Created in 2018 the Ealing Club tea towel has proven popular amongst followers from as far as Japan, The US, Australia and Hanwell. We understand music students from West London have been pinning these to bedroom walls in Leeds and further afield.
All profits from the sale of such items have been ploughed back into Ealing Club CIC initiatives such as film/Music promotion and live events.
Key figures and events listed in the A-Z of Ealing Rock are featured along with iconic sights such as Ealing Studios, Gunnersbury House and The Ealing Blues Festival.
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The first edition is now completely out of stock and we have some updates planned.
Before any decision on a reprint is made we would like to ascertain future demand and include any thoughts, from anybody that might wish to express opinions about the music heritage that surrounds them.
An ode to the red rooms, (Ealing) it certainly isn’t….
but the newly released track “Scarlet” from the Rolling Stones is a fine example of an infectious guitar riff synonymous with all those guitarists shaped by American Blues & the UK Skiffle scene
The track originally conceived 47 years ago in Ronnie Wood’s basement (Richmond) merges the “gnarliest” of guitar riffs along with other instruments laid down in 1974 . Some polishing up in a contemporary studio has created a release apt for 2020.
According to Mick Jagger, interviewed on the Zoe Ball show on Radio 2, the track was a combination of Rolling Stones sessions involving Jimmy Page, Ronnie Wood and even some participation from Ginger Baker.
Rediscovered from the vaults during lockdown, the original recordings have been re-edited and complemented with some ‘Maracas’ to spice up the listening experience.
The guitar riff upon which this track hangs shouts out to the spirit of Led Zeppelin with a hint of Ronnie Wood mixed in. Jimmy Page was the guest guitarist to feature on the track with Keith being able to sit back and go with the flow, presumably making a contribution here on the acoustic guitar.
Sometimes, the best musicians know that less is more!
The 35th anniversary of Live Aid concerts at Wembley & Philadelphia pass this week. Billed by many as the greatest gig in history the event was conceived to raise funds for famine relief in Africa, following on from the momentous “Do They know it’s Christmas’ single brought together by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.
The sheer complexity and planning of the 13th July 1985 gig required technical innovation and ingenuity, not least in the area of sound production. Pick up any copy of the Live Aid box set and below all the artists listed you’ll find the name Jeff Griffin listed on the back cover.
The line-up for Live Aid on 15th July 1985. Jeff Griffin, here credited for audio production was a key player that helped the landmark gig come together. In his younger days he was a regular at the Ealing Club.
Jeff was a radio producer at the BBC whose credits included “ BBC In Concert” and recordings for the John Peel show amongst many others. His name is never far away from classic recordings of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, David Bowie and Queen.
His friendship with Alexis Korner grew at the BBC and as an Acton resident he visited the Ealing Club alongside other West London haunts (The White Hart Southall) back in their heydays.
Jeff Griffin’s personal recollections of the Ealing Club and Alexis form part of Suburban Steps To Rockland – The Story of the Ealing Club. Now screening on (Sky Arts/Now TV) + Sky NZ, VRT + KLM Airlines. (Sign up to the mailing list for future screenings)
Live Aid and The Ealing Club
Many bands that participated in Live Aid can be linked back to the Ealing Club scene. Even, the opening band ‘Status Quo’ are thought to have passed through the Ealing Club when known at “The Spectres” (Further confirmation of this is still required, so please get in touch if you remember them)
Other Live Aid participants such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, The Who, Eric Clapton most certainly did climb the steps out of the Ealing Broadway club. Elton John, David Bowie and later, Elvis Costello were never far away.
By 1985, the Marshall stacks that had emerged from a small London Drum shop based in Hanwell (Ealing Borough) were gracing the stages both in the UK and the US. Memorably, Phil Collins also did the same, something that in 2020 would be difficult to recreate with the demise of Concorde.
BB KING (another friend of Alexis Korner) ensured the Blues featured on the Philadelphia stage. It would be another few years before he would reach out to yet another generation through U2’s Rattle & Hum Album. In BB King’s biographical movie “Life of Riley (2012) the American Blues Artist would continue to name check Alexis Korner.
However, it was former Ealing Art College student, Freddie Mercury and Queen that were sealed into many memories on that day of Live Aid. Here’s a clip of Jeff Griffin talking about his first encounter with Queen and some background to the recordings he made at Wembley stadium.
His Live Aid recordings were recently included with the film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
