Toby Jug, Tolworth

The Toby Jug in Tolworth, Surrey, not far from Kingston Upon Thames in southwest London, was a really important rock music venue in the late 1960s and played host to pretty much all of the top draws of the day, including Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, Traffic and Led Zeppelin.

Melody Maker notice November 1963

Having been a jazz venue, Toby Jug (which briefly operated as a club for R&B in early 1964) opened in early March 1968 as a rock club.

Music researcher Alan Clayson’s book on The Yardbirds (a group from the local area), lists two gigs from 1964:

20 January 1964 – The Yardbirds
27 January 1964 – The Yardbirds

It looks like from the advert below that the venue was changed due to popular demand.

The following gigs are sourced from listings in the Kingston & Malden Borough News.  Mick Capewell’s Marmalade Skies was also a great resource.

I would welcome any additions in the comments below and also any memories of artists that played there.

13 March 1968 – Fleetwood Mac
20 March 1968 – Aynsley Dunbar’s Retaliation
27 March 1968 – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
10 April 1968 – Champion Jack Dupree and Black Cat Bones
17 April 1968 – Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack
8 May 1968 – Aynsley Dunbar’s Retaliation
15 May 1968 – Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
22 May 1968 – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
5 June 1968 – Savoy Brown
12 June 1968 – Jethro Tull
19 June 1968 – Chicken Shack
26 June 1968 – Keef Hartley (or was this 24 June?)
3 July 1968 – Taste
10 July 1968 – Family
17 July 1968 – Jethro Tull
24 July 1968 – Chicken Shack
31 July 1968 – John Dummer Blues Band
7 August 1968 – Ten Years After
14 August 1968 – Taste
21 August 1968 – Jethro Tull
28 August 1968 – Savoy Brown
4 September 1968 – Traffic
11 September 1968 – Fleetwood Mac
18 September 1968 – Ten Years After (or was this Taste?)
3 October 1968 – The Nice
9 October 1968 – Jethro Tull
16 October 1968 – Jethro Tull
23 October 1968 – Colosseum
10 November 1968 – Timebox
13 November 1968 – Fleetwood Mac
17 November 1968 – Joe Cocker & The Grease Band
20 November 1968 – Blossom Toes
4 December 1968 – Taste
11 December 1968 – Bobby Parker and Chicken Shack
15 December 1968 – Bandwagon
18 December 1968 – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
22 December 1968 – The Drifters

71 thoughts on “Toby Jug, Tolworth”

  1. A few more gigs that I have found:

    8 January 1969 – Jethro Tull
    9 January 1969 – Gun
    2 February 1969 – New York Public Library
    5 February 1969 – Jeff Beck Group
    14 February 1969 – Van Der Graaf Generator
    19 February 1969 – Ten Years After
    9 March 1969 – The End
    12 March 1969 – Steamhammer
    5 April 1969 – Killing Floor
    12 April 1969 – Led Zeppelin
    7 May 1969 – Fleetwood Mac
    8 May 1969 – Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments

    1. Hi
      I’m trying to find out what day Blodwyn Pig played at The Toby Jug,Tolworth in I think March 1969.
      It was my wife and I’s first date. It would be nice to know when our 50th is !
      By the way it was a great gig.
      Many thanks
      Bev

    2. I saw Yes there must have been around 1969 1 of their early sessions. As it was mainly a blues venue, when Yes came on it was a susprise to some of the audience…with there flowery appearance😀😀 but what a session. Im 72 now and still love prog, great memories of so much brill music..Ian FM

    3. I used to work here as a “bar useful” (collecting and washing glasses) in 1968/69. Captain Beefheart did not play on the date shown as his van had broken down. Instead, he played a double header with John Mayall the following week. I also remember Love Sculpture playing there when they had a hit with “Sabre Dance”. When Fleetwood Mac had their 1st hit and were playing at the Toby Jug, John Mayall, Joanne Kelly, and others turned up in the kitchen (where I was – next to the bar/club). John ended up on stage singing “Fleetwood Mac have gone commercial”. Great night!

      1. Do remember ever seeing Rod Stewart at the Toby Jug, I tell my grandchildren that I saw him there but not sure of the year, they dont believe me, we lived in Ewell so not far from the Toby Jug. Thanks Lynne

    1. Not that I can remember. There were three south London pubs that were on the circuit, The Fox, The Toby Jug Tolworth and the Castle Tooting. Saw the tree kings at the Toby Jug BB Albert and Freddie plus other great bands including Free, Black Sabbath.

    2. There were three pubs in the area which the bands used to gig at the Fox the Castle at Tooting and the Toby Jug Tolworth. You could go and see bands such as Free, Taste, Black Sabbath a couple of nights in a row. Another major venue was the Greyhound at Croyden which was on the tour rota.

    3. Hi all,
      The main venues locally at the same time should also include Kingston Poly, St. Marys college in Teddington and I also saw some top bands at Digby Stuart Teachers Training College in Roehampton.

  2. remember Fleetwood mac, chicken shack, bluesbreakers, ch jack Dupree with black cat bones- early paul kossoff, and later, status quo. left the gig quite deaf! paid 6 shillings to see quo! had a sit up and beg Ford Anglia back in 68. Good memories ! Now retired but still love the blues

  3. I remember seeing the Edgar Broughton Band, knocking over there loudspeakers, with their parents stopping them being damaged. Thats true rock and roll.

  4. It’s good to see the list of gigs here as I was there probably every Wednesday night in 1968 & ’69 and paid between 2/6d and 5 bob (Led Zeppelin) happy days! A tiny venue really but as a result I’ve never liked the big concerts.

    1. Caroline,
      I used to go the Toby Jug later – in the 70s. I’m currently researching it, and would be fascinated to hear your memories. timharrison 444 at hotmail.com
      Thanks
      Tim

        1. Hi Nick,
          Yes, I’m currently putting together a history of the pub.
          I’m piecing together recollections and memories (partly of the famous Bowie gig, but also of other gigs, events, general drinking etc), and I’m researching the building’s history too.
          All the best
          Tim (timharrison444 at hotmail.com)

          1. That’s great news. Was it a music venue between 64-67? Can’t find any gigs but suspect it might have been

          2. Hi Nick, yes it was a music venue… but very, very briefly! in January 1964 the Yardbirds were hired by the landlord to play. The first gig attracted a big crowd, and he was delighted. The gig a week later attracted so many people that the pub simply couldn’t cope – so he cancelled everything. For four long years, bugger all happened on the music front. Then Chicken Shack bowled up, the blues club was born and (on and off for four years) it became one of London’s finest music venues. Tim

          3. Hey Tim & my band at the time “English Rogues” played at The Toby Jug in 1974 although I don’t remember the date but still remember the venue very well!

          4. I went to several gigs at the Toby Jug but three stand out. BB King was brilliant; Chicken Shack with Christine Perfect, which found me standing at the bar with most of Fleetwood Mac (I guess John McVie was the link), and incredibly, Led Zep. I was right up by the stage, no more than a few feet from Jimmy Page. Sadly I missed Bowie. What a venue!

          5. I was at the David Bowie do trying out Ziggy In promotion of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie began the Ziggy Stardust Tour. The first part of the tour started in the United Kingdom, and went from 29 January to 7 September 1972. A show at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth on 10 February of the same year was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom and creating, as described by David Buckley, a “cult of Bowie”.
            I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t publicised as my girlfriend and myself were expecting the usual weekly “disco”, she was not a great live music fan and were in two minds about going in when told it was him. I wasn’t really a fan back then BUT, It was brilliant and converted me. So whether this was the 10 February show or an earlier experiment I’m not sure. The exact details are a bit fuzzy as it was nearly 50 Years ago !!

  5. Nobody has yet mentioned an appearance by BB King, which I attended. Trouble is, I can’t remember the date. I think it would be in 69, as I went to several at around that time. I was at the Led Zep gig, a Chicken Shack gig (Fleetwood Mac were all at the bar), and Blodwyn Pig – that’s not mentioned either. Great days.

  6. Saw Muddy Waters at the Toby Jug. Also the usual Taste, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, various incarnations of JM’s Bluesbreakers (Peter Green & Mick Taylor), Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman , Keef Hartley. Great place & great memories.

  7. Saw Muddy Waters at the Toby Jug. Also the usual Taste, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, various incarnations of JM’s Bluesbreakers (Peter Green & Mick Taylor), Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman , Keef Hartley. Great place & great memories.

  8. A regular during this time even though I was underage and a pupil at Tiffins at the time. Remember most of the gigs listed above but want to add: King Crimson ( the week before they supported the Stones in Hyde Park. Spirit of John Morgan, the amazing Blodwyn Pig, Bakerloo (Blues Band) with Clem Clemson on Guitar and Dave Edmunds ( could have been Rockpile?) about the time of Sabre Dance. Email me on rob.fryatt@me.com if you want anymore comments about the amazing Wednesday nights!

    1. Ron Fryatt – greetings from another Old Tiffinian (although I got expelled in ’66 🙁

      I think you may be confused about King Crimson playing the Toby Jug. They actually played Ewell Tech the weekend before the Stones concert in Hyde Park. I remember it well because Greg Lake ‘nicked’ my mate’s girlfriend after meeting her at the Ewell Tech gig and she accompanied him to the Hyde Park concert.

      I have never heard anymore about her since that day!

      1. Mr Cool – you were in the year above – and I remember you at a party and Purple Haze playing lol. London suburbs were an amazing place to be – so easy to go up to london and say you got on at Vauxhall. Croydon gig. Mabel Greer’s toy shop – thinking wow these guys really can play. School hall type venue maybe 60 people there. They morphed into Yes soon after. You still see Steve prince? Fond memories.

    2. Ha ha another member of the underage Tiffin crowd. I was part of tge 62 intake but i remember the ‘cool’ ‘64 crowd being there too. must have been 16 – what an amazing experience everyone from Led Zep to Fleetwood Mac (Duster Bennett anyone?) JethroTull ten years after taste champion jack dupree… savoy brown chicken shack…

  9. I went to most of them one you have missed Love Sculpture with Dave Edmonds and although I didn’t go to this one Quintessence

  10. I remember seeing a band called Lucas and the mike cotton sound. I met my husband here on November 3rd 1968. Can’t remember the bands name but they sang a song called the Weight. Which was written by bob Dylan I think

  11. Nice to read all your memories
    I am an Italian fan of FREE and I know FREE played in Tolworth – Toby Jug
    no less than 3 times in 1969, as follows:
    2 April 1969, 24 September 1969 and 19 november 1969. Anyone of you did you of more FREE gigs played there and anywhere else in England between 1968 and 1972 ? Thanks in advance to anybody !

    1. Yes .. Saw Free there at Toby Jug. Can’t remember the exact dates but know it was 1969 !! Saw them at at Fairfield Halls venue in Croyden also. Fantastic …

    2. Dear Alessandro,
      I have only just read your comment on the Toby Jug, Tolworth website from March 2017 but I did see Free play live at The South Parade Pier in Southsea (near Portsmouth) on 25th September 1970. I believe they had already released “Alright Now” and they were brilliant live. If you open the link I have provided below, you will see that they played at The South Parade Pier again in November 1970. I’m pretty sure they also played at one of the original Isle of Wight Festivals. Years later I saw Paul Rogers at Guildford Civic Hall, when he was singing in a band called Peace but I can’t tell you when that was…….

      http://www.michaelcooper.org.uk/C/pierprefs.htm

      Take care and keep safe.

  12. This may be my memory playing tricks after 47-48 years or so but I seem to remember seeing both Freddie King and Albert King there in either ’69 or the very early 70s. I also remember seeing Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker about this time but unsure whether it was at the Toby Jug. Can anyone confirm they played there?

    1. I’m almost certain that John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf and Freddie King played the Toby in the summer of 69 – I’m currently trying to research more. I don’t have any record of Albert King playing at Tolworth. What do you remember of the venue, Charles?

      1. Hi Tim,
        Thanks for your ‘semi’ confirmation – I look forward to seeing the results of your research. I just remember the Toby as being a great venue for live acts. It’s wasn’t particularly big which made for an intimate atmosphere and enabled you to get up really close to the bands. Looking at all the great names who regularly played there makes me realise just how lucky we all were compared with today’s teenagers and 20 somethings. Although there is live music most nights at one of my local pubs in St Albans, they all appear to be tribute bands. I will stop here as I’ve just realised that I am starting to sound rather like a grumpy old man! PS Just noticed that John Mayall is due to play at St Albans Arena in November so will definitely be going for old times sake. Saw him there a few years ago and he was still pretty damn good. Got him to autograph my precious Bluesbreakers LP too!

    2. Charles, I definitely saw John Lee Hooker more than once at the Toby Jug during ’68 or ’69. I was at most of the gigs mentioned above. On one occasion, I was having a pee when Stan Webb of Chicken Shack lined up next to me. He asked if I had any ‘stuff’ but I was unable to help him.

  13. I went several times to the Toby Jug
    I lived in Chessington, so it was one stop on the train.
    Fleetwood Mac, featuring Jeremy Spencer, if my memory serves.
    Chicken Shack, with Stan Webb and with Christine Perfect on piano.
    Mild and bitter 1 shilling and thrupence.
    Ainsley Dunbar Retaliation?
    Also remember going to see the Small Faces play at the Cellar Club by the river in Kingston…about a month before their first single was released (wotcha gonna do about it?).
    Between sets they played records…I remember hearing Like A Rolling Stone for the first time that day…
    Whoooosh

    1. Toby Jug. Great place! Saw Fleetwood Mac, Muddy Waters, Chicken Shack-the wonderful Christine Perfect singing ‘I would rather go blind’ and Stan Webb playing solos in the car park on an extended lead. My mate Chris Harris used to do some of the interval disco.

  14. If only we had kept the flyers!!! Your comments bring back great memories. The music room was demolished years ago but is still just an empty site. Currently some good gigs at Half Moon Putney and Cabbage Patch at Twickenham. Highly recommend Sari Schoor and The Engine Room who are touring.

  15. I remember seeing Champion Jack Dupree, and then Black Cat Bones (forgot they were on the same bill.) Dupree was excellent, but Bones – wow, could they play. Never realised till many years later that that was Paul Kossoff fronting them. Electric. Other memories: rocking up to see some outfit called Jethro Tull. Who? Oh well, three bob, give it a whirl. I don’t think there above fifty people there, but be blew us away. Quote, as he delved into a plastic carrier bag to pull out another instrument: ‘I think I’m breaking new ground here with the flute.’ Sure was. And the boiler suit. When he came back a few weeks later, the place was ram-jammed. You couldn’t move, let alone get a beer. I also remember standing at the bar with Mick Taylor and asking him if he would play ‘Snowy Wood’ in the second set. He said he might, but didn’t. Happy days, and only a short walk from my gaff in Surbiton.

  16. No one seems to remember the 70’ & 80s? I moved to Tolworth in1973 and knowing the history of the Toby jug soon investigated the venue. I remember seeing the following. Motörhead, The Stranglers, Squeeze, The Fabulous Poodles, The Damned, The Vibrators, Jackson Heights, Ultravox & Bernie Torme, amongst a few others I have probably forgotten. A different era but still some of the best bands around at the time.
    It was a great venue and, like everyone else, I was gutted to see it demolished

    1. I saw The Vibrators at the Toby Jug. Hitch-hiking along the A3 to the show the band stopped their van and drove my sister and I to the gig. They also dropped us home. Punk days. Good times!

  17. Myself and a group of friends used the Toby as a regular pub from about 1983 until the Mid 90’s. It’s interesting to see the list of fantastic names that played there before it turned into a ‘Pool Hall’. As an aside, there was a rumour that John Lennon’s Dad once worked there as a barman?? How true this is I’m not sure!! Also be interested to know the history of the site that the Toby stood on. One couple who ran it for a couple of years had a photo of their baby in cot, with a vivid picture of a Roundhead Soldier with a beard pictured behind the baby – clear as a bell!!! – Very spooky!!

  18. Further to my previous post, I have just checked, and John Lennon’s Father, Alf – did in fact work as a barman at the Toby Jug in the 60’s. Search Alf Lennon Toby Jug and you will get the proof.

    1. It’s a long time ago now and I can’t remember the year, but probably 1966/67 at a guess, and I was in there with my mates as usual and who should walk in for a quick pint on his way back down the A3 from London in his mini – yes John Lennon himself. Just walks up to the bar as casual as you like. Never knew his dad worked there though! Beer was around 1s-7d a pint if I recall. Happy days.

  19. Saw the Alan Bown set there featuring Robert Palmer and I think Elkie Brooks tho not sure. It was before Vinegar Joe times for sure. I remember They had a single out on Pyramid records which I think was an Island subsidery.

  20. Melody Maker notes in its 30 Nov 63 issue that Tolworth Jazz Club had closed and was reopening soon as an R&B club

    I will add a photo

  21. I saw John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers on 27th March 1968 and my comment in my diary says, “Queued for 1 and a half hours, great night” Also saw him again on 18th December 1968. Comment was “Great performance”. I also saw Champion Jack Dupree there but I don’t know the date. He was excellent as well.

  22. I’m sure I saw Yes a couple of times. It would have been around when their first album came out. First band at the Toby Jug not playing Blues. Did some great covers in addition to their on stuff!!

  23. I saw the Mac, John Mayall, Killing Floor, Dave Edmunds etc. in the mid1960s. I remember the place was so packed you could almost lift your feet off the deck and remain upright. Apparently a girl fainted one evening and was lifted out over everyone’s heads! I started on the drums around that time. Had 16 years playing in a Rock band. Still playing now at the brilliant Norfolk Blues Society’s Jams, or will be when it all starts up again!
    Cheers all!

    1. Remember well seeing Taste and being right up front about 6 feet from Rory with my head stuck inside his speaker. A group of my school friends displayed the Irish tricolour that Rory acknowledged. I was at Surbiton Grammar and rememberTim Harrison. Also remember listening to Stray in the bar another week. They were regulars at the Temple club in Wardour Street where I was a member. Their thunder flashes and strobes were mind blowing.

  24. Five years of research has gone into producing a book telling the story of The Toby Jug pub in south-west London, listing every known gig that took place, with eye-witness reports from those who were there.
    It was where David Bowie launched Ziggy Stardust, where Led Zeppelin played in the back room and where dozens of 60s and 70s bands entertained the locals.
    Hello Tolworth, I’m Ziggy (https://thegoodlifesurbiton.co.uk/toby-jug/) tells the story of that Bowie gig as its 50th anniversary approaches, in February 2022.
    Its 152 pages also chart the life of the pub, from the drawing board to the wrecking ball, and celebrate the likes of Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, The Stranglers, Rod Stewart, Status Quo and Genesis.
    Illustrated with more than 300 pictures, it’s the definitive history of a remarkable music pub.

  25. Hello all.

    I’m so fascinated in the music history of the toby jug..
    What an amazing heritage of music there be it bowie, zeppelin, mac, taste etc.

    I read here on the blog john Lennon father was a barman!

    Does anybody here have memories or paper clippings of thin lizzy playing the jug?

    I remember going for a pint here in late 90s before it went.☘🎸🤘

    Thanks all..
    Dave

  26. I loved the Toby JUg every Wednesday Night. I saw Howling Wolf/Freddie King/Sonny Terry + Brownie McGhee/Free/Taste/Savoy Brown/Graham Bond’s Majic ,,,/John Dummer/Aynsley Dunbar/Fleetwood Mac/Sprit of John MorganLed Zep as New Yardbirds ….a few more but greatest was Howling Wolf

  27. I saw Stray at the Toby Jug 3rd February 1972 (a week before the famous Bowie gig which I missed).

  28. In 1968, Tim Rose turned up to sing Morning Dew and Hey Joe. I remember because I bought him a pint. It would have been a Mac, Tull or Chicken Shack night.

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