A BLUES man who literally brought the house down at The Nags Head in the 1960s is set to return to the High Wycombe venue.

Mick Clarke and the aptly-named Killing Floor made the national newspapers when the floor fell in as they played the Blues Loft above the main pub.

No one was hurt but “there were a few surprised faces” at the bar below, Mick said.

Though Killing Floor split in 1972 Mick has been touring and releasing albums in various guises ever since, and he returns to the Loft on June 15 with The Mick Clarke Band.

He said: “Though Killing Floor didn't quite bubble to the top we were part of the 'blues boom' in Britain in the late 60s with bands like Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin.

“We used to play regularly at the Blues Loft and it was one of our best gigs because it was always packed out.”

The band toured with Texas blues guitar legend Freddie King in 1969 and later with Howling Wolf. When Mick went on to form the band Salt he opened one London show for Muddy Waters.

Mick, who now lives in Surrey, said: “We built up a following around Europe and they kept reissuing the Killing Floor albums. The odd thing is the following has gradually become bigger - we made another album in 2003 and are now working on a fourth.”

The 60-year-old went solo in the 1980s and has since released 12 albums and “done a lot of touring”.

He said it has been “a hell of a strain keeping it all together” at times, but he took up part-time jobs along the way and still gets “the same feeling I did when I was a teenager”.

He added: “I don't see the romance in it any more, because you realise there isn't any...it's just about the music.”

Mick will be joined at The Blues Loft by Russell Chaney on drums, Eddie Masters on bass and 'Dangerous' Dave Newman on harmonica.

See: www.marshalamp.com/mickclarkecom