Roger Eagle

A review of Bill Sykes' biography of Roger Eagle published in Blues & Rhythm in October 2012.

Bill Sykes: Sit Down, Listen To This! – The Roger Eagle Story
Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2012
THE LATE Roger Eagle was an enigma. Born in Oxford into a middle class family during the Second World War, like many others of his generation he became captivated by rock'n'roll and blues music in the 1950s. Unlike, many others he went onto live something of "a rock'n'roll lifestyle".
Roger was a major music freak. He collected records, wrote articles, edited magazines, picked up on changing tastes (before anyone else did), ran clubs, was a DJ and a promoter.
If it had anything to do with music Roger had been there, done it and got the cassette (and made a copy for his mates!).
The north west of England was where he did business, in Manchester and Liverpool. He first landed in Manchester on a weekend motorcycle trip – and stayed. His mother sent his clothes in the post and he began a life of working in clubs and promoting gigs at coffee bars in the city centre.
His first big gig was at the famous Twisted Wheel, where he began to DJ  – playing rhythm and blues records in between sets by John Mayall, Graham Bond, Spencer Davis, the Manfred's and visiting U.S. artists such as Memphis Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker and Champion Jack Dupree. He also edited the magazine R&B Scene.
The Twisted Wheel's all-nighter music policy changed to a more urban sound, based on the driving beat of Motown, with records waxed for small and obscure labels by obscure artists – what we now call Northern Soul. Roger held together the all-nighters at the Wheel (with other DJs) and was a major influence on the scene locally.
By  1967, he moved on and opened an underground rock music club in Manchester – the Magic Village, featuring newcomers such as Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, and Edgar Broughton. He also managed local Mancunian favourites Greasy Bear and promoted gigs at a larger venue, Holdsworth Hall – if I remember rightly, they were "all-dayers".
He was also a big fan and friend of Captain Beefheart. The good Captain even entrusted the original tapes of the disputed Bat Chain Puller album to Roger.
One of the problems was, of course, that these gigs and relationships rarely made him money.
Subjected to the vagaries of the owners of the venues he lived a hand to mouth existence, moving to different flats and lodgings, carting with him his record collection and selling off chunks of it to make ends meet or to promote gigs.
Bill Sykes' book is based on interviews with people who knew and worked with Roger. All attest his sheer dedication to music, whether it be Bobby Bland, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Beefheart or dub star King Tubby. He would compile tapes, share his knowledge and insist that visitors to his numerous abodes listen to his latest discoveries - hence the title.
Between 1970 and 1976 he promoted and ran gigs at an old boxing venue, the Liverpool Stadium. He helped set up Probe Records shop in Liverpool and eventually opened Eric's – a haven for a new wave of bands with its legendary jukebox consisting of blues, soul, rockabilly, jazz, you name it, it was on there and it spawned two classic vinyl volumes – Jukebox At Eric's.
By the 1980s, Roger was back in Manchester promoting gigs at the International in Longsight, where he featured blues artists including Albert King, Joe Louis Walker, Ann Peebles in amongst rock, reggae and jazz.
He also promoted John Lee Hooker (pre his hit album The Healer) at the Free Trade Hall, lost a stack on promoting LaVern Baker at a Liverpool nightclub, managed Mick Hucknall and Simply Red and put on a great show of New Orleans rhythm and blues in the grounds of an old baronial hall in North Wales featuring Earl King and Snooks Eaglin – the following year he promoted Bo Diddley at the same venue.
All this time he was either living on the bones of his backside – just getting by, scrounging lifts, keeping on the move. It didn't seem to matter. His day job was running the International or Eric's (both long-term) – Roger just kept doing what he did – promoting, writing columns for newspapers, appearing on radio shows, making cassettes.
He was relentless in the pursuit of finding great music. Even when the music scene moved away from live bands he was "creating a scene" in out of the way places – one, a Thursday night gig at a club in genteel Alderley Edge in leafy Cheshire. Moving to North Wales, sadly cancer eventually took him, aged just 56, in 1999.
Those interviewed for the book found him imposing, bombastic and at times exasperating, but all recognise his love of music and the music scene. Certainly he had a massive impact on the development of music scene in North West England.
Author Bill Sykes has edited hours of interviews with friends and music biz insiders and there some great stories about Screamin' Jay Hawkins' visits to the U.K.; Sonny Boy Williamson and his lady from Liverpool who "travelled" with Sonny Boy in the U.K.; John Lee Hooker seeking the company of blonde ladies; wasted opportunities and record collecting.
The book comes with a full "gigography" for the Twisted Wheel, the Magic Village, the Liverpool Stadium, Eric's, and the International's One and Two.
There are some errors – the Manchester underground paper referred to as Glass Eye was actually Grass Eye; blues singer Percy Mayfield cut for the Tangerine record label – not an album called Tangerine, and Terma Thomas was presumably Irma Thomas.
There are plenty of photographer Brian Smith's historic black and white period photos and lots of memorabilia too!

I still remember introducing Roger to James Brown before he got famous. I was a bit surprised that Roger did not like the record! It was an imported copy of Please, Please, Please, Don't go.


Steve