Rock legends have paid tribute to the 'father of British blues' John Mayall following his death in California at the age of 90.
Much has been made of how the pioneering musician - and his band The Bluesbreakers - gave early career breaks to Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and multiple members of Fleetwood Mac.
But few have mentioned that many of his early gigs were played in the upstairs room of a West Hampstead boozer, with flock wallpaper, chandeliers, red velvet curtains, a regulation pub carpet and a stage made from wooden crates.
A cutting from the Ham&High from 1993 of John Mayall outside The Railway pub with a plaque commemorating its musical past (Image: Peter Murray)
From 1961 to 1970, the unlikely surroundings of the Railway Hotel in West End Lane hosted one of swinging London's legendary music clubs.
Klooks Kleek was founded by St John's Wood schoolfriends Geoff Williams and Dick Jordan as a jazz club but started a regular Tuesday R'n'B night amid the rising popularity of American blues music.
Over a decade, it hosted gigs by Rod Stewart, a 15-year-old Stevie Wonder, Georgie Fame, John Lee Hooker, Led Zeppelin, Elton John (playing as Reg Dwight) and Deep Purple, among others.
Cream played there in November 1966 for a fee of £89. In his history of the band, author Dave Thompson writes that the audience “was already spilling through the downstairs bar and into the street. If people couldn’t actually see the band they could listen through the wall.”
John Mayall and his band The Bluesbreakers recorded their debut album at the club above The Railway Hotel, West Hampstead (Image: Supplied)
Mayall played there 33 times and recorded The Bluesbreakers' debut album John Mayall Plays John Mayall - Live At Klooks Kleek in 1964.
The pub was next door to the Decca recording studios and Mayall was among several performers who ran cables out of the back window, over the roofs and into the studio to capture their live performance.
Recording stars such as Tom Jones and Lulu would pop in to the club after work, as would music industry execs spotting up and coming bands.
On one memorable night, Jimi Hendrix came in when Mayall's band was topping the bill and was invited to jam on the tiny stage - borrowing an instrument from future Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.
Fleetwood Mac, who recorded their debut album at Decca, also owe a debt to Klooks Kleek. Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green and John McVie all played with Mayall, and the future Christine McVie also appeared there as Christine Perfect.
Eric Clapton played with Blues Breakers at Kloots Kleek and recorded the famous 'Beano album' with them next door at Decca recording studios (Image: Supplied)
Eric Clapton joined Mayall's band in 1965 and the following year they recorded the so-called 'Beano album', which featured the guitarist reading the comic on the cover.
In a video posted on X, Clapton thanked Mayall for 'rescuing me from oblivion and god knows what' when he encouraged him to join his band.
"I learned all that I really have to go on today in terms of technique, and desire to play, the kind of music I love to play," he added.
"He taught me that it was OK just to... play the music you wanted to play... he was my mentor, and as a surrogate father too, he taught me all I really know and gave me the courage and enthusiasm to express myself without fear or without limit."
On social media, Mick Jagger called Mayall "a great pioneer of British blues with a wonderful eye for talented young musicians," while Ronnie Wood said he was "an important figure on the English blues scene who nurtured the talent of many great guitarists. He was a musical trailblazer for all of us".
Posting in the British Blues Archive, Paul Soper was at the club the night Mayall recorded his album. He was a regular visitor, later seeing Clapton play with the band.
Paul Soper was at the club the night John Mayall's band Bluesbreakers recorded their debut album and again in 1965 when the new guitarist Eric Clapton was playing (Image: Paul Soper)
He writes: 'That night the band was augmented by a sax-player, Nigel Stanger, and the cables were run over the roof of the pub from the adjacent and convenient Decca recording studios. On a couple of numbers I tried to keep clapping longer than anyone else and I swear I can hear me! A number of live recordings of bands were made this way, including one by Cream a while later. The album came out in April 1965 and I was quite disappointed, when I brought my album to be autographed, to discover that Roger had been sacked and replaced by an upstart - a certain Eric Clapton!
"I did get Eric's autograph that night - but I also took some photographs. Why didn't I take more? Cost of film was one reason, getting into Klook's Kleek was 6/- (30p), but probably cost of flash-bulbs was another restraining factor. And which other bands would have allowed me the access to take pictures with the same freedom as John? Which other venues would have been as perfect too - no stage at Klook's Kleek, the band played on the floor so if you were at the front you were face-to-face with the band."
Soper describes the upstairs function room of the pub in West End Lane, adding there were bars on the ground floor, in the basement and upstairs.
"At the interval the band would go with the punters to get a drink, all very democratic. Admission was controlled by the bouncers, who were mainly friendly ex-boxers and you were well advised to become friends with them so that they would squeeze you in if, technically, capacity had been reached."When Led Zeppelin played the club on April 1 1969 their contracted stated they would be paid between £60 in cash (Image: Courtesy of Dick Weindling)
Lifetime club membership at Klooks Kleek cost a shilling and entry was 6/ (30p) By the time the club closed it had a 50,000 strong membership but a capacity of under 400, which affected its financial viability.
And as the bands hit the big time, they moved on, with Mayall moving to California in 1969. He returned to the pub in 1993 and was pictured in the Ham&High with a plaque commemorating the heyday of Klooks Kleek.
Dick Weindling and Marianne Colloms have written a book on Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek.
Weindling recalled the club founders knew the pub had hosted music nights by the likes of George Melly and approached the manager to rent it initially for six weeks.
He told the Ham & High: "They ran it together as a hobby, they both had day jobs, and it went well. I went there soon after it opened in 1961 because I was a jazz fan and there weren't many jazz venues in London.
"Then they decided to open another night for British blues and it exploded. They had everybody play there, you would be amazed. They were good at getting up-and-coming bands and when there was a big crowd the atmosphere was fabulous.
"The whole of the first floor was the club. You went up these steep stairs and Geoff was there checking memberships. You had to sign the book, the changing room and toilet were next to each other and they had wooden crates loosely put together for a stage."
Interviewing musicians and engineers for the book, he says: "John Mayall would never let the band be drunk or take drugs, so they had to hide it if they were feeling worse for wear the day after. John would hire a lot of people but he would also sack them on the spot. One recording engineer compared him to a strict teacher trying to control naughty schoolboys."
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