In The Day walks please click here.