Mothers in Erdington

Picture pinched from Jeff D Hibbard-Rose

Mothers as it is today. The club was the top floor above both shops.

The club opened 1968-08-09, and closed 1971-01-03.

In this time over 400 acts performed there.

Family, Taste, Liverpool Scene, Fleetwood Mac, Edgar Broughton Band, World debut of Traffic, Free, Roy Harper, Blodwyn Pig, Strawbs, Fairfield Parlour, Quintessence, Steppenwolf, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Jon Hisemans Colosseum, Nice, Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Who, Fairport Convention, King Crimson and hundreds more.

Pink Floyd recorded part of their album Ummagumma at Mothers on 1969-04-27.
John Peel, who was present, was moved to say,
"In a moment they unfold sonorous layers one on the other in a sinfonico bang; to another block, incredibly melancholic sounds that are intersected between them as plants of dying galaxies lost in time corridors and space."
(I feel I should add that this was translated into English from an Italian web-site using Babal Fish.)
I'll let you judge whether it might have made more sense originally ;-)

What they said:
John Peel:
"People are amazed to hear that for a few years the best club in Britain was in Erdington."

Roy Harper:
"Oh blimey - that was the first club outside London that meant anything at all and that's why there's been this long association with Birmingham. I played there about six times between 1968 and 1970. I have always enjoyed playing here.