From island beats to pub blues: the local music scene
The Eel Pie Club, the Crawdaddy Club and the Half Moon in Putney weren’t just local music venues, they were the places where young bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and Black Sabbath honed their skills, writes Pippa Duncan
In South West London three local places became vital proving grounds for young bands: the Eel Pie Club on Twickenham’s Eel Pie Island, the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, and the Half Moon in Putney. Pub back rooms, dance halls and old hotels, where nobody minded if the sound system crackled as long as the band had the right vibe. In the early 1960s,Each played its part in giving young musicians an audience, a stage and the freedom to experiment – which, as it turned out, was exactly what was needed for a generation of future legends.
The Eel Pie Club, on the little island tucked into the Thames at Twickenham, was an unlikely setting. The Island Hotel had been running music and dance nights from the late 1950s and by the early 60s it had become a serious stop on the London rhythm and blues circuit. Getting there added to the sense of occasion. The footbridge didn’t arrive until 1957; before that, island access relied on a chain ferry. It was loud, packed and felt faintly lawless in a way that made perfect sense to a generation that was bored of being told to behave.
The island quickly attracted a mixture of genuine music fans, teenagers looking for excitement and musicians who liked the idea of playing somewhere with a reputation. Trevor Baylis, who lived on the island for decades, summed it up: ‘If you wanted to pull a bit of crumpet, this was where you came. It was so decadent it was unreal.’
In the 1960s, Eel Pie Island hosted a roll call of names that now reads like a music encyclopaedia. The Rolling Stones played there early on, as did The Who, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds and the wider British blues crowd that fed into almost everything that followed. What made it special was not just who played, but the timing. These were young bands still forming their sound, testing out new material and learning what happened when you turned up the volume and pushed the crowd a little harder.
Later, the sound shifted into heavier territory. Genesis, Hawkwind and Black Sabbath all played there, before they became fixed in the public imagination as stadium-level forces of prog, space-rock and metal. There’s something very satisfying about the idea that one slightly scruffy riverside venue could host early R&B one year and then, not long after, welcome bands that sounded like they’d arrived from a completely different planet.
The Crawdaddy Club had a different character, but an equally important role. It began in 1963 at the Station Hotel in Richmond and quickly became one of the best-known rhythm and blues clubs in London. While Eel Pie Island offered an adventure – a trip across the river, a dance hall on an island, a night that might not end when it should – the Crawdaddy was more straightforward: a pub back room with a serious musical purpose. It was run with the kind of energy that helped turn a local club into a destination. It became a destination because the Crawdaddy had a reputation for putting the right band on at the right moment.
The Rolling Stones became its first famous house band. Regular gigs meant a band could sharpen its act fast. They could try out new songs, see what landed, adjust the pace of a set and learn how to hold a room. It forced them to improve in public. When the Stones moved on, The Yardbirds took over, ensuring that the Crawdaddy didn’t become a one-band story. Their presence cemented the club’s place as a genuine centre of the emerging London rock scene.
Putney’s Half Moon pub has hosted live music since 1963, beginning with folk and blues nights that became known as ‘Folksville’. The early reputation was built on musicianship rather than noise. Folk clubs were less about volume and more about words, guitar work and the ability to keep a room quiet enough to listen. It attracted serious talent. Over time, the Half Moon became a venue that could handle a much wider range of acts, but it kept the same core quality: it was a proper room to play in, with an audience that came for the music rather than as background entertainment.
Folk gave way to psychedelia, mod groups, early pub-rock and more. A young Elvis Costello famously played there in the mid-1970s – sometimes twice a month – for a plate of sandwiches and 50p, honing his craft in front of appreciative crowds long before global acclaim. The Pretty Things, Fairport Convention and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers also took to the stage.
These venues weren’t simply lucky to host famous bands. They had the right spaces, the right audiences and the right appetite for live music at exactly the right time. The Eel Pie Club, the Crawdaddy Club and the Half Moon weren’t just backdrops to the 60s. They were part of the machinery that made it happen. And they’re still going today.
halfmoon.co.uk
crawdaddyclubrichmond.com
eelpieclub.com
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