JUKE BOX AT ERIC’S – ROGER EAGLE COMMEMORATIVE EDITION 
by VARIOUS ARTISTS 
Vinyl LP

ERICS008

Label: VEE-TONE RECORDS

After laying dormant for 28 years, ‘Juke Box At Eric’s’ re-appears as ‘The Roger Eagle Commemorative Edition’ courtesy of Vee-Tone Records, in a 500 numbered, red vinyl limited edition pressing. This new release features a heady mix of the tracks that appeared on the original plus a second side of ‘new’ material gleaned from the Roger Eagle/Vee-Tone Records archive. In the early 1960s as the DJ at the famed ‘Twisted Wheel’ in Manchester, Roger Eagle introduced the North West to an eye-watering and lengthy list of American music legends not only on vinyl but in person. These included Blues luminaries Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker as well as Screaming Jay Hawkins and Bo Diddley. Roger also gave space to the upcoming British Blues performers like The Spencer Davis Group and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. By the end of the decade Roger was running Manchester psychedelic club, the Magic Village and then in Liverpool, promoting gigs at the Liverpool Stadium with the major rock acts of the time but always finding slots for his favourite music in the form of Chuck Berry and Captain Beefheart. It was in 1976 and hungry for a new project that Roger, along with Ken Testi and Pete Fulwell, created Eric’s, the club that would come to equal the Cavern in importance as a venue on Merseyside. The Punk zeitgeist was upon us and the parallels with Rock ‘n’ Roll were not lost on Roger, although he made sure that the club hosted his own tastes along with the new music. Roger also found time to befriend and help a new generation of musicians for whom Eric’s was home, including Echo & the Bunnymen, Big in Japan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Wah! Heat and in particular Mick Hucknall who viewed Roger as perhaps a father or older brother figure. Did the jukebox at Eric’s exist? Yes, it did, filled with an eclectic mix of cutting-edge music from Charlie Parker and Howlin' Wolf to Prince Far I. After the demise of the club, Roger concentrated on new ventures; one of these was a proposed series of LPs that would both reflect the ethos of the club jukebox and echo the content of his excellent cassette compilations. It was deemed too risky by the distributors to gather such unlikely musical bedfellows on one volume, so the first (and only) issue was dedicated solely to Rock ‘n’ Roll. A true music educator, Roger was hugely influential across multiple music ‘scenes’ from the 1960s to 1990s, from gritty Rhythm & Blues to Blues to Dub Reggae to Punk to Doo Wop and to Rockabilly and on and on… he loved ‘em all! Without him we would probably not be listening to many of the records that we now regard as club classics. He was in every sense a true pioneer of music. So here we have the results of our re-jigged Jukebox at Eric’s LP. A perfect tribute to a towering figure, both literally and in his musical influence on the young and not so young, from the 1960s to the ‘80s and beyond. “Sit Down! Listen To This!” Side A – (tracks from original LP)
1. Duke Mitchell - The Lion
2. The Rays - Elevator Operator
3. The Playboys (featuring Scott Walker) - Jungle Fever
4. Billy Prager - Do It Bop
5. The Frogmen Underwater
6. Tommy Blake - F-Olding Money
7. The Wailers - Shanghaied
8. Jackie Lowell With Duane Diamond And The Astronauts - Rocket Trip
9. Ray Sharpe - Monkey's Uncle
Side B – (new tracks)
1. Bobby Peterson Quintet - Mama Get Your Hammer
2. Larry Bright - One Ugly Child
3. The Chips - Rubber Biscuit
4. John Zacherle - Hurry Bury Baby
5. Bruce Channel - Come On Baby
6. Alonzo Scales - My Baby Likes To Shuffle
7. Jesse James - Red Hot Rockin’ Blues
8. Jimmy Patton - Okie’s In The Pokie
9. Tommy Roe And The Satins With The Flamingos (original version) - Shelia (aka) Sheila