The Shakey Vick Trio
The Wenlock Arms, 26 Wenlock Road N1 7TA
Free

Chris Youlden and the Shakey Vick Band
Inn on the Green, 3 Thorpe Close, W10 5XL
8pm free

Gigi and I travelled down to East Croydon by train and whilst I set up my gear she settled down with a bottle of wine. Nothing new there then. Unfortunately once the gig got under way she was found herself  next to some very drunk people at the adjoining table. For me to call someone else than myself very drunk surely gives you the picture. Anyway, during the interval I tried to have a chat with Gigs but was continually interrupted by two of the drunks, two brothers who had just become converts to blues music, or our version of it. At least that was what they kept telling me and do drunks lie? (Actually I’m sure I do occasionally, thought that’s probably down to drunken bravado.)

I eventually resumed the second set and carried on playing unaware that the drunks had been thrown out. Ah the pleasures of being sober. Thus I lost three more fans to the evil  nectar. Gigs and I stopped behind with the governor and the bar staff for consolation which included more tha one drink, but as Gigs was working the next day, we didn’t stay quite so long as we might have been tempted to do. Of course we had been partying pretty heavily for a week or so and indeed continued  to do so for the days following, with the result that Gigs eventually had to have a day off to recover. Nothing new there then.

Top Topham, the original Yardbirds guitarist called around last week as he’s just moved into the district so we did some catching up. We’d played together for a while at the The old Station Tavern in the Top Topham / Jim McCarty band, which also included Detroit gutarist singer  John Idan. Jim of course is still carrying on his Yardbird stint. Top says he is likely to come to our gig at the Inn on the Green tonight so we’ll see if we can get him up for a spot, which will allow Chris to put down his guitar and strut his front man stuff. Should be a good gig.

Chris Youlden and the Shakey Vick band

The Oval Tavern, Oval Road, Easty Croydon CR0 6BR

 8.30pm Free

Chris Youlden & The Shakey Vick Band
Inn on the Green, 3 Thorpe Close, W10 5XL

“It’s progress isn’t it?” the massive Nigerian security guard said, hovering over me in a kindly way on the corner of Dean Street and Diadem Court, Soho.
“But my history is at stake,” I protested, pointing to the boarded up building behind him. 

Les Enfants Terribles

Crossrail, the multi billion pound transport project are constructing a new high-capacity, high frequency London railway – east to west. But it comes with another cost – the demolition of some old Soho buildings including music venues. Already gone, The Astoria in Charing Cross Road and a block in north Soho will also soon vanish to make way for the shiny new Tottenham Court Road Station. The casualties will include number 93 Dean Street which in the Sixties housed a basement club called Les Enfants Terribles, a French student hang out- all Pepsi Cola and Johnny Hallyday. In 1967 I drummed there with Shakey Vick’s Big City Blues Band two nights a week. The French invented Disco and this club was buzzing with dancers chasing all the new stylish Mod moves to Green Onions, Mr Pitiful and The Midnight Hour. We would haul our equipment through the back door in Diadem Court and down into the basement dive to play the blues of Little Walter, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson et al. They loved it – things were changing – it was ‘67 and a more free floating vibe was around – blues was back in. Alexis Korner and John Mayall were hip.

Shakey on Harmonica, Rod Price on guitar

“Shakey” they’d cry out above our raw down home sounds. But Shakey was more concerned about when we could nip out to the nearby Intrepid Fox for a pint! (the pub is also about to be demolished). At Les Enfants’ we all learnt to speak a bit of French. Our guitarist Rod Price even more so as he got very chatty with some au pairs who became regulars to our little weekly caper. Rather uncharacteristically Shakey saw this West End gig as an opportunity for the band to become more professional. He proclaimed that we smarten up and not sit on our speakers when we were playing. For a while we all took things rather seriously, after all he was the boss. But it didn’t last, thank goodness. Les Enfants’ did lead us to getting a residency at The Marquee in Wardour Street. So we felt that we were on our way, of sorts. 

Leaning back now against the wall in Diadem Court eyeing the doomed building these hazy memories came flooding back.
“Any chance of me popping down in the club before it goes, just to take a few photos?” I asked my friendly security guard.
“Oh no, can’t do that, there’s cameras see. It’s all locked up. They’ve got squatters in the pub next door.” I looked up and sure enough above the boards I saw signs of life at the window. People grittily hanging on to accommodation in central London. I wondered about phoning Shakey to see if he fancied joining me in a squat at the old club but I reckoned he’d say that he’d prefer joining them at the pub .