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Birmingham pubs used for gigs by famous musicians or groups?

Kat7272

Kat7272

master brummie
I recently looked up some information about a Birmingham pub that was used for gigs.

It got me thinking, which pubs in Birmingham have been used by local musicians or groups that have been or are famous?
 
Gosh, quite a few I imagine, especially in the 1960's.

Black Sabbath used to play at the Crown in Station Street (Henry's Blues House) when they first formed and originally went under the name Earth.

The Spencer Davis Group with Steve Winwood started out playing at the Golden Eagle in Hill Street.
 
Where did Sabbath play in Brum when they were Black Sabbath?

I wonder if Steve Winwood still has his accent like Ozzy!
 
Kat7272 said:
Where did Sabbath play in Brum when they were Black Sabbath?

I wonder if Steve Winwood still has his accent like Ozzy!
Click to expand...

I think they changed their name to Black Sabbath during the time they played regularly at the Crown (they were then managed by Jim Simpson, the guy who ran the Henry's club night on Tuesdays at the Crown). After that they had a hit with their single Paranoid and went on to play all over the place.

Steve Winwood lives in the Cotswolds now and no, he doesn't have quite as much of an accent as Ozzy!!!
There are lots of clips of him on YouTube including an interesting documentary.

There are alot of other Midland musicians who played at Brum pubs before they got famous but I can only think of those two bands who had residencies as the same band members.

Robert Plant and John Bonham both played the Brum pub circuit with various bands prior to Led Zep as did Carl Palmer with was part of ELP.
Also Roy Wood of course!
 
Thanks, I will look these up. I don't men to make you feel old, but it was before my time. Sixties rock is timeless I am trying to learn about it and where better to start than where I was born, Birmingham, UK!
 
I'm afraid I am getting on a bit now - lol!!!
I remember all that because I was there and saw most of these musicians play live before they became famous.

There's lots of info about Brum bands in the 60s and 70s on the Brum Beat website if you're interested.
 
Another source of info is Birmingham Music Archive, they have a website and are also on FB - they have stuff about much more recent bands too.
 
Oh wow, to think you have seen them, that's great. I would have loved to have lived in the 60's.

I will look up the sites. Great, thanks for the info. The Spencer Davis Group, I'm the man, I heard that and thought it was an American group. I was delighted to learn that Steve Winwood was from Birmingham!
 
I have looked up Steve Winwood on you tube, very interesting, I will look at the other recommendations asap. He still has a bit of a Brummie accent which is great. What an amazing voice he had and still has, he must have drawn in the crowds. Good times those days must have been.
 
Remember seeing Robert Plant before Led Zep when he was the frontman of the Band of Joy.
It was at the BSA apprentices do in the canteen in Armoury Rd Small Heath. Around 1967.
Didn't Duran Duran have a weekly residency at the Rum Runner club Broad St before fame.
 
In 1975 I had an invite along with my wife to the 21st birthday party of Trevor Francis at the Swan, Yardley.
It was a who’s who of BIrmingham rock bands.Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Raymond Froggatt, , Carl Wayne Bev Bevan, and many more, plus a multitude of local first division soccer players
My memory is fading, but it ended with the biggest brum and soccer player combined music jam ever staged in Brum, they played all of their number ones into the the early hours!!!!!
 
what a line up fisho...our dad once told me that raymond froggatt is a rellie of our line of froggatts..keep meaning to delve into that to find out but not got round to it...must find the time soon

lyn
 
Morturn said:
Was it the Railway on Curzon Street that was the home of a few decent bands?
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Yes, lots of bands played at the Railway, probably the best known in the 70's were the Steve Gibbons Band and Magnum.
I think Judus Priest played there too.
 
Froggy wrote hits for the Dave Clarke Five, Cliff Richards, and had a number one hit in New Zealand with Rachel, song by Russell Morris. It was a Vietnam protest song, and made 23 in Australia.
He was always on the cusp of making it in the UK, but found his potential as a country singer, overseas, and to some extent in the uk as well.
We went to a private function in a mansion in Moseley in 1970 where froggy was playing, and after the gig he said “what are you doing now?” We are going for a curry at the Kashmir at the Swan, I said
He said we are going to the Belfry, Fleetwood Mac are on. Forget your curry follow the transit van.
We went through the rear entrance of the dance floor, into where Peter Green would have been performing one of his last gigs with the band.
Froggy still is, as people tell me, a very nice guy, having not changed at all.
 
Thanks Kat 72, Incidently Stevie Nicks didn’t join till mid seventies along with Lindsey Buckingham!
 
Yes, I do know a bit of the history on Fleetwood Mac, from tv documentaries. But my knowledge of Brum history is rubbish, but I am getting better and this forum is the best place to learn. Some great info and members here.
 
Good to see you back on the forum fisho.
I saw the best version of Fleetwood Mac, the Peter Green years at the Swan in Yardley in 1969.
Also Rory Gallaghers Taste at the same venue, same year.
Also in early 70s Moody Blues, The Move, Roxy Music, Screaming Lord Such arriving on stage in a coffin all at the Belfry, Wishaw, and probably my most memorable gig, The Who at Mothers Club Erdington in 1968. I was just a few feet from Pete Townsend in his white boiler suit doing his windmills. Moon the loon collapsed on the drums and had to be revived with a bucket of water.
Great days, where has the time gone.
The Moodies, all good Brummies bar Justin Haywood.
 
Elmdon Boy said:
Good to see you back on the forum fisho.
I saw the best version of Fleetwood Mac, the Peter Green years at the Swan in Yardley in 1969.
Also Rory Gallaghers Taste at the same venue, same year.
Also in early 70s Moody Blues, The Move, Roxy Music, Screaming Lord Such arriving on stage in a coffin all at the Belfry, Wishaw, and probably my most memorable gig, The Who at Mothers Club Erdington in 1968. I was just a few feet from Pete Townsend in his white boiler suit doing his windmills. Moon the loon collapsed on the drums and had to be revived with a bucket of water.
Great days, where has the time gone.
The Moodies, all good Brummies bar Justin Haywood.
Click to expand...

I remember that gig by Fleetwood Mac at the Swan, Yardley. It cost all of 50p to get in and it was a great evening's music. I also recall seeing Status Quo at the Bull's Head, a year or so earlier, I think. They'd just made it big with Pictures of Matchstick Men and wore smart suits and ties with short hair. Everybody waited for them to play their hit but they carried on with other songs, apparently thinking they had more time than they did. It wasn't until they saw everybody queuing up for their coats that they realised and quickly launched into Pictures of Matchstick Men. But the dance floor stayed empty!


Regards, Ray T.
 
I totally agree about Fleetwood Mac being at their best with Peter Green - and I also saw them at The Swan, Yardley, so maybe I rubbed shoulders with Ray T and Elmdon Boy! The later F Mac seems a bit too 'glam' for me, their earthy-bluesy feel long gone, unfortunately.

Peter Green was something of a guitar-hero of mine, and I saw him with John Mayall Bluesbreakers I think at Mothers, and also in Brighton. One of my most-played cd's is Peter Green covering Robert Johnson songs. I saw The Who (and lots of other bands) at Birmingham University Students Union, and also at Midnight City, which was a strange place if ever there was one. No drinks licence! Cream played there too, and I must have been there, as I was (and still am) a huge fan, but blowed if I can remember! That was the Sixties for you!

G
 
The Marquee club in London's Wardour St had no alcohol licence either! My friend and I went there when we were staying in London for a couple of days. As Mothers regulars we found that very strange!

I saw Fleetwood Mac at Mothers and also at Le Metro, they had a blues type evening in the week there for a while. Also saw the headlining at Droitwich Blues Festival in 68, Danny Kirwen had just joined, he looked so young (was still a teenager)!
 
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