THE HISTORY OF THE BLACK DIAMOND FOLK CLUB
This September, the Black Diamond Folk Club will start its 37th continuous season as a centre of folk music in Birmingham. During the 36 years we have been running, we have been in 15 different venues and had five different club names. We have booked in the region of 900 guests and had around 64,000 audience attend the club (but not all on one night).
The club was originally formed as a singers club in June 1964 by Stan Burgess, Chris Scott-Warwick and Ron Wheeler, who were quickly joined by Eric Gooding. It was in these early days that the tradition of strong audience participation in chorus singing developed, which has stayed with us right up to the present time. This was mainly due to a high proportion of sea songs being sung at that time. The song base today has broadened, but the chorus singing is as strong as ever.
In 1966, due to the popularity of folk music, the club started booking national and local guests, who performed mainly traditional material. Some of the early guests in the 1968/9 season included Christie Moore, Tim Lyons, Frankie Armstrong , Tim Hart and Maddy Prior.
In 1968, we had a brief 3-year stay at the Drover Arms, near to the old Birmingham markets (now sadly demolished). It was here that Pete Coe joined the club ranks and started singing with Christine Richards (eventually to become Pete and Chris Coe). Regular visitors to the club were Finbar and Eddie Furey, who were living in Birmingham at the time. We had a base of about 9 resident singers and the harmonies that were produced during some of the singing would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
Following several changes of venue, 1971 saw us settle at the Old Crown in Digbeth, where we stayed for 14 years. At this time, the club rode a crest due to the popularity of folk music and had some of its most memorable nights, booking such guests as The Watersons, Louis Killen, Barbara Dickson and Dolores Keane. 1979 saw us celebrate our 15th birthday with a superb replica cake of the Old Crown made by Sue Percy, one of our residents. On the 7th of February 1975 we were visited by the "Folkweave" outside broadcasting team, who recorded a live evening when Pete and Chris Coe were our guests. This was broadcast on the radio about 4 weeks later and anyone who was featured received £7.50 per song .
In September 1985, we had to move to the Longboat , just off Cambridge St. At this time, it was becoming more and more difficult to find a suitable clubroom as pubs were closing or incorporating under-utilised clubrooms into living quarters. It was here that we celebrated our 25th birthday over a three day period. On the Friday night, we booked both Martin Carthy and Les Barker, who gave us a superb nights entertainment. Their performance of "The Nose of Allendale" will go down in the history of the club. The Saturday night saw a meeting from all over the country, of all the ex-residents and regular attendees that we were able to contact for the biggest singers night ever. On Sunday lunchtime we finished the whole affair off with an informal session for anyone who managed to make it.
In December 1989, we had to move yet again. By now, we were used to scouring the pubs of Birmingham for a vacant club room and we were lucky enough to find the Market Tavern ( back to Digbeth). This venue was a striking Victorian , red brick building with an upstairs club room. It was here that we saw Chris Wood, Joe and Antoinette McKenna , Jake Walton and Norman Haskell. Unfortunately, due to change of landlord, we were on the move again ,after only 18 months.
January 1994 saw our first foray into Birminghams Jewellery quarter, John Morris and Eddie Murphy saw us off to a three year stay at the Red Lion, Warstone Lane. This was a good venue, with a comfortable room and a car park next to the pub. Some of the more memorable guests that appeared were Chris Wood and Andy Cutting, Kate Rusby and Katherine Roberts, Clann McPeake and Barry Dransfield.. It was here that some of our "Singers Nights" attracted as many as twenty performers on one evening. Our 30th birthday night was a quiet night compared to our 25th as we had a "big sing", with free food, which attracted 51 people, twenty six of whom were singers and musicians. Our club provided Hilary Spencer with her debut solo gig.
February 1997, on the move again, this time to the Turks Head, Lawson Street. An underground clubroom, beautifully painted in mellow colours which are restful to the eye. Our opening guests were John Morris and Eddie Murphy whose strong voices fully utilised the excellent acoustics of the room, but more about that in three club moves time.
September 1998 found us, yet again, wearily trudging the streets looking for another room. This followed a hasty retreat from the Turks Head after losing a fight with a karaoke machine. An upstairs room in the Eagle and Tun (Digbeth again!!) was available, so we moved in. Our opening guest was Tom Lewis who kicked us off in fine style. Les Barker and Jimmy Crowley also appeared during the 6 month stay at this venue.
March 1999, itchy feet, so we move back to the Jewellery Quarter, this time to the Rose Villa Tavern, another Victorian pub with an upstairs clubroom.. We only stayed here for 8 months , but during that time celebrated our 35th birthday by booking the Wilsons.- a great night of chorus and harmony singing was had by all. Unfortunately the pub was to undergo redevelopment so:-
November 1999, back to our underground Picasso at the Turks Head. Although some of the residents have a love hate relationship with the wall paintings, the acoustics and intimacy of the room are resulting in some great nights. The atmosphere of the room seems to put guests at ease and the last nine months some memorable guests included Tony Rose. We first booked Tony way back on 14th February 1969 and rebooked him many more times until he retired from singing.
We still pursue a policy of booking mainly traditional guests, but our main strength is in the quantity and quality of the singers and musicians who support the club. Next season sees the return of Martyn Wyndham-Read whose association with the club goes back to June 1971. Each season also sees a crop of new guests appearing at the club , in February 2001 we have Lester Simpson. Or, if you prefer singers nights, then we have one every other week .