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Birmingham Nightclubs of the Past - Memories

Mothers was a venue for bands that were not "Mainstream"...Yet had loyal followers..
I saw Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac ( Blues band before becoming commercial)......John Mayalls Bluesbreakers (John Mayall still tours the world at 77) ..
On reflection i,m glad there was never a fire...it would have been an absolute disaster.
 
I saw John Mayall's Bluesbreakers there as well. I also saw Jethrow Tull and Steppen Wolf amazing when you think back how small the place was. I saw John Peel there a few times as well. As you say Dave glad there was never a fire!
 
Well........We must have been there on the same night.......{late 1968).....Mick Taylor was on lead guitar and they played a fair bit from the newly released album Blues from Laurel Canyon.
 
davpen said:
Mothers was a venue for bands that were not "Mainstream"...Yet had loyal followers..
I saw Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac ( Blues band before becoming commercial)......John Mayalls Bluesbreakers (John Mayall still tours the world at 77) ..
On reflection i,m glad there was never a fire...it would have been an absolute disaster.
Click to expand...

I saw Peter Green and John Mayall's bands there too along with loads other bands over 2 or 3 years - Led Zep, the Nice, Fairport, Ten Years After, Blodwyn Pig, Joe Cocker, Jethro Tull, Emmerson Lake and Palmer.......I forget who now, it's so long ago!

There was actually a fire escape at the side near the stage and they used to open the door sometimes if it got very hot in there in the summer so it wouldn't have been a complete disaster if there had been a fire!
 
Amazing I now remember seeing some of those bands. If I remember right it used to open on Sunday nights or am I dreaming. To think we would have been there at the same time.....brilliant!
 
Yes, I think it may well have been open on Sunday nights.
It was open some nights in the week as well I think. I first went when it was still called the Carlton Club and it was definitely open in the week then. They used to have alot of local bands on in those days.
 
I also went to Mothers around 1969 - 1972. Yes it was open during the week, I think Wednesdays. Seem to remember Edgar Broughton Band was frequently on there. Pink Floyd, Marsha Hunt, Muddy Waters (I think he was due to appear but due to illness didn't) ...... well there were lots of bands that were already making it big or who were on their way to doing so. Remember the lists of who would be appearing, typed A4 sheets folded into a leaflet. Think there were white, pink and green sheets. Remember the massive posters ( or paintings?) on the walls. And of course there was the rough cider on sale at the bar. Dread to think what that did to your insides:( Viv.
 
Help!!! Could I have seen Leonard Cohen at the Carlton Club Erdington around 1966? Carlton was in High St by the junction with York Rd above Dales?? Furniture shop....not quite a club does anyone remember Erdington`s first coffee bar...The Pop In also in York Road around 1964.
 
Hi Barry: If you did see Leonard Cohen at Mother's it wold have to have been after August 9th, 1968. That's the date Mother's opened. Before that it was the Carlton Ballroom. I remember the first, to my knowledge, espresso coffee bar in Erdington High Street called the "El Toro" This opened in 1958. It was a few doors away from where the Carlton Ballroom was and I seemed to be there several times a week. The coffee was 9d per cup and that got you inside the door. The building had been a residence at one time and wasn't very big. I had left Erdington by 1964 so don't remember the Pop Inn coffee bar.
 
Hi Jennyann thanks for reply. I was born in Oxford Rd Erdington in 1949 and lived there till 1972, I cant remember El Toro do you remember any of the shops adjacent to it....thinking about it the Pop In may have not been opened until late 64...where did you live in Erdington??
 
Yes you are right.......It was Sunday nights!
Last year i went to see John Mayall and band near Melbourne. (He was here for the Byron Bay Blues festival held annually)...He was in the foyer of this venue signing and promoting the new c.d
I mentioned i had seen him at Mothers way back when.......He said he remembered playing there.....Amazing...
For me it was a special place as my late mum played piano there when it was the Carlton Ballroom.
Jethro Tull also were in Melbourne last April.......
 
Hi Barry: Firstly, about Leonard Cohen, whom an old friend of mine who loved his music years ago, used to call him"Drop of the Moans". She played Leonard's music constantly in the l970's. He could well have sung in Brum as a folk singer in the l960's but I can't find a record of him being in Brum. He did do some touring shows in Europe with a couple of musicians before he recorded his first album in 1967. He is enjoying a comeback which is amazing at his age but he is still well loved by people all over the world.
I have written many recalls on this forum of my memories of Erdington. I grew up in the Witton Lakes area of Erdington and attended Erdington Parish Church for many years. I still visit when I am in Brum. My brother lives in Four Oaks and I have several friends in the Erdington area. I have walked many many times between along Summer Road to Marsh Lane and to Stockland Green and know the area very well. It's changing all the time of course.
 
barryth1949 said:
Help!!! Could I have seen Leonard Cohen at the Carlton Club Erdington around 1966? Carlton was in High St by the junction with York Rd above Dales?? Furniture shop....not quite a club does anyone remember Erdington`s first coffee bar...The Pop In also in York Road around 1964.
Click to expand...

Remember a coffee bar near Taylors shop. Was on the same side of Erdington High St as Taylors, on a corner. I have a very vague memory of it being called The Griddle Inn. Viv.
 
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