The Music Hall form of entertainment began in the North of England, where the Star Music Hall in Bolton is usually regarded as the first. Almost every pub - and there were astonishing numbers of them, 227 in Preston for a population of 33,000 - had its 'free and easies' or amateur talent nights. Metropolitan stars like Vesta Tilly, Marie Lloyd, Florrie Ford and the rest also visited the main venues - one of Marie Lloyd's last appearances was at the Gateshead Empire in 1922. J.B. Priestley remembers rushing in from Tynemouth, where he was in the army, to the Newcastle Hippodrome to see the stars.
George Leybourne (originally Joe Saunders of Wolverhampton, the great 'Lion Comique', was always immaculately dressed and commanded big money wherever he went. At the old Wear Music Hall in Sunderland in 1875, he drove round town in a carriage and pair for publicity, and drew the colossal sum of £60 a week. The theatre had to go 'twice nightly' to accommodate all who wished to see him. His greatest number was always 'Champagne Charlie' and his early death in 1884 has always been attributed to a fondness for the bottle.
Fortune was fickle: fans came to see poor George Formby senior in pantomime in Newcastle in 1907, but his son George later got the bird at Blyth. In 1917, Gracie Fields and her company were at their lowest ebb and out of funds after a bad week at the old Victoria Theatre in West Stanley, but from then on they never looked back. Chesney Allen's first week away from his London home was in repertory at the Grand, West Hartlepool, in 1912:

'My mother cried and my landlady in West Hartlepool took me through my lines in a 'combined' (now called a bedsitter), repeatedly telling me that I was too young to be away from home.'

There were nationally-known North east stars too. Apart from Austin Rudd of Tyne Dock, there was Mark Sheridan (Fred Shaw) from Hendon, though everyone thought he was a cockney. He was well known for his absurd get-up of bell-bottom trousers and frock coat. Sadly, he shot himself in a Glasgow park, depressed by World War I and convinced that his popularity was fading. 'Here We Go Again' was one of his numbers. The lanky George Doonan (1897-1973) was in 'Casey's Court' and the 'Lancashire Lads' companies with Charlie Chaplin. His son, the actor Patrick Doonan appeared in the notable film The Blue Lamp.
Bob and Alf Pearson were a popular Tyneside musical duo and appeared on radio. In 'Ray's a Laugh' with Ted Ray and Kitty Bluett which ran for twelve years, they supplied the babyish voices of 'Jennifer'. Dave Morris (1886-1960) with his big cigar, flattened straw boater and pebble-lens glasses came from Middlesbrough. His stooges included Joe Gladwyn as the gormless Cedric. Like Jimmy James (q.v.) he was ahead of his time, as during the '40s and'50s he preferred to elaborate a web of verbal fantasy, rather than simply tell jokes. Nat Jackley (1909-88), the rubber-necked comedian and pantomime dame was from Sunderland, and Wee Georgie Wood (q.v.) from Jarrow. Albert Burdon was originally a boy comic in South Shields and made many appearances in touring review. Perhaps the most famous was 'On the Dole' which began its long run in 1924. C.B. Cochran saw him, and Burdon appeared with Jessie Matthews in 'Evergreen' at the Adelphi in London in 1930. More recently, no one will forget Bobby Thompson (1910-88). The 'Little Waster' topped the bill at the London Palladium at the age of 74. His jokes about Hitler and Chamberlain in the chip shop went down well.
There were many more, now forgotten - Bella and Bijou, the fine double act from Newcastle; the musical Elliotts, all Geordies, and Jimmy Learmouth (1891-1921) of Gateshead, who was, according to J.B. Priestley, 'a great droll, one of the funniest men I ever remember... who never starred in the West End, perhaps because he died comparatively young, probably of booze.' More famous than any was of course, Stanley Jefferson, known as Stan Laurel (q.v.) of Bishop Auckland and North Shields. Apart from the activities of these nationally-known celebrities, however, the North East evolved and maintained its own unique tradition of Music Hall, quite distinct from the towns in the rest of the country.
The tradition of public house entertainment began with the likes of Blind Willy Purvis and Bobby Nunn (also blinded at work, who sang for their beer. By the 1850s, a music saloon was an accepted and advertised attraction to a night's drinking. 'Blaydon Races' was first sung in 1862 at the Wheatsheaf Concert Room, otherwise known as Balmbra's Music Hall (after the then proprietor) in the Cloth Market in Newcastle. The author, Gateshead-born George Ridley (1835-64), was a crippled ex-miner who made his first public appearance at the old Grainger Music Hall in 1862. There he sang about a horse which had won the Northumberland Plate that year 'Joey Jones'. It was a great success with the locals. In June 1962, the old music room was used again in connection with the centenary celebrations of 'Blaydon Races'. The song was written in June of that year and characters included Mac the Welsher, Billy Sup-Up of Crawcrook and Tommy Diddle the tipster. Coffy Johnny was a six-foot-five blacksmith from Winlaton who wore a white top-hat and always insisted on finishing his coffee before starting any job. The races stretched back to 1811 but after heavily-backed Anxious Moments was disqualified in 1916, there was a riot and Blaydon Races were permanently discontinued. Ridley was buried at St Edmund's cemetery in Gateshead in an unmarked grave. In 1997, a plaque was placed on the William IV pub on Grahamsley Street, the site of Ridley's residence.
Ned Corvan was no doubt the most versatile artist on the Tyne - and the probable inventor of the tale of the Hartlepool monkey. He was born in Liverpool in 1829, but moved to Tyneside in his youth where he joined Billy Purvis's company before starting out on his own. He celebrated the success of the great Tyne rowers and poked fun at the man who volunteers for the army in 'The Noodle'. Ned also wrote a song about Queen Victoria's letter of sympathy to the bereaved after the Hartley Colliery disaster in 1862, and sang it round the halls. The note of protest is strong beneath the melodrama. Famous coalfield poets and song-writers like Joe Wilson and Tommy Armstrong also flourished. Though Music Hall (called Vaudeville in the USA) was killed by the cinema, and later television, live performance goes on of course, in cabaret, pub and club. The Bailey Organisation of South Shields achieved Europe-wide scope in this area - and, significantly, compared itself to the old Moss Empires.