The Tiger’s Head was a popular music venue in Downham, Southeast London (near Catford and Bromley) during the 1960s. The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band played here many times during their early years. The gigs below are taken from the Southeast London Mercury.
I would welcome any additions or memories of this venue.
3 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
6 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
10 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
13 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
17 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
27 February 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
3 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
6 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
10 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
13 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
17 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
20 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
27 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
31 March 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
10 April 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
14 April 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Thursday)
17 April 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
24 April 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
29 April 1966 – The Anzaks (Friday)
1 May 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
7 May 1966 – Bill Seney & His Modern Jazz Band (Saturday)
8 May 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
15 May 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
22 May 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
29 May 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
5 June 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
12 June 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
19 June 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
26 June 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
3 July 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
10 July 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
17 July 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
24 July 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
30 July 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Saturday)
7 August 1966 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Sunday)
21 October 1966 – The Overlanders (Friday)
28 October 1966 – The Loose Ends (Friday)
11 November 1966 – Gary Farr & The T-Bones (Friday)
18 November 1966 – The Shotgun Express (Friday) (Fabulous 208)
24 November 1966 – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (Thursday)
2 December 1966 – The Symbols (Friday)
16 December 1966 – The Riot Squad (Friday)
23 December 1966 – The Shevelles (Friday)
30 December 1966 – The Downliners Sect (Friday)
6 January 1967 – The New Loose Ends (Friday)
13 January 1967 – The Amboy Dukes (Friday)
25 January 1967 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Wednesday)
3 February 1967 – The Herd (Friday) (Fabulous 208)
10 February 1967 – The Shevelles (Friday)
17 February 1967 – The Shotgun Express (Friday)
2 March 1967 – The Gass (Thursday)
8 March 1967 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Wednesday)
31 March 1967 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways (Friday)
14 April 1967 – Coloured Raisins and Honey Darling (Friday)
21 April 1967 – The James Royal Set (Friday)
28 April 1967 – The New Mojo Band (Friday)
5 May 1967 – The Spectrum (Friday) (says Bellingham so could be King Alfred’s instead)
12 May 1967 – Marmalade (Friday)
19 May 1967 – Davey Sands & The Essex (Friday)
26 May 1967 – The Spectrum (Friday)
2 June 1967 – St James Infirmary (Friday)
9 June 1967 – The Spectrum (Friday)
16 June 1967 – Linda Layne & The Sin (Friday)
23 June 1967 – Freddie Fingers & The Upper Hand (Friday)
30 June 1967 – Tony Rivers & The Castaways (Friday)
19 July 1967 – Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (Fabulous 208) (Wednesday)
28 July 1967 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
18 August 1967 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
12 January 1968 – The Shell Shock Show (Friday)
26 January 1968 – The Love Affair (Friday)
2 February 1968 – The Delroy Williams Show (Friday)
9 February 1968 – Hamilton’s Movements (Friday)
16 February 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
8 March 1968 – Cymbalines (Friday)
15 March 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
12 April 1968 – The Riot Squad (Friday)
19 April 1968 – The Good Time Band (Friday)
26 April 1968 – Sugar Simone & The Programme (Friday)
17 May 1968 – Joyce Bond Revue (Friday)
14 June 1968 – The Epics (Friday)
21 June 1968 – Hopscotch (Friday)
28 June 1968 – Moon’s Train (Friday)
5 July 1968 – The Joyce Bond Revue (Friday)
12 July 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
13 July 1968 – The Wild Angels (Saturday)
2 August 1968 – 1958 Rock Show with Freddie Fingers (Friday)
16 August 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
23 August 1968 – Tony Rivers (& Harmony Grass) (Friday)
30 August 1968 – Episode Six (Friday)
6 September 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
13 September 1968 – Hopscotch (Friday)
20 September 1968 – The Joyce Bond Revue (Friday)
11 October 1968 – The Epics (Friday)
18 October 1968 – Gene Latter (Friday)
1 November 1968 – Tony Rivers (& Harmony Grass) (Friday)
15 November 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
22 November 1968 – Hopscotch (Friday)
20 December 1968 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
24 December 1968 – The Colts (Tuesday)
31 December 1968 – Night Love (Tuesday)
3 January 1969 – The Symbols (Friday)
10 January 1969 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
17 January 1969 – The Coloured Raisins (Friday)
24 January 1969 – Episode Six (Friday)
6 October 1969 – The Courtelles (Monday)
The Tiger´s Head, Catford, (actually, it was nearer Southend Pond and Downham than Catford) was an unlikely place to host a brilliant music scene.
This hideous, featureless, personalityless brick barn was custom built to serve the big working class housing estate that surrounded it. It was the music hot spot in the days before the real ale campaign took off, so the beer was crap, as well.
I might have first gone to the Tiger´s Head at the prompting of Chris Welch, who wrote for the Melody Maker (the music paper for musicians), and who himself lived in Catford, as I did. He often gave the Bonzos an enthusiastic write-up.
Welch sometimes wrote under the name of Jiving K Boots. That was enough to put me on his side.
“Oh, God, John,” sputtered my mate Bob when I told him we were going to take the 54 bus to the Tiger to watch the Bonzos. “You´re not dragging me to see another of your awful groups.”
He may have been referring to The Deviants and The Pink Floyd, who were not exactly mainstream pop.
The Bonzos hit me like a ton of bricks. These art students from Goldsmith´s College in New Cross were multi-talented musos who mixed a love of 1920s jazz and novelty songs with Da Da and Surrealist influences. Viv Stanshall was outrageously camp and he had the hardnuts from the housing estates slopping beer all over their mohair tonic suits as they doubled over with laughter. What a night that was.
I saw the group Them at the Tiger. They had had two hit singles, Baby, Please Don´t Go and Here Comes The Night. Van Morrison was a bona fide genius, but he couldn´t get arrested at the Tiger. For some reason – could it be his warmly winning personality? – the audience sat on their hands after each song and refused to applaud. I seem to remember Morrison playing saxophone.
The Tiger played host to local groups like The Loose Ends who started their career as the house band at St Lawrence church hall in Catford. Their drummer was dynamite and later joined the Marmalade.
I saw The Marmalade three times in and around London. They were a first class harmony band and deserved more success than they enjoyed. Just as well they changed their name from Dean Fords and the Gaylords.
Another outstanding harmony band in the Beach Boys mould was the guitar, bass and drums group The Symbols.
The Coloured Raisins were, of course, a black band. There was a large West Indian population in south-east London, in Lewisham as it shaded into New Cross, in New Cross itself and parts of Peckham.
Those of us playing in white R&B bands were in this way introduced to BlueBeat, ska and reggae, which was typical south London music. Our contribution to the musical melting pot was to play Cow In A Pasture by Stranger Cole which we learned from a beat-up old copy on the Island label. We didn´t play it much like the original, but I do recall some West Indians losing their minds when they heard us launch into it.
The Tiger was only one of dozens of clubs and pubs where you could hear live music, pick up tips and look for work yourselves. What a golden age.
John Walker
I think the Beach boys sounding band was Tony Rivers and the Castaways I was there in 1966 and 1967 great pub for live music .
Our Band – The Midnighters played here for many months 1958-61
Re coloured raisins ,I was a lad of 17 a tech AV @goldsmiths and was @the1967 may ball with the cream helped roadie set up,then watched raisins pay great I am now retired from Plymouth univ from 1969 till 2010 due to bad health I helped Monty sunshine lies jazz band set up and was tech in charge for the ball and have old replaced valves from Marshall band of cream nice memories now I have had a Tia after diabetes I wonder if anyone has a photo of the event and maybe me a tall tech standing near the stage watching Eric ?
Hi my name
David emmanuel ganpot I am one of the coloured raisins the original member who form the band and am still playing
Nice to hear that someone still around
Who remember the wonderful old days
Very nice to hear from you
Thank you
David
Saturday, 7 October 1967 – The Episode Six
According to South East London Mercury, The Loose Ends played here on 14 September 1965
The Tiger’s Head was at bottom of Southend lane opposite Whitefoot Lane where I was born in 1944 (back then it was just a bombsite where the original TH had been. From 1958 on I used to go to the weekly trad jazz nights held in an annex tagged on to the back of the pub, there was a hatch opening into the bar for drinking. All the name trad jazz bands played there. By the end of the trad boom around ’62 it was gradually changing into an RnB venue and later the Bonzos had a Wednesday (I think it was) residency there, I was a TH regular until moving away in late ’60s.