Inevitably with such a comprehensive archive, we could not fit all Brian’s shots into the book, while others were rejected due to negative damage or are now lost. Nevertheless many of these images still have a lot of historical interest, so we plan to add some to this site over the weeks. So while these shots are not up to the quality of the book, we hope you enjoy seeing them. The shot above? That’s Brian Smith himself having a bit of fun posing with an enormous Fender bass inside the Twisted Wheel Club!
This is Big Joe Turner on the American Folk and Blues Festival tour 1966, at the Free Trade in Manchester. Photo by Brian Smith. On stage, Turner was obscured with a mad floral display to people in the stalls. It turned out that the Free Trade had decorated the place for a series of school speech days, and weren’t about to move it all just for a pop concert!
Two photographs of guitarist Bo Diddley. The top photo is backstage at one of the big package tours, but the poor lighting meant Brian had to use long exposures so the photos were a little blurred. However it is interesting to see the basic nature of the backstage set up, Bo literally living out of suitcases. There’s even a drying rack if he fancies doing the washing up! The bottom photo is from a show at The Jigsaw Club in Manchester, the ceiling so low Bo is having to keep his head down!
Two great shots inside the Twisted Wheel Club. The top one shows Roger Eagle, who booked many of the r’n’b acts and started the famous one nighters, with some of the club regulars including Dave Waggett on the right. The second photo shows Brian Smith with two of his friends, Roger Fairhurst (and possible Gloria next to him) inside the same club. Notice the fabulous wall decoration, a screen of old bike wheels, with posters, sleeves and some of Brian’s prints.
easy on the eye books 
Very interesting photos. Brian has become over the years a legend !