Memories of Rolling Stones in Bradford 60 years ago

John Heffron was there, aged 20. He recalls fans taking along bags of jelly babies, prompted by a music paper article claiming the band liked the sweets: “When they started playing they got bombarded with jelly babies - Charlie Watts’ drum kit was covered with them. The Stones were laughing their heads off.”

Mike Roberts was 17 when he took his girlfriend, Maureen, who became his wife, to the concert. He says Bill Wyman chatted to a stagehand in the wings throughout, “leaving only the fingerboard of his bass guitar in sight.”

John Bell was there with his pal Alan Sadler. “We were both 12. Alan’s dad saw us into the Gaumont. His mum prepared sandwiches for us and insisted that we take our plastic macs,” recalls John. “We went into the concert carrying our ‘pack a macs’ and sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper. Our seats were in the middle of the stalls and when the Stones came on all the girls ran to the front. Alan and I stayed in our seats and opened our sandwiches! The concert was great though and, for various reasons, has left an indelible memory.”

It was the Stones’ third Bradford gig that year. On May 14, 1964 they did two concerts at St George’s Hall and before that, on March 4, they were at the Gaumont headlining a package show.

Ann Holmes was at one of the St George’s Hall gigs, aged 14: “I went with a group of schoolfriends from Belle Vue Girls’ Grammar - heaven knows how we persuaded our parents. We sat on the balcony and screamed throughout.”

After the concert Ann and her pals went round to the stage door - just as the band were trying to escape from hysterical fans, who tore the shirt from Brian Jones’ back. “I don’t know how, but Brian got separated from the rest and started running up Bridge Street past the Victoria Hotel,” says Ann. “Unfortunately for him, he fell on the pavement in front of us! At this point those screaming teenagers turned into an embarrassed group of schoolgirls looking at each other as if to say: ‘Oh dear, what do we do now?’”

How the T&A reported the incident (Image: Newsquest)

Leslie Smith was a police officer on duty that night. “The Stones were escorted to the police garage. I asked for autographs, which they gave me,” he recalls. “Mick Jagger was still recovering in the back of the car. I went and sat with him and he asked for two minutes to come round. He was exhausted, sweat was all over him.”

The Rolling Stones first played in Bradford on October 19, 1963, supporting the Everley Brothers and Little Richard at the Gaumont. Then on December 11, 1963 the Stones performed at King’s and Queen’s Hall. Bradford music promoter Garth Cawood booked them for a students dance there. “At the time I was a friend of Brian Jones. The gig was arranged with their manager for £200. Their recording of Come On was shooting up the charts,” says Garth.

Ad for the Rolling Stones gig at King's and Queen's Hall (Image: Garth Cawood)

Judith Yaxley, Student Union Secretary at Bradford College of Art, supplied refreshments for the band after they’d set up their equipment. “The treasurer and I manned the entrance, praying that our publicity had done its work,” she recalled in Richard Houghton’s book You Had To Be There: The Rolling Stones Live 1962-69, featuring fans’ anecdotes.

In early 1960s Britain the pubs shut at 10.30pm, there were two TV channels and teenagers had barely got started. Then the Rolling Stones came along and got the Sixties swinging.

When they returned to the Gaumont in March 1964, T&A arts critic Peter Holdsworth lost his trilby hat during a backstage interview with them. Keith Richards was last seen fooling around with it in the dressing-room, says historian Mark Nicholson, who was compiling an inventory of items found during the Bradford Live development works when, in 2020, a battered old trilby turned up...

“During my research I located a retrospective piece Peter Holdsworth wrote in 1979 about his interview with the Rolling Stones. He mentioned that Keith Richards snatched his trilby. Peter never saw the hat again!” says Mark, whose book The People’s Palace explores the history of the Gaumont/Odeon building. Mark also recalls a T&A article about a local boy with disabilities who was a Stones fan. The group met him before their March ‘64 gig and when they returned in September his mum made them a buffet to thank them.

The Stones’ final Gaumont concert was October 4, 1965. Teenagers Ann Scrutton and Margaret Ramsden camped on the steps overnight, waiting for the ticket office to open. Armed with flasks, an umbrella and pop magazines, they told the T&A: “We must have front row seats.”

Entering their dressing-room after that final Gaumont gig, the Stones found a table the T&A reported was “sagging under the weight of three chickens, bunches of grapes, bananas, French bread and butter and bottles of Scotch. Thanks to the generosity of Mrs Joan Wild, daughter of the landlord of the Junction Hotel.”

By the time the Stones next came to Bradford they were rock superstars. In 1991 the T&A reported their secret visits to Bradford to see rushes of Rolling Stones At The Max; the first feature-length IMAX concert film, shot during their Steel Wheels 1990 tour. The band came to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television to watch the film on the IMAX screen. “Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, plus an entourage of 50, hired the cinema for one night,” said the T&A. “Spokesman Penny Fell said: We were all sworn to secrecy - security was tighter than when Mrs Thatcher came’.”