Often referred to as the Stoke Hole or The Hole, the venue played host to many a gig over the years. From c’36 through WWII, Frederick R. and Ada Kerry ran The Stoke; building the dance / function room. In the late ’40s early ’50s The New Rhythm Kings had a Saturday night residency.
Sometime in ’66, the Whisker Davies Blues Stormers, who regularly support for The Stormsville Shakers, secured regular support slots at the Stoke Hotel’s Sunday night dances for the likes of Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, Nashville Teens, and Alexis Korner. The renowned Ricky Tick Club, Guildford, after being pushed out of The Plaza by bingo, moved in Feb ’66 to The Harvest Moon, Guildford for a couple of months, before ending up at The Stoke for four months, until their last Guildford event in October ‘66. The Guildford School of Art presented “A Musical Evening with The Graham Bond Organisation and The Bizarre” on 15 March ’66. On 14 July ’66 John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers played The Stoke. After the 25 June that year Eric Clapton failed to show at several gigs as his time with the Bluesbreakers drew to a close – this was not one of them. David Gale recalls, in Guildford Past and Present, standing in the bar listening to John Mayall and hearing an additional blues guitar playing, which turned out to be Clapton joining in.
The week have Clapton graced the stage Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band were the Ricky Tick’s booking for 21 July ’66. Then the month after, The Gass appeared on 25 August ’66 at the Ricky Tick Club’s night. The following week, on 1 September, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers returned, then the Amboy Dukes on 8 September. Short-lived R&B band, Shotgun Express were joined by Rod Stewart and Beryl Marsden on 15 September; and The Gass revisited on 22 September to be followed by Zoot Money on 29 September ’66. Two days later, on 31 September ’66, The Primevals were at the Stoke Hotel supporting The Downliners Sect. As we noted above the Ricky Tick’s last Guildford event was in October ‘66 at Stoke Hole, but we’ve yet to confirm who appeared but it may have been Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band who played there on 13 October. On 4 December ’66 the Whisker Davis Blues Stormers supported at The Stoke Hotel once again, this time for The Motivation.
After Ricky Tick came Cadenas, run by Doug ? and Robin ?, on Thursday nights. On 16 February ’67, Cadenas hosted Herbie Goins and the Nightimers, supported by The Jeremiah Thing. Cadenas struggled, but before folding in March ’67 it hosted Pink Floyd on 2 February ’67 to a rather lack-luster audience. On the 16 February The Jeremiah Thing appear to have headlined and one of the club’s last nights, on 9 March ’67, saw The Jeremiah Thing once again in support, this time for The Shevelles. On 26 May ’67, Tony Knight’s Chessmen were supported by The Other Two Thousand. Later in ’67, the Whisker Davies Blues Stormers played with Tony Rivers and the Castaways at The Stoke. Circus, the renamed Stromsville Shakers, had two gigs at the venue as part of their heavy scheduled in late ’67, visiting on 28 October and 23 December.
When London based Helix appeared at The Hole on 22 December ’68, as part of a The Whole poetry and music event called “100 Watts of Ancient Sky” that also featured performance by Clive Young, Al MacKenzie, Graham Clarke, Bob Thomas, and Nick Gray, the bands comic poet / harmonica player, Fred “Whistlin’ Walshaw Fred” Pipes, met Jenny Parsons and was introduced to Guildford Arts Lab. The Stoke Hotel gig may have been Helix’s last as Rick Welton, (the bands other poet) moved to Guildford to run the first Guildford Festival, and Pipes followed later. Many of the attendees may not recall the gig held in The Hole on 23 May ’69, which featured Kasbahn with the Radha Krishna Chanters, which was reportedly a ‘highly’ anticipated event.
In the mid 70’s the Sunday lunchtime gig was the place to be – with free entry, it was always packed and a offered a selection of excellent local and out of town bands. Sev Lewkowicz played there with Duffo, their only gig with the full band in Guildford; and House, who played the Sunday lunch regularly. The Hole’s back room was Starship‘s rehearsal space, and during one of their rehearsal sessions, in August 1976, they recorded tracks that eventually became the self-released “Starship” 7″ vinyl EP [SCH.01]. On 11 November ’79, The Hole was the venue for The Famous Rondini Brothers reunion gig, with Mungo Jerry’s Eddie Quinn on bass. Also in the late 70’s, Mungo Jerry’s Ray Dorset sat in with House at The Stoke.
On 9 March ’80 local band Noit Otni and The Pits played a lunchtime gig at The Stoke Hotel; and the next month, on 3 April, Raised on Robbery were in the function room. A little later in the decade, Colin Tipton ran the Guildford Jazz Club out of The Stoke from ’82-’87, before moving to the bar at the Civic Hall, Guildford. The Jazz clubs house band consisted of Iain Ballamy, Geoff Simkins, Adrian Kendon, and Dave Wickens (drums), and we know they played on 14, 24 and 28 October ’84. The club hosted Clark Tracey’s CT3+ on 24 April ’85 and the next year welcomed Art Theman with The Waite/Wickens Trio on 28 February ’86. The following month Meantime, who were previously known as Morrissey/Mullen, appeared on 28 March, followed by the Cliff Burchell Simkins Quintet on 25 April. The 80’s also saw Something Will Happen, The Sid James Experience and The Ant Hill Mob play there.
Mungo Jerry, Redwood, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Allan Price, Sonny Boy Williamson, and The Stormville Shakers were just a few of the other bands to perform at the Stoke Hole. Live music at the venue, which is now a Greene King pub, appears to have almost petered out in the ’80s as the purpose-built dance / function room was put to other uses.
In the 90’s we know The Hole hosted Womb, and Redwood, and specifically on 13 June ’96, Pete Cole booked the venue for Inter to perform. However, by now the venue had installed sound limiters and Graham Judd recalls abandoning a gig c’95 as their drum intro, which was not going through the PA, killed the power before any amplified instruments or vocals even played / sang a note; and Inter and Redwood had similar challenges.
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