CD Set 4 : Rockhouse: How Mods Got The Blues
England 1960, a new decade had dawned, but parents breathed a sigh of relief as normality was restored. Just a few years earlier, teenage menace had arrived on the back of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley. Cinemas were smashed, and the juvenile delinquency rates soared, but now the flames of a rock & roll revolution had been quelled. Buddy Holly was dead. Elvis had been tamed by the army and was singing ballads. Chuck Berry was in jail, and even the lame British pretenders to the king’s crown, Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard, had gone showbiz. Record sales began to fall as teenagers grew bored. Tin Pan Alley was gloating and back in control, churning out safe music for would-be sinners. Of course not all teenagers wanted what was on offer. Small cliques, usually art student types, demanded something more exclusive. Fads such as skiffle came, got replaced by trad jazz, which in turn succumbed to folk music. In general though, the formative years of the sixties seemed mild in comparison to the late 50’s and something spectacular was needed to change things.
In 1962 that change came. Four working class lads from Liverpool called The Beatles exploded onto the scene like an atom bomb. Playing a mixture of rock’n’roll and R&B, they may not have been original but they weren’t fake and were definitely exciting. The first time their record ‘Love Me Do’ was played in public was to the hip youths attending The Lyceum in London. The DJ there, Ian ‘Sammy’ Samwell, certainly had his finger on the pulse with his playlist of early American R&B that he had imported from Sam Goody’s in New York. He was soon joined behind the decks by a young mod named Jeff Dexter and between them they ensured The Lyceum on the Strand became the first bona fide club for the emerging mod scene.
The whole ethos of the mod culture centred around sharp modern clothes, obscure music and living the life. Early ‘Modernists’ may have hung out in smoky Soho jazz dives listening to Be Bop but by 1962, mods were young kids from London areas such as Hackney and Stamford Hill. Many were from Jewish families whose fathers were in the tailoring trade dressing them in the latest Italian inspired styles. They bought shirts from Connick’s Junior Man in Kingsland Road and handmade shoes from Stan Bartholomeu in Battersea. Other favoured places included Austin Menswear and Gaylords, both in Shaftsbury Avenue. Carnaby Street was still a little back street then but Vince’s and John Stephen were the in places for the latest trends in clothes.
Apart from the odd song surfacing on Radio Luxembourg or finding a club that played the right sounds, the only way to hear r&b would be live. The unsung hero of the blues in Britain is trad jazz legend Chris Barber who was pioneering in his efforts to get American blues artists to visit the UK. Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee were all financed by Barber, whose band had to act as backing musicians to these artists due to strict union rules in the late 50s. One such concert that would have a major impact on how the blues were received in Britain was Muddy Waters in October 1958. When he plugged his Telecaster guitar into an amplifier, many purists were horrified. They were expecting a concert in an acoustic rural country style which equally baffled Waters who was just playing in the modern style that he did back home.
One person inspired by these new sounds though was guitarist Alexis Korner, who along with harmonica player Cyril Davis had formed what would be the first electrified blues band in Britain, Blues Incorporated. By March 1962 the band had managed to embed themselves in a small jazz club based at The Broadway in Ealing known simply as The Ealing Club. Having convinced the owner to open its doors to the emerging R&B sound, it began attracting young musicians and blues enthusiasts from surrounding areas. These included Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Art Wood, Paul Jones, Jack Bruce and Brian Jones. Between them they would regularly get up on stage and join in with the band on certain numbers. By the end of 1962 Blues Incorporated were pulling in huge crowds but already many of their early followers had grown tired of their jazzy approach as they themselves embraced the rougher Chicago style of artists with magical names like Howlin’ Wolf, Slim Harpo and Muddy Waters.
Finding these precious records wasn’t that easy. Imhoff’s in New Oxford Street may have stocked some, but for those in the know, the place to be was a small basement at 27 Lisle Street where Transat Records sold the best and rarest imported sounds around. You had to be quick though as they were only open on Friday and Saturday mornings! Early blues fan, Tony McPhee, favoured Dave Carey’s Swing Shop in Streatham for those elusive blues imports but for others it may have been that little record store on Haymarket where a member of staff sold imports from under the counter.
Young guitarist, Brian Jones, became a well known record collector and it was his newly formed band The Rollin’ Stones (no ‘g’ at this point) that spearheaded the new harder sound. Several of the new bands began to adopt this style. Even Cyril Davis had grown tired of the middle class, goatee beard intellectuals that Blues Incorporated were attracting and left to form the R&B All-Stars with an immaculately suited Long John Baldry. The tide against jazz was turning as rhythm and blues started to make inroads at various renowned jazz venues in the capitol.
On October 21st 1962, The Free Trade Hall in Manchester played host to the American Folk Blues Festival featuring nine acts including John Lee Hooker, T- Bone Walker and Willie Dixon. Among the audience were Jimmy Page and the young Rollin’ Stones watching their heroes and taking notes.
It was also during October that year that the world held its breath as the Cuban missile crisis threatened to drag Britain into what would be the Third World War. After a long thirteen days of discussions Khrushchev finally agreed to remove missiles from Cuba and when this was announced on the radio there was dancing in the streets. Britain was still slowly recovering from the effects of the last war and many of the young resented their elders seemingly intent on entering another one. A new mood of optimism combined with enthusiasm swept through the new generation as they planned to change things for the better. An embryonic pubescent ideal that embraced all things new that their parents hated or didn’t understand, rejoicing in the fact that National Service had been abolished. Hire purchase had made practically everything readily available and with more leisure time the new teens could pursue their dreams.
In the early months of 1963 things were rapidly changing. The Beatles released their first album in March that year containing some smooth American R&B covers as well as originals. They shared with the Stones, a common love of Arthur Alexander. His ‘You Better Move On’ was covered by the Stones and ‘Anna’ by the Beatles. By now the Stones had just about managed to gain their first residency after many rejections. They took over the Sunday night sessions at the Station Hotel in Kew Road, Richmond. Soon known as the Crawdaddy Club, it was visited by Andrew Oldham and Eric Easton who signed the band to a management deal.
Back in the centre of the Mod Universe, London’s West End, Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames were packing them in at The Flamingo in Wardour Street. Their set list comprised of the early Jamaican ska rhythms and the soul-jazz tinged R&B favoured by Ray Charles and Booker T & The MG’s. ‘Green Onions’, ‘Do Re Mi’ and ‘Work Song’ were just some of the tunes that had the visiting black servicemen up on the dance floor but it wasn’t long before the mods joined them. Two other British acts were also offered a Flamingo residency at this time, Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band and Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds. Zoot could be found knocking out ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ to an appreciative audience whilst Farlowe recorded, for Decca, one of the first ever pieces of British R&B in 1962, when he covered ‘Air Travel’ which had only recently been recorded by Ray and Bob a few months earlier.
The live circuit for R&B was expanding as jazz was gradually ousted at clubs such as The Refectory at Golders Green, Klooks Kleek in West Hamstead, Eel Pie Island at Twickenham and The Ricky Tick in Windsor. There were two clubs that really came to the fore because they were directly touted at the mod scene. La Discotheque in Wardour Street had opened a couple of years earlier as London’s first ‘records only’ venue and by ’63 , with its soundtrack changing to R&B and ska, was specifically aimed at the mod market. The second was the newly opened Scene Club in Ham Yard just off Great Windmill Street.
The Scene club had one major advantage at the time: It had the greatest R&B DJ in Britain. 22 year old Guy Stevens had imported large amounts of American R&B and managed to implant himself behind the Garrard turntables at The Scene. His Monday nights at the club were ‘vinyl only’ sessions and these became the ‘in place’ to be amongst the top mods (known as ‘faces’).
Guy also ran the UK Chuck Berry Appreciation Society and was frustrated that his idol was languishing in jail for transporting an underage female across state lines. He was so frustrated in fact that he flew over to America and handed over his own money to bail Berry out. He then set about organising the first Chuck Berry tour of Britain.
Meanwhile in Manchester, a club in Brazenose Street called the Twisted Wheel had just enlisted the services of a young blues enthusiast called Roger Eagle. He would be the man to spread the word in the north of England introducing songs such as ‘Road Runner’ and ‘Kansas City’ to an ever mod orientated audience. His playlists were helped by the fact that he and Guy Stevens would exchange duplicate records with each other.
On June 7th 1963 The Rolling Stones released their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’, and although it reached #21 in the charts, many purist mods weren’t impressed. It was seen as sacrilege to cover such a highly esteemed artist and deemed quite literally a pale imitation. As a live act, mods still went to see them in the absence of the original artists but as for vinyl offerings it was always originals that were craved. Still, it gained them a wider audience and with their fame came new opportunities. The biggest chance came for them in September as they were booked on a UK tour with two of their heroes Bo Diddley and Little Richard as well as the somewhat dated Everly Brothers.
The second American Folk Blues Festival arrived on these shores and featured amongst others, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and Sonny Boy Williamson. Sonny Boy was so impressed with the enthusiastic reaction he received he decided to remain in the UK for a couple more months but Muddy Waters was left scratching his head as this time he’d bought over his acoustic guitar but found the audience demanding amplified blues. ‘I wish these folks would make up their minds!’ he declared.
The Crawdaddy Club moved from the Station Hotel to bigger premises at the club house of The Richmond Athletics Association. The Stones had outgrown their residency and been replaced by a band from the south-west London suburbs called The Yardbirds featuring an exciting young guitarist by the name of Eric Clapton. Their covers of ‘A Certain Girl’ and others were seen as fresh and exciting and this, combined with advertising the nights ‘for hip Modybodys’, guaranteed their success amongst the in-crowd.
As the year 1963 was coming to an end The Stones were in the charts with a Lennon and McCartney composition whilst The Beatles themselves were number one in both the album and the singles charts. The Yardbirds had recorded a live session backing Sonny Boy Williamson and a young band from Newcastle called The Animals had just started making waves at their first live appearances at The Scene Club.
The Animals were proof that the blues were alive and kicking up north too. If you lived in Newcastle the place to buy your giraffe collared shirts from was Marcus Price’s shop in Percy Street. The place to be seen though was the Club A-Go-Go a little further up Percy Street where the live acts included The Animals and the resident group The Junco Partners.
1964 started badly. Cyril Davies died aged 31 on January 7th with suspected leukaemia. Long John Baldry took over the band and renamed them The Hoochie Coochie Men, hiring a vocalist by the name of Rod Stewart. Stewart was sometimes billed as ‘The Mod’s Delight’ not only for his stylish attire but also for his authentic sounding renditions of ‘Night Time (Is The Right Time)’ and ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’, the latter of which he would release as his first solo single.
On April 16th, the Rolling Stones debut album appeared, containing twelve tracks; mainly R&B covers with two self-penned titles. On its release, it became one of the UK’s biggest selling albums, staying at number one for three weeks, proving that R&B had finally crossed over to the pop audience. However, one night, when the Stones visited The Twisted Wheel, Roger Eagle took great delight in playing the tracks featured on the album in the same order but by the original artists such as Rufus Thomas and Jimmy Reed.
In nearby Preston, a band was building up a big following with the local mod crowd. David John and the Mood were Bo Diddley obsessives and could pack out The Presto Bar. They would go on to tour with the Stones and appear with Sonny Boy Williamson and John Lee Hooker. They thrilled audiences in all the major London venues, the Bluesville in Wigan and the Sovereign in Moss Side. They went on to release a trio of singles including a fantastic version of ‘Bring It To Jerome’ that included a lavatory chain being dropped on a biscuit tin to add to the beat! Gene Vincent was so impressed he told them it was ‘a damn fine record’.
The mod scene remained an underground movement until the Easter Bank Holiday of ’64 when the newspapers were full of stories of the seaside fights between the smart mods and their counterparts, the scruffy Rockers. Mod was now big news and as more people joined their ranks the originality became somewhat diluted. Mod, like R&B, was now in the hands of the masses.
Guy Stevens finally got his wishes and on May 9th, Chuck Berry started his first UK tour supported by The Animals, Carl Perkins and The Nashville Teens. Guy had even persuaded Pye International into releasing some of their Chess back catalogue including material from Berry and Bo Diddley. It was because of this that Chris Blackwell, who was running the Island label, talked Stevens into running a subsidiary R&B label called Sue. With Stevens on board the striking red and yellow Sue labels were soon adorned with names like Elmore James and Sonny Boy Williamson and of course he could test the response to them at his Scene Club sessions.
Among the regular faces at Guy’s Monday night sessions was Peter Meaden. Peter was a freelance publicist who had handled promotional work for the Rolling Stones and was now championing Chuck Berry and Georgie Fame. Meaden was completely immersed in the mod way of life, seeing it almost as a religion. When he stumbled upon a young West London R&B band called The Detours he saw a chance to spread the Modernist gospel.
The Detours were kitted out in the latest mod threads and haircuts. He changed their name to the hipper sounding High Numbers and, with the help of Guy’s record collection, gave them the most up to date material around. Using the backing to Slim Harpo’s ‘Got Love If You Want It’ and The Dynamics ‘Misery’, Meaden altered the lyrics to preach about the lifestyle. ‘I’m The Face’ backed with ‘Zoot Suit’ was released on Decca on July 3rd 1964. With only a thousand copies pressed, the single flopped and the second coming was put on hold. Their shows however drew plenty of mods in as their act contained club favourites such as ‘Ooh Poo Pah Do’ and ‘Shout and Shimmy’.
On June 1st, the opening night of John Lee Hooker’s first nation-wide tour was at The Flamingo. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers got the honour of backing him but they were soon replaced by John Lee’s Groundhogs whose front man was the same young Tony McPhee who had been buying his blues records from The Swing Shop in Steatham a couple of years earlier.
Little Walter was booked by the Malcolm Nixon agency, a London booking firm specialising in folk, jazz and blues. They had already arranged month long trips for Memphis Slim and Champion Jack Dupree. As the agency could only afford to fly Walter over, a succession of local groups were hired to back him at the various venues. They also talked Pye into reissuing ‘My Babe’ to coincide with the tour.
On September 15th,Walter was picked up at the airport by Memphis Slim who took him to see The Artwoods at the 100 Club. Although surprised and impressed by the band’s quality, he could not relate to the boys long hair. Two nights later he made his UK debut at The Marquee Club in London backed by Long John Baldry & The Hoochie Coochie Men. The following night he was in Brighton backed by The Soul Agents and as the tour progressed, backup bands would include The Sheffields, The Artwoods, Tony Knight’s Chessmen and John Lee’s Groundhogs.
During the same month, Sonny Boy Williamson and Lightening Hopkins were here. The following month it was possible to see Jimmy Reed at Club Noreik or John Lee Hooker at The Flamingo. In November it was Howlin’ Wolf backed by the Twickenham based Muleskinners featuring future Small Faces organist Ian McLagan.
1964 had been the biggest year for the R&B boom and the popularity in the mod cult too. Lots of bands had formed through both influences. Many such as The Downliners Sect, The Pretty Things and Manfred Mann would go on to have chart successes. The High Numbers changed their name to The Who, left Meaden and went on to huge success. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles would go on to become legendary bands known worldwide. 1965 would see a decline in sales of R&B as soul touched down in the UK with the first Motown tour, giving mods a new direction; but the true roots of the mod soundtrack will always be R&B.
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Liner notes by Smiler Anderson, courtesy Nick Duckett
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The CD Set Contents
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DISC ONE |
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|
Track |
Artist |
Recording Date |
UK issue date/cat #/ album title |
|
1 Rockhouse |
Ray Charles |
1956 |
1960 London HAE 2226 What’d I Say |
|
2 Mashed Potatoes U.S.A. |
James Brown |
1962 |
1965 London HA 8240 Tour the USA |
|
3 One Mint Julep |
Sarah Vaughan |
1962 |
Mar 1962 Columbia DB 4807 |
|
4 Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette) |
Benny Spellman |
1961 |
May 1963 London HAP 8061 We Sing the Blues |
|
5 Wade In The Water |
Johnny Griffin Orchestra |
1960 |
1965 Chess 8041 (by Ramsey Lewis) |
|
6 Get On The Right Track |
Ray Charles |
1956 |
1959 London HAE 2168 Yes Indeed |
|
7 Parchman Farm |
Mose Allison |
1957 |
1963 Stateside 10106 Mose Allison Sings |
|
8 Night Train |
James Brown |
1961 |
Jul 1962 Parlophone 4922 |
|
9 Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt 1 |
Jessie Hill |
1960 |
May 1963 London HAP 8061 We Sing the Blues |
|
10 Land Of 1000 Dances |
Chris Kenner |
1962 |
1965 Sue 351 |
|
11 Come On, Pts. 1 & 2 |
Earl King |
1960 |
UK issue unknown |
|
12 Sack Of Woe |
Ray Bryant Combo |
1960 |
UK issue unknown |
|
13 Watermelon Man |
Mongo Santamaria Band |
1963 |
1963 Riverside 106909 |
|
14 She Put The Hurt On Me |
Prince La La |
1961 |
1965 London HAC 8239 |
|
15 The Seventh Son |
Mose Allison |
1957 |
1963 Stateside 10106 Mose Allison Sings |
|
16 Last Night |
The Mar-Keys |
1961 |
Aug 1961 London HLK 9399 |
|
17 Sticks And Stones |
Ray Charles |
1960 |
Sep 1960 HMV POP 774 |
|
18 Point of No Return |
Gene McDaniels |
1962 |
Sep 1962 Liberty 55480 |
|
19 Shout and Shimmy |
James Brown |
1962 |
Oct 1962 Parlophone 4952 |
|
20 Shop Around |
The Miracles |
1960 |
1963 Oriole 40044 Hi! We’re The Miracles |
|
21 Green Onions |
Booker T. & The MG’s |
1962 |
Sep 1962 London 9595 |
|
22 Do Re Mi |
Lee Dorsey |
1962 |
Feb 1962 Top Rank JAR 606 |
|
23 Work Song |
Oscar Brown Jr. |
1961 |
1961 Philips LP Sin And Soul |
|
24 Eso Beso (That Kiss) |
Paul Anka |
1962 |
Nov 1962 RCA 1318 |
|
25 I Believe To My Soul |
Ray Charles |
1959 |
1961 London LJZ 15238 The Genius Sings The Blues |
|
26 I Don’t Mind |
James Brown |
1960 |
1964 Ember 3357 Tell Me What You’re Gonna Do |
|
27 Hitch Hike |
Marvin Gaye |
1962 |
1964 Stateside SL 10100 |
|
28 Gin House Blues |
Nina Simone |
1959 |
1966 Colpix PXE 306 |
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DISC TWO |
|
|
|
|
Track |
Artist |
Recording Date |
UK issue date/cat #/ album title |
|
1 The Train Kept A Rollin’ |
Johnny Burnette |
1956 |
1957 Coral LVC 10041 Rock’n’Roll Trio |
|
2 I’m A Lover Not A Fighter |
Lazy Lester |
1958 |
1963 Stateside SL 10068 Authentic R&B |
|
3 I’m A Hog For You |
The Coasters |
1958 |
Oct 1959 London HLE 8938 |
|
4 Jaguar And The Thunderbird |
Chuck Berry |
1960 |
1963 Pye NPL 28027 Chuck On Stage |
|
5 She Said Yeah |
Larry Williams |
1959 |
Apr 1959 London HLU 8844 |
|
6 You Need Love |
Muddy Waters |
1962 |
Sep 1963 Pye NEP 44010 |
|
7 Mess Around |
Ray Charles |
1953 |
1963 London HAK 8023 Ray Charles Story Vol 1 |
|
8 Daddy Rollin’ Stone |
Otis Blackwell |
1953 |
1963 Sue WI 308 (by Derek Martin) |
|
9 Good Morning Little Schoolgirl |
Don & Bob |
1961 |
Jan 1964 Pye NEP 44022 |
|
10 A Certain Girl |
Ernie K-Doe |
1961 |
May 1963 London HAP 8061 We Sing the Blues |
|
11 Kansas City |
Wilbert Harrison |
1959 |
1959 Top Rank JAR 132 |
|
12 Looking Back |
Johnny Guitar Watson |
1961 |
1965 Decca LK 4691 The Larry Williams Show |
|
13 My Babe |
Little Walter |
1955 |
July 1963 Pye 28030 The Blues Vol 1 |
|
14 Poison Ivy |
The Coasters |
1959 |
Oct 1959 London HLE 8938 |
|
15 Road Runner |
Bo Diddley |
1959 |
Apr 1960 London HLM 9112, Sep 1963 Pye 7N 25217 |
|
16 You Better Move On |
Arthur Alexander |
1962 |
Jan 1962 London 9523 |
|
17 Do You Love Me |
The Contours |
1962 |
Sep 1962 Oriole 1763 |
|
18 Bring It to Jerome |
Bo Diddley |
1955 |
1963 Pye NPL 28029 Bo Diddley Rides Again |
|
19 Don’t You Lie To Me |
Chuck Berry |
1960 |
May 1964 Pye NPL 28031 The Latest And The Greatest |
|
20 (Night Time Is) The Right Time |
Ray Charles |
1958 |
1957 London LTZ 15149 Ray Charles at Newport |
|
21 Blue Monday |
Fats Domino |
1955 |
Mar 1957 London 8377 |
|
22 Rockin Pneumonia & Boogie Woogie Flu Pt. 2 |
Huey ‘Piano’ Smith & His Clowns |
1957 |
1965 Sue 380 |
|
23 A Young Man |
Mose Allison |
1958 |
1963 Stateside 10106 Mose Allison Sings |
|
24 Little Egypt |
The Coasters |
1961 |
May 1961 London HLE 9349 |
|
25 C.C. Rider |
Chuck Willis |
1957 |
Aug 1957 London HLE 8444 |
|
26 Casting My Spell |
Johnny Otis |
1959 |
May 1959 Capitol 15018 |
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27 I Put A Spell On You |
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins |
1956 |
1957 Fontana H 107 |
|
28 Let The Good Times Roll |
Louis Jordan |
1946 |
1956 Mercury MPT 7521 Somebody Up There Digs Me |
|
29 Any Day Now |
Chuck Jackson |
1962 |
June 1962 Stateside 102 |
|
30 Air Travel |
Ray & Bob |
2009 |
UK issue unknown |
|
31 I’ve Got Love If You Want It |
Slim Harpo |
1957 |
1963 Stateside SL 10068 |
|
32 Doctor Feelgood |
Dr Feelgood & The Interns |
1962 |
May 1962 Columbia DB 4838 |
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