The Florida Rooms
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The Animals, Manfred Mann, Georgie Fame and the "years ahead of their time" Graham Bond Organisation, along with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, were regulars at the Saturday night slots, representing the top bands of the day. The latter, John Mayall, once gave me a bollocking for banging the piano lid in time (so I thought) to his band’s music. On Friday nights The Blues took centre stage. American legends such as Memphis Slim, T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jesse Fuller, Champion Jack Dupree, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Boy Williamson (all sadly departed) and Buddy Guy graced the stage. The last band I saw at The Florida was The Jeff Beck Band (which featured Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood). The Club continued for a while until finally closing in 1967. A dolphinarium was built on the site. Contributed by Roy Hatley |