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OUR STORY
The Troubadour was founded in 1954 by Michael and Sheila van Bloemen as part of the second wave of coffee houses and is now one of London's oldest independent music venues.
It quickly became a vibrant cultural hub, with artists, actors, writers and musicians from all over the world.
It established itself as a cornerstone venue in the British folk revival, hosting iconic names such as Bob Dylan, Davey Graham, Martin Carthy, Judy Collins, Paul Simon and many more.
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The 1960s brought about great change in the London political and social scene. As Chelsea's King's Road was leading in pop culture and the Mod movement, British Jazz was also rising in popularity once again. The Troubadour became a regular gig and hangout for London's finest Jazz musicians; the most notable of players being Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, who played in 1961 - where he was "found" by Alexis Koerner and was quickly recruited to join Blues Incorporated. Along with Mr Watts, other greats of the British Jazz scene such as Tubby Hayes, Lionel Grigson, Michael "Spike" Wells, Mick Pyne, Dave Gelly MBE, Daryl Runswick and David "Happy" Williams, all took the stage throughout the 1960s.
During an early meeting place for the Ban The Bomb organisation - later becoming the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Gerald Holtom designed the world-famous "Peace Symbol" for the campaign.
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In 1961, the satirical and current affairs news magazine, Private Eye was founded and first published and distributed out of the Troubadour.
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In 1962, a young Bob Dylan made his way to London and his mentor, Pete Seeger, instructed him to seek out Anthea Joseph, the club manager at the time. When he performed at the Troubadour, under the pseudonym Blind Boy Grunt, he met fellow folk legend, Martin Carthy, who taught him the traditional English ballad, Scarborough Fair. Dylan would later write his song Girl from the North Country inspired by the English balladeer's rendition of the folk classic.
In 1965, Paul Simon moved to London, where he discovered English folk music, and played at the Troubadour, where Martin Carthy introduced him to finger-pick acoustic guitar.
Decades later in London, the singer would say "I have a particular affection for when I was playing in the British folk clubs. They were like tiny little theatres, not even that, because there wasn't even a stage - just a microphone and sometimes there wasn't a microphone." (BBC News, 2011).
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In 1968 after the Paris riots, the Black Panthers, having left Paris, would use the Troubadour as a meeting place in London.
Jimi Hendrix performed at the Troubadour in the late sixties, after having moved to London to find popular success after he signed with ex-Animals bassist-turned-manager, Chase Chandler. Hendrix was introduced to Chandler in New York by Linda Keith - who was dating Keith Richards - and together convinced Hendrix to move to England. During his time in London, he lived in the Earl’s Court and enjoyed spending time in the club, both as a singer and as a customer.​
The venue inspired Doug Weston to open his own Troubadour in West Hollywood in 1957, which would have a pivotal role in the Laurel Canyon scene and, subsequently, in the American pop-culture of the 60's and 70's.
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In early 1970, The Dubliners had a performance that was recorded and broadcasted by the BBC on St. Patrick’s Day that same year.
The 1970s would see the decline of the British Blues Invasion and the psychedelic sixties sound: enter the birth of blues-powered hard rock and heavy metal. One of the most famous bands to come out of this era was Led Zeppelin who, after sell-out shows at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, would come back to the Troubadour and jam late into the evening and early morning.
In recent years, keeping with tradition, the Troubadour has had the privilege of hosting performances by artists like Adele, Florence Welch, Ed Sheeran, Frank Turner, Boris Grebenshchikov, Michael Kiwanuka, The Murder Capital, CMAT and James Bay.
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Today, the Troubadour continues to host many genres of live music most days of the week!
ARCHIVE WANTED
Email lea@troubadourlondon.com if you have any archive or anecdotes to take part in our research!