I Just Want to Make Love to You

February 1, 2007 3:33 AM

Eel Pie Island: the early 1960s incubator and catalyst of the burgeoning R & B scene in Twickenham and Richmond, The young musicians who played there included members of The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry, the Small Faces, to name but a few. BBC Radio documentary on Radio 4 (30 minutes). Plus, from about 1964 (?): pre-Wheels on Fire Brian Augur and the Trinity with three-quarters of Steampacket (Long John Baldry, the delicious Julie Driscoll, and Rod "the Mod" Stewart) I guess what with Augur on keyboard, the Steampacket didn't need their pianist, Elton John. youtuber
posted by Mister Bijou (10 comments total)

burgeoning R & B scene

Why not just say "music scene." R&B is so broadly applied as to be meaningless.

But man-o-shevitz the list of names associated with that place is a who's who. Whenever I hear the phrase "the greatest generation" I think of the talent born post WW2 -and not the losers who fought it.
posted by three blind mice at 4:11 AM on February 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

aye, but your brain works funny.
posted by the cuban at 4:17 AM on February 1, 2007

MB:

This is synchronicity--I just read a bio of Jeff Beck ("Crazy Fingers" by Annette Carson) that talked in detail about the central place of Eel Pie Island (which I had never heard about before) in the incubation of the London music scene that led to the "British Invasion" of 1964-5.

Great FPP.
posted by rdone at 4:51 AM on February 1, 2007

Why not just say "music scene." R&B is so broadly applied as to be meaningless.

You're right, it would have been better to describe it as the English version of post-war Chicago blues, with Leadbelly and Mose Allison thrown in for good measure. But if that particular music scene was called anything in London in 1961-63, that's what it was called, (British) R&B. See page with pictures of Marquee Club adverts for R&B: The Cyril Davies R&B All Stars (Part One). Elsewhere, more famous names ("Brian Jones and Mick Jagger & The Rollin' Stones") to be found at "The birth of British Rhythm and Blues": Twickenham Museum. Enjoy!
posted by Mister Bijou at 6:41 AM on February 1, 2007

Wow, I am so going to start saying "man-o-shevitz."

Thanks, TBM
posted by FeldBum at 7:16 AM on February 1, 2007

Thanks MB for the Cyril Davies link. Pure gold.

He preferred faithful re-creations of Chicago-style blues without embellishments, and once told Melody Maker, "If you like, I'm a purist. I don't like to see the music messed about. I like it straight."

There are still some cats today who prefer it that way.

So I stand somewhat corrected on my previous comment. The roots were a lot more pure blues than I thought... but I'm glad some of those artists "messed about" with the music.
posted by three blind mice at 8:14 AM on February 1, 2007

Every time I have scanned the front page today, I have read "Eat Pie Island".

I would be so down for a trip there.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:34 AM on February 1, 2007

and not the losers who fought it

Dude, be cool! That's my old man you're lumping in there. He was no Jeff Beck, but "loser" is a bit harsh.

Snark and derail aside, what is it about the post-Second-Big-Mistake generation and all the kewl stuff that came out it, anyway? Seems like one of the bigger flowerings of talent in contemporary Western civilization since, oh, just before the First Big Mistake and to a lesser degree, right between Big Mistakes.
posted by pax digita at 12:59 PM on February 1, 2007

I live in Twickenham and approve of this FPP.
posted by randomination at 2:01 PM on February 1, 2007

Dude, be cool! That's my old man you're lumping in there. He was no Jeff Beck, but "loser" is a bit harsh.

Harsh? Your old man's generation got themselves into a war of that scored an 11 on the batshitinsane chart and destroyed just about everything on the planet that the previous generation of warmongering idiots didn't.

Your old man might be a great guy, but there was NOTHING great about his generation - except the offspring they produced.
posted by three blind mice at 9:01 PM on February 1, 2007