Not much is known about this club, Rails, on Cannon Street, although on Manchester Beat, a few details from the 1960s are recorded. Dave the bouncer at Rails was "built like a cube and his little legs propelled him down Cannon Street with a baseball bat, after three local hard boys had a go [1]." A celebrity visitor in 1967 was none other than Jimi Hendrix who popped in Rails for a late night, post-Manchester University gig drink with a couple of dolly birds. "There was a small commotion at the door and we turned to see Jimi walking in with two birds, one on each arm. He got himself a booth and tucked himself away [2]."
1. www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/homePage.php.
2. www.manchesterbeat.com.
I frequently went to Rails on Saturday night with my girl. It was a great little club that had a small bar, a double row of train like carriages to sit in and a dance floor at a lower level with another row of carriages. The disc "jockey" was a girl whose name I can't remember despite her marrying one of the gang. The club was owned by one of Gus Demmy's sons.
ReplyDeleteHi, the owner was Mike Cohen, manager of The Hollies
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