Celebrating Ealing's Rock Heritage | |||||
Plans underway for major celebration and campaigning for a blue plaque
The Ealing Rock/Blues Club (The Ealing Club) is a community group led by Robert Salmons (aka Robert Hokum) the Artistic director of the Ealing Blues Festival and Alistair Young - who writes for Ealing Today below: Set up in February this year, our objective is to highlight the Rock and Blues heritage of Ealing, so that it can be celebrated into the future and provide benefits for the Ealing area’s venues and its festivals. On the 17th March 2012, we intend to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, beginning Blues nights at the Ealing Club, opposite Ealing Broadway station. Alexis Korner, who is cited by many as being the founder of British Guitar Blues, sought a club that would allow guitar amplification and chose the small venue in Ealing, on the recommendation of his first vocalist, Art Wood (brother of Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood). The 17th March 1962, Ealing marked the beginning of “The British Rhythm and Blues Boom of the 1960’s”. A musical movement that would create bands such as The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, The Who, the Yardbirds and the supergroup, Cream featuring Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. To fund our proprietary Blue Plaque, we held three very successful nights of live music at the Red Room (formerly known as the Ealing Club or Ealing Jazz Club). This featured contemporaries of the Rolling Stones such as Ali McKenzie (The Birds) and Don Craine (The Downliners Sect). To finalise funding, we will be holding three nights of live music on the 22/23/24 of November, whose highlight will be the Blues Tribute Night featuring veterans, Doc Stenson and Norrie Burnett, who both played alongside key members of Blues Incorporated. The Ealing Club Blue Plaque Campaign has been encouraged recently, thanks to On 22nd October 2011, the Saturday Telegraph also featured an extract from Boris Johnson’s book, stating the importance of Rock music in cultural terms and centred on the contribution of his hero, Keith Richards. This extract also mentioned, the Ealing Club. Perhaps, this activity will help the council to celebrate the Blues as part of the Cultural Olympiad, next summer and help boost Ealing’s cultural outlook into the future. The Ealing Club Blue Plaque Gigs
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