A new concert and a musical tram ride marks the 50^th anniversary of the historical Blues and Gospel Train in Manchester.

One of the most influential concerts in Mancunian history was performed in 1964 at a shuttered railway station in Chorlton. One, it should be noted, decked out with bales of cotton, chickens and goats to resemble a railway station in the American South. The Blues and Gospel Train is such a bizarre chapter in Manc music history, the mind struggles to digest the weirdness of these performers – Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Cousin Joe, Sonny Terry, Otis Spann, The Reverend Gary Davis and Brownie McGhee – all in this place at this time. But thank god they were. Their songs were incendiary to a Britain just finding routes to American blues through traditional jazz and skiffle. And when Granada broadcast it on television, this one concert changed everything for a whole generation of musicians and music lovers.

This one concert changed everything for a whole generation of musicians

And now a new concert is planned to mark the 50^th anniversary of this historic occasion. On May 3, musicians will perform a tribute concert at the Carlton Club in Chorlton (as the original site is an overgrown ruin next to the Fallowfield Loop cycle path and bridleway). They include: Blues Collective, who will re-create the original set; gramophone turntablist Naomi Kashiwagi; acid blues band Morganfield; Sing Out Gospel Choir, and West African drumming troupe Wangari.

Four days later, a second event will be taking place as part of Chorlton Arts Festival: Metrolink have allowed the organisers to use a tram carriage of a tram for a free, first come first served musical journey (you will need a valid ticket to board the tram though!). On Wednesday 7 May the tram will depart from the St Peter’s Square stop at 7.30pm: musician, author and broadcaster CP Lee will welcome people on to the tram before giving a historical overview of The Blues and Gospel Train event. This will then be followed by a live performance from Blues musicians as the tram trundles towards Chorlton. The musicians and additional details for this event have yet to be confirmed – keep an eye out the Chorlton Arts Festival Twitter.

Let’s hope they get better weather than at the original concert, when it started raining so hard that there were problems with the recording. At one point on the tape, there’s an audible hiss from rain bouncing off the top of Cousin Joe’s piano. Just goes to show – you can take the Deep South to Manchester, but it will probably always rain. No matter how many goats and cotton bales you line up.