ROCK ATLAS 500 Great music locations
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Clarksdale Books
First Published 2011 by Clarksdale an imprint of Ovolo Books Ltd Text © David Roberts 2011
This work © Ovolo Books Ltd
Photographs (except where credited) © David Roberts Paperback ISBN: 978 1 905 959 242 E-book ISBN: 978 1 905 959 662
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, recording, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
The publishers make no representation, express or implied,
with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and cannot accept any responsibility in law for any errors or omissions. Whilst we have attempted to check the
accuracy at the time of going to press, the access to locations, opening hours of events and premises, and any other details, may change beyond our control. Where locations are private
residences, we particularly ask all readers to respect absolutely the privacy of those who live there.
The publishers have made every reasonable effort to trace the
copyright owners of any and all of the material in this book. In
the event of an omission, the publishers will be pleased to hear from anyone who has not been appropriately acknowledged, and to make a correction in any future reprints and editions. The right of David Roberts to be identified as author of this
Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Printed by Finidr Ltd, Cesky Tesin, the Czech Republic
For more information visit: www.clarksdalebooks.co.uk
Front cover photo of Jimi Hendrix: David Magnus/Rex Features
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UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND EDITION
ROCK ATLAS
650 great music locations music locations and500 theGreat fascinating stories behind them s W ritt
en and re
rt be o id R searched by Dav
PLACES TO VISIT Album cover & music video locations Statues, graves, memorials & plaques Venues, festivals & places that influenced songs
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Rock Atlas
B
Colin Unwin
eing a collector by nature, Rock Atlas began five years ago with an uncoordinated jumble of facts and fascinating back-stories based on British and Irish locations and developed into a huge, slightly more coordinated jumble, once I’d talked publisher Mark Neeter into agreeing to publish it. Maps were poured over, camera batteries charged and notebooks purchased as I set off, often accompanied by my able Rock Atlas lieutenant, Martin Downham, on safari to capture the essence of as many of, close to, 700 eventual entries as we could manage. Emotions can’t help but be stirred when the Smiths fan stands on the steps of Salford Lads Club, or the life-long Beatlemaniac enters John Lennon’s boyhood Liverpool home bedroom, or the Hendrix devotee stands proudly next to their hero’s Isle of Wight statue. The worthiest entries in the book were simply those exact spots where music fans can get themselves photographed at the setting of a particularly momentous moment in rock history: a plaque, an album cover
photo shoot, a statue, or even a gravestone. But, it was the downright quirky stories – the Black Sabbath blacksmith’s gates, Ian Dury’s musical park bench, Kurt Cobain and the Duchess of York’s sofa and Bob Dylan ghost hunting – that really appealed. Fans, photographers, current owners of former rock star homes and even the musicians themselves, have all contributed
Eleanor Rigby’s gravestone in the churchyard at St Peter’s, Liverpool. You can sit, like Lennon did, and ponder the description ‘asleep’ which so fascinated the young Beatle
hugely to the wealth of info in these pages. Not every iconic location included in the book is still standing. Sometimes your imagination has to work overtime to conjure up the excitement generated by a demolished treasure, when all that remains is a door or a plaque to remember it by. Time and the developers have not been kind to The Undertones
ROCK ATLAS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is the part of the book where the author says ‘I couldn’t a have done it without the help of…’ and I’m no exception. Aside from the tireless expert and creative work of publisher Mark Neeter, proof reader Matt White and Herita du Plessis’ assistance with page layouts, I really owe a huge debt of gratitude
to my chief enthusiastic supporters, wife Janet and friend Martin Downham. Others who have played big parts in the production include photographers Peter Tarleton, Colin Unwin, Alan Simpkins, Vernon Stokes and Eddie Evans. Expert advice has been on tap whenever I needed it from Brian Southall, Trevor Simpson,
Pete Nash, Michael Heatley, Julie Fielder, Mike Darling, Pete Chambers and Melanie Smith. Thanks also go to: Jean Allen, Andrew Batt, David Bainbridge, Janet Bateman, Nicola Beard (Stroud Subscription Rooms), David Bedford (Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles), Simon
Bell, Colin Bishop, Sarah Blankfield, Andrew Bowell, Jamie Bowman, Michael Bradley (Undertones), Tony Calvert, Andy Clare, Graham Cook, Ron Cooper (Zabadak Magazine), C Debby, Keith Dickens, Drownedinsound. com, Ian Dunlop, Mark Ellen, Dorothy Elliott, Jaki Florek, Pete Frame (Rock Gazetteer/ Rockin’ Around Britain)
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Introduction
{ There’s
a real spiritual connection in being on the very spot where something that has been a really important part of your life took place.
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James Fraser, Paul Ford (Isle of Man Post Office), Martin Gardiner, Andy Gunton, John Harris (Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll), Pete Harrison, Bill Harry, David Hart (Beatles Belfast), James H Healey, Simon Heptinstall (Devon — the Best of Britain), Chris Hewitt, Chris Hillman, Brian Hinton (Nights in Wight Satin An Illustrated History of The
first venue, the Hertfordshire pub where Cliff Richard first made an impression and dozens of iconic spots that are now car parks, shopping centres or, weirdly in several cases, retirement or care homes. Fortunately, there’s now a growing willingness to remember milestone events and places associated with British popular music. These are the tourist attractions of the 21st-century. While rock and pop’s antiestablishment early participants can never have imagined they would, or perhaps want to, be remembered with plaques and statues, these locations mean just as much to the music fan with decades of fan worship behind them as, Edinburgh Castle or Stonehenge does to the traditional tourist. There’s a real spiritual connection to being in the very spot where something that has been a really important part of your life took place. Rock Atlas isn’t a definitive or comprehensive guide, I got far too carried away with the back stories on some entries for that. There’s so many more tales to be told, and
Isle of Wight Pop Festivals), Pete Hopcraft, Mick Jackson, Trevor Jackson, Ewan Jamieson, Ellie Laycock, John Lemon, Tim Johnston (Beatles Belfast), David Jones, Peter Lewry, Spencer Leigh, Martin Lightfoot, Ed McCann (Beatles Belfast), Mrs SJ Marsh, Jakki Maybury, Nick Maybury (aka Gammy Pulex), Kai Monk, Gail Moss, Ruth Mottram, Tom
The author‘s quest for the Holy Grail of rock artefacts sees him staring intently for clues at the sculpture in memory of local hero Rory Gallagher in Cork, Ireland
Murphy, Ray O’Brien (There Are Places I’ll Remember), Damian O’Neill (Undertones), Dave Okomah, Carl and Georgina Payne, Al Perkins, Jennifer Powell (Bristol Boxing Club), Edna Pritchard, Jill Punter, Stefano Quadrio, Bernie Quayle (Manx Radio), Ben Roberts, Christopher Sandford (McCartney), John Scholes, Andrew Spencer
we’d like to hear yours. If you can add to the recollections, memories and pictures of rock locations we’d like to hear from you. If they are used we’ll send you a complimentary copy of the edition they appear in. So, please send us your recommendations for new entries to the next Rock Atlas. David Roberts clarksdale@ovolobooks.co.uk
(Leader Times Newspapers), Johnny Stewart (Stroud News and Journal), George Strange, Andy Sykes, Joy Thacker, John Tindell, Paul Trynka (Starman), Peter Wadsworth (Strawberry Studios), Mrs JM Webb, Paul White (California Ballroom), Dave Wood, Andy Worrall, Ian Wright, Jacqueline Wright, Chris M Zangara
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K C RO S A ATL West
South West of England
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Photo: Jason Bryant
it Ed d n UK and Irela
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{ There are little services here nearly
every weekend, ashes sprinkled on the land, some of whom came as kids in the Seventies. This is where they want to be throughout eternity, which is rather nice, isn’t it? |
Michael Eavis, rock’s most famous farmer and Glastonbury Festival founder
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South West of England CORNWALL The county of ship wrecks, tin mines, pasties and a staunchly independent people also boasts some of Britain’s finest surfing beaches. At least one Beach Boy puts Cornwall on a par with the Big Sur when it comes to inspirational locations. Speaking from his Santa Barbara home to rock paper Melody Maker back in 1974, Mike Love of The Beach Boys waxed lyrical on the subject. “I’m very fond of England and have always thought of leasing an estate in Cornwall, just to be able to write. The whole atmosphere and mood of the countryside as well as the tradition there would lend itself to some serious writing.” Fellow Americans Gram Parsons and Blondie also ‘adopted’ the British west coast for creative inspiration, but it was British folkies Ralph McTell and Donovan that are best associated with the laidback Cornish vibe, honing their developing performing skills as Sixties beachniks. Cliffs, ice-cream, {sunshine: it looks like someone’s got tiny little Lego homes and thrown them at the cliffs. It’s like Hobbit land.
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KT Tunstall describes her favourite Cornish location, Polperro
BODELVA A STUNNING MUSIC VENUE AT THE EDEN PROJECT
The world famous giant greenhouse-domed botanical gardens and eco visitor centre attract some of the best names in music to the 6,000-capacity venue
LOCATION 001: four miles from St Austell, postcode PL24 2SG
Can there be a more beautiful music venue in Britain? The Kaiser Chiefs rock the 2008 Eden Sessions
INDIAN QUEENS NICK LOWE’S DRIVING SONG STORY
NEWQUAY THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR HITS TOWN
It was the “pretty name” rather than the place itself that inspired Nick Lowe to write ‘Indian Queens’, a track on his 2001 album The Convincer. Lowe owned a little retreat down in Cornwall for writing and merrymaking with his mates. In order to get there he had to drive past the village on the main A30 route down through the county. “I was driving back up to London after one of these bacchanals and I was a bit hung over and I get kind of soulful and the next thing I know I’m pulling up outside my house in West London where I live and I found I’d written this little song.”
A rectangular plaque on the grassed area by the sea at Killacourt, Newquay marks the most westerly point of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. The Fab Four and a coach load of passengers arrived in Newquay in September 1967, shooting scenes for the movie that made its debut on BBC TV on Boxing Day that year. Based at the Atlantic Hotel, the group, crew and entourage also filmed a number of other Cornish scenes at Porth, Watergate Bay, Holywell Bay and Tregurrian.
LOCATION 002: on the main A30 in the centre of Cornwall, postcode TR9 6TF
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at this natural bowl at Bodelva.
LOCATION 003: on the north Cornwall coast, postcode: TR7 1HR. Further info: www. beatlesnewquay.co.uk
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Cornwall TINTAGEL SETH LAKEMAN’S CAMELOT COVER SHOOT offered us many options, fishing villages, a seafaring cemetery, a stunning coast line and the site of what is thought to be the location of Camelot, home of King Arthur. One thing that strikes you as you wander around is how life for villages like that are built up on folklore. Once you experience this you can really delve into and appreciate the songs of an artist like Seth. For me, it just gave me an exquisite location of meaning and relevance to Seth as an artist and his work.
The mid noughties saw West Country musician Seth Lakeman grab a Mercury Prize nomination and Best Album and Singer trophy at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards swiftly followed by Top 10 album status with the release of Poor Man’s Heaven. This 2008 rhythm-driven offering was made in Cornwall with the addition of a rugged album cover shot of the wreckers’ coast at Tintagel. The shoot was conceived to {reflect the coastal, maritime
influence of the music. Seth has strong, definite themes to his albums. He’s inspired by his surroundings and the stories he heard as a child, which make this part of Cornwall perfect. It was our intention to shoot the artwork on a stormy day, with
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rough seas and hellish-looking skies. But shoot day came and the skies cleared, leaving us with the beautiful scenery you see in the artwork. Tintagel
Andrew Whitton’s stunning view of the Cornish coastline taken near Tregatta facing South West
ST NEOT ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN’S FINEST HOUR The cover for what many consider to be Echo and The Bunnymen’s finest album, was shot here in the cathedral-like Carnglaze Caverns near Liskeard. A public tourist attraction that also doubles as a music venue, the caverns were the location for photographer Brian Griffin’s picture of the band that accompanies the Ocean Rain album. LOCATION 005: one mile north of the village of St Neot, postcode PL14 6HQ www. carnglaze.com
Echo chamber: Ocean Rain in Carnglaze Caverns
Photographer Andrew Whitton describes the artistic merits of this maritime location
LOCATION 004: near Tintagel, six miles west of the A39 in North Cornwall, postcode PL34 0AH
TRURO A BEGINNING FOR QUEEN
On June 27th June 1970, singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May and drummer (and local boy) Roger Taylor made their debut as Smile. The venue for this gig was Truro City Hall (later renamed Hall for Cornwall), hired as a fundraiser for The Red Cross by Taylor’s mother. On bass guitar that night was Mike Gross. It would be a further 12 months before John Deacon would fill that role on stage and complete the classic Queen line-up. LOCATION 006: postcode TR1 2LL, accessed via Boscawen Street or Back Quay
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South West of England GOLANT UP THE CREEK AT THE SAWMILLS STUDIO Oasis in a rowing boat? This could have been a regular sight on the River Fowey near Golant, location of the extraordinary Sawmills studio. Tucked away in its own private tidal creek, the only way to access the secluded recording complex is by dinghy or canoe. “No neighbours make it a great place to make noise and plenty of bands have recorded outside on the lawn by the water,” states Studio Manager Ruth Taylor. Oasis, Muse, Terrorvision, Supergrass and The Verve are just some of the visitors that have recorded albums in this beautiful hideaway. The Stone Roses, Robert Plant and The Kooks have also experienced Sawmills’ welcoming directions to the 17th century water mill. “Down into the village and past the Fisherman’s Arms until you reach a car park and level crossing. This is where we’ll meet you with the boat,” as the Sawmills website invitingly puts it.
LOCATION 007: four miles east of the A390 and four miles north of Fowey, postcode PL23 1LW. Status: private property www. sawmills.co.uk
{hadWe’ve lots of boat-related shenanigans. Studio Manager Ruth Taylor
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The watery setting provided a Cornish haven while Oasis recorded Definitely Maybe
ST IVES DONOVAN’S BOHEMIAN BEACH PARTY St Ives was a sanctuary for free-spirited young poets, artists and musicians in the early Sixties. A teenage Donovan hitch-hiked there in 1962 from his Hatfield, Hertfordshire home to busk his guitar-accompanied poetry for cash to feed himself and his companion Gypsy Dave. Describing himself as a “beachnik”, Donovan supplemented his earnings by waiting table. “I earned my bread by waiting in coffee bars and they fired me
because my hair was too long.” Resisting the bohemian invasion, some St Ives locals would display signs demanding ‘No Undesirables’, articulating their distaste for male visitors sporting hair curling over their collar. Good days saw Donovan bed down in an art studio, but when money was scarce he frequently slept the night on the beaches. By 1966, a then internationally famous Donovan returned to St Ives with an ITV film crew
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to make a documentary about his early days as a musician in the town. Keen to recreate his earlier lifestyle living on Porthminster beach, the crew gathered together his old friends from the town, paying them an extravagant £3 per day as beatnik extras.
LOCATION 008: near the tip of Cornwall, three miles north of the A30, postcode TR26 2
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Cornwall MITCHELL THE FOLK COTTAGE CLUB
ST MARTIN GRAM PARSONS’ CORNISH HOLIDAY
The Folk Cottage Club was variously based at Rose, near Perranporth, and later in Truro, but its heyday was when based in an old ramshackle cottage in the village of Mitchell. Resident musician, Monday to Friday, in the summer of 1967 was 22-year-old Ralph McTell, who played the club room above the downstairs coffee and snack bar. Years later McTell, who lived that summer in a rented caravan north of Mitchell, remembered his Cornish folk apprenticeship fondly: “Its unique spirit got to me, a mix of swashbuckling seafarer bravado and Methodist rectitude.”
Country rock pioneer Gram Parsons’ visits to England, hanging out with The Rolling Stones, are well documented elsewhere, but in 1971 he also spent extended periods holidaying in Cornwall. The location was the Tregidden Mill home of fellow Flying Burrito Brothers and International Submarine Band member Ian Dunlop near the village of St Martin. Dunlop, still a touring musician to this day, had moved from the American West Coast to England’s West Country, where he works as an artist from his Cornish studio – the same place where Gram Parsons visited his friend decades ago. Parsons was so taken with the Lizard Peninsula that he even proposed to girlfriend Gretchen Burrell here before marrying shortly afterwards back in the USA. Remembering that summer well, Dunlop recalls how he and Parsons walked the Kennack, Cadgwith, Lizard and Mullion stretches of the South West Coast Path and visited the local pubs. “We used to go up for a pint to the Prince of Wales, a mile up the lane in Newtown, or, 3 miles away on the coast, to the Five Pilchards at the (then) fishing cove of Porthallow, near St Keverne.” Exactly two years on from his Cornish vacation, Parsons was dead and the subject of sensational reports surrounding his infamous botched cremation in California’s Joshua Tree National Park.
LOCATION 009: formerly at postcode TR8 5AX but sadly no more
TRESCO BLONDIE’S ‘ISLAND OF LOST SOULS’
Blondie found the perfect location to promote their 1982 single ‘Island Of Lost Souls’ when the second largest of the Scilly Isles was chosen. The video for what turned out to be Blondie’s last Top 20 chart hit for almost 17 years was shot amid the tropical plants and statues at the Abbey Garden on the island of Tresco. The band made the crossing for the photo shoot by small boat with Debbie Harry clutching her cellophane-protected collection of outfits and blonde wig to disguise her dark hair. LOCATION 010: 30 miles from the Cornish coast, postcode TR24 0QQ. www.tresco.co.uk
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Drink The Cup: one of Ian Dunlop’s portraits of his friend and sometime Cornish holidaymaker Gram Parsons
LOCATION 011: the Lizard peninsula south Cornwall, postcode TR12 6DS. Status: private property
images draw from {theThese years I spent with Gram Parsons playing music, being on stage together, sharing an apartment, a similar sense of humour and irony, travelling, on tour, through the music biz and often out of our heads. Using Gram as a subject, an icon and a symbol is something that I have previously shied away from, but recently I have enjoyed ‘working’ with him again. Once in a very odd while I do have a ‘music tourist’ knocking on my door asking if Gram did visit here. Ian Dunlop
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Born in Cornwall Mick Fleetwood, drums, Fleetwood Mac (b. 24 Jun 1947, Redruth) Andy Mackay, saxophone, Roxy Music (b. 23 Jul 1946, Lostwithiel)
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South West of England DEVON Covering a large chunk of the county, even the wild and untamed Dartmoor National Park is not immune from rock music associations. The rocky granite landscape prompted an artistic strop by Rick Wakeman, provided folk legends for Seth Lakeman’s gritty ballads and, in its gentler, nearby rolling South Hams, bolt-hole seclusion for rock’s glitterati. The archetypal small seaside town of Teignmouth gets a hat-trick of Rock Atlas entries if you include Patrick Wolf’s homage ‘Teignmouth’, from his 2005 album Wind in The Wires. But it’s the north coast you need to head for to discover Britain’s most expansive and romantic rock location at Saunton Sands. Here, a windswept Robbie Williams filmed his 1997 ‘Angels’ video and Pink Floyd, less romantically, turned the beach into a giant hospital ward and battleground.
SAUNTON SANDS ROBBIE WILLIAMS SHOOTS ‘ANGELS’ Miles of flat sands and dunes on Devon’s north coast were the location for shooting the video that accompanied Robbie’s single ‘Angels’. A life-time’s Brownie points would surely be secured by any guy selecting this spot to propose to his very own ‘Angel’.
LOCATION 013: nine miles from Barnstaple on Devon’s north coast, postcode EX33 1LQ
SAUNTON SANDS PINK FLOYD’S BEDS ON THE BEACH More than 700 hospital beds stretch along Saunton Sands on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1987 album A Momentary Lapse Of In the days Reason. Five years earlier the before vast expanse of sand and sea computerised also provided the perfect spot imagery, for filming World War II troop all these landing scenes in Pink Floyd’s beds were movie The Wall. manhandled into place to LOCATION 012: nine miles from create this Barnstaple on Devon’s north memorable coast, postcode EX33 1LQ cover
BICKLEIGH BRIDGE THE BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
Staying at the Fisherman’s Cot Inn on the banks of the River Exe, Paul Simon was reported to have drawn inspiration to later write the Simon & Garfunkel classic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. Stopping at the Devon hostelry while touring Britain’s folk haunts as a performer and observer back in the Sixties, the New Jersey-born singer-songwriter was able to gaze out over the bridge at Bickleigh from in front of his room (No.6). Though the facts are sketchy, the river is susceptible to flood at this point on the Exe and Simon was, according to locals, apparently aware of a reported drowning at nearby Thorverton during his stay, which may have contributed to the maudlin nature of arguably his most famous recording. LOCATION 014: on the A396 Exeter Road as it crosses the River Exe, postcode EX16 8RW www.marstonsinns.co.uk/ home/hotels/hotel-tiverton/ fishermans-cot
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DITTISHAM OLD RECTORY REHEARSALS FOR LED ZEPPELIN In the early Eighties, Led Zeppelin band member John Paul Jones owned the Old Rectory, a perfect Devonshire retreat for the band to rehearse with its recording studio, swimming pool and nine bedrooms. Rebuilt after a fire in the Seventies almost destroyed it, the house was, until recently, the property of Duran Duran manager Michael Berrow. LOCATION 015: at the end of Rectory Lane, Dittisham, postcode TQ6 0HD. Status: private house
EAST PRAWLE THE ROCKING PIG’S NOSE
The Pig’s Nose Inn is situated in the village of East Prawle and for its eccentricity alone deserves a place in any guide book, let alone one specifically related to rock locations. Chris Farlowe, Paul Young, Wishbone Ash, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Boomtown Rats and Curiosity Killed The Cat have all played Pigs Nose gigs at the village hall next door. Damon Albarn, who owns a house a few miles north at Beesands, chose the Pig’s Nose to launch his new project, The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Band members Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen made their collective live debut in front of 150 people there in 2006. LOCATION 016: opposite the village green at East Prawle, near the southernmost tip of Devon, postcode TQ7 2BY. www.pigsnose.co.uk
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Devon TEIGNMOUTH MUSE COME HOME “We used to spend all our time hanging out there,” revealed Matt Bellamy to the hordes of Muse fans. Bellamy was pointing at the old Teignmouth pier at a huge outdoor homecoming gig, staged for the band who hailed from this genteel seaside town on Devon’s south coast. Bellamy and drummer Dominic Howard met for the very first time at The Den, the large grassy area on the seafront that hosted 10,000 fans on two nights in September 2009 for their “Seaside Rendezvous” The trio’s bass guitarist, Chris Wolstenholme, still a Teignmouth resident, was even involved in the council meeting that gave the go-ahead to road closures in the town and approval for the band’s giant Punch and Judy-styled stage. LOCATION 017: on the Teignmouth seafront, postcode TQ14 8BD
YES TOR THE RICK WAKEMAN ‘NO!’ ALBUM COVER The second highest point on Dartmoor, Yes Tor, appears on 1978 Yes album cover Tormato. Designs for the cover did not go down well with the band’s keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman. He threw a tomato at the originally titled Yestor album sleeve artwork in disgust, prompting a change of name to Tormato. Wakeman’s critical contribution to the design process was adopted on the finished cover. The tenth Yes hit album, Tormato heralded the departure of both Wakeman (for the second time) and vocalist Jon Anderson.
LOCATION 018: grid reference SX580901: about five miles south of the A30 at Okehampton
WISTMAN’S WOOD LAKEMAN COUNTRY TEIGNMOUTH THE BEATLES’ STOP-OVER
Seth Lakeman’s 2005 album Kitty Jay features a cover with the Devon-born folk singer kneeling pensively at Wistman’s Wood near his Dartmoor home. The title track relates the legend of an 18th century pregnant servant girl who committed suicide and was buried on the moor. Mysteriously, her grave near Hound Tor is still decorated with flowers by unseen visitors to this day.
LOCATION 021: Royal Court Apartments, postcode TQ14 8BR
Born in Devon
WOODCOMBE KATE BUSH’S AERIAL INSPIRATION
LOCATION 020: seven miles south-west of Kingsbridge, postcode TQ7 2NJ. Status: private property
Trevor Leighton/EMI
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The Beatles stayed in the Royal Hotel in 1967 while filming The Magical Mystery Tour and this was their Newquay to London stop-over.
LOCATION 019: north of Two Bridges and the B3212. Two Bridges postcode: PL20 6SW
Kate Bush bought her South Hams hideaway in 2004. The 1920s house appealed to the UK’s first woman to record a No.1 album due to its remote, beautiful and private position. The 17 acres incorporate a pebble beach, boathouse and two small offshore islands, the perfect inspiration for the maritime themes explored in her 2006 album Aerial. The Teignmouth Post & Gazette does Muse proud
The Tormato cover, complete with Rick Wakeman’s artistic contribution
Remote, beautiful and private: Kate Bush settled in the perfect spot for maritime inspiration
David Cross, violin/keyboards, King Crimson (b. 23 Apr 1949, Plymouth) Beth Gibbons, vocals, Portishead (b. 4 Jan 1965, Exeter) Dave Hill, guitar, Slade (b. 4 Apr 1946, Holberton) Seth Lakeman (b. 26 Mar 1977, Buckland Monarchorum) Chris Martin, vocals, Coldplay (b. 2 Mar 1977, Exeter) Serge Pizzorno, vocals/guitar ,Kasabian (b. 15 Dec 1980, Newton Abbot) Pete Quaife, bass, The Kinks (b. 31 Dec 1943, Tavistock, d. 23 Jun 2010) Danny Thompson, double bass, (b. 4 Apr 1939, Teignmouth)
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South West of England SOMERSET This is where it would appear more musical merrymaking goes on outdoors than anywhere else. Early pioneering rock festivals began at Glastonbury, Shepton Mallet and Bath. Somerset was the place to be as the 60s gave way to the 70s. The first UK act to top the US charts, Acker Bilk, was born, bred and lives in the village of Pensford and some familiar pictures of The Beatles were snapped on Somerset’s golden sands. The spiritual Somerset landscape comes complete with trip-hop, Wurzels, Peter Gabriel’s solo inspiration, a Tudor ‘pile’ that gave Radiohead the shivers, Kylie singing down the village pub and Anthony Newley’s hijacking of the quaintlynamed village of Gurney Slade.
GURNEY SLADE ANTHONY NEWLEY’S WEIRD WORLD The theme to 1960 weird comedy The Strange World of Gurney Slade by Max Harris provided TV immortality for the village of Gurney Slade. The show’s central character was Anthony Newley and the metronomic tune’s TV exposure led to a No.11 chart hit. LOCATION 023: north of Shepton Mallet on the A37, postcode BA3 4TQ
BATH NASHERS MUSIC STORE The wonderfully named Nashers independent record shop, with American Dream Comics upstairs for good measure, is the enticing emporium featured on the cover of Van Morrison’s 2002 album Down The Road. LOCATION 022: 72 Walcot Street, Bath, postcode BA1 5BD
Van Morrison’s favoured record emporium
BATH LED ZEPPELIN ROCK THE RECREATION GROUND Perhaps the attendance wasn’t large by today’s standards - MC John Peel even offered the crowd a lift back to London in his camper van - but the Bath Festival of Blues was an important rock milestone back on a barmy summer’s day in 1969. Set in the Recreation Ground surrounded by the splendour of Bath’s Georgian architecture, this spot was notable for Led Zeppelin’s earliest festival appearance. Local opinion was fearful of such a large youth invasion. However, the powers that be were so impressed with the behaviour of the 12,000 festival fans that they offered, those that wished to, an impromptu sleepover. LOCATION 024: Bordered by Great Pulteney Street and Pulteney Road. Status: now home to Bath Rugby Club. Postcode: BA2 4DS
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Somerset
In 1987, The Smiths recorded their final studio album Strangeways, Here We Come at Bath’s Wool Hall. A single taken from the album, ‘I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish’, carried an etching in the vinyl by Morrissey that namechecked The Wool Hall and a pseudonym the singer used before he became a Smith in a fake movie title. ‘MURDER AT THE WOOL HALL (X) STARRING SHERIDAN WHITESIDE’ was etched into the 7-inch and 12-inch singles on release at the same time Morrissey had returned to The Wool Hall to create his first solo offering, Viva Hate. Other notable working visitors to the studios down the years include Joni Mitchell, Paul Weller and Stereophonics. Van Morrison recorded so frequently there that he bought the place in 1994. LOCATION 025: The Wool Hall is up Church Street from the centre of Beckington village, postcode BA3 6TA
Actress Avril Angers: cover star on ‘I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish’
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COMPTON MARTIN KYLIE PLAYS THE RING O’ BELLS A seven-month-long secret kept by pub landlord and landlady Reuben and Lauren Goddard ended on August 19th 2010 when Kylie Minogue performed at the Ring O’ Bells pub in this tiny north Somerset village. Locals assumed the pub’s blackboard advertising “For One Night Only! – Kylie Minogue” was either a hoax or a tribute performer night but were shocked when they realised their pub had been selected for a Parlophone company outing to witness the label’s artists Kylie, Tinie Tempah, Eliza Doolittle and Morning Parade in action. Everyone was sworn to {secrecy, even the staff didn’t know about it. | Lauren Ring O’ Bells landlady Goddard talking to the BBC
LOCATION 026: on the A368 Bath to Weston-Super-Mare road, postcode BS40 6JE. Website: www.ringobells compton-butcombe..com
Yes, it really is Kylie Minogue performing among the beams, horsebrasses and a few lucky pub regulars at the Ring O’ Bells
Laura Goddard
BECKINGTON MORRISSEY’S ‘MURDER AT THE WOOL HALL’
BATH EDDIE COCHRAN’S MEMORIAL
FROME VINYL HEAVEN
In 1960, Eddie Cochran died from the injuries suffered in a car crash in Chippenham at St Martin’s Hospital in Bath. Prominently displaying the words ‘Three Steps To Heaven’, a large marble memorial to the American rock ‘n’ roll star is situated in the hospital’s meditation garden. Cochran’s body was returned to California, where he is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cypress.
Music lovers in this small market town are spoilt with not one but two record shops. Raves From The Grave’s owner had so much stock he opened a second shop next door selling only vinyl and accurately named it Vinyl Heaven.
LOCATION 027: situated on Clara Cross Lane off the B3110, postcode BA2 5RP
LOCATION 028: 18a and 20 Cheap Street, Frome, BA11 1BN. www. ravesfromthegrave.com
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South West of England
Jason Bryant
PILTON THE GLASTONBURY EXPERIENCE
are little services here nearly every weekend, ashes sprinkled {onThere the land, some of whom came as kids in the 70s. This is where they want to be throughout eternity, which is rather nice, isn’t it? | Michael Eavis, rock’s most famous farmer
These days, Glastonbury is a true British institution in the same league as the Henley Regatta, the Chelsea Flower Show and Wimbledon fortnight. Alright, Glastonbury hasn’t yet got a Royal enclosure, but our best-loved rock festival’s creator Michael Eavis has probably pondered over whether it should have. It’s been an incredible journey for the man who started it all from his Worthy Farm back in 1970. Excited by the possibilities thrown-up by the nearby 1970 Bath Blues Festival, Eavis set about creating an outdoor festival of his own in a moneymaking bid to rid himself of a £5,000 overdraft. The early festivals did not go down well with all of his neighbours. Some Somerset locals took exception to the invasion of hippies, whose cause was not helped by a lunatic fringe who would wander the nearby villages under the influence of LSD, naked but for top hats and Wellington boots. Established as the elder statesman of rock festivals, Glastonbury now produces £100 million annually in tourism and trade for the south-west of England. The 900-acre farm, with its 30 permanent festival staff, attracts 137,000 music fans and support staff numbering an additional 40,000. Despite the very greenest of profiles, festival fans still regularly leave behind 1,650 tonnes of waste to be cleaned-up.
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Somerset
Jason Bryant
Above: A performer’s view of the crowd: Glastonbury 2009
Right: Rock’s biggest campsite: Glastonbury 2008
Jason Bryant
LOCATION 029: the festival site is actually at Pilton not Glastonbury, postcode BA4 4BY. www.glastonbury festivals.co.uk
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