A new exhibition by 60's activist and photographer John 'Hoppy' Hopkins was officially launched at the Charlotte Street Blues on the 1st October.

Hopkins was able to capture the likes of the Beatles, Stones, Louis Armstrong, Malcolm X, Allen Ginsberg and Martin Luther King. Iconic images aside, he would also document aspects of London from the mundane and everyday to the seedy and underground. A Cambridge graduate, Hopkins was originally a physicist working for the government before getting involved in the CND movement and then photography; he worked for the Observer, Sunday Times and Melody Maker. Hopkins was a regular fixture at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho, he would satisfy his passion for the blues and jazz whilst taking some great pictures at the same time.

Hopkins would find an affinity with the 60s 'counterculture' helping organise Notting Hill carnivals, starting the underground newspaper the International Times and starting up London's first psychedelic club, the UFO in Tottenham Court Road.

The current '5am' exhibition has pictures of gigs and fans at Alexandra Palace along with life at the famous bikers' hangout of the day, the Ace Cafe in London. If you're looking for a cool bar to listen to some good live music the Charlotte Street Blues is well worth checking out. Opened in June of this year, the beautiful three storey converted Georgian house is housed along the famous Fitzrovia street. Being the largest Blues Bar in London, this stylish venue features live blues 7 nights a week and boasts three bars. Its nightly rotating programme of events features up-and-coming artists and bands as well as more established home-grown and international groups.

I caught some of the set of the Fat Blues Band in which lead singer Phillipa Leigh had a sassy, bluesy, Lily Allen thing going on. You can catch the band every Thursday night. The free exhibition is set to run until December 2009 and will showcase some of Hopkins' work upstairs in the Bourbon Bar and Porch.

www.charlottestblues.com

Written by Sav D'Souza