Crawdaddy Club
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The Crawdaddy Club was a music venue in Richmond, Surrey, England, which opened in 1963. The Rolling Stones were its house band in its first year and were followed by The Yardbirds. Several other notable British blues and rhythm and blues acts also played there.
History
Giorgio Gomelsky was a Georgian émigré who worked as an assistant film editor by day and a music promoter by night. He began in the jazz scene before starting the Piccadilly Club, a blues club in central London. When that closed in early 1963 he needed a new venue and, since he knew the landlord of the Station Hotel in suburban Richmond, he took over the back room, which had been little used since its jazz sessions had petered out.[1] The name of the club derived from Bo Diddley's 1960 song "Doing the Craw-Daddy",[1] which The Rolling Stones regularly performed as part of their set. In turn the club would inspire the name of the American music magazine Crawdaddy!
Gomelsky's first house band was the Dave Hunt Rhythm & Blues Band whom he knew from the Piccadilly. Sometimes they used a young drummer called Charlie Watts, and for about six weeks in January–February 1963 their guitarist was Ray Davies, who later formed The Kinks.[2]
The Rolling Stones played their first gig at the Crawdaddy in February 1963, because the Dave Hunt band were snowed in during the
Within three weeks word had spread and the Stones took over the residency; by April they had two gigs a week at the Crawdaddy and a weekly slot at Eel Pie Island, 2 miles (3.2 km) away in Twickenham. The Beatles came to see them on 14 April 1963, and afterwards went back to Mick Jagger's flat in Chelsea.[4] Audiences overflowed onto the street, and the Crawdaddy was forced to move up the road to a larger venue, the Richmond Athletic Ground. During that time, the Stones had their first chart hit, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On".
When the Stones became too big for small local clubs and went on tour, their residency at the Crawdaddy was taken over by another leading
The Crawdaddy Club also ran events at the same time at The Star public house in
In March 2011, the Crawdaddy Club was revived at the Athletic Ground by Mike Rivers and his wife Sylvie. Gigs have been held on a monthly basis, and feature top R&B bands, including The Others, who were the third house band at the original club after The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds.[5]
The Station Hotel has gone through several incarnations, including as the Bull & Bush pub and Edwards. It is currently One Kew Road bar & restaurant where in 2015, Music Heritage London began hosting regular live 60s music events promoting cover bands of the era and more recently, The Crawdaddy Showcase offering contemporary singer / songwriters a platform on which to perform - a fitting tribute to the Crawdaddy legacy.[6]
References
- ^ ISBN 9781447203506.
- ISBN 9781135867959.
- ISBN 0-7894-9998-3.
- ISBN 9780595314874.
- ^ "History of Venue".
- ^ "One Kew Road, Richmond". Campaign for Real Ale. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
External links
- Official website of the revived Crawdaddy Club in Richmond[1]
- hosting sightseeing tours and live music events in West London / Richmond
- Eel Pie Club.com – gives information on the current Eel Pie Club in Twickenham and other 1960s r'n'b sites in the locality
- Heartland – provides current photos of the Crawdaddy and other "Rolling Stones London sites"