The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End.

Venue: Marquee Club
Town: London, GB

The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End. It was the location of the first live performance by the Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962. The club was established by Harold Pendleton, an accountant whose love of jazz had led him to become secretary of the National Jazz Federation. Originally it was located in the Marquee Ballroom in the basement of the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street, where dances had been held since the early 1950s. Its decor was designed by Angus McBean with a striped canopy to imitate a marquee. Pendleton took over management of the ballroom, and the first Jazz at the Marquee night was held on 19 April 1958. Johnny Dankworth, Chris Barber, Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies were early resident performers, and Tubby Hayes and Joe Harriott were also regular performers. In 1962 the club began a regular R&B night that occasionally featured visiting American musicians such as Muddy Waters. Pendleton also launched the National Jazz Festival in 1961 in Richmond; this was the precursor to the Reading and Leeds Festivals. By 1963 the club had become most noted for its R&B acts, including Davies, Brian Auger and Manfred Mann-who played there a record 102 times between 1962 and 1976-but Pendleton was forced to find a new venue when his lease expired. In March 1964, the club moved a short distance to what became its most famous venue, with an entrance at 90 Wardour Street, and the actual music venue housed over two buildings. Almost every major rock band played on the tiny stage here over the next 25 years. The Marquee in Wardour Street did not have an alcohol licence until 1970, hence, Simon White (manager of the Marquee Studio) and music agent Kenny Bell came up with the idea of opening a private bar called La Chasse Club at 100 Wardour Street, which Jack Barrie managed. La Chasse became the watering hole of many musicia