The Queen and Coventry

 

The Queen and Coventry

'I am a dull and simple lad, cannot tell water from champagne, and I have never met the Queen'  wrote Ray Davies of The Kinks and sang by both Ray and Paul Weller.

Those lyrics have always resonated with me as I too have never met the Queen. And my life is relatively simple. Yet, like many. The Queen's passing has still shocked me.

If you agree with monarchy or not, as a person, you cannot, I think, criticise the Queen for her devotion to service and dedication to her duties. The lady will without doubt be remembered for all time.

Another aspect of my simple life is how I somehow tend to turn every event into something music related. And it struck me that the Queen's entire 70 year reign covered the whole gambit of rock n roll.

The Queen also visited Coventry on many occasions. Whether it be for a service at Coventry Cathedral, an official opening, a visit to a working men's club or visiting the Royal Show at Stoneleigh here are dates for when The Queen visited the area and what was happening in our musical world that day.

This is not a definitive list of dates just those I managed to find. There may be others.

May 22 1948 - Princess Elizabeth visits Coventry Cathedral – I cant find anything specific for that date but Arthur Askey had recently appeared at what was then The Hippodrome Theatre, later known as Coventry Theatre

March 23 1956 – Arthur Willis Broadcasting Orchestra appeared at The Rialto

May 25 and 26 1962 – Len Baldwin's Dauphine Street Six at the Mercers Arms / Terry King and the Saints at The Matrix Ballroom

July 5 1963 – Tony Martin and the Echo Four at the Heath Hotel

June 30 1970 – The State Three at The Smithfield Hotel

July 7 1972 – The Sun at the West End Club

July 27 1977 – Chris Tarrant and the Tiswas Team appear at Tiffany's

July 12 1981 – Nick Dowe at The Burnt Post folk club

November 13 1986 – The Travelling Riverside Blues Band at the Sir Colin Campbell

March 25 and 26 1988 – Doc Mustard at Stoke Green Community Centre / Some Kinda Earthquake at the General Wolfe

July 5 1989 – The Jolly Dwarfs The Bulls Head on the Binley Road

December 8 1994 – Tim James at The Broomfield Tavern

April 13 1995 – The Hamsters at The General Wolfe

July 3 2002 – Paul Downes at the White Lion Folk Club

March 4 2011 – Moonbears at Taylor Johns House

Hopefully the above list revives a few memories of venues that no longer exist.

Such was her stature The Queen's death was felt so keenly around the world. We now enter a whole new era and life moves on.

Finally, further to Ray Davies lyric - I don't ever expect to meet the King either. Although I do wish him well in all he does.