This picture shows Ealing Broadway station and opposite in the early 1960s. It was around this sort of time at the Ealing Club in an alleyway to the right of the picture that the nascent UK blues scene was born.

As the bottom picture shows a lot has changed since then. Most recently of all, as of this lunchtime there is now a plaque commemorating the site’s place in rock history which today was unveiled by Bobbie Korner, widow of Alexis Korner the club founder and John Gallagher, Mayor of Ealing. Steve Pound MP and council-leader Julian Bell were also present. The report at Ealing Today is here. More pictures of the media scrum are at this specialist music blog of Tom Robinson’s (a legend himself). As well as  Tom himself, whispering Bob Harris and Stones sticksman Charlie Watts were in attendance were – rock royalty. Events included some banging live blues in this basement venue after the official ceremony. Forget the Cavern, when London was undergoing transition from austerity times to being truly swinging Ealing is where it was at, in terms of the capital’s cutting-edge musical pulse (forgive the mixed metaphors). Weird to think such a significant spot in our musical heritage was an in off-centre location at the end of two tube lines: proof, if proof were needed that the suburbs really do rock.

About these ads