However, back in the 1980s it was very much a 'jazz pub'. Not because of the music but because of the assortment of jazz/jazz related musicians who would congregate there on Wednesday afternoons and attempt to drink the bar dry.
Apart from myself, Bill Shaw, Charlie Carmichael, the brothers Schofield and George Moon were but some of those to whom the Kelly on a Wednesday afternoon was like going to church on a Sunday.
When Bill Shaw died, Geoff Schofield summed up those afternoons perfectly. "The education I received from Bill, Charlie Carmichael, Lance, and my brother Graham on Wednesday afternoons in the Kelly was quite different but in many ways superior to the one I got from Sunderland Poly on the other days of the week."
Of course the carousing didn't end at the, then, 3:00pm closing time. There was an off-licence next door and I just lived around the corner so bottles/cans were purchased and duly opened. Basie or Dizzy was on the record player with the volume turned up and, according to my wife returning from work, the music could be heard several streets away! Fond memories. Lance
6 comments :
I worked behind the bar of the Kelly as a student from 1970 for about 3 years in each holiday . The landlady was Mrs Marney. Very proper lady, no disorder or impropriety when Mrs Marney was around! Happy days
Mrs Marney was a real life Annie Walker. In the days when they had floor service she could carry three pints in one slender hand. A legend! You must have served me at some time back then. Amazing!
Time gentlemen, please!
I must point out, in the interests of factual accuracy, that my wife, Jo, posted that nostalgic comment. I (southerner) worked in many bars but never the Kelly! She adds that she would only have crossed your path if you and your jazz-buddies frequented the lounge: her student oppo in the bar was a friend called Hugh McCallum.
Cheers!
JERRY
Of course we frequented the lounge - it had a more sophisticated clientele than the bar which was full of hobbledehoys.
I recall a barmaid named Josie was Jo ever called that?
That may have been me, full name Joanna so got various names. Do you remember Hugh Mc Callum. he worked mainly in the bar but sometimes in the loumge too. It was a very happy pub to work in.
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