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 The Half Moon, 2014 | |
 | |
| Location | Putney London, SW15 1EU, England |
|---|---|
| Public transit |  Putney |
| Capacity | 250 |
| Opened | 1960s |
| Website | |
| http://www.halfmoon.co.uk/ | |
The Half Moon is a public house and music venue in Putney, London. It is one of the city's longest running live music venues, and has hosted live music every night since 1963.
The pub is on the south side of the Lower Richmond road, in the London Borough of Wandsworth.
The Half Moon is one of London's longest running, and most respected live music venues. Since the early 1960s, some of the biggest names in popular music have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, and The Who. The venue has hosted live music every night since 1963. [1]
It all began with the folk and blues sessions started by Gerry Lockran, Royd Rivers and Cliff Aungier in 1963. 'Folksville', as the sessions were called, featured new British and European artists alongside established American blues-men. These included Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Champion Jack Dupree and Arthur Crudup. British acts included Ralph McTell, John Martyn, Bert Jansch and Roy Harper.
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Alexis Korner, and The Yardbirds made an appearance here and at other South London venues such as The Eel Pie Club and Crawdaddy Club.
As blues and folk thrived, bringing Fairport Convention and Van Morrison, so other genres began to appear. From the psychedelia of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band; to 1960s mod groups The Pretty Things and Nashville Teens; to early pub-rock acts such as Dr. Feelgood; the Half Moon was the centre of not only the emerging music scenes but continued to host the big names.
It was never just a "passing through" venue. Residencies at the Half Moon have included Elvis Costello (who would play a couple of times a month in the mid-1970s for 50 pence and a plate of sandwiches) [2] and Steve Marriott of Small Faces fame. John Martyn returned decades after his first Half Moon gigs to a week-long residency, and both Tim Rose and Roy Harper did the same. On 24 July 2007, Welsh-language folk guitarist Meic Stevens performed his first London gig in over 30 years at the Half Moon. Other memorable gigs at the Half Moon include k.d. lang's first UK appearance, Kate Bush's first ever public performance and a surprise appearance by Nick Cave. The Hamsters played their last shows at the Half Moon in 2012, signing off on a 25-year career with five shows over one weekend.
The Half Moon has always been synonymous with The Rolling Stones, whose most recent visit was a private event held in May 2000. As well as performing as the band, individual members have appeared here in various side-projects, and have also used the venue for rehearsal space. In January 2010, the Half Moon almost closed due to failing sales, rising rates and the recession, but they received hundreds of signatures and a Facebook campaign of 6,500 people. Musicians such as The X Factor finalist Jamie Archer, Eddi Reader and Simon Fowler supported the petition as well. [1] As part of its revival, the Half Moon started serving food. [1]
In 2012, the Half Moon was bought by Geronimo Inns, whose parent company is Young & Co. [3]
Artists who have performed or recorded at the venue since the mid-1960s include the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Small Faces, Kasabian, Sisteray, [4] Chris Bell, Ralph McTell, GoodLuck, [5] John Martyn, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Alexis Korner, The Yardbirds, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, Morrissey–Mullen – who had a residency there of several years' standing, Rocket 88, Fairport Convention, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Roy Harper, Van Morrison, Man, Danny Thompson, [6] Dr. Feelgood, Elvis Costello, The Boys From County Hell, Meic Stevens, Finley Quaye, I Am Kloot, Starlite Campbell Band, Beverley Craven, Bo Diddley, John Otway, Tim Rose, [7] Amy McDonald, Catfish Keith, The MonaLisa Twins, as well as k.d. lang's first UK appearance, and Kate Bush's first public performance. [8]
It has also hosted comedy, including Billy Connolly, Andy Parsons, Harry Hill, Rufus Hound, Shappi Khorsandi, Norman Lovett, Bob Mills, Milton Jones, Al Murray, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Jack Whitehall, Alistair McGowan, Katherine Ryan, Cardinal Burns, Reginald D. Hunter, Stewart Francis, Bridget Christie, Josh Widdicombe, Sara Pascoe, Rob Beckett, Sean Hughes, Kevin Eldon, Henning Wehn, Hal Cruttenden, Holly Walsh, Danny Bhoy, Aisling Bea and James Acaster. [9]
The pub is served by Transport for London buses 22, 265, 378, 485 which stop on the Lower Richmond road. Putney Bridge tube station (District line) is a 12 minute walk over Putney Bridge and Putney railway station (Southwestern Railway) is a 12 minute walk up Putney High Street.
The Santander Cycles Putney Pier docking station is a three minute walk. [10]
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers were an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, bassists John McVie, Jack Bruce and Tony Reeves, drummers Hughie Flint, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood and Jon Hiseman, and numerous others.
Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes at the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was played live in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub bands sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.
John Brumwell Mayall was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
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Mothers was a club in the Erdington district of Birmingham, England, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It opened above an old furniture store in Erdington High Street on 9 August 1968. The club, run by John Singer, John 'Spud' Taylor and promoter Phil Myatt, closed its doors on 3 January 1971. Between those dates more than 400 acts performed there, many of whom went on to great success.
Blues Breakers, colloquially known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, originally credited to John Mayall with Eric Clapton. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (US), it pioneered a guitar-dominated blues-rock sound.
Meic Stevens is a Welsh singer-songwriter. He has been one of the most prominent figures in the Welsh music scene for over five decades, and played a key role in establishing the popular music scene in Wales. He is described by some as "the Welsh Bob Dylan" and has also been compared favorably with musicians such as Syd Barrett. Stevens's songs are mostly sung in his native Welsh language and have a mystical, faintly psychedelic flavour. His work has influenced groups such as Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Super Furry Animals. He is largely unknown outside Wales.
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British rhythm and blues was a musical movement that developed in the United Kingdom between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, and reached a peak in the mid-1960s. It overlapped with, but was distinct from, the broader British beat and more purist British blues scenes, attempting to emulate the music of American blues and rock and roll pioneers, such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. It often placed greater emphasis on guitars and was often played with greater energy.
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The Strypes were a four-piece rock band from Cavan, Ireland, formed in 2010 consisting of Ross Farrelly, Josh McClorey, Peter O'Hanlon and Evan Walsh (drums). The band played the local scene with various members switching parts as they searched for their sound. They drew inspiration from 1960s blues boom and 1970s pub rock bands such as Dr. Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Lew Lewis and Rockpile as well as the original bluesmen and rock 'n' roll artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter, among others.
51°28′02″N0°13′13″W / 51.467232°N 0.220172°W
