The fifties brought national attention and fame to New Orleans in general and especially Bourbon St. New Orleans had become a player in the Rock and Roll recording industry and the newly developed “TV” industry was producing “NOPD” and “Peter Gunn” and “Bourbon ST Is My Beat” all of which I watched as a kid growing up in Kansas City. The movie industry had, had presence in New Orleans for some time. Motion Picture Advertising a New York based company had established a production house in a old Jewish temple on Carrondelett St by “Lee’s Circle” and New Orleans was only behind N.Y. and L.A. in film and TV production. The Elvis Presley movie “King Creole” is a classic film of the time. There are many great Bourbon St. and French Quarter shots in this movie as well as what I consider to be one of the great lines of Am. Film when Elvis says….“I’ve cleaned every toilet on Bourbon St.”… and so have I Elvis, so have I
With all the glimmer, and glitz there was also a real down side. The French Quarter in general was really run down. The streets along the river front Decatur and North Peter were seedy and dangerous places to be late at night. Prostitution and street walking were common, and there were many ways to relive a tourist of his money. Gambling was controlled by the mafia and the power was so strong that New Orleans did not have gang warfare like other cities. There was just one gang and everyone belonged to it. I have always had respect for the job the NOPD does with Mardi Gras and the major events that New Orleans has but there has always been a darkness about the New Orleans police that only a city like New Orleans would create. The city of New Orleans has always been two-faced. This is how it should be and this is the reality. Now where is this more evident then with the NOPD. As I matured and learned about the ways of Bourbon St. I was told many stories and experienced my of these things myself. It was not unusual for the club owners to have police on their payroll and they would come in to get paid and get their envelope of cash on payday like every one else. I was told by one old time club owner how he was the fence for the police. That when they would arrest a drunk or some time just pick them up and roll them or accept bribes to not arrest them, then they would take the rings and watches, ect to this club owner and he would buy all the stuff.
Of course when there was a dispute between the customer and the club owner and the police was called in you know who would wind up getting their money and who would wind up going to jail.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
BOURBON ST. 50's & 60's
Bourbon St 50’s and 60’s
At the end of the second world war Bourbon St. was in a golden period of time. The US was on top of the world we were feeding and financing and rebuilding the war torn areas of Europe and Asia and the money was flowing.
Cheap oil , new cars and good roads make travel easy and people came to New Orleans and Bourbon St. from all over the country. Foot ball was replacing baseball as our favorite sport and the Sugar Bowl became a major sporting event. The conservative life style of the fifties make Bourbon St the forbidden fruit. The wide open style of Bourbon St. was in contrast to the uptight morals of the time, and people from all over the country came to Bourbon St to let loose.
The strippers of the day had achieved “Star” status they were know though out the country and were treated as Celebrities. The music of New Orleans was played on radio’ everywhere. The jazz music of early days had given way to popular music of the time. Louie Prima, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain among others had become house hold names and a national following. Al Hirts “Java” toped the charts all over America. Then came Rock and Roll.
Many of the clubs used live music to back up the strippers. When I took over the “ Sho-Bar” in 1975 we found old flyers advertising Fats Domino and his band as the house band that provided music for the sho-girls to dance to. The electronic revolution had not really taken place in the country yet as far as the night club industry was concerned, and live music was still the main form of music. This was to all change with American Bandstand, the Record Hop and then the Disco taking over the industry but in the fifties the live music was still the king, and the strip clubs offered steady work for New Orleans musicians.
The fifties was the time when the recording industry flourished in New Orleans. The national attention that the Bourbon St. music was getting was put on “wax” by a variety of New Orleans recording studios the main one being “Cosmos Studio “. The Dixie Cups, Fats Domino, Frogman Henry, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas and others hit the national charts with their New Orleans style Rock and Roll. As I grew up in the fifties in Kansas City I didn’t know anything about the night clubs in New York or La. Or Chicago but I did know the “Poppa Joes” was on Bourbon St in New Orleans.
At the end of the second world war Bourbon St. was in a golden period of time. The US was on top of the world we were feeding and financing and rebuilding the war torn areas of Europe and Asia and the money was flowing.
Cheap oil , new cars and good roads make travel easy and people came to New Orleans and Bourbon St. from all over the country. Foot ball was replacing baseball as our favorite sport and the Sugar Bowl became a major sporting event. The conservative life style of the fifties make Bourbon St the forbidden fruit. The wide open style of Bourbon St. was in contrast to the uptight morals of the time, and people from all over the country came to Bourbon St to let loose.
The strippers of the day had achieved “Star” status they were know though out the country and were treated as Celebrities. The music of New Orleans was played on radio’ everywhere. The jazz music of early days had given way to popular music of the time. Louie Prima, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain among others had become house hold names and a national following. Al Hirts “Java” toped the charts all over America. Then came Rock and Roll.
Many of the clubs used live music to back up the strippers. When I took over the “ Sho-Bar” in 1975 we found old flyers advertising Fats Domino and his band as the house band that provided music for the sho-girls to dance to. The electronic revolution had not really taken place in the country yet as far as the night club industry was concerned, and live music was still the main form of music. This was to all change with American Bandstand, the Record Hop and then the Disco taking over the industry but in the fifties the live music was still the king, and the strip clubs offered steady work for New Orleans musicians.
The fifties was the time when the recording industry flourished in New Orleans. The national attention that the Bourbon St. music was getting was put on “wax” by a variety of New Orleans recording studios the main one being “Cosmos Studio “. The Dixie Cups, Fats Domino, Frogman Henry, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas and others hit the national charts with their New Orleans style Rock and Roll. As I grew up in the fifties in Kansas City I didn’t know anything about the night clubs in New York or La. Or Chicago but I did know the “Poppa Joes” was on Bourbon St in New Orleans.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
BOURBON ST. 30'S TO 50'S
Bourbon St, 30’s 40’s and 50’s
The Depression affected all of the world in the 30’s and certainly Bourbon St was no exception. With the coming of radio, and movies the power and money of the entertainment business became more centered in both New York and in California. This took many of the musicians and performers away from Bourbon St. The hard times also helped create the entertainment that was to dominate Bourbon St the “Stripper”.
The vaudeville shows of the past had turned to “Strippers” or exotic dancers when the movies began to eat into their audience. When liquor and beer became legal again and the musicians left, Bourbon St turned to strippers as the main attraction. The port and the steady stream of men who worked on the ships made this a popular form of entertainment for the men on shore leave. The dancers were backed in most cases by live music and this gave many young New Orleans musicians the work they needed to develop their skills.
The times were still hard for the club owners however and there was little development of Bourbon St until the second World War. WW II brought Bourbon St into a new golden era. The war itself was the factor that brought the country out of the Depression. With the creation of the shipyards and the shipping of equipment, men and supplies, the Port of New Orleans and the area began to boom. The thousands of service men that were being moved around brought Bourbon St a steady supply of single men with time on their hands and money in their pockets. The morals of the day made sex the forbidden fruit that the strippers thrived upon. This became the period that Bourbon St made it’s mark on the American society. From all over the nation men and women were shipped out of New Orleans and the stories and tales about the “wild street” began to find there way back to the cities and towns of America. Strippers began to be stars and become famous. The influx of people and money into Bourbon St created the opening of many new clubs and bars. The building on Bourbon St were all built as homes for families and were not designed for entertainment so many small or “hole in the wall” clubs developed. The larger places featured the name stars and the music while the small clubs catered to more of the “back room” entertainment. La. Politics has been know for a long time as the best government that money can buy and the health department, building inspectors and police all took their share of the profits and looked the other way. Business was great on Bourbon St and the times were good.
By the end of the war Bourbon St was established in the American culture as the place to go to have a good time. The lack of law enforcement let the street and French Quarter in general run wild. Much of the money that was made was re-invested back into new clubs and the “strip “ was born.
The Bourbon St strip was a five block section of the street where the clubs were just one after another. Bourbon St starts at Canal St which is and was the main street in the city of New Orleans. Unlike a lot of US cities New Orleans street are named one thing on the upriver side of Canal and another on the downriver side. Bourbon St is called Corondellet on the up river side, so Bourbon starts with at Canal and runs down river away from the central business district. The entertainment part of the street started in the two hundred block with the first block from Canal being taken by the retail business of Canal street. The 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 blocks of Bourbon these five blocks became the “Strip” Here is where all the action and entertainment took place. With its live and let live attitude and acceptance of drinking hard liquor as a way of life New Orleans became one of the few places in Am where drinking in public and indeed walking down a street or even driving with drinks were common place and attracted no attention from the police . During this area the “go cup” was introduced where the customer wanted to hit several spots and would ask for a “go cup” so they could take their drink from one club to another. There was not the party on the street during this time the Bourbon St was open to traffic and the doors to the clubs were for the most part kept closed. Barkers worked each door opening and closing them as they worked the crowds. The side walks were filled with the people spilling into the streets and bumping into cars. The cars came in a never ending stream as the tourist and locals cruised down Bourbon St to glimpse at the strippers on the stage. The conseritive values of the 50’s were fine for the club owners on Bourbon St . they were happy to supply the cheap thrills and adult entertainment that was not available in Maintown America. A booming port and oil money came into New Orleans and a lot of it flowed to Bourbon St. Everything was going well at the start of the 60’s when a number of things begin to happen that was to send Bourbon Street into a hard time .
The Depression affected all of the world in the 30’s and certainly Bourbon St was no exception. With the coming of radio, and movies the power and money of the entertainment business became more centered in both New York and in California. This took many of the musicians and performers away from Bourbon St. The hard times also helped create the entertainment that was to dominate Bourbon St the “Stripper”.
The vaudeville shows of the past had turned to “Strippers” or exotic dancers when the movies began to eat into their audience. When liquor and beer became legal again and the musicians left, Bourbon St turned to strippers as the main attraction. The port and the steady stream of men who worked on the ships made this a popular form of entertainment for the men on shore leave. The dancers were backed in most cases by live music and this gave many young New Orleans musicians the work they needed to develop their skills.
The times were still hard for the club owners however and there was little development of Bourbon St until the second World War. WW II brought Bourbon St into a new golden era. The war itself was the factor that brought the country out of the Depression. With the creation of the shipyards and the shipping of equipment, men and supplies, the Port of New Orleans and the area began to boom. The thousands of service men that were being moved around brought Bourbon St a steady supply of single men with time on their hands and money in their pockets. The morals of the day made sex the forbidden fruit that the strippers thrived upon. This became the period that Bourbon St made it’s mark on the American society. From all over the nation men and women were shipped out of New Orleans and the stories and tales about the “wild street” began to find there way back to the cities and towns of America. Strippers began to be stars and become famous. The influx of people and money into Bourbon St created the opening of many new clubs and bars. The building on Bourbon St were all built as homes for families and were not designed for entertainment so many small or “hole in the wall” clubs developed. The larger places featured the name stars and the music while the small clubs catered to more of the “back room” entertainment. La. Politics has been know for a long time as the best government that money can buy and the health department, building inspectors and police all took their share of the profits and looked the other way. Business was great on Bourbon St and the times were good.
By the end of the war Bourbon St was established in the American culture as the place to go to have a good time. The lack of law enforcement let the street and French Quarter in general run wild. Much of the money that was made was re-invested back into new clubs and the “strip “ was born.
The Bourbon St strip was a five block section of the street where the clubs were just one after another. Bourbon St starts at Canal St which is and was the main street in the city of New Orleans. Unlike a lot of US cities New Orleans street are named one thing on the upriver side of Canal and another on the downriver side. Bourbon St is called Corondellet on the up river side, so Bourbon starts with at Canal and runs down river away from the central business district. The entertainment part of the street started in the two hundred block with the first block from Canal being taken by the retail business of Canal street. The 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 blocks of Bourbon these five blocks became the “Strip” Here is where all the action and entertainment took place. With its live and let live attitude and acceptance of drinking hard liquor as a way of life New Orleans became one of the few places in Am where drinking in public and indeed walking down a street or even driving with drinks were common place and attracted no attention from the police . During this area the “go cup” was introduced where the customer wanted to hit several spots and would ask for a “go cup” so they could take their drink from one club to another. There was not the party on the street during this time the Bourbon St was open to traffic and the doors to the clubs were for the most part kept closed. Barkers worked each door opening and closing them as they worked the crowds. The side walks were filled with the people spilling into the streets and bumping into cars. The cars came in a never ending stream as the tourist and locals cruised down Bourbon St to glimpse at the strippers on the stage. The conseritive values of the 50’s were fine for the club owners on Bourbon St . they were happy to supply the cheap thrills and adult entertainment that was not available in Maintown America. A booming port and oil money came into New Orleans and a lot of it flowed to Bourbon St. Everything was going well at the start of the 60’s when a number of things begin to happen that was to send Bourbon Street into a hard time .
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
HURRICANES
FRED’S BLOG
Hurricanes continue to be a big part of my life and I guess they will as long as I live in the areas that I do. (Duh) If you have never been though a hurricane it will be hard to explain and understand exactly how a person is so affected by theses storms.
The hurricane has an affect on the people in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast as soon as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Your attention is drawn from what you a doing to what is happening in the weather. The conversation on the street is “what’s happening with the storm. The weather channel is put on more and more TV’s. The focus of attention becomes what is going on with the storm.
As the storm approaches it becomes to dominate your life more and more. The regular activities of your life begin to be replaced by hurricane activities. The energy of the society begins to be spent on preparing for the storm. First the supplies that are needed are gathered. This can be as simple as a flashlight and as complicated as moving a army depending upon your specific situation. Since my house was just a few blocks from the water in Waveland Ms. And My business was on Bourbon St. in New Orleans it was time consuming and costly for me when each storm approached. During the season when there were several storms and warning of storms the drill would become routine and there would be supplies gathered from prior hurricanes that would be set to go.
As the hurricane approached closer and it started to sets its course and direction the preparations for the storm would replace all activity. Depending on the angle of approach the house or the club would be focused on. Often all things on the first floor of the house were moved to the second floor. ( this did no one any good during Katrina since the storm surge was 40 ft high.)
This has taken place over a three day period of time while the storm slowly moves across open water gaining strength each day.
When the eye of the storm is three hundred miles away you can begin to sense and feel the storm in the gulf. This is one of the hardest things to explain if you have not felt the feeling. The birds and animals feel it. Dogs and cats begin to tell you that something’s coming, and you understand because you are feeling the same thing they are feeling. The hurricane becomes more and more a living entity. It takes on a personality, it collects to itself not only the energy of the warm water that it its feeding on but it captures the energy of the creatures living in its path. As the barometric pressure drops lower and lower a sur-real almost movie like affect begins to be felt. It is like nothing is real that its just a big movie your in and your on a big move set where the special effects are kicking in.
My first real experience with a hurricane was in the fall of 1965 when “Betsy” hit New Orleans. As with Katrina but to a much smaller extent the problem was not so much the hurricane itself but New Orleans and the levies. For years after this storm there were charges that the lower parts of the city were allowed to be flooded to protect the more valuable properties. I have no idea if this is true but I do know that as early as this New Orleans knew there was a big problem with the levee system and that the city was at danger. This didn’t seem to prevent the levee board from wasting a lot of money on pet projects and 40 years later the results of there actions was seen in Katrina.
In 1965 my friend Roger and I had spent the summer in Cape Cod working for a night club called “Your Fathers Mustache” there was also a club in New Orleans and we were on our way back when we heard of the storm. We were returning to New Orleans from Cape Cod by way of Kansas City. We had grown up there and when your 21 and gas is only .30 cents a gallon a detour of a couple thousand miles doesn’t mean much. We were staying at a friends apartment when we heard that a hurricane had hit New Orleans. My Brother, Sister-in-law and Mother were all in New Orleans and there was no phone service or any way that I could ck to find out if they were ok so the day after the storm hit Roger and I headed to New Orleans. Everything was normal until we got into Mississippi and we began to see the effects of the storm.
Betsy was not a big hurricane as hurricanes go it was only category two yet the damage that was done extended into the north by several hundred miles. At first there was only a few trees down or broken, but as we moved south it became much worse. We stopped to get gas in Jackson Ms. We tried again to call, there were no cell phones but there was something that no longer exists today and they were called “pay phones” There were public phones where you could deposit coins ( later dollars) and make phone calls. Lines were still down and it would be weeks before the phone and power was back on for the area.
When we asked the people at the gas station what news they had of New Orleans their answer was that New Orleans was destroyed and didn’t exist and more.
As we moved south the damage was extensive. Hundreds of acres of trees were flat. Pine trees are Ms biggest crop and the southern pine grown straight and tall. Phone poles are made using these trees and to see thousands of them down was a experience. These trees all lay pointing to the north like one way signs , and we were going in the wrong direction. Our progress was slowed time and again while road crews cleared the roads and we had to work our way though one lane of traffic. The destruction became greater and gas became hard to find.
When we got to New Orleans we found that some areas including where my family was, was still flooded and we couldn’t get to them. The club was located in the French Quarter on Bourbon St. and had not flooded since this was the highest ground. There was still no power and no water. I reached my family several days latter to find everyone was ok. They lived on the second floor and the people who lived downstairs had stayed with them and moved a lot of there things upstairs and as life would have it the roof got damaged and the rain came into the apt and destroyed a lot of their stuff. The flood did not get into their appt. but the area was so flooded that they could not go anywhere for five days after the storm.
With in a few weeks everything was back to normal and the finger pointing had started. Me, I was twenty-one going to college and working on Bourbon St and had no time to be concerned about hurricanes and in fact did not have to worry about one again until Aug. of 1969 . For more agout hurricanes visit my websites www.unclefredsweb.com
Hurricanes continue to be a big part of my life and I guess they will as long as I live in the areas that I do. (Duh) If you have never been though a hurricane it will be hard to explain and understand exactly how a person is so affected by theses storms.
The hurricane has an affect on the people in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast as soon as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Your attention is drawn from what you a doing to what is happening in the weather. The conversation on the street is “what’s happening with the storm. The weather channel is put on more and more TV’s. The focus of attention becomes what is going on with the storm.
As the storm approaches it becomes to dominate your life more and more. The regular activities of your life begin to be replaced by hurricane activities. The energy of the society begins to be spent on preparing for the storm. First the supplies that are needed are gathered. This can be as simple as a flashlight and as complicated as moving a army depending upon your specific situation. Since my house was just a few blocks from the water in Waveland Ms. And My business was on Bourbon St. in New Orleans it was time consuming and costly for me when each storm approached. During the season when there were several storms and warning of storms the drill would become routine and there would be supplies gathered from prior hurricanes that would be set to go.
As the hurricane approached closer and it started to sets its course and direction the preparations for the storm would replace all activity. Depending on the angle of approach the house or the club would be focused on. Often all things on the first floor of the house were moved to the second floor. ( this did no one any good during Katrina since the storm surge was 40 ft high.)
This has taken place over a three day period of time while the storm slowly moves across open water gaining strength each day.
When the eye of the storm is three hundred miles away you can begin to sense and feel the storm in the gulf. This is one of the hardest things to explain if you have not felt the feeling. The birds and animals feel it. Dogs and cats begin to tell you that something’s coming, and you understand because you are feeling the same thing they are feeling. The hurricane becomes more and more a living entity. It takes on a personality, it collects to itself not only the energy of the warm water that it its feeding on but it captures the energy of the creatures living in its path. As the barometric pressure drops lower and lower a sur-real almost movie like affect begins to be felt. It is like nothing is real that its just a big movie your in and your on a big move set where the special effects are kicking in.
My first real experience with a hurricane was in the fall of 1965 when “Betsy” hit New Orleans. As with Katrina but to a much smaller extent the problem was not so much the hurricane itself but New Orleans and the levies. For years after this storm there were charges that the lower parts of the city were allowed to be flooded to protect the more valuable properties. I have no idea if this is true but I do know that as early as this New Orleans knew there was a big problem with the levee system and that the city was at danger. This didn’t seem to prevent the levee board from wasting a lot of money on pet projects and 40 years later the results of there actions was seen in Katrina.
In 1965 my friend Roger and I had spent the summer in Cape Cod working for a night club called “Your Fathers Mustache” there was also a club in New Orleans and we were on our way back when we heard of the storm. We were returning to New Orleans from Cape Cod by way of Kansas City. We had grown up there and when your 21 and gas is only .30 cents a gallon a detour of a couple thousand miles doesn’t mean much. We were staying at a friends apartment when we heard that a hurricane had hit New Orleans. My Brother, Sister-in-law and Mother were all in New Orleans and there was no phone service or any way that I could ck to find out if they were ok so the day after the storm hit Roger and I headed to New Orleans. Everything was normal until we got into Mississippi and we began to see the effects of the storm.
Betsy was not a big hurricane as hurricanes go it was only category two yet the damage that was done extended into the north by several hundred miles. At first there was only a few trees down or broken, but as we moved south it became much worse. We stopped to get gas in Jackson Ms. We tried again to call, there were no cell phones but there was something that no longer exists today and they were called “pay phones” There were public phones where you could deposit coins ( later dollars) and make phone calls. Lines were still down and it would be weeks before the phone and power was back on for the area.
When we asked the people at the gas station what news they had of New Orleans their answer was that New Orleans was destroyed and didn’t exist and more.
As we moved south the damage was extensive. Hundreds of acres of trees were flat. Pine trees are Ms biggest crop and the southern pine grown straight and tall. Phone poles are made using these trees and to see thousands of them down was a experience. These trees all lay pointing to the north like one way signs , and we were going in the wrong direction. Our progress was slowed time and again while road crews cleared the roads and we had to work our way though one lane of traffic. The destruction became greater and gas became hard to find.
When we got to New Orleans we found that some areas including where my family was, was still flooded and we couldn’t get to them. The club was located in the French Quarter on Bourbon St. and had not flooded since this was the highest ground. There was still no power and no water. I reached my family several days latter to find everyone was ok. They lived on the second floor and the people who lived downstairs had stayed with them and moved a lot of there things upstairs and as life would have it the roof got damaged and the rain came into the apt and destroyed a lot of their stuff. The flood did not get into their appt. but the area was so flooded that they could not go anywhere for five days after the storm.
With in a few weeks everything was back to normal and the finger pointing had started. Me, I was twenty-one going to college and working on Bourbon St and had no time to be concerned about hurricanes and in fact did not have to worry about one again until Aug. of 1969 . For more agout hurricanes visit my websites www.unclefredsweb.com
Friday, September 7, 2007
Bourbon St: The Beginning
BOURBON ST: The Beginning
Bourbon st in New Orleans is one, if not the most famous streets on the world. The street is the old French Quarter that was first settled by the Spanish. When the French took control of La. They changed the Spanish names of the streets to French names and Bourbon st was named after the house of “Bourbon” which was a part of the French nobility. The street consisted mainly of family houses and small stores for many years. After the first world war night clubs began to appear on the street. The red light district “Storyville” which had been located on Basin st. had been shut down. The strong temperance movement of the time put a hard squeeze on the clubs and bars of the time.
It was here that the new music called “Jazz” began to flourish. The new music that had it roots in the brothels of Storyville found a home on the new street and many of the legendary jazz greats found work and developed their skills while working at these early Bourbon St. Clubs.
The end of prohibition the music and club out in the open and the last of the 1920’s was the first great era for Bourbon St. The majority of customers at that time were locals and sailors brought in by the port. The port of new Orleans at that time was second only to New York as the nations busiest port and the shipping industry brought men in from all over the world. Since the first thing that a man on a ship want is female companionship it is easy to see how the clubs developed not only music but catered to the seaman that had just spent months on the water and upon reaching New Orleans had a lot of money to spend.
During this time the b-drinking and picking pockets, gambling and slipping “Mickey’s” were all ways to get the sailors money. This first golden era reached it’s peak in the last of the 20’s when the Depression forced many of the clubs to close. This first downturn in Bourbon St.’s fortunes also made many of the Jazz musicians look for work in other cities. The movie and recording business in New York and California also took many of the entertainers away from Bourbon St for the better pay and national exposure that the other cities could offer. By the middle of the Thirty’s Bourbon St was on bad times .
Bourbon st in New Orleans is one, if not the most famous streets on the world. The street is the old French Quarter that was first settled by the Spanish. When the French took control of La. They changed the Spanish names of the streets to French names and Bourbon st was named after the house of “Bourbon” which was a part of the French nobility. The street consisted mainly of family houses and small stores for many years. After the first world war night clubs began to appear on the street. The red light district “Storyville” which had been located on Basin st. had been shut down. The strong temperance movement of the time put a hard squeeze on the clubs and bars of the time.
It was here that the new music called “Jazz” began to flourish. The new music that had it roots in the brothels of Storyville found a home on the new street and many of the legendary jazz greats found work and developed their skills while working at these early Bourbon St. Clubs.
The end of prohibition the music and club out in the open and the last of the 1920’s was the first great era for Bourbon St. The majority of customers at that time were locals and sailors brought in by the port. The port of new Orleans at that time was second only to New York as the nations busiest port and the shipping industry brought men in from all over the world. Since the first thing that a man on a ship want is female companionship it is easy to see how the clubs developed not only music but catered to the seaman that had just spent months on the water and upon reaching New Orleans had a lot of money to spend.
During this time the b-drinking and picking pockets, gambling and slipping “Mickey’s” were all ways to get the sailors money. This first golden era reached it’s peak in the last of the 20’s when the Depression forced many of the clubs to close. This first downturn in Bourbon St.’s fortunes also made many of the Jazz musicians look for work in other cities. The movie and recording business in New York and California also took many of the entertainers away from Bourbon St for the better pay and national exposure that the other cities could offer. By the middle of the Thirty’s Bourbon St was on bad times .
How To Run a Night Club ( Intro)
NIGHT CLUB OPERATIONS
The night club business has become one of the largest and cash rich areas of the entertainment business. Every night hundreds of thousands of people go out to listen to live music, socialize with their friends and unwind. How many of us met our mate in a night club or bar. The local club has been a focal point for the community since the founding of the nation and many of the inventions, political concepts and social trends had their beginning in conversations at the local bar. If fact it is said the with out the taverns and hard liquor there would have never been an American Revolution. Be that as it may the night club continues to be one of the foundations of American Culture and the place where the rubber meets the road as far as social interaction of the society is concerned.
The operation of a successful night club has made hundreds of people rich and the operation of not so successful clubs have made thousands of people poor.
The difference in the operations are often small and detailed but the results are vast. The purpose of this blog is to share the 40 yrs of experience I have had in the night club and restaurant business give, stories, guidance, encouragement and assistance to those of you who want to get into this business. For those of you who ask why I do this I answer . Why Not?
More about night club operations can be seen on my blog http://www.runanightclub.blogspot.com/
The night club business has become one of the largest and cash rich areas of the entertainment business. Every night hundreds of thousands of people go out to listen to live music, socialize with their friends and unwind. How many of us met our mate in a night club or bar. The local club has been a focal point for the community since the founding of the nation and many of the inventions, political concepts and social trends had their beginning in conversations at the local bar. If fact it is said the with out the taverns and hard liquor there would have never been an American Revolution. Be that as it may the night club continues to be one of the foundations of American Culture and the place where the rubber meets the road as far as social interaction of the society is concerned.
The operation of a successful night club has made hundreds of people rich and the operation of not so successful clubs have made thousands of people poor.
The difference in the operations are often small and detailed but the results are vast. The purpose of this blog is to share the 40 yrs of experience I have had in the night club and restaurant business give, stories, guidance, encouragement and assistance to those of you who want to get into this business. For those of you who ask why I do this I answer . Why Not?
More about night club operations can be seen on my blog http://www.runanightclub.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Bourbon Street New Orleans La.
This Blog is about Bourbon Street and my experiences in managing clubs on the street for forty years. I invite you to post your comments and include your experiences on Bourbon st.
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