A relatively small town of 266,000 people, Newcastle Upon Tyne (as in Tyne River) is best the perhaps kept secret in the Rock World!
Here's how one person responded..."Whooaaaa!!!! Had no idea all that was happening from there!! That's so so cool. and Jimi and Summers too! whoaa so cool thanks!"
Perhaps best known in America for the phrase, "taking coals to Newcastle." This city in the Northeast of England was immortalized for many in the Dream Academy song, 'Life in a Northern Town' (watch here.) Note: St. Nicholas Cathedral towards the end of the video. Culturally the city is also known for its vibrant music scene, launching many of the world's largest music acts during the 1980's as well as being the hometown of two of the movie industry's most acclaimed film directors.
The area is also known, perhaps indirectly, for it's religious ministers, including John Knox (more below), as well as ushering in the birth of the Methodist Church. Founded by John Wesley and his brother Charles, along with noted evangelical George Whitfield, Methodism is the largest Mainline Protestant faith in the United States. An Oxford man, Wesley's "Aldersgate experience" ignited his religious fervency which is known for itinerant ministers or circuit riders, the use of lay-minister (or members of the congregation), massive outdoor revivals, and a methodological approach to reading and practicing the Bible.
Minister and religious firebrand, John Knox
Although he had visited and preached in the pre-Revolutionary America,John Wesley's first sermon occurred on the Quayside of the Tyne River...a site we'll visit on our walking tour of Newcastle.
This Quayside obelisk marks the spot of Wesley's first sermon
Here is a tentative map of the sites we'll visit in the Newcastle area.
Home to the legendary Newcastle United Football Club, Newcastle was a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius. The Roman garrison was located at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall - a wall which extended across northern England: designed to keep the Scots and Picks from invaded the then Roman territory. This is depicted in the 2011 film, 'The Eagle' (which can be viewed on Netflix.).
The wall is also featured in the Kevin Costner film 'Robin Hood.' Watch the scene here.
The actual scene from the movie can be seen here.
For more on the wall and Housesteads, go here.
Near Newcastle is the village of Alnwick...home of the Earl of Northumberland. The castle is the site of many films you will probably know including the famous scene where Harry Potter learns to fly his broomstick, here.
2002 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2001 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
1998 - Elizabeth - Starring Cate Blanchett, and Geoffrey Rush, here.
1991 - Robin Hood Prince of Thieves - Starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman (More here)
1982 - Ivanhoe - Starring Anthony Andrews and James Mason; directed by Douglas Camfield
1979 - The Spaceman and King Arthur
1971 - Mary, Queen of Scots - Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson
1964 - Becket - Starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole (Available on Netflix)
More movie scene film fun HERE!
The residents of the Newcastle area are known as Geordies. What does it mean? No one seems to know. "ONE theory is that the name was taken from George (Geordie) Stephenson, the mining and railway engineer who hailed from the north-east. Another is that it derives from a term of abuse coined by the Scottish Jacobites in the 1745 Rebellion because of the defense of the town of Newcastle against them by supporters of King George (Geordie) II. The second theory is more plausible because the term Geordie is properly used for natives of Newcastle only. Others originating from the north-east are Tynesiders (from the towns along the Tyne, from Blaydon and Newburn downstream), Northumbrians, Durhamites (Dunhelmians if you are posh) or Makems (from Sunderland). Stephenson, born in Wylam, Northumberland, was not a Geordie except as a corruption of his Christian name."
Americans will notice immediately that there is a dramatic difference between the accents we hear on PBS Television or heard in London, who, by the way, are known as Cockneys. Geordie slang is not easy to understand. However, to help you translate, here is a website of "official slang" which is certain to put a smile on your face. I've also found a site where you can translate words and phrases INTO Geordie slang - which ought to provide hours of cheap entertainment.And, as an honorary Geordie for more than 35 years, I can usually translate if necessary!
Here is a funny video, of an easy to understand young Geordie couple on a visit from Newcastle to London. Or you can watch this somewhat hilarious video and "larn ta speak Geordie here."
Brian Johnson, lead singer of AC/DC, is from the Newcastle area (Dunston, Gateshead). Before joining the band to record their multi-platinum hit album, 'Back in Black' (an homage to the death of the previous lead singer, Bon Scott), Johnson's earlier but well-known band's was named, 'Geordie.'
This area of England is known for coal mining and ship building. In the 1980's, two of the largest figures in pop music hailed from the Tyneside area: Sting (Police) and Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits). Other significant music figures from this area of England include: Dave Stewart (Eurythmics, watch), Brian Johnson (AC/DC, watch), Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, Andy Tayor (Duran, Duran, watch), Neil Tenant (Pet Shop Boys, watch), The Animals (Watch:House of the Rising Sun) featuring Chas Chandler, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine and Eric Burdon, and the hard rock band, Satan (watch).
As a footnote, the guitarist for the Police, Andy Summers, was a member of the Newcastle based band, The Animals, prior to becoming a founding member of the Police. Legend has it, Summer's was also among the first to play with Seattle's Jimi Hendrix when Hendrix first arrived in the United Kingdom. Hear them play together here.
Hear Dire Strait's 'Sultans of Swing' here.
Both Sting and Mark Knopfler would lean heavily on their lives in Newcastle in their music.
Sting's album, Soul Cages, released 1991 (hear it.)was written after the death of the singer's father. Although Gordon Sumner's father was a milkman, and not a shipbuilder, the families customers were workclass residents in the city of Wallsend: which is, as the name suggests, where Hadrian's wall ended.
Billy was born within sight of the shipyard
First son of a riveter's son
And Billy was raised as the ship grew a shadow
Her great hull would blot out the light of the sun
And six days a week he would watch his poor father
A working man live like a slave
He'd drink every night and he'd dream of a future,
Of money he never would save
And Billy would cry when he thought of the future
Soon came a day when the bottle was broken
They launched the great ship out to sea
He felt he'd been left on a desolate shore
To a future he desperately wanted to flee
What else was there for a shipbuilder's son
A new ship to be built, new work to be done
One day he dreamed of the ship in the world
It would carry his father and he
To a place they would never be found
To a place far away from this town.
Trapped in the cage of the skeleton ship
All the workmen suspended like flies
Caught in the flare of acetylene light
A working man works till the industry dies
And Billy would cry when he thought if the future
Then what they call an industrial accident
Crushed those it couldn't forgive
They brought Billy's father back home in an ambulance
A brass watch, a cheque, maybe three weeks to live,
And what else was there for a riveter's son
A new ship to be built, new work to be done
That night, he dreamed of the ship in the world
It would carry his father and he
To a place they could never be found
To a place far away from this town,
A Newcastle ship without coals
They would sail to the island of souls.
Sting's most recent album, The Last Ship, is a staged performance, or musical. Like many of Sting's semi-autobiographical work, this album also revolves around the lives of ordinary people and the shipbuilding industry. See the entire performance here (from PBS or the Public Broadcasting System.)
As a solo artist Mark Knopfler also sang about his Northumberland home. In this instance using a well known phrase which people from the area, known as Geordies, use...Why Aye Man! (Hear it.)Knopfler references the late 70's when the ship building industry collapsed and economic hardship, redundancy and a general dislike for the economic conservative Prime Minister Margaret "Maggie" Thatcher were evident. (Which would later be captured in an Oscar winning performance for American Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady."
We had to leave on a ferryboat.
Economic refugees,
On the run to Germany.
We had the back of Maggie's hand,
Times were tough in Geordieland.
We got wor tools and working gear
And humped it all from Newcastle to here.
Why aye man.
Why aye, why aye man.
Why aye man,
Etc...
In the dust and dirt and the racket and the noise.
Drills and hammers, diggers and picks,
Mixing concrete, laying bricks.
There's English, Irish, Scots, the lot.
United Nations' what we've got.
Brickies, chippies, every trade.
German building, British made.
Why aye man.
Why aye, why aye man.
Etc...
Nay more work on Maggie's farm.
Haddaway down the autobahn.
Mine's a Portakabin bed,
Or a bunk in a Nissen hut instead.
There's plenty Deutschmarks here to earn.
And German tarts are wunderschön.
German beer is chemical free.
Germany's alright with me.
Sometimes I miss my river Tyne,
But you're my pretty fräulein.
Tonight we'll drink the old town dry,
Keep wor spirit levels high.
Why aye man.
Why aye, why aye man.
Etc..
Sometimes I miss my river Tyne,
But you're my pretty fräulein.
Tonight we'll drink the old town dry,
Keep wor spirit levels high.
Noted band, the Animals sang American blues but came from Newcastle. Perhaps best known for their rendition of the Leadbelly/ traditional song, 'House of the Rising Sun, Eric Burdon, who later teamed up with the multi-racial band War, was born in 31 Marondale Avenue.
The city was also the backdrop for the 1988 film, 'Stormy Monday' which featured Meg Griffith, Sting and Tommy Lee Jones. (See the trailer here.)
The 2006 inspirational film, 'Goal, The Dream Begins'also uses the city and its beloved NUFC as a backdrop. (See the trailer here.) Watch the full length film, 'Goal' here.
Film Directors and brother's Tony Scott and Ridley Scott were born in this area of England to a military family.
Tony Scott with Tom Cruise in the filming of 'Top Gun.'
An edited list of films by Director Tony Scott
Beverly Hills Cop II
Crimson Tide
Days of Thunder
Enemy of the State
The Hunger (1983
The Last Boy Scout
Man on Fire (2004)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Top Gun
True Romance
Unstoppable (2010)
Tony Scott died in 2012
Ridley Scott with Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) in the filming of 'Blade Runner.'
An edited list of films by Director Ridley Scott
Alien
Blade Runner
Legend
Someone to Watch Over Me
Black Rain
Thelma & Louise
1492: Conquest of Paradise
G.I. Jane
Gladiator
Hannibal
Black Hawk Down
Kingdom of Heaven
American Gangster
Body of Lies
Robin Hood
Prometheus
The Counselor
Our "Walk of Life" begins at St. Nicholas Cathedral. Which, indirectly, played a role in the creation of the King James Bible...
St. Nick's, seen here behind the famed 'Black Gate' of the Newcastle city walls, was the home of famed Protestant Minister John Knox - who famously pestered the cousin of England's Queen Elizabeth 1, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary's son, King James VI of Scotland, would become the king of England and commission the 'King James Bible.' Mary would be beheaded for her alleged involvement in the conspiracy to dethrone Elizabeth. Here is an embellished death mask of Mary Queen of Scots. Here is a Monty Python skit on the death of Mary Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth 1 - Queen of England
Henry VIII - father of Elizabeth and Uncle to Mary, Queen of Scots
You will see his "advertising" suit of Armour in the White Tower at the Tower of London. We will also visit his grave site at Windsor Castle.
St. Nicolas is also the home to the mysterious 'Vampire Rabbit.'
The Vampire Rabbit is a bizarre decoration on the façade of the Cathedral Buildings in Newcastle Upon Tyne. The grotesque fanged apparition can be found above an ornate doorway at the rear of the building
From the home of the vampire rabbit and John Knox we'll walk the short distance to the 'castle' in Newcastle. Founded by Robert Curthose who was the son of William the Conquer in 1066, Newcastle was built as a northern anchor to the kingdom of the Norman King.
From the Keep we traverse down the Dog Leap Stairs - which are referenced on the 1978 Dire Staits debut album, in the song, 'Waterline.' Watch it here.
"Sweet surrender on the quayside
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one at a time
And we're counting all the numbers down to the waterline
Near misses on the dogleap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder
Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm
She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When she's walking by the river and the railway line, She can still hear him whisper,
Let's go down to the waterline"
The Quayside,or "waterline," featuring the famed 'Newcastle Bridge' and, in the distance, the more current Millennium Bridge.
From the Quayside, we'll hike back up Pilgrim Street to stop at the site of the former Club Go-Go, where Sting witnessed a pre-London Jimi Hendrix perform.
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, "Club A' Go Go", Northumberland
Concert (two shows between 20:00 and 02:00).
"The first gig of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in Newcastle took place at the Club A Go Go on Percy Street on 10th march 1967. The bands fee for the evening was £250 .There were two shows, one at 8pm in the under 18s room called the "Young Set" and a later show at 2pm in the "Jazz Lounge". There was no support band. During the show in the "Young Set" Jimi put his guitar through the low ceiling and made a hole in it. He had done this a month earlier at the New Cellar Club in South Shields and he repeated the stunt at the Club A Go Go. Here it was definately a deliberate act and witnesses watched in amazement as Jimi rammed the headstock through the plasterboard. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, "Club A' Go Go", Northumberland
North East based actor/singer Jimmy Nail said: " I was in my mid-teens and used to go to the Club A Go Go which had a very low ceiling. Hendrix - I hadn't seen anything like it - leapt with the guitar and it went through a ceiling tile. But get this, he let it go and continued playing while it hung from the ceiling."
Sting said in his autobiography: "The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an overwhelming, deafening wave of sound that simply obliterated analysis. I think I remember snatches of ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Foxy Lady’, but that event remains a blur of noise and breathtaking virtuosity, of Afro’d hair, wild clothes, and towers of Marshall amplifiers. I remember Hendrix creating a hole in the plaster ceiling above the stage with the head of his guitar, and then it was over. I lay in my bed that night with my ears ringing and my worldview significantly altered."
Club A Go Go regular Bill Chesters remembers: "I only saw the gig in the Young Set. I didn't look old enough to blag my way into the Jazz Lounge until a good while later when I got to know the doormen. You paid extra for the two venues, they were both open simultaneously, and you got a fluorescent mark on your hand which allowed you into the Jazz Lounge. We used to pay for the Young Set and drop the doorman a couple of bob for him to put the "mark" on! With regards to the actual Hendrix gig, I can't remember much about it other than it wasn't full. I also spotted him using his hand to pluck his guitar strings when he was supposed to be playing it with his teeth!!! And I recall his curly hair being full of plaster dust when he put his guitar through the ceiling! "
Audience member Colin Hart said: "I remember Jimi's guitar being stuck in the ceiling at Newcastle. He did continue to run his fingers all over it as it hung there. He left it hanging when he left the stage and it was quickly retrieved before any fans got THE souvenir of a lifetime. The Newcastle gig wasn't totally packed, but it was jammed up the front where I was."
Ron Seymour was also at the show: "I seem to remember that Hendrix played two sets in The Young Set and there was some dispute as to whether he was going to play in The Jazz Lounge. I wasn’t old enough to get into the Jazz Lounge and left after the Young Set show so I don’t know what eventually happened. I had always thought that he played both his sets in the Young Set and didn’t play in the Jazz Lounge but I could be wrong. I also remember there was a guy called Tommy who worked on the fruit barrows in the Grainger Market, who was a bit of a feature at the club and who regularly used to get up and dance on stage with the acts. He got onto the stage during Hendrix’s show and was promptly flung into the audience by one of the roadies."
From there we'll move around the corner to see a marvelous albeit usually ignore historic facade which includes notable historic figures from the area's past including:
Top Left - Thomas Bewick (1755-1828) was an iinternationally renowned artist, wood engraver and ornithologist who spent most of his working life in Newcastle. More here - Thomas Bewick.
Top Right - Sir Henry Percy (1366-1403), who, because of his ferocity in combat, was known as Harry Hotspur. He fought in several campaigns against the Scots and the French. More here - Sir Henry Percy
Bottom Left - Sir John Marley (1590-1673) defended Newcastle against the Scots army in 1644. He also served as the mayor of Newcastle after the Civil War and Restoration.
Bottom Right - Roger Thornton (Died around 1429) rose from rags to riches, making his fortune as a merchant. He later became the mayor of Newcastle 3 times and an MP. More here - Roger Thornton
Just north and west of the downtown area is the University of Newcastle where Bryan Ferry and noted comedic actor Rowan Atkinson attended.
Provided we have the time and inclination, is the Imperial Hotel (now Holiday Inn) on Jesmond Street where legend has it the Beatles wrote their hit song, "She Loves You, yeah...yeah...yeah."
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock group the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the American charts simultaneously on 4 April 1964. It is their best-selling single in the United Kingdom, and was the best selling single there in 1963.
In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "She Loves You" number 64 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In August 2009, at the end of its "Beatles Weekend", BBC Radio 2 announced that "She Loves You" was the Beatles' all-time best-selling single in the UK based on information compiled by The Official Charts Company.
Lennon and McCartney started composing "She Loves You" after a 26 June 1963 concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne during their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. They began writing the song on the tour bus, and continued later that night at their hotel in Newcastle.
In 2000, McCartney said it began with Bobby Rydell's song "Forget Him" and the call and response pattern, and that "as often happens, you think of one song when you write another ... I'd planned an 'answering song' where a couple of us would sing 'she loves you' and the other ones would answer 'yeah yeah'. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called 'She Loves You'. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it—John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars."
Along the way is the former University home of Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. Always suave and debonair, neither Ferry's solo career and his career with the band have managed the devout following and admiration that English fans, including David Bowie has lent the band. Bowie describes Ferry as among the most cerebral lyricists in rock. Among their stateside hits is, 'Love is the Drug.' See it here. Ferry's latest solo effort, Avonmore was reviewed recently on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. A really personal homage to the pre-Roxy Music era Bryan Ferry can be found (City of Washington) here and (University) here.
St.Mary's Chapel and St. Mary's Well
The following is taken from "An Account of Jesmond" by F.W. Dendy, 1903.
"A site of particular historical interest in Jesmond are the ruins of St.Mary's Chapel near the junction of Reid Park Road and Jesmond Dene Road, and St. Mary's Well nearby on the footpath behind Grosvenor Road.
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According to local legend, sometime after the Norman conquest, an apparition of the blessed virgin Mary (presumably holding the baby Jesus, hence the place name) appeared at what is now known as St Mary’s rock in Jesmond Dene; an enchanting, enigmatic spot adjacent to Ridley Mill and well worth a visit at any time of year.
St. Mary's Chapel at "Jesu Mount" was regarded as one of the most important shrines in Christendom in medieval times. The reason for this veneration was due to the fact that evidence of the enactment of healing miracles at St. Mary's Well had been received and accepted by the Pope in Rome. It was held that Jesus, at the request of the Virgin Mary, had performed miracles between AD 1125 and AD 1250 at the Well, which was in a wooded hollow, a short distance to the west of the Chapel.
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The Chapel was originally built in the middle of the 12th century. It has been suggested that the Lords of Jesmond brought relics from the Holy Land to the Chapel which caused it to become the object of pilgrimages. Pilgrim Street in the City Centre is so named because the pilgrims would lodge there on their way to St. Mary's at Jesmond.
In 1428 the Chapel was partly ruined and Pope Martin requested that it should be repaired. The shrine became so important that up to 1449 presentations were made to it by the King of England.
In 1548 the Chapel was suppressed by Edward VI. It was sold to the mayor of Newcastle in 1549 who then sold it to John Brandling, Squire of Jesmond. The Chapel was disendowed, dismantled, and put to secular uses, finally becoming a barn and stable. It fell into ruin and in 1883 the plot of ground on which it stood, about one acre, was given by Lord Armstrong as part of his gift of Jesmond Dene to Newcastle for a public park.
Although the Chapel is in ruin with wild plants growing inside and has no roof, it is still a popular place with many people who appreciate the tranquility of the site. A few faithful worshipers meet regularly to pray and maintain the neat and tidy condition of the site."
The water in St. Mary's Well was reputed to have healing properties - drawing pilgrims from across Europe to bath in its waters.
More information on this sacred site can be found in two locations. Here and Here.
From here we will need to jump in a van and visit the homes of Chas Chandler, where, as his manager, Chandler housed Jimi Hendrix for a brief time.
This tenure resulted in the rumor that Hendrix was seen busking on Chillingham Road in the 1960's.
We'll also go the childhood neighborhood of Dire Strait's founder Mark Knoplfer where he and his fellow band mate, and brother,David Knoplfer grew up.
Finally, we'll venture to Wallsend. We'll pause at the site of the upstairs flat where Gordon 'Sting' Sumner grew-up, the son of a milkman.
Prior to founding the Police, Sting performed around, 'The Toon' and played a variety of musical genres. Here is a jazz performance by the Newcastle Big Band (hear).
Sting is the fifth from the left, near the doorway. More on the Newcastle Big Band here.
As a footnote: When Sting grew up in Newcastle - it was an damp industrial town. I lived there in '75 and '80 for a year each time...it was a tough town much like Detroit or Pittsburgh. When we were married in 1991, I took my wife there, to visit friends,on our honeymoon.
Year's later my wife got to meet Sting when he was in town.When she told him I'd taken her there after our wedding he laughed out loud, called his manager over and said,"That's like going to Milwaukee!"
I doubt he remembers Barb but I'll bet money he remembers the gal that got taken to Newcastle for her Honeymoon!
Wallsend is also the home of 'Satan' guitarist, and my friend, Russ Tippins: whom we'll try to arrange to meet if he's not out touring.
(See and Hear it here.)
Sources include the Explore Heritage plaque website. Newcastle Photos blogspot is also an excellent resource. Contributions from Steve Pears, Paul Urwin & Ray Laidlaw, and June Harding,and Simon Donald.
If you're going to the area, contact (Tyne Idols) for additional information and tours.
Hear and Watch 'The Walk of Life' by Dire Straits (and the name of this section of the blog)
The 2006 inspirational film, 'Goal, The Dream Begins'also uses the city and its beloved NUFC as a backdrop. (See the trailer here.) Watch the full length film, 'Goal' here.
Film Directors and brother's Tony Scott and Ridley Scott were born in this area of England to a military family.
Tony Scott with Tom Cruise in the filming of 'Top Gun.'
An edited list of films by Director Tony Scott
Beverly Hills Cop II
Crimson Tide
Days of Thunder
Enemy of the State
The Hunger (1983
The Last Boy Scout
Man on Fire (2004)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Top Gun
True Romance
Unstoppable (2010)
Tony Scott died in 2012
Ridley Scott with Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) in the filming of 'Blade Runner.'
An edited list of films by Director Ridley Scott
Alien
Blade Runner
Legend
Someone to Watch Over Me
Black Rain
Thelma & Louise
1492: Conquest of Paradise
G.I. Jane
Gladiator
Hannibal
Black Hawk Down
Kingdom of Heaven
American Gangster
Body of Lies
Robin Hood
Prometheus
The Counselor
Our "Walk of Life" begins at St. Nicholas Cathedral. Which, indirectly, played a role in the creation of the King James Bible...
St. Nick's, seen here behind the famed 'Black Gate' of the Newcastle city walls, was the home of famed Protestant Minister John Knox - who famously pestered the cousin of England's Queen Elizabeth 1, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary's son, King James VI of Scotland, would become the king of England and commission the 'King James Bible.' Mary would be beheaded for her alleged involvement in the conspiracy to dethrone Elizabeth. Here is an embellished death mask of Mary Queen of Scots. Here is a Monty Python skit on the death of Mary Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth 1 - Queen of England
You will see his "advertising" suit of Armour in the White Tower at the Tower of London. We will also visit his grave site at Windsor Castle.
St. Nicolas is also the home to the mysterious 'Vampire Rabbit.'
The Vampire Rabbit is a bizarre decoration on the façade of the Cathedral Buildings in Newcastle Upon Tyne. The grotesque fanged apparition can be found above an ornate doorway at the rear of the building
From the home of the vampire rabbit and John Knox we'll walk the short distance to the 'castle' in Newcastle. Founded by Robert Curthose who was the son of William the Conquer in 1066, Newcastle was built as a northern anchor to the kingdom of the Norman King.
From the Keep we traverse down the Dog Leap Stairs - which are referenced on the 1978 Dire Staits debut album, in the song, 'Waterline.' Watch it here.
"Sweet surrender on the quayside
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one at a time
And we're counting all the numbers down to the waterline
Near misses on the dogleap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder
Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm
She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When she's walking by the river and the railway line, She can still hear him whisper,
Let's go down to the waterline"
The Quayside,or "waterline," featuring the famed 'Newcastle Bridge' and, in the distance, the more current Millennium Bridge.
From the Quayside, we'll hike back up Pilgrim Street to stop at the site of the former Club Go-Go, where Sting witnessed a pre-London Jimi Hendrix perform.
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, "Club A' Go Go", Northumberland
Concert (two shows between 20:00 and 02:00).
"The first gig of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in Newcastle took place at the Club A Go Go on Percy Street on 10th march 1967. The bands fee for the evening was £250 .There were two shows, one at 8pm in the under 18s room called the "Young Set" and a later show at 2pm in the "Jazz Lounge". There was no support band. During the show in the "Young Set" Jimi put his guitar through the low ceiling and made a hole in it. He had done this a month earlier at the New Cellar Club in South Shields and he repeated the stunt at the Club A Go Go. Here it was definately a deliberate act and witnesses watched in amazement as Jimi rammed the headstock through the plasterboard. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, "Club A' Go Go", Northumberland
North East based actor/singer Jimmy Nail said: " I was in my mid-teens and used to go to the Club A Go Go which had a very low ceiling. Hendrix - I hadn't seen anything like it - leapt with the guitar and it went through a ceiling tile. But get this, he let it go and continued playing while it hung from the ceiling."
Sting said in his autobiography: "The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an overwhelming, deafening wave of sound that simply obliterated analysis. I think I remember snatches of ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Foxy Lady’, but that event remains a blur of noise and breathtaking virtuosity, of Afro’d hair, wild clothes, and towers of Marshall amplifiers. I remember Hendrix creating a hole in the plaster ceiling above the stage with the head of his guitar, and then it was over. I lay in my bed that night with my ears ringing and my worldview significantly altered."
Club A Go Go regular Bill Chesters remembers: "I only saw the gig in the Young Set. I didn't look old enough to blag my way into the Jazz Lounge until a good while later when I got to know the doormen. You paid extra for the two venues, they were both open simultaneously, and you got a fluorescent mark on your hand which allowed you into the Jazz Lounge. We used to pay for the Young Set and drop the doorman a couple of bob for him to put the "mark" on! With regards to the actual Hendrix gig, I can't remember much about it other than it wasn't full. I also spotted him using his hand to pluck his guitar strings when he was supposed to be playing it with his teeth!!! And I recall his curly hair being full of plaster dust when he put his guitar through the ceiling! "
Audience member Colin Hart said: "I remember Jimi's guitar being stuck in the ceiling at Newcastle. He did continue to run his fingers all over it as it hung there. He left it hanging when he left the stage and it was quickly retrieved before any fans got THE souvenir of a lifetime. The Newcastle gig wasn't totally packed, but it was jammed up the front where I was."
Ron Seymour was also at the show: "I seem to remember that Hendrix played two sets in The Young Set and there was some dispute as to whether he was going to play in The Jazz Lounge. I wasn’t old enough to get into the Jazz Lounge and left after the Young Set show so I don’t know what eventually happened. I had always thought that he played both his sets in the Young Set and didn’t play in the Jazz Lounge but I could be wrong. I also remember there was a guy called Tommy who worked on the fruit barrows in the Grainger Market, who was a bit of a feature at the club and who regularly used to get up and dance on stage with the acts. He got onto the stage during Hendrix’s show and was promptly flung into the audience by one of the roadies."
From there we'll move around the corner to see a marvelous albeit usually ignore historic facade which includes notable historic figures from the area's past including:
Top Right - Sir Henry Percy (1366-1403), who, because of his ferocity in combat, was known as Harry Hotspur. He fought in several campaigns against the Scots and the French. More here - Sir Henry Percy
Bottom Left - Sir John Marley (1590-1673) defended Newcastle against the Scots army in 1644. He also served as the mayor of Newcastle after the Civil War and Restoration.
Bottom Right - Roger Thornton (Died around 1429) rose from rags to riches, making his fortune as a merchant. He later became the mayor of Newcastle 3 times and an MP. More here - Roger Thornton
Just north and west of the downtown area is the University of Newcastle where Bryan Ferry and noted comedic actor Rowan Atkinson attended.
Provided we have the time and inclination, is the Imperial Hotel (now Holiday Inn) on Jesmond Street where legend has it the Beatles wrote their hit song, "She Loves You, yeah...yeah...yeah."
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded by English rock group the Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States as one of the five Beatles songs that held the top five positions in the American charts simultaneously on 4 April 1964. It is their best-selling single in the United Kingdom, and was the best selling single there in 1963.
In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "She Loves You" number 64 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In August 2009, at the end of its "Beatles Weekend", BBC Radio 2 announced that "She Loves You" was the Beatles' all-time best-selling single in the UK based on information compiled by The Official Charts Company.
Lennon and McCartney started composing "She Loves You" after a 26 June 1963 concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne during their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. They began writing the song on the tour bus, and continued later that night at their hotel in Newcastle.
In 2000, McCartney said it began with Bobby Rydell's song "Forget Him" and the call and response pattern, and that "as often happens, you think of one song when you write another ... I'd planned an 'answering song' where a couple of us would sing 'she loves you' and the other ones would answer 'yeah yeah'. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called 'She Loves You'. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it—John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars."
Along the way is the former University home of Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry. Always suave and debonair, neither Ferry's solo career and his career with the band have managed the devout following and admiration that English fans, including David Bowie has lent the band. Bowie describes Ferry as among the most cerebral lyricists in rock. Among their stateside hits is, 'Love is the Drug.' See it here. Ferry's latest solo effort, Avonmore was reviewed recently on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. A really personal homage to the pre-Roxy Music era Bryan Ferry can be found (City of Washington) here and (University) here.
St.Mary's Chapel and St. Mary's Well
The following is taken from "An Account of Jesmond" by F.W. Dendy, 1903.
"A site of particular historical interest in Jesmond are the ruins of St.Mary's Chapel near the junction of Reid Park Road and Jesmond Dene Road, and St. Mary's Well nearby on the footpath behind Grosvenor Road.
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According to local legend, sometime after the Norman conquest, an apparition of the blessed virgin Mary (presumably holding the baby Jesus, hence the place name) appeared at what is now known as St Mary’s rock in Jesmond Dene; an enchanting, enigmatic spot adjacent to Ridley Mill and well worth a visit at any time of year.
St. Mary's Chapel at "Jesu Mount" was regarded as one of the most important shrines in Christendom in medieval times. The reason for this veneration was due to the fact that evidence of the enactment of healing miracles at St. Mary's Well had been received and accepted by the Pope in Rome. It was held that Jesus, at the request of the Virgin Mary, had performed miracles between AD 1125 and AD 1250 at the Well, which was in a wooded hollow, a short distance to the west of the Chapel.
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The Chapel was originally built in the middle of the 12th century. It has been suggested that the Lords of Jesmond brought relics from the Holy Land to the Chapel which caused it to become the object of pilgrimages. Pilgrim Street in the City Centre is so named because the pilgrims would lodge there on their way to St. Mary's at Jesmond.
In 1428 the Chapel was partly ruined and Pope Martin requested that it should be repaired. The shrine became so important that up to 1449 presentations were made to it by the King of England.
In 1548 the Chapel was suppressed by Edward VI. It was sold to the mayor of Newcastle in 1549 who then sold it to John Brandling, Squire of Jesmond. The Chapel was disendowed, dismantled, and put to secular uses, finally becoming a barn and stable. It fell into ruin and in 1883 the plot of ground on which it stood, about one acre, was given by Lord Armstrong as part of his gift of Jesmond Dene to Newcastle for a public park.
Although the Chapel is in ruin with wild plants growing inside and has no roof, it is still a popular place with many people who appreciate the tranquility of the site. A few faithful worshipers meet regularly to pray and maintain the neat and tidy condition of the site."
The water in St. Mary's Well was reputed to have healing properties - drawing pilgrims from across Europe to bath in its waters.
More information on this sacred site can be found in two locations. Here and Here.
From here we will need to jump in a van and visit the homes of Chas Chandler, where, as his manager, Chandler housed Jimi Hendrix for a brief time.
This tenure resulted in the rumor that Hendrix was seen busking on Chillingham Road in the 1960's.
We'll also go the childhood neighborhood of Dire Strait's founder Mark Knoplfer where he and his fellow band mate, and brother,David Knoplfer grew up.
Finally, we'll venture to Wallsend. We'll pause at the site of the upstairs flat where Gordon 'Sting' Sumner grew-up, the son of a milkman.
Prior to founding the Police, Sting performed around, 'The Toon' and played a variety of musical genres. Here is a jazz performance by the Newcastle Big Band (hear).
As a footnote: When Sting grew up in Newcastle - it was an damp industrial town. I lived there in '75 and '80 for a year each time...it was a tough town much like Detroit or Pittsburgh. When we were married in 1991, I took my wife there, to visit friends,on our honeymoon.
Year's later my wife got to meet Sting when he was in town.When she told him I'd taken her there after our wedding he laughed out loud, called his manager over and said,"That's like going to Milwaukee!"
I doubt he remembers Barb but I'll bet money he remembers the gal that got taken to Newcastle for her Honeymoon!
Wallsend is also the home of 'Satan' guitarist, and my friend, Russ Tippins: whom we'll try to arrange to meet if he's not out touring.
Sources include the Explore Heritage plaque website. Newcastle Photos blogspot is also an excellent resource. Contributions from Steve Pears, Paul Urwin & Ray Laidlaw, and June Harding,and Simon Donald.
If you're going to the area, contact (Tyne Idols) for additional information and tours.
Hear and Watch 'The Walk of Life' by Dire Straits (and the name of this section of the blog)
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