1965: Folk Clubs appearances

A lot of folk-fans remember Paul Simon playing in a – local – folk club which they often visited. Here are a few examples:

Enterprise Chalk Farm:

I was a regular at the Engineer sessions after the Guitar
classes at CSH and knew Jim, Doug and Ollie well, and probably yourself Julie.
I don’t have evidence of Jim jamming with Paul but Paul Simon was a guest on one
or two occasions at the close by Enterprise Chalk Farm where all of us would have been
regular as well so it’s not impossible.

Hi Julie
Margaret & I certainly remember Jim ( Woody ) with great affection,
I first met him in a John Pearse guitar class which would have probably been in 1960 or
61 and later when we ran the Cellar he and Ollie were regular visitors . We remember
him as always immaculately dressed ,blazer grey flannels collar and tie and never without his pork
pie hat stood out amongst the load of scruffs that seemed to be the followers of Folk Music in those
far off days.I remember him with Ollie and I think Ollie’s girl friend Georgie performing at the Cellar.
I particularly remember three songs that he used to do regularly the first “Gosport Nancy ” which I seem
to remember caught the ear of Cyril Tawney then there was the one to the tune of “Abdul abulbul ameer” about a scots lad wno tamed a wild haggis ,Jim always said he got the idea from a poem he read in the Beano and lastly  a Music Hall ditty “You dont wnt to keep on showing it Mary” about a girl with a big red nose.I dont remember him jamming with Paul Simon but it was certainly a possibility Paul often dropped into the cellar if he hadn’t got a gig.Sad to think of another old “Folker” gone theres not many of us left (Jack & Margaret King).

Manchester Sports Guild:

A CONCERT TO CELEBRATE THE ICONIC
1960’S AND 1970’S MUSIC VENUE
THE MANCHESTER SPORTS GUILD

———————————–

FEATURING
A HOST OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL
FOLK SINGERS

AND NOSTALGIC MEMORIES FROM
MSG ARTISTS THAT INCLUDED:-

Paul Simon, Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrot, Mike Harding,
Julie Felix, Christy Moore, Martin Carthy, Barbara Dixon
and many, many more.

Yeovil Folk Club:

1965 Yeovil Folk Club @ The Yetties’ and Paul Simon before
he became famous singing ‘Sparrow’.

aT THE Grimsby Folk Club / Queens Hotel in Cleethorpes:

I recall visiting the club in Cleethorpes when Paul Simon appeared and
I took along fellow students we were out from Leeds on teaching practice,
and we knew all the words to his ‘Songbook’ L P

(Paul Simon played here twice – see)

Green Moose (Liverpool ??):

Jerry O’Reilly. Joyce asks if Paul Simon played at the Green Moose. I don’t remember him playing at
the Green Moose but I do remember him playing in Jim Pedan’s club in Sampson and Barlow’s sometime in 1964/65.
Jim’s group were called The Calton Three if I remember rightly.

[…]

at the Spinners Club. Paul did a sort of egocentric cabaret act rather than the slightly self-deprecating thing the average folk club guest served up. This really got up my nose and I would stay outside drinking until he had finished as I couldn’t stand the smarm!

Les Cousins:

…..and when when “The sound of silence” made it to the charts, whilst in Les Cousins
I seem to remember Paul Simon complaining in ‘Cousins’about his record company releasing
‘The Sound of Silence’ when he was in the UK. Then it did well in the charts, so somebody did a parody,
called, ‘The Sound of Finance‘.

If you have any information about seeing Paul Simon play in a folk club in 1964 or 1965 please let us know your memories.