Phil Ryan and the Crescents

Phil Ryan and the Crescents in 1962
Photo © 1962 Phil Rylance

Phil Rylance kindly sent some nice photos along with his memories of performing at the Iron Door Club in 1962. Phil was the vocalist of Phil Ryan and the Crescents and was the drummer and guitar player with Gary B Goode and the Hot Rods.

Ryan and the Crescents were comprised of:  Bernard Hibbert lead guitar; David Birkenhead(Martin) drums; Roger Keay bass guitar; and Phil Ryan vocals.
Phil Ryan shared a number of  positive experiences he had at the Iron Door Club and confirmed that the group performed  at the Club in the early sixties. He quipped “We were from Crewe, but were always welcomed as foreigners!”

Les Ackerley ran the club, I think. He also ran Crewe Town Hall, which is where he saw us play andf booked us for liverpool. As the Hotrods we did a few of the allnighters in late 61 early 62. The most interesting one was thus; When pop singer Tommy Bruce came up north he used us as his Bruisers as a backing band. We did some good and big gigs that were way beyond our normal thing. One of these was a Saturday at Ashton in Makerfield Baths which was a big circuit gig. Straight after the gig we went on the the Iron Door to an allnighter, arriving at about two o clock and Tommy went back to London. I can’t remember who else was on but we did a lot there with The Searchers, Faron, The Big Three and Lee Curtis, as well as the Beatles. We were booked by Les to do every other Sunday with the Beatles in early 62, Billy kramer doing the alternate Sunday. We only did one or two because our singer, Ray Jones was tragically killed in a shotgun accident.

Gary B Goode and the Hot Rods
Iron Door Stage 1962
Photo ©1962 Phil Rylance

I remeber the Iron Door with great nostalgia and will never forget sitting in the upstairs dressing room with John, Paul and George sharing a can/bottle of Coke whilst Pete Best was chatting to many girls downstairs.