The Crown
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65 Station Street (corner of Hill Street and Station Street), B5 4DA. The ornate looking building was the home to Henry's Blues House.
Started by Jim Simpson in January 1968. It ran on Tuesday nights and included American blues legends like Duster Bennett and Big Boy Crudup. Led Zeppelin played here as well. It aimed to be primarily a Blues music venue, but progressively became host to hard rock and progressive acts during the early 1970s. Thin Lizzy, Status Quo, Stackridge, UFO, Judas Priest and Supertramp have played there amongst others.
The Crown's real claim to fame is that this is the venue where a local band called Earth played. Jim Simpson saw them here and offered to manage them. Earth then went on to change their name to Black Sabbath. They played their very first gig under that name at the pub.
The club seems to have finished in early 1973. However, the pub does continue to host the occasional local act with punk, rock and indie bands.
