1964,The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker,

1st January was the start of BBC's Top of the Pops.  This new year's day show included The Rolling Stones 'I Wanna Be Your Man', Dusty Springfield's 'I Only Want To Be With You' and the desperately 'square' Swinging Blue Jeans 'The Hippy Hippy Shake'.  The show finished with the current no.1 - The Beatles 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.  Who knew the show would have a 42 year run?  We were just thrilled to get another music programme.

The Stones were seriously not popular with a big section of society, parents, establishment, Mary Whitehouse were all predictably appalled and thought they were a threat to the way of life we were currently enjoying. Hooray.  Having said this, not all teenagers liked them either.  Many of the girls in my class found them, filthy, disgusting or depraved and sometimes all three. 

For me music was a refuge from a world I didn't feel part of, it made sense and spoke to me in a way nothing else did.  In April I got to see the Stones play live at the NME All Star Concert at Wembley Empire Pool. There were lots of other performers, some good, some bad, the Stones were no disappointment, Mick and Brian looked fantastic, the music was great. 

Now I have a burning desire to see more live music, trouble is me and my friends are a bit young and many clubs do not really want 14 year old girls on the premises.  The blues scene was not new in London but it was now expanding at an unbelievable rate. This tiny island was a hot house for music, over the next decade some of the most amazing tracks ever recorded would be made here and we would witness some of the best live acts ever seen on a stage.  The Beatles were certainly the start, but they definitely weren't the finish.

After much whining and pleading my friend Pamela's older brother David agrees to take us to a blues club, as long as we don't embarrass him by mentioning the Rolling Stones.  To the blues purists the Stones had sold out by having records in the charts, Mick and Keith were not rated very highly, and plenty thought Charlie had made a definite wrong move by joining. We agree to his condition and are taken to the Manor House Blues Club to see Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. What a fabulous gig, they were brilliant, with the many members of the Blue Flames squashed on to the tiny stage.  The unmistakable sound of the Hammond organ with the Leslie was just great.  Georgie's taste was a mix of jazz and blues, his set included 'Seventh Son' and 'Love the Life I Live' by his hero Mose Allison, we weren't especially fans of Mose, but we liked the way the band played and Georgie looked good.

This year we are heading to Blackpool for our family holiday and my schoolfriend Carol is coming. We have to share a bedroom with my Nan, who could snore for Europe and along with her hearing aid emitting a ear piercing whistle in the middle of the night, we got little sleep.  My Dad hung a blanket between my Nan's bed and ours, but what we actually needed was to be in another town.

One night we were treated to front row tickets for the ice show.  Dear god it was dull that is until a skater in a dodgy gorilla suit came gliding across the ice heading straight for my friend and gave her a big monkey hug. Carol was horrified and terminally embarrassed, I wanted to laugh till I was sick, but managed to control myself.  She was still bright red when we got back to the ghastly flat.

Luckily we are back in London by 4th July to see the Stones on Juke Box Jury to judge this week's singles. An extra chair had to be added as there were usually only 4 members of the jury.  It was almost not broadcast because they behaved 'so badly' in rehearsal.  David Jacobs, the DJ/presenter was a bit miffed, they'd made comments like 'I guess it's OK if you don't have any aspirin in the house'. All very satisfying for us.

We're at the Majestic Ballroom in Finsbury Park tonight (July 15th) to see The Pretty Things for 4 bob. In a headline they are described as 'The Group that Ungassed The Stones' ?! I like The Pretty Things but I doubt they ungassed the Stones - whatever it means.

4th National Jazz Festival at the Richmond Athletic Grounds, and me and Pamela had ten bob tickets for the 7th, the Friday night. It was quite a long way, we took the overground train and got there early enough to find seats quite near the stage. The T-Bones, the Authentics and the Grebbels were on the bill and I'm sure they were good, but I have little memory of them. We were there to see the Stones, the audience were serious music fans, sitting quietly and well behaved in their seats.  We did the same and watched in awe, Brian looked stunning, particularly when he played tambourine. Loved Bo Diddley's 'Mona', the beat hypnotic, the guitar amazing. I was in a dream world, time had stopped. Unfortunately they over ran and we missed the last train, had to phone home for help.  My Mum told me to get the tube to Kings Cross and my Dad would meet us in the car.  This would not be good, dragging my Dad out was not going to be a happy situation.  Pamela was dropped at Canonbury Court and we continued home in an angry irritated silence.  I was not popular.  But the gig was what mattered and it was no disappointment.

A new girl joined our class, Sandra Ratcliff, who I knew from my previous school William Tyndale. She'd been expelled from Highbury Hill Grammar and parcelled off to us.  She was quite a hit and could be entertaining.  In the sewing class presided over by the scary Mrs. Sills, she pretended to swallow a pin, all hell broke loose, teachers appeared from everywhere, she was given bread to eat, milk to drink and taken to hospital.  I have the feeling she was nearly expelled from our school too, but in the end she left of her own accord. Sandra went on to do some modelling and acted in movies 'Family Life' and 'The Final Programme', she later appeared in Eastenders for a couple of years as Sue Osman.

Our second visit to Manor House with David, was to see the legend, John Lee Hooker, the backing band was the Groundhogs. We grabbed a couple of chairs right at the front. Mr. Hooker walked from the dressing room and on to the stage with his guitar, he looked straight at the audience and began playing. He had a powerful presence and initially I found him quite intimidating. I felt like I was being tested. Are you ready for this little girl?  'Boom Boom', 'Crawlin' Kingsnake', 'Dimples', 'Boogie Chillun'.  This was the real thing, was I ready? You bet your life.

Back again next month for Jimmy Reed, Jimmy was very happy to be here and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the surprising attention of the British blues fans.  He did 'Big Boss Man', 'Bright Lights Big City', 'Honest I Do' and loads more.  Them, the band with Van Morrison, were the support and the backing band for Jimmy.  They weren't a half bad blues band. Van was not the prettiest lead singer, but he had a good voice and was determined to show how versatile he was by playing everyone else's instrument and elbowing them out the way. Not sure what the rest of the band thought, we were slightly puzzled, but none the less amused.

Long John Baldry and his Hoochie Coochie Men often played the Manor House, Rod Stewart played harmonica and sang a few numbers, he seemed quite nervous and sometimes turned his back on the audience. He was very popular and often turned up in a red velvet suit. A rumour circulating at the time was that he wore women's underwear, don't remember if it was confirmed. 

Like much of the London blues scene, this band had its beginnings with Blues Incorporated, run by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and was the catalyst for just about every group you could think of.  Brian, Mick, Keith and Charlie of the Stones played with them, as did Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Paul Jones and John Mayall. Long John sang with them before he joined Cyril Davies All Stars - Cyril had split with Alexis due to 'musical differences'. After Cyril's untimely death, Baldry formed the Hoochie Coochie Men with Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, who had been in the All Stars. Later Rod Stewart known as Rod the Mod joined and, Jimmy and Nicky left...

Have to mention The Joe Loss Pop Show (BBC Radio Light Programme), as we there on a regular basis. Joe who was not our cup of tea, an ageing bandleader who had a hit with 'March of the Mods', an uptempo little ditty that was very, very annoying, but did have a spot on his show featuring current performers. We would go to the recordings at The Playhouse Theatre on Northumberland Avenue, down by the Embankment, where you'd get in for free and see some really top class acts. His show ran for some time, we saw Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck, Donovan, Cream, Georgie Fame, Sounds Inc., the Kinks... The show had a surprisingly good atmosphere and was often quite anarchic. Joe liked a bit of a laugh and so did the audience. One time he had Keith Relf conducting the orchestra while he (Joe) was dancing, it was really funny - maybe one of those things where you have to have been there.

Me and Pamela's interest in the Rolling Stones was increasing by the minute, we absolutely had to meet them in person, and thought our best bet was London Airport. So one day in October we made our attempt. Pamela stayed the night at my place, the alarm was set for 5.00am. We got up, got ready and left in the dark for the airport. Unfortunately nobody really knew how to get there, we'd looked at the bus map and worked out a route which involved more than a few different buses. Of course it took forever and as we arrived a couple of girls were coming out of the terminal, it was clear we we'd missed them. We must have looked so devastated they took pity on us and gave us the address of Mick and Keith's flat in Hampstead - this kind of information was usually a very closely guarded secret and rarely handed out. So a huge amount of thanks to whoever you were.

Soon after they came back from the States me and Pamela took the morning off school ( if anyone checked I must have attended the doctor's and dentist's with alarming regularity, but apart from an occasional raised eyebrow nothing was ever said), we took the tube to Hampstead and as we walked towards their flat on Holly Hill, Keith was looking out the window, stretching and yawning, we knocked on the door, chatted to them both and returned to see them again later that night. They were both really nice guys and gave freely of their time and continued to do so for the next couple of years. (Photo is of Keith at the door to the Holly Hill flat).

They worried about the amount of school we were missing. Mick told Pamela she should study and pass her exams, she told him she would. I think she may not have been strictly truthful. Mick wanted to know what kind of music we listened to, what singles we bought, what bands we liked. What we thought  of Little Millie's Ska track 'My Boy Lollipop'. That kind of stuff.

We could have surprisingly ordinary conversations. I'm not sure what other people thought was going on when we were with them, but my guess it was something quite different.

Mick and Keith's autographs Nov 1964

Mick's girlfriend, Chrissie Shrimpton, Keith's girlfriend, Linda Keith and his dog Ratbag all shared the flat.  The entrance via a long flight of stone steps, led to the first floor kitchen and living room with stairs down to the two adjoining bedrooms.  Mick's at the front painted green with a double bed and tiny electric fire on the wall and Keith's at the back much the same, but painted blue.  The bathroom was down there too which had the only toilet.

On one visit Pamela was desperate to use the loo, but Mick had just gone in for a bath and Keith said they had run out of toilet paper. We ran down to the tube station to use the Ladies, and of course the only paper on offer was the ludicrous invention sold by Bronco. We took a few sheets back anyway, but shiny toilet paper?! Really?!

Previously Brian, Mick and Keith shared a flat in Mapesbury Road. Mick and Keith took the Hampstead flat together, but Brian hadn't found a new place and was staying wherever - with his girlfriend Linda, sometimes with Charlie and Shirley, Phil May (Chester Street).