The Iron Door, an old five-storey butter warehouse, which was founded by Geoff Hogarth and Harry Ormesher, ( later to become the official photographer at Liverpool Football Club ), opened in 1960 with a capacity of some 1,650 people. It got its name from a big iron door, approximately 9 feet high by 4 feet wide, that was in the warehouse then changed its name to the more respectable sounding Liverpool Jazz Club the following year, after a series of prosecutions for breaching the licensing laws, but then reverted back to the original name. Based at 13 Temple Street it opened on the 22nd of December 1960, hidden beneath Liverpool's labyrinth of narrow roadways during the early and mid 1960s, a steady stream of music lovers poured into the door of the five storey warehouse, scurrying down the ten rickety wooden steps to the basement. Some events were promoted by the legendary Sam Leach and at one time it was also called the Storeyville Jazz Club, but the venue was always known locally as The Iron Door.
'The Beatles' made their only appearance at the Iron Door Club as 'The Silver Beetles' on the 15th of May 1960 and also appeared 5 times in a month at the Liverpool Jazz Society, the first on the 6th of March 1961 and the last one on the 17th of March. This show was billed as St. Patrick's Night Rock Ball, and took place from 7.30 pm until 1 am. 'The Beatles' headlined the bill, support by 'Gerry and the Pacemakers', 'Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes', Simon Cardovo and his Royal Caribbean Steel Band, and Bill Bailey's Calypso Band. A rival to the more famous Cavern, the Iron Door was the first though to offer evening sessions that focused exclusively on rock 'n roll. It didn't have the strict structure as the Cavern but allowed musicians to 'jam' together and promote themselves rather than rely on an announcer. It was the place where a lot of artistes such as Cilla Black, Freddie Starr, Beryl Marsden amongst many were allowed to 'cut their teeth'. 'The Searchers' were the resident group there, as they were managed by Les Ackersley who at the time was also the manager of the Liverpool Jazz Society.
Sam Leach with his promotions several times a week and his 'Rock Around The Clock' all night concert was responsible for other club owners, including those at The Cavern', sitting up and taking notice as to how popular this new sound was becoming, and he put the Iron Door on the Liverpool map. Sam recalls, "The Cavern was a jazz club when I commenced at the Iron Door. They did lunchtime sessions but never booked rock bands at night. Ray McFall and Bill Harry were both jazz freaks. Shortly after I started at the Iron Door, doing three and four sessions a week, I put on my first all nighter on March 11, 1961 and drew almost 2000 fans for a 12 hour session with 12 bands. That night the Cavern had a total of 50."
The Undertakers most famous T.V clip of them singing "Mashed Potato" was filmed at The Iron Door Club in 1963. It was in 1963 that the adjacent warehouse was acquired with the basement and the ground floors of the two buildings opened up into single spaces. Many say that in the process the venue lost all its atmosphere. After the club closed in 1964 the premises became the Pyramid Club.
A Blue Plaque now has been placed to denote the importance of this venue.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2017/08/mersey-beat-lathom-hall.html
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