July 1966 – Small Faces at the legendary Star-Club in Hamburg

Written by Roland Schmitt

Due to its fortunate geographical position, Hamburg was an obvious destination for many live bands hailing from the UK. The northern German metropolis saw the several live clubs getting established during the late 1950s and early 1960s, especially in the red-light, sailors‘ district of St. Pauli and 1st boulevard, the Grosse Freiheit off the Reeperbahn (originally “the sail weavers‘ mile“).

There were joints like “Indra“, the “Kaiserkeller“, the “Top Ten Club“ and especially the “Star-Club“. There is one British band in particular that has to thank the “Beat City“ Hamburg for its reputation – and vice versa – The Beatles. It was here that they laid the ground for their international breakthrough, and it was in the Hanseatic port’s Polydor Studios in the suburb of Harburg that they recorded their first disc (with Tony Sheridan).

The “Star-Club“ opened in April 1962 in the house of the “Grosse Freiheit“ a former movie palace. Its owner and proprietor, Manfred Weissleder, didn’t just lure British bands to Hamburg towards his “Star-Club“ establishment. Stars from the USA followed in their wake, among them Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. The fact that the “Star-Club“ was now seen as the prime German modern music venue became received wisdom in the UK pretty soon. Among those waking up to this fact was the manager of the Small Faces, Birmingham bully Don Arden – realizing that the German market was now massive in terms of live appearances and record sales.

In May 1966, a Small Faces single had its debut in the German Top 20 – it was Sha-La-La-La-Lee. Their leader Steve Marriott made no bones about not liking this pop ditty too much, but it turned out to be highly popular with German fans, who were able to sing along to its chorus with ease, no matter whether they had done their English language homework at school or not.

Arden succeeded in getting the logistics of a quick German tour going as a shot from the hip from July 1st to 7th in order to promote their current Decca album Small Faces with three appearances at the trendy “Star-Club“ pencilled in. Till today it is not documented if and where all these gigs took place. The quartet is rumoured to have arrived by plane, either in Frankfurt or directly in Hamburg. On which day(s) they actually took the “Star-Club“ by storm is not confirmed.

Those punters present at the time do state that the “Star-Club“ fans certainly were trembling with anticipation. Small Faces had been announced as “the next big thing in the British hit parades“. An eye-witness reports that they were “…completely wild and sweaty, with a screaming and spitting Steve Marriott.“ Indeed, both Steve and Ronnie relished their parts as frontmen and displayed unlimited power during the gig. The set-list consisted of their hits What’cha Gonna Do About It, Hey Girl and obviously Sha-La-La-La-Lee as well as the scheduld single All Or Nothing. The band also played highlights from their debut album – Come On Children, Sorry She’s Mine, Shake.

It seemed to be a fact that Small Faces appeared at the “Star-Club“ on July 3rd, 1966. On the other hand, there is definite proof that right on that day – during the late afternoon to be precise – they played the “Jaguar-Club“ in Herford, which s around 200 miles south of Hamburg some time after five p.m. This is how the club’s legendary promoter, Miss Carola Frauli (born in 1920! She died 2017) remembers it all:

“We had to pick the band up in Hamburg. Although the program had been set to begin at four p.m., the boys still sat around the table in a completely relaxed mood around two. When we finally hit the autobahn, my car threatened to get airbound from time to time. The performance by Small Faces turned out to be possible – right on time!“ Highly unlikely though that the band could have rocked the “Star-Club“ later that night – or is it?!

By the way – other musicians from Small Faces or Steve Marriott circles appeared at the “Star-Club“ as well: Greg Ridley managed that multiple times, first as part of a kind of secret house band in the V.I.P.s and later with the new band version, Spooky Tooth. Steve’s long-standing bass player Jim Leverton appeared with Fat Mattress.

On December 31st, 1969, the “Star-Club closed down, and the building was demolished after a fire in 1987. The legendary club and its “Hamburg Sound“ can only be recalled via a plaque, and during the 50th anniversary gigs in 2013, numerous vintage acts appeared in the new “Grosse Freiheit 36“. The compilation album “The Hamburg Sound“ presents songs by many of the bands who used to play there. Our heroes are featured with “Sha-La-La-La-Lee“, of course!

Roland Schmitt is the co-author (with Uli Twelker) of Happy Boys Happy.