A leading city music expert has launched an audacious bid to save Birmingham’s last great rock music venue – after being inspired by Birmingham winning the Commonwealth Games bid for 2022.
Birmingham Music Archive creator Jez Collins says The Crown on Station Street should be the No.1 tourist attraction for visitors to the Games, with 'boutique hotel' rooms named after Ozzy Osbourne and fellow Black Sabbath stars Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.
The pub was the home of UK’s first live folk recording, Ceilidh at the Crown, released in 1962.
Seventeen years later, singer Ian Campbell’s sons would form the world’s most successful reggae band, UB40
In 1968, the original line-up of the future Black Sabbath played their fist gig together at The Crown under their original name of Earth.
But, although other top stars from Robert Plant to Thin Lizzy, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, Judas Priest, UFO, Budgie, Trapeze, Marc Bolan and Status Quo also played at The Crown, the former hotel has been empty for four years.
Owners Admiral sold the building to a Japanese developer in June, 2014.
Years of nearby construction work restricted local access during the building of the new John Lewis strore opposite, but when the Grand Central shopping centre development opened in September 2015 it quickly began to revitalise the whole area around New Street Station.
While the ‘Spanish steps’ from Grand Central now take city visitors straight down towards The Crown, the pub has remained shut – frustrating people like Jez who understand how its historical value could be turned into a cultural money-spinner.
Now Jez, who recently left Birmingham City University to create various music-led projects, says he cannot stand by any longer.
He said: "We should be celebrating people from this city who have had an impact in music.
His vision is for The Crown is to become home to a unique tourist attraction with a ground floor pub, an all-embracing city music museum on the first floor and hotel rooms above named after Sabbath’s stars Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.
Black Sabbath's first manager Jim Simpson says: "They went on to become the most influential rock and roll band in this country.
To kickstart his campaign, 49-year-old Jez has asked Birmingham City Council to give The Crown a local ‘C’ listing – a move that is set to be considered by the planning director.
While Jez knows that alone might not be enough to save The Crown from being redeveloped, he hopes that, by raising awareness and making it harder for the owners, they will come round to understanding its potential as a top cultural attraction.
And, in so doing, either sell it on to a sympathetic party – or even do the work themselves.
How the Commonwealth Games could save The Crown
Hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games has already focused minds in other areas of the city – with plans for housing and transport being fast tracked by enthusiasts like Andy Street, the first elected West Midlands Mayor.
Now Jez wants to see the same energy turning the spiritual birthplace of Black Sabbath into the ‘Jewel in The Crown’ of the Commonwealth Games.
“What stories are we going to tell the world when the Games are here?” asks Jez.
“Music is the most obvious one because it has always been used (elsewhere) as a cultural reference point.
“The Crown would be a brilliant focal point because of its cultural, architectural and archaeological significance.
“But, when the eyes of the world are on Birmingham, what are we going to give them beyond its youth, diversity, dance, shopping and retail?
“The music heritage here is second to none, with everything from Black and Asian music to reggae, African and white British which can all lend themselves to a series of events, talks and exhibitions.
“And where better to host them than The Crown which must be the starting point.
“(Saving The Crown) is a long shot, but it would be great if the Commonwealth Games had its music heritage at its heart.
“I am always wary of telling just one ‘history’ – the thing about music in Birmingham is that it is a wide history.
“Birmingham is unique in this country in the way that communities live, work and play next to each other and that is reflected in the music.
“Having different music is a strength, an absolute strength – it means there isn’t just one narrative, there’s a multitude of narratives.”
Jim Simpson was a 1960s’ trumpet player in a band called Locomotive (Rudi’s in Love) and as a promoter his Henry’s Blues House nights at The Crown were popular on Tuesdays.
It was here that he “first put Ozzy Osbourne on to a stage” with Earth at the start of a journey that would soon see them become Black Sabbath, inventors of heavy metal and led by a singer who would become the world’s most famous Brummie.
After losing control of Sabbath when Paranoid got to No.1 in 1970, Jim later founded the ongoing Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival in 1984.
This October he will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his own jazz label Big Bear Records, which still operates from offices on Hagley Road in Edgbaston.
Along with brother Ron, he has written four-fifths of a planned 100,000-word book about the company.
Four years ago, Jim was also hoping The Crown could become a rock and roll museum with rooms to stay in – but thought its sale was the end of his dream.
Ever the optimist, Jim says: “Birmingham is the rock and roll capital of the world – Black Sabbath are just one of two dozen really important bands to come out of the city and arguably only the Stones have had a bigger impact internationally.
“When Sabbath were at their peak in 1983, the three biggest reggae bands in the world were also from Birmingham. Now that’s rock and roll!”
+ For more information about the Birmingham Music Archive visit the website here
This year’s rebranded Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell Jazz Festival will be the 34th, running from July 20 to 29. For details visit the website here
What does Historic England say about local listings?
Buildings... in a local planning authority’s area that make a positive contribution to its local character and sense of place... may be offered some level of protection by the local planning authority...
Whilst local listing provides no additional planning controls, the fact that a building or site is on a local list means that its conservation as a heritage asset is an objective... and a material consideration when determining the outcome of a planning application.
In deciding any relevant planning permission that affects a locally listed heritage asset or its setting, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires amongst other things that local planning authorities should take into account the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of such heritage assets and of putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation.
They are also obliged to consider the positive contribution that conserving such heritage assets can make to sustainable communities including their economic vitality.
How Admiral made a big profit on The Crown
Being at the back end of the old New Street Station and a tired entrance to the former Pallasades shopping centre did The Crown no favours during its fallow years after the turn of the century when it began to resemble a run down pub to the uninitiated.
Land Registry documents unearthed by Jez show that Admiral Taverns Limited bought it for a song on January 28, 2012.
Two years later years later they made a fat profit when their £710,000 investment was bought by a Japanese developer for almost twice as much.
On June 27, 2014, the Toyoko Inn Co Limited of Shin-Mata, Ota-Ku, Tokyo paid £1.3 million for the site plus VAT of £234,000.
The deal meant that the value of The Crown increased by an astonishing £700 per day – more than £20,000 per month – during the 29 months that Admiral owned it.
How and why – seven magnificent reasons to save The Crown
1. Black Sabbath’s first manager Jim Simpson says the band has had a more influential impact on world music than The Beatles, creating a whole new genre of music called ‘heavy metal’ with limitless spin offs from ‘death metal’ to ‘thrash’.
When Sabbath reached the end of The End world tour at the Genting Arena on February 2 and 4, 2017, fans came from all over the world to say farewell including five-year-old fan Serina Fukuhara who flew over from Japan with parents Kotaro and Riko.
2. Liverpool knocked down its own potential tourism goldmine The Cavern. When it realised it was a mistake, they built a replica one. Why repeat the fiasco in Brum?
In 2014, Liverpool City Counci commissioned a report by the University of Liverpool and John Moores University called Beatles Heritage in Liverpool and its Economic and Cultural Sector Impact.
It found that the net economic impact of Beatles' activity in 2014 was an £81.9 million turnover which supported more than 2,300 jobs.
3. The National Trust’s only Birmingham property is round the corner from The Crown – and the Back to Backs are so popular on Inge Street they regular top the TripAdvisor list of things to do in Birmingham.
Interestingly, they include cottage accommodation enabling Trust members to stay next door to the Birmingham Hippodrome for a bargain price.
Moreover, The Trust has ‘previous’. It already looks after the childhood homes of The Beatles’ stars and if it really wanted to connect to a younger, more diverse and often international audience in Brum, it would surely try to save The Crown for the nation in a drum beat.
Or, perhaps, the Trust’s great rivals at English Heritage could ‘beat’ them too it!
4. Along with many other former live music venues in the city from The Ritz Ballroom in Kings Heath to Edward's No 8 and the Rum Runner in the city, Mothers rock club in Erdington is no more.
Even though it was only open for three years from 1968, it hosted bands from Led Zeppelin and The Who to Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple and was twice voted the best rock club in the world.
Heritage events at the site, including one organised by this year’s Flatpack Film Festival with Jez at its heart, are still well attended even though the club no longer exists.
5. Station Street drips with unappreciated history, so restoration of The Crown would turn it into a three-in-one showbusiness quarter.
A few doors along from The Crown is The Electric Cinema
Opened in December 1909, it’s the country’s oldest working picture house complete with period fixtures you cannot find in any multiplex.
Close by is The Old Rep, which launched the careers of such great stars from Laurence Olivier to Derek Jacobi and Brian Cox.
Jaws’ star Richard Dreyfuss was tempted over from the US to direct Hamlet there.
6. With its sweeping curved frontage, The Crown is a beautiful building in its own right.
New Street Station is just yards away, so The Crown could hardly have more potential tourists on tap if it was rebuilt on the top of Grand Central.
7. Jez is wondering how many people he knows with enough money to offer Toyoko a face-saving deal to relinquish the building – and whether some of the city’s most prolific music stars would back any campaign to save The Crown.
Interest from Black Sabbath’s stars themselves to other artists including UB40, ELO’s Jeff Lynne and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, who lives near Kidderminster, could help to preserve their own legacy for generations to come.
As the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s Is There Anybody Out There? say: “Better get started...”.
