Forest Gate Arts' stalwart, Paul Romane, recently curated an
excellent exhibition on the Upper Cut club, fifty years after its brief sojourn
in Forest Gate, as part of the second council Heritage Week programme.
Above and below left, some of the exhibits curated for the exhibition. Below right - also in the exhibition - a Forest Gate 'mod' of the era - a typical Upper Cut patron
The exhibition was held in the temporary headquarters of
Forest Gate Arts, in Upton Lane, and this post is an on-line record of the fine
show. Paul, a long time devotee of the club, and in particular some of the Soul
acts that played there, had spent a great deal of energy drawing together
exhibits for the week-long show.
The Upper Cut club on Woodgrange Road later became the Ace of Clubs (above) and an outside shot of the gallery hosting the exhibition (below) |
A poster advertising the club, preserved from the era and on display in the exhibition. |
Paul collected mementos and memorabilia from a wide range of sources -
including Small Faces roadie and brother of band member Ronnie - Stan Lane, and
this website, together with many of his own souvenirs, to provide a
fascinating, evocative and inspiring exhibition.
Left one of the display boards in the exhibition showing adverts for the gigs appearing at the Upper Cut (loaned by this website). Right, some modern posters in 60's psychedelic style by Forest Gate artist, and sister of modern singer, Plan B, Lauren Drew.
This post is being published to mark the 50th anniversary of
the closure of the club - to make way for a bingo hall - in the last week of 1967. The artifacts embraced in many of the photos here are reproduced for the first time on this site, and add to the
considerable collection already here. See below for details of other blog articles on the club.
An original poster, featuring acts appearing during the club's opening week (note mis-spelling of Jimi Hendrix's name - he was little known in the UK at the time, hence the Boxing Day matinee gig). |
A flyer for one week's shows at the club, on display in the exhibition |
The curator - Paul Romane
Paul is a Newham boy; born in Plaistow in 1960, he has spent
his whole life - bar the decade of the 1970's - in the borough. He moved to Forest
Gate in 1981 and has developed a fascination with the briefly existing Upper
Cut Club ever since. Such is his love for the music it featured, that he named
his only son Otis after one of the venue's greatest performers.
He has spent most of his working life in and around the arts, as a singer, musician, video maker, recording studio owner, poet and local music archivist.
He has spent most of his working life in and around the arts, as a singer, musician, video maker, recording studio owner, poet and local music archivist.
We have written extensively about the club, which lasted for
only a year - from December 1966 until New Year's Eve the following year. (see
footnote for details of previous articles ).
The Upper Cut was located in a building on land next to
Percy Ingle's, on Woodgrange Road. The building was originally opened in 1902
as Forest Gate Public Hall, and served a variety of roles over the next century
- hosting a theatre, cinema, skating rink, the Upper Cut Club (briefly), a
bingo hall, The Ace of Clubs club, and an electrical warehouse, until its
demolition, in the early years of this century, to make way for a ventilation
shaft for the Eurotunnel rail link, which remains today.
Left - adverts for gigs at Upper Cut club, right - coverage of the club - all from the New Musical Express, at the time.
The location was awarded a plaque by Newham Council five or six years
ago, in recognition of the fact that it was there that Jimi Hendrix wrote and first
performed Purple Haze - widely regarded as being one of the greatest rock
numbers of all time - on Boxing Day 1966. The sign has subsequently been
removed, as developers Mura have taken over much of the surrounding land.
The owner - Billy Walker
The club was owned and named after British boxer, Billy
Walker, seen as a 'glamour' figure at the time of 'Swinging Britain'.
Billy was very much the front man for the club, with his brother, George, the
brains and businessman behind it. See here for details of Billy's local
associations and views on the club, based on a personal interview with this
website.
Above, programmes and Boxing magazines featuring Upper Cut owner, Billy Walker's boxing career, and the corner devoted to him in the exhibition.
Entrance and cloakroom of Upper Cut on night of Stax performance, March 1967, with large poster of Billy featured in the reception area. |
Billy, in a staged photo, surrounded by "adoring fans" at the club, in the midst of the 'Swinging Sixties' . (photo: copyright Getty Images) |
Billy (right) with Lord Bath previewing an exhibition of his lordship's controversial artwork on the walls of the club. (photo copyright of Getty Images) |
The performers
Although the club was opened for just one year, it attracted
almost all the prominent UK bands of the day (excluding, notably, the Beatles)
and some American black acts who were struggling to get recognition at home.
Most notable among them was Jimi Hendrix, who appeared at
the club twice.
Possibly the biggest night in the club's short life was on
18 March 1967, when the so called Stax tour appeared. They performed one of
their four UK gigs at the club, as part of a European tour. The star of the
show was Otis Redding - who was dead months later following a plane crash. He was
supported on the bill by Sam and Dave, The Mar-Keys, Booker T and the MG's, Arthur Conley and Eddie
Floyd.
Left - waiting outside the club for the Stax gig, Right - poster advertising the gig
Above and below, the programme for the night for the Stax gig |
New Musical Express coverage of the Stax night at the Upper Cut club
Ronnie Lane
One of the biggest UK acts to perform at the club was local
band, The Small Faces. The lead, Steve Marriott, was brought up in Manor Park,
while bass guitarist, Ronnie Lane, spent his youth in Forest Gate's Romford
Road. See here for this site's biography
of Ronnie.
Left - a cut-out of Ronnie Lane, with guitar - loaned to the exhibition by his brother, Stan. Right - a poster advertising one of Ronnie's later projects - Slim Chance
Left - one of Ronnie's jackets, right the label inside from 60's famed 'pop culture' retailer, King's Road's 'Granny Takes a Trip' - loaned to the exhibition by Stan Lane. Below - one of Ronnie's "country jackets", as Stan calls them.
Paul was able to track down Stan Lane, Ronnie's brother, who
was for a while the band's roadie. He now lives in Essex and has a considerable
collection of Ronnie's possessions and artefacts. He kindly lent some of these to Paul,
and they formed a central part of the exhibition.
What's next?
It is a great pity that at the end of the carefully curated
exhibition, its contents had to be returned to their original owners, as there
is no location on which to house a longer show in Newham - the borough being one of
only seven in London without its own museum.
Newham has a very rich musical heritage - particularly at
the popular end of the spectrum. Other
venues in Forest Gate alone worthy of public exhibition and recognition
include: the Lotus Club (see here for details), The Princess Alice, as host to
the first Rock against Racism (see here), The Tonic Sol-Fa college in Earlham
Grove (see here).
Beyond these narrow geographic boundaries is Canning Town's former Bridge House (see here) and pubs such as the Ruskin Arms in Manor Park (another venues for the Small Faces), Stratford's former Two Puddings pub (along with the Forest Gate's Jive Dive, home to perhaps Britain's first disco), Maryland's Cart and Horses (home, as the poster outside proclaims, of Iron Maiden) and Stratford Angel Lane's Railway Tavern (home of a sixties blues club).
Beyond these narrow geographic boundaries is Canning Town's former Bridge House (see here) and pubs such as the Ruskin Arms in Manor Park (another venues for the Small Faces), Stratford's former Two Puddings pub (along with the Forest Gate's Jive Dive, home to perhaps Britain's first disco), Maryland's Cart and Horses (home, as the poster outside proclaims, of Iron Maiden) and Stratford Angel Lane's Railway Tavern (home of a sixties blues club).
Posters advertising events at Kenny Johnson's Forest Gate's Jive Dive (Earlham Grove) and Lotus Club (Woodgrange Road)
In addition to the Small Faces band members, other prominent
musical performers with significant Newham connections include: Dame Vera Lynn,
Lonnie Donegan, Joe Brown, David Essex, Forest Gate's Plan B (Ben Drew), and a
very lively current Grime scene.
Future shows and dedicated exhibition space devoted to the
rich history and locations outlined above would make a significant statement
about Newham's pride in its musical heritage. But will the council be prepared
to recognise this and facilitate the celebration?
This site's back catalogue
Previous articles on this site related to the history of the
Upper Cut club can be found here:
When Otis played Forest Gate (March 1967) May 2013
Upper Cut (1) - a summary of the emergence of the first six months of the club (December 1966 - July 1967) July 2013
Upper Cut (2) - a brief survey of the second, and final half year of the club's existence (August 1967 - December 1967) July 2013
Georgie Fame, The Tremeloes and Unit 4 + 2 - (September 1967 at the Upper Cut) October 2013
When Stevie Wonder played Forest Gate - (October 1967) November 2013
Mouthwatering musical fayre on Woodgrange Road - (November 1967) December 2013
Club bills for the Upper Cut's two Decembers - (Decembers 1966 and 1967) January 2014
The Upper Cut beds down - (January 1967) February 2014
Essex comes to Forest Gate - (February 1967) March 2014
Stax comes to town - (March 1967) April 2014
A mixed bunch at the Upper Cut in April (April 1967) May 2014
Upper Cut - May 1967 (June 1967) June 2014
Summer of Love in Forest Gate (Summer 1967) August 2014
Golden Boy, Billy Walker's Forest Gate memories September 2014
Thanks
To Paul Romane for curating the exhibition and to Sophie Rigg from Forest Gate Arts for allowing us to use some of her photos of it.
I have one of the 'Stax Tour' posters, I am sure it is original due to the size, the paper type etc. but is there any way that I could tell without doubt that it is genuine? Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi. Does anyone have an original poster/flyer/ticket of when the early pink floyd played?
ReplyDelete