The Bush Music Club: March 2023

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Bob Bolton Collection - Folk Clubs 70s - Town Crier Folk Club, 1971-72

Click images for larger size.

BMC Archives holds a set of Bob's USBs & these images were taken at the Town Crier Folk Club in the Town Hall Hotel in Balmain. Unlike the majority of Bob's photos these do not have universal dates, though some were dated, film 151 was shot on 4th November 1971 & film 184A on 9th March 1972.

Extract from Part 7 of Malcolm J. Turnbull's History of the early Sydney folk scene - The Town Crier Folk Club, founded by Derrick Chetwyn and Trevor Sutton with the backing of the NSW Folk Federation, met on Thursday nights (from April 1971) at the Town Hall hotel in Balmain. According to a contemporary report:

The Town Crier goes like a party. In a big back bar with the spirits high and the music REAL … The audiences are REAL too. Cross-section audiences. Like Balmain itself. Several strata. Old men on benches. Young chicks with babies and nowhere to go except Balmain. It’s all there. Even container-truck drivers, the hated few of the noise and exhaust, occasionally blow in, breathe in, drink in, and sing … There’s a hard-core following of sixty regulars. They range in age from around 18 to around 60. No generation gaps in traditional music …

The Town Crier was apparently Bob's local club & according to the list of his negatives donated to the National Library in 2014, he filmed 15 evenings between 29/10/71 & 05/05/72 at Balmain, then a further 6 evenings at the Lansdowne Hotel, the Harold Park & the Royal George ending on 29/06/72

The Town Crier was initially organised by Derrick and Morag Chetwyn. Later it was run by Derrick and Colin Dryden. Thanks to Danny Watson, who also identified Tom Bromley & Trevor Sutton, & provided Andy's surname.