Home » Music » The Rolling Stones » The Marquee Jazz Club

The Marquee Jazz Club

© FactoryGirl

Address: 165 Oxford Street, London W1
Later: 90 Wardour Street (Soho)

Closest tube station: Oxford Circus

Now: Abbey National Bank (Oxford Street)

Today, the area around Oxford circus contains:

• Regents Park
• Goodge Street
• Bond Street
• Tottenham Court Road
• Leicester Square
• Piccadilly Circus

Oxford Street is probably the most famous shopping street in London. Most of the year round it's crowded with shoppers, and most of these shoppers don't live in London. Generally Londoners avoid the place like the plague. However, there are rather a lot of clothes shops here, plus some of the biggest music stores in Britain.

In the 60s, Bond Street was a sort of fashion mecca for all the young dudes. An enterprising young person could put together the best looks going from shop to shop, mixing and matching. Bond Street was responsible for much of what has become known as "60s Style". The street has been immortalized by many fashion victims including David Bowie (in his song "The Maid of Bond Street"). In the early 60s when the Stones inhabited the area it was the place to be.

The Rolling Stones first played the Marquee Jazz Club: July 12, 1962

Line-up: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elmo Lewis (Brian Jones), Dick Taylor, Ian Stewart and Mike Avery (later drummer for The Kinks) . Long John Baldry's band was also on the bill that night. The Stones were filling in for Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated.

The Marquee Club was the first home of the Rolling Stones. Charlie and Brian were both in Blues Incorporated. In April 1962 Mick and Keith introduced themselves to Brian after a show. The three boys realized they had a lot in common. The rest, as they say, is history.

After Avery left the band the Stones tried out Tony Chapman. They really wanted Charlie Watts, but Charlie was reluctant to give up his day job. In December 1962, Bill Wyman met Ian Stewart and became the Stones' regular bass player.

The who's who of British music has played the Marquee Club. Everyone from The Who to Led Zepplin considered it the place to play and be seen. Many live records have been recorded there over the years. A quick tour around the internet will get you hundreds of listings for bootleg records of Marquee performances.

Bootleg Live Recording: STONES - MARQUEE CLUB

Label: MUSIC OF DISTINCTION 1008
Recorded at: Marquee Jazz Club, London, UK 3/26/71

Side A

• Dead Flowers
• I Got The Blues
• Let It Rock
• Midnight Rambler

Side B

• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
• Bitch
• Brown Sugar
• Tumblin' Dice (Out Take)

Oxford Circus Station Today

Pickadilly Circus Today

Courtesy of Spacesurfer.com

Marquee Bootleg Cover

The copyright of the article The Marquee Jazz Club in The Rolling Stones is owned by . Permission to republish The Marquee Jazz Club in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.