Tuesday 13th September 2022 @ 7.00 PM
Location: William Barry Theatre, St Mary’s Campus, University of West London, Ealing.
Buy Tickets here: Chiswick Book Festival
Copies of Rock’s Diamond Year can be purchased at The Ealing Club shop.
Chiswick Book Festival is hosting a discussion on the Rock’s Diamond Year book that explores the music history of the London Clubs that were the engine rooms for British Rock ‘n’ Roll. Hosted by authors Ralph Brookfield and Robert Hokum, alongside Cheryl Robson, book editor and director of the “Eel Pie Island documentary ‘Rock n Roll Island’
Ralph Brookfield and Robert Hokum are two of the authors of a new anthology published to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the opening on 17 March 1962 of the Ealing Club.
They’ll discuss Ealing’s role in the creation of the R&B style and the loud Marshall sound of guitar based rock music that’s now familiar around the world. The book chronicles the success of the Ealing Club, where the Rolling Stones first got together and prompted the development of a Thames Valley blues-based club circuit that included such legendary venues as The Crawdaddy Club, The Marquee, The 100 Club, The Half Moon, the Ricky Tick, The Bull’s Head and the Eel Pie Island Hotel.They join publisher Cheryl Robson to talk about this remarkable period.
About the book
- Celebrating Rock’s 60th Birthday, from the formation of the Rolling Stones and the heyday of the British Invasion to the spawning of the Reading Festival, this book explores the music history of the London clubs that were the engine rooms for British rock n roll. Many of the now legendary British rock bands honed their skills and developed their stage acts performing on the London club circuit at venues such as The Ealing Club, The Crawdaddy Club, The Marquee, The 100 Club, The Half Moon, the Ricky Tick, The Bull’s Head and the infamous Eel Pie Island Hotel. We revisit the days when Eric Clapton was God and Rock ruled the world.
- On March 17th 1962, Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies started the EALING BLUES CLUB. The first UK gig devoted to ‘electric blues music’. Musicologists agree that this event was the catalyst that would define British Rock music. The Ealing Blues Club sparked a musical revolution that grew further at Twickenham’s Eel Pie Island and Richmond’s Crawdaddy Club, 3 venues that were vital in the careers of: The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds / Eric Clapton, The Who, Cream and many more.
- Reviews:“…gives insight into the Big Bang of rock music and why it was centred around southwest London suburbs in the 60s. Highly recommended.”
– Mark Dezzani, DJ, Radio Caroline