1964-04-12 Brentwood, UK, Railway Inn Folk Club (1st performance in the UK)
Here is a very interesting link: http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?DocID=477046
Dennis Rookard recorded some of the performances in the Brentwood folkclub way back in 1964. One tape has Paul Simon on it. The tape will remain in the vault for another 20 years. No use to ask for a copy!
Paul Simon - 'Time it was...it was' 
Have now heard these recordings, 70+ minutes which say so much about his development as a performer. Some 20 songs taken over at least 3 sessions so not just one performance. Just two of his own “Leaves Turn To Brown” and “Sound Of Silence”.
Hi Chris – I went to the Brentwood Folk Club regularly in those days and I was there the Sunday night Paul Simon appeared. I’d never heard of him and was mesmerised. I was especially blown away by a song, Fast Freight, one he didn’t write himself. I was pleased that he was going to appear at The White Swan Folk Club in Romford the following Wednesday and during the interval, I asked him if he would be playing that song again. Unfortunately it wasn’t on his playlist that night. I have wondered many times whether the rumoured recording of that Brentwood Night featured Fast Freight. Is that right you have heard the tape? And did it feature Fast Freight?! I’d love to know!
You went to listen to that tape? Great! I heard of one Japanese fan who was in the UK and took the detour to get a chance to listen to it. I remember he wasn’t even allowd to take notes (what was played etc).
The recordings were made by my old mate Dennis Rookard who sadly passed away a few years back. I recorded with Dennis at the local BBC radio station and knew these recordings existed but he was unbelievably protective of them and played them to no one! Dennis had made a solen promise never to release them when he made them. I thought they had been lost when Dennis died but they have turned up safe and sound in a secure and are in an extremely well managed professional placement. Yes! You can go and hear them at The Essex Records Office in Chelmsford, Essex UK but there are a few hoops you have to jump through to hear them.
Tracks on the tape include:-
BLUE (Had a dog and his name was 😉 DADDY’S TAKING US TO THE ZOO, LEAVES TURN TO BROWN, BINGO (was his name), MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW, MY BABE, THIS LAND IS YOU LAND, SILVER DAGGER, SOUND OF SILENCE, AUTUMN TO MAY, WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN SCHOOL TODAY?, OXFORD TOWN, TIMES ARE A CHANGIN’
Man of Constant Sorrow was recorded 3 times hence this was not a one session recording as has been suggested.
I understand Paul stopped while singing ‘Don’t think twice’ and started to ridicule a bit about Bob Dylan. I made a vow not to disperse the rest of tracks Paul played and I tend to keep it. But it also strikes me that Paul had such a large source of songs he could play and sing, I mean, he was ‘breathing music’ it seems. And full of wit too. Just like the show that was played during the BBC Special in 1975/76, when they sang to a ‘flower selling lady’ in the club. They must have had a lot fun.
What made me chuckle was ribbing a member of the audience for leaving early and saying “You wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway, it’s contemporary”. Folk clubs general in Essex were rather crass “Traditional” which makes me think possibly Brentwood was also the case. Most the clubs in that area during the 1960’s were all Traditional and very unfriendly to us contemporary folk singers. You had to travel to Bunjies or Les Cousins if you wanted to be in comfortable surroundings. PS ended up there along with most in the Who’s Who, so no surprise on wanting to move onto to London. Singers on the circuit would all meet up in the pub over the road.
Yes the traditionals. I remember Harvey Andrews telling me, when I talked about Paul Simon ‘not being folk enough: ‘…The folk scene had so many clubs and so many different forms of music that it was all too new and fresh as far as the audiences were concerned. Paul knocked ’em flat. Particularly the girls.It was his black polo neck swaeter and his all-black look. It was only the organizers and the Folk Nazis as they are sometimes called today, the people for whom the music wa not so much to be enjoyed as to be analysed, pigeon-holed, dissected and fought over that caused any problems and generally that didn’t start until well after Paul became a commerical succes’.
Things didn’t change out in the sticks until the 1980s and by then anyone of any contemporary talent following in PS footsteps and those of others, would probably find one or two visits to your average surviving”folk club”enough. Folk Clubs in the main were dinosaurs and refused to change, hence the majority closed with dwindling ageing audiences. The new acoustic youngsters took one look and fled, don’t blame them.
I was gutted when Les Cousins closed but in reality it had run it’s course. You wont get me anywhere near a folk club these days. The likes of PS and others cut their teeth on the clubs like Brentwood, tough to entertain luke warm audiences but it equiped them well in their future years. Unfortuntely we lost some real talent too Jackson Frank being one of those.
I thought Dennis may have dumped the original tapes when he transferred all of his recordings onto recordable CDs. Unfortunately in those early years it was a very unstable format and a good few of his recordings were lost following these transfers. It was a time when you heard stories of collectors transferring all their audio recordings (tape, cassette, cartridge, vinyl) and losing the lot! The Essex Record Office holds the CDs that were engineered by Dennis so it was a relief to know these recording had not only survived a period of questionable cd transfers but also of dear Dennis’s passing. I have now heard these CDs at The Essex Record Office as mentioned here previously so I was thrilled to know these historic recordings still existed in any format. My thoughts while listening at the time were towards whether the original tape format still existed. The transfers from tape to Cd might not have been best engineered by Dennis as he was often a bit casual on quality regarding his transfers. I have now heard that the original PS oxide reel to reel tapes still exist and are in the very safe hands of The Essex Records Office. Watch this space for more developments as can’t say more at this time!
Never worked out why Brentwood Railway Station never got a plaque too like Widnes. Brentwood was at that time home for both Kathy & Paul. (Homeward Bound)
Have now worked out that the pub where Paul Simon played in Brentwood. It was in fact The Essex Arms and that pub still exists today adjacent to the Brentwood Railway Station on the Warley side of the road over the railway line. What is confusing is the name “Essex Arms”. It was also known as The Railway Tavern back in the early part of the 20th Century and also it appears to some as The Railway Inn. So many pubs next to Railway Stations take on the name “Railway” not surprisingly as handy for travellers needing an ale or two before or after a journey.
Saturday 12th April saw the 50th Anniversary of the 1st recordings made by my old mate Dennis Rookard of Paul Simon’s 1st ever preformance here in the UK at Brentwood, Essex. Unfortunately as expected PS and his legal team in NY refuse to allow any extracts to be broadcast to help celebrate the occasion. The latest refused request was made by local radio station BBC Essex. The only way you can hear them is to visit in person The Essex Records Office in Chelmsford, Essex.
Did you celebrate the 50th Anniversary of this performance in another way too? Paul Simon is indeed reluctant is sharing the older material. Ofcourse we must respect his wishes, but is a shame. The output that is available is really very nice. Paul was always in a good mood it seems and must have been great to hear already at that time.