In November of 1968 my buddy Robin and I sailed to England on the Empress of England, spent part of the winter there, and on January 21, 1969 we went to a small club in London called Klooks Kleek where we saw John Mayall and his band crank out the blues.
Mayall’s lead guitarist at that time was Mick Taylor, who several months later would join the Rolling Stones after Brian Jones died in his swimming pool.
Below is my membership card from that night.
Just recently, while going through the bowels of eBay, I found something that I thought was fairly mind-blowing (for me, at least), and which I bought because the urge to have it overcame me.
It’s the original contract between Klooks Kleek and Mayall’s management for that very night that Robin and I were there, and includes an LOA from club owner Dick Jordan.
The contract, drawn up a couple of months prior on Nov. 7th, 1968, shows that it was for just one performance, (2-45 minutes sets between 8 and 11 pm, with the band paid in cash the amount of 100 pounds, or 60% of the gate.
Call me silly, but I’ll bet it’s not often that one find a contract for a show one was at 50 years ago.
