Gigging in the North East 1965-1972. A personal perspective by Roger Smith
Just three days after the death of legendary blues guitarist Peter Green shook the music industry and music lovers worldwide, generations of northeast music fans were devastated to learn of the passing of one of their own guitar heroes, Charlie…
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on everyone and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Of course the effects of the coronavirus lockdown are variable. Not being able to venture out for a pint or a dance seems…
Iberia Airways flight number IB504 en route from Palma, Mallorca to London Heathrow on 5th March 1973 never reached its destination. It collided with another plane over France and exploded in midair killing all the crew and passengers. One of…
A few weeks ago I watched a programme on Sky Arts called “The Decade The Music Died”. It was all about influential musicians and artists who had died in the ten years between 2009 and 2019. Amongst others, the programme…
“Right back where we started from” in the context of this web site is a return to 1965, the year that both the Mayfair Ballroom and the Club A’Gogo were two of the best music venues in Newcastle. If you…
A couple of my previous blogs have revisited people, events and bands in the north east music scene from 50 years earlier ( What Goes Around Comes Around – 1966 and The Summer Of Love – 1967). For no particular…
Although the main theme of Ready Steady Gone is the northeast music scene from the mid sixties to the early seventies, I sometime come across a losely related subject that I can’t resist writing about. This one dates back to…
It’s a chilly Winter’s night in January 1966 – Saturday the 29th to be precise. My band, Jazzboard, have just finished performing at the West End Club in the Fenham area of Newcastle. We persuade our manager to take us…
Whilst driving home last week after a short trip to the northeast I turned on the car radio and caught the end of a very familiar song. It took a few seconds for me to realise that the song was…
I recently bought the February 2018 edition of Uncut Magazine, which includes an article about ‘The Great Lost Venues of Britain’. Uncut has written about 50 of the UK’s greatest lost venues chosen by the magazine’s staff and readers. Included…