RIP JOE COCKER Another one of Eel Pie Islands legends. Interesting roll call below. Wednesday 2nd October 1968 was a good day on Eel Pie Island. Monday 22nd December 2014 was a sad day for the world of music. Excerpt from Pete Watts content from eelpieislandmusic/eel-pie-island-roll-call Eelpiland as run by Arthur Chisnall ceased to operate in September 1967, probably closing its doors from September 4th, meaning all contracts after that date (above) were not honoured (but are included for posterity), and jazz would never again feature. Owner Michael Snapper allowed it to reopen in May 1968, initially presenting gigs put on by Richmond Arts Workshop, and “Southbank Artistes”, before it was renamed Colonel Barefoot’s Rock Garden when Caldwell Smythe took over its running, but records of who played at the venue in its new guise are hard to come by, other than some surviving posters, and individual testimonies that name-check The Who, The Nice, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and, again, Pink Floyd. Again, thanks are due to Nick Warburton and his site for the bulk of the next two years’ entries. Wed. Jul 31st – Spice Wed. Jul 31st – Spooky Tooth Wed. Aug 7th – Spice Wed. Aug 7th – Blossom Toes Wed. Aug 14th – Juniors Eyes Wed. Aug 14th – Skip Bifferty Geordies from the frozen north who became Heavy Jelly, initially a “Time Out” joke, but two of whom, Micky Gallagher and John Turnbull, became a pair of Ian Dury’s Blockheads Wed. Aug 21st – Jade Hexogram Wed. Aug 21st – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown While Arthur played here a couple of times, there was at least one occasion when his headgear set the stage curtains alight, You can guess during which number, but you can hear Alan Winter’s recollection over on the “Listen!” page under “Your Memories”. Carl Palmer is by now occupying the drummer’s stool Sat. Aug 24th – David Booth Sun. Aug 25th – Gethsemane Wed. Aug 28th – East Of Eden Wed. Aug 28th – The Nice Local author Judy Astley remembers Keith Emerson doing the dagger trick, sticking them into his keyboards, thus jamming them into ‘play’ mode, then ending up off the stage, having to run round the side to get back on, and being prevented doing so by some sort of steward, who, on hearing the organ still playing, refused to believe Emerson was the organist in the band Wed. Sep 4th – The Action Sun. Sep 8th – Dynaflow Blues Mel Wright from Dynaflow Blues contacted us during the project, with this info and the fact they were paid the grand sum of £10 for their efforts: his lot were responsible for starting The Blues Scene nearby at The Crown in St. Margarets on a Saturday night, where occasionally Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke sat in. Tonight, however, regular blues-harpist Chris Elvin had left, so Duster Bennett stepped in. Mel’s next venture, The Nighthawks, appeared on the Island sometime in the following year Wed. Sep 11th – The Moody Blues This is no longer The Moody Blues of “Go Now” fame, but in the process of becoming those of “Nights In White Satin” fame Sat. Sep 14th – Gracious Wed. Sep 18th – The Downliners Sect Wed. Sep 18th – Family Wed. Sep 25th – Village A short-lived venture led by Peter Bardens, who had played with Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green in The Peter B’s, Rod Stewart in Shotgun Express, and would later do more successful things with prog outfit Camel Wed. Sep 25th – Eclection Sat. Sep 28th – Gracious Wed. Oct 2nd – Terry Reid More famous, possibly, for being the vocalist who didn’t sing in Led Zeppelin, Reid nevertheless has been an undervalued artist for most of his career Wed. Oct 2nd – Joe Cocker & The Grease Band This gas fitter from Sheffield is about to become enormous, albeit with a little help from his friends Sat. Oct 5th – Gracious Sun. Oct 6th – John Thomas Blues Band Wed. Oct 9th – Freedom Wed. Oct 9th – Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera Elmer Gantry had previous at Eel Pie Island as vocalist with The Five Proud Walkers, and surfaced some six years after tonight in an ersatz Fleetwood Mac, formed to fulfil a contractual tour that the originals were unable to do because of their internal shenanigans, which ended in legal chaos when audiences failed to recognise any bona-fide Mac members on stage. This outfit then evolved into Stretch, one-hit wonders, whose “Why Did You Do It?” was precisely about that experience Wed. Oct 16th – July Wed. Oct 16th – Colosseum His days of The Graham Bond Organisation long behind him, sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith returns with Jon Hiseman’s progressive jazz-rock pioneers Wed. Oct 23rd – David Booth Wed. Oct 23rd – Proteus Wed. Oct 23rd – Gethsemane Wed. Oct 23rd – The Alan Bown! Wed. Oct 30th – Proteus Wed. Oct 30th – East Of Eden While gaining an atypical hit record with “Jig-a-Jig” a full three years after tonight, violinist Dave Arbus is arguably more famous for his contribution to The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” just after that. Perhaps tonight was the start of that fruitful relationship Wed. Oct 30th – The Who Today’s entries are from a particular poster advertising this gig specifically. Despite Pete Townshend having lots of local history, Arthur Chisnall never booked The Who, fearing an invasion of scooter-borne Mods, but they did appear at Eel Pie Island during the ‘Rock Garden’ era, when Townshend used the gig to try out some material he’d written for an ‘opera’ to be called “Tommy”. Witnesses suggested he stick to the three-minute single formula! Wed. Nov 6th – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown Wed. Nov 13th – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:30:21 +0000
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