Birth of the Stones

This year marked the 60^th anniversary of the founding of the Rolling Stones, the rock band that through its initial championing of what had hitherto been a cultural genre virtually unknown outside America, forever changed the face of world music.

Oceans of ink have been expended down the decades on the Rolling Stones. Countless articles, interviews, books and films have chronicled, in painstaking detail, the relentless rise of the blues-obsessed young men who would create the template for everything else that would follow on from their musical example.

So… is there anything else that remains unsaid? Well, yes, there is. For although the legendary meeting between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at Dartford railway station has been well documented, not so much is known about events that occurred many miles from London, which set in motion one of the most culturally significant stories of the last century.

A while back, I made the acquaintance of Trevor Hobley, who ran the Brian Jones Fan Club for several years. I had originally contacted him in the run-up to the 50^th anniversary of Jones’ death and wanted to know more about the circumstances on that fateful night in July 1969.

Trevor Hobley is a good friend of Pat Andrews, Jones’ former girlfriend and mother to one of his sons. Trevor remains convinced that Jones was murdered and that his death in the swimming pool of his home at Cotchford Farm, Sussex, on that warm summer’s night was no accident.

Trevor and I corresponded for several months. And what appears below is his fascinating account of how the fledgling Rolling Stones started life in the English provincial town of Cheltenham, rather than London.

For while Jagger and Richards were undoubtedly on a similar trajectory, the fact remains that the more blues-literate and accomplished musician Jones plainly sowed the seeds of the future legend in the Gloucestershire, England, spa town.

So here it is. I’ve given Trevor’s story a nip and a tuck here and there, but what follows remains not only true to the original narrative, but also forms a fascinating document regarding the origins of the enduring phenomenon that is the Rolling Stones…

‘In the early 1960s, the Waikiki Club, in the basement of the Bar-B-Q Coffee Bar on Queens Circus, Montpellier, Cheltenham, became one of the most popular hangouts for local teenagers.

‘Also, many of the top bands and musicians of the time, after performing at the Town Hall or Odeon Cinema venues, would end up late-night drinking at the Waikiki.

‘The importance of the Waikiki Club in the history of modern music is significant, especially regarding the Rolling Stones, the blues in Britain, and world music.

‘For it was at the Waikiki back in 1961 that teenager Brian Jones met the renowned founding-father of British blues, Alexis Korner. If this meeting had never occurred, it’s unlikely that the Rolling Stones would have ever formed. Imagine the 1960s without the influence of the Stones.

‘That evening back in 1961 saw the Chris Barber Band playing a concert at the Cheltenham Town Hall. Their set included a blues segment featuring Alexis Korner.

‘In the audience that night was Brian Jones with his girlfriend Pat Andrews and their good friend Dick Hattrell. All three rushed to the Waikiki after the show closed on the off chance of meeting Alexis.

‘They did. And after a bit of cajoling and typical Brian bravado, Alexis agreed that Brian play his guitar for him and, as Pat explains: “Brian ran all the way to his home in Eldorado Road, Cheltenham, and back to collect his guitar to play for Alexis in the basement club”. ‘Alexis was immediately impressed, and invited Brian to come to London, offering his couch to sleep on. This was the start of a close friendship with Alexis and his wife Bobby that was to last right up to Brian’s death in 1969.

‘In May 1962, Brian advertised in Jazz News for musicians to play in his band. Pianist Ian Stewart responded almost immediately, and Brian and Stu often sat in with Alexis Korner’s band at the Ealing Blues Club.

‘One night, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, on a visit to the club, heard Brian play slide guitar, and were so impressed with his rendition of Elmore James’s Dust My Broom that they sought him out.

‘Soon after, Brian, Stu, Mick and Keith began rehearsing at Soho’s Bricklayers Arms pub. Their original drummer was Carlo Little. On July 12, 1962, they played their first gig at the Marquee Club, billed as The Rollin’ Stones.

‘It’s now history. But without the meeting in Cheltenham, and without Alexis Korner’s guidance, Brian Jones would never have been afforded the opportunity to form the Rolling Stones as he did.

‘Without Korner and Jones there would have been no Stones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would not be household names, and the thousands of people who’ve been employed by the band, over the years, would never have benefited as they all have.

‘The Waikiki Club was that important. The Waikiki Club Visitor Book does not record Brian Jones meeting Alexis Korner for the first time in 1961, but it does, however, include Brian Jones’ signature from a later visit.

‘The Visitor Book has only four pages of entries which cover the period of March 1963, through to May 1968. There’s no date for his signature, but a previous entry on April 26, 1964, suggests that Brian’s signature was likely added after the Rolling Stones played Cheltenham’s Odeon Cinema on the evening of September 10, 1964.

‘Brian signed and added his address as ‘Rolling Stones, London’ and commented: ‘Glad to be back home’ boldly in black ink (indicating that he carried his own fountain pen – trivia, but interesting).

‘As well as Brian’s signature, the Waikiki Club Visitor Book also includes signatures from the period. These include American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter Sonny Boy Williamson, giving his home address as 1383 West Hopkins, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and members of the Liverpool band The Merseybeats and The Alex Welsh Band. Further research might uncover members of other bands who visited the Waikiki Club.

‘The last four entries above are signed and commented on by members of London-based band Free. Formed in May 1968, by lead singer Paul Rodgers, the May 2, 1968, entries are likely to be the earliest autographs of the complete band after their first gig in nearby Oxford.

‘Their home addresses are clear and remarks/comments typical of the period. Immediately above Paul Rodgers is a 1967 entry by Adge Cutler, singer and frontman of the West Country comic folk band The Wurzels, who died in a car crash a few years later in 1974.

The Gloucestershire Echo reported on September 11, 1964, under the headline Police check rush by fans of Rolling Stones: – ‘Police officers, security men, commissionaires and first aid men linked arms last night to prevent screaming fans from rushing the stage at both performances by the Rolling Stones at the Odeon.

‘One girl managed to clamber up the platform just below the centre of the stage, but was quickly hauled down. During their lively act the Stones, one of Britain’s top beat groups, were pelted with sweets and other objects as tokens of affection.

‘It was a great homecoming for one of the group, Brian Jones, guitarist and vocalist, who is a former Cheltenham Grammar School pupil. Watching him amongst a packed first house were his parents Mr and Mrs Lewis Jones.

‘While crowds of fans waited outside in front of the cinema, the Rolling Stones slipped out the back way with a police escort and went off in their own car.’

‘One final unique item – found in between pages in the rear section of the Waikiki Visitor Book was a piece of paper, innocuous initially, a compliment slip from the local Cheltenham Lloyds Bank annotated ‘With the Manager’s compliments’. In the top right corner is handwritten in green ink £2.1.1 (two pounds one shilling and one penny, pre-decimalisation).

‘On the reverse, however, it’s signed ‘To a friend’ by Otis Spann and countersigned underneath in a separate hand by Muddy Waters, two of the most significant influences on a teenage Brian Jones infatuated with the Delta Blues. ‘Reputedly the original name of Brian’s band ‘The Rollin’ Stones’ originated back to Muddy Waters’ lyrics, and an accomplished piano player himself, Brian was greatly influenced by the blues piano playing of Otis Spann.

‘Brian’s good friend Dick Hattrell believes that this slip of paper was left for Brian at the Waikiki. If true, then it is unique. If not, then it has its own pedigree – it was signed by these two luminaries in Cheltenham, the hometown of Brian Jones, one of the world’s greatest protagonists of the blues.’

Author: John Philpott

Author and journalist John Phillpott has written for many newspapers and magazines during a career that spans more than 50 years. His latest book Go and Make the Tea, Boy! is a memoir of his days as a young reporter.