Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek: West Hampstead's Musical Heritage Remembered

Product Information

October 1966 – Gaumont, Doncaster with The New Animals, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Eyes of Blue May 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire with John McCoy’s Crawdaddies (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette) Situated next to Decca Studios, KK was a favourite drop-in before or after work for music stars, notably Tom Jones, Lulu, and Mike Smith of the Dave Clark Five. Eric Burdon often dropped-in, particularly when Georgie Fame or Zoot Money were appearing, sometimes accompanied by other members of the Animals. The surprise visit which passed into legend was the one made by Jimi Hendrix whose manager Chas Chandler, formerly of the Animals brought him in one night when John Mayall was topping the bill. Jimi was never booked, but he was invited to jam with the John Mayall band, and that night’s crowd was ecstatic. Individual memories of Klook’s Kleek abound, some of them misted by time but all of them enthusiastic. January 1969 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Frogg Moody and Richard Nash’s book Hold Tight!) January 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Finders Keepers and Barmy Barry Show (Express & Star)

October 1967 – At the Union, Manchester with The Waterboard (Manchester Evening News and Chronicle) February 1966 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire (Beat Instrumental) Advertised as Markham Hall so just needs confirmation/Boyfriend magazine has the band at Leascliff Hall, Folkestone on this dateTo coincide with this we will be doing an illustrated talk at West End Lane Books on Monday 18 November at 7.30. Come along to hear the true story about the Beatles failed audition at Decca, the evening that Jimi Hendrix played at Klooks, as well as the other great people who played at the club which was run in the Railway Hotel for nine years. December 1966 – Gig in Shrewsbury (possibly Severn Club), Shropshire then Midnight City, Birmingham (Disc & Music Echo) The pub facade will remain unchanged but it would need to close for 18 weeks while the work is carried out.

Known as ‘Bleak House’ from the terrible condition it was in, Sandy Brown said that about 50 jazz musicians in the 50s and 60s lived in this house in Fawley Road. Colin Purbrook and Brian Lemon were pianists. Tony Coe was a sax player and Jimmy Deucher played trumpet.Formed in late 1959, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds comprises the following line-up by spring 1963: October 1966 – Odeon, Liverpool with The New Animals, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Eyes of Blue October 1966 – Paris Olympia, Paris, France with The Alan Price Set (Disc & Music Echo) Clashes with Birdcage gig above so may not have happened September 1966 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Otis Redding & his American Band, The Gates of Eden, The Rising Sons and The Ferryboys (Lincolnshire Standard) October 1966 – Gaumont, Southampton with The New Animals, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Eyes of Blue

July 1963 – Marquee, Oxford Street, London with (Mann-Hugg) Blues Brothers (Tony Bacon book: London Live) June 1967 – Supreme Eastern Esplanade, Ramsgate, Kent with Len Marshall Show (East Kent Times & Mail) April 1965 – Birdcage, Kimbells Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire with Brian Auger Trinity (Dave Allen research) May 1964 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book) David Greenslade joined on keyboards around June and Albert Lee took over from Bobby Taylor on lead guitar.August 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette) In 1963 the promoters were very aware of a burgeoning scene in both blues and RnB which arrived at Klooks Kleek in the shape of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. The band’s mix of Louis Jordan, soft soul, funk and even vocal versions of bebop numbers (“Parker’s Blues”) met the interests of a pretty diverse audience. Their first appearance at KK was on a scheduled Jazz night causing a queue of a rare length and mass approval of their music. They opened the Tuesday RnB nights on 10 September 1963 and performed a further twenty-one times, continuing to appear at this small venue even after two No 1 chart singles. Their legendary manager, Rik Gunnell, allowed them to work for “peanuts” every so often because the band so liked the ambience of KK. November 1963 – Long’s Ballroom, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with Brian Poole & The Tremeloes (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday) March 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Geoff Williams research: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek book) August 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with The Ray Clevelands (Kingston & Malden Borough News)