British Blues – Early British Blues Clubs – Bluesday Club

Bluesday R&B Club, Railway Hotel, Harrow

Here are details of the Bluesday Club which featured in the early British blues Scene, including the artists and bands that performed there and some details on ‘whatever happened to …’, plus readers memories of attending the club. Please note this page is currently being developed and will be updated soon.

History of the Bluesday Club

The Bluesday Rhythm and Blues Club ran from 1962 to 1964 and was located at the Railway Hotel, a Victorian hotel and public house associated with Harrow and Wealdstone Station. Owned by blues and harp legend, Cyril Davies, the club was dedicated to showcasing budding bands and featured a tiny stage which was all but filled with a huge grand piano. Within a month of opening, the club boasted 200 members and, it was observed that ‘Sunday evenings saw line upon line of Vespas and Lambrettas jammed into the pub’s car park’. In fact, the club became so successful that hugely popular TV show, ‘Ready Steady Go’ chose the venue for its quest to find the ‘the next Beatles’ – a show named ‘Ready Steady Win’.

The club hosted groups such as The Who; this group later featured the building on their “Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy” album cover.

Allegedly this was the venue where guitarist Pete Townsend first destroyed his guitar as part of the group’s stage act. After a period of dereliction the building was badly damaged by a fire, it was demolished and the site redeveloped as blocks of flats: the buildings, such as Moon House and Daltrey House have been named after members of The Who. [Sources: various]

Artists and Bands

Memorabilia

Memories

If you have memories of the Bluesday Club and would like to share them here, please email alan@earlyblues.com .