519 W. Zane Street, Louisville, KY: The Kaleidoscope (1968)

The Kaleidoscope, 519 W. Zane Street, Louisville, KY

Kaleidoscope. An optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces tilted to each other in an angle. Basically a child's toy. Nonetheless, it became a sixties "word," like "Mandala" or "Stonehenge," turning up everywhere. In my archaeological diggings in the substratum of 60s psychedelic rock, Kaleidoscope always turns up

• The Kaleidoscope were a great 60s rock band, from Claremont, CA. Anyone who reads my blog should get all their recordings and listen to them until their eyeballs fall out (the original three albums particularly).
• The Kaleidoscope was a legendary Hollywood rock venue, at 6230 Sunset Boulevard, later the Aquarius Theater, not commercially successful, but famous for their fantastic posters and amazing bills. In the past, I wrote about the Hollywood Kaleidoscope at length.
• And yet the name kept turning up. There was a "Kaleidoscope" venue in Philadelphia, in between The Trauma and the Electric Factory.
• And yet that wasn't all. There was yet another Kaleidoscope, in Louisville, Kentucky, not renowned as a hotbed of psychedelia in 1968. But there it was.

Sometimes, your archaeological digs find a synergy, unexpected but all the better for that. Here are the potsherds of the story of The Kaleidoscope in Louisville, KY, a psychedelic outpost on the circuit for 8 or 9 months in 1967.

Anyone who recalls anything--flashback, bad dream, recovered memory, grand jury testimony--please represent in the Comments.

Louisville, KY

Louisville, Kentucky was pretty far outside of the rock and roll touring mainstream in the 1960s. Louisville was near the rapids at the Falls of Ohio, on the Ohio River. Thus Louisville became a transit point, as boats had to be unloaded and their cargo transferred downriver. Prior to the Civil War, Louisville was also a focal point for escaping slaves, since neighboring Indiana was a Free State. In the 1960s, like many cities, Louisville experienced a move to the suburbs, leaving downtown buildings and businesses stranded. Although I do not know for sure, it is likely that is how the hotel where the Changes club was opened became available.

519 Zane St near the Ohio River and I-64, just north of the U. of Louisville. The University of Louisville was founded 1798,  city funded until 1970, when it became a state institution. The school was always a college basketball power, not surprising considering it was in between the University of Kentucky (in Lexington) and the University of Indiana. Peck Hickman was head basketball coach from 1944-67, and had 46 straight winning seasons (and his assistant John Dromo ran the team through 1971). Louisville hired Denny Crum in 1971, and he in turn ran the team until 2001, bringing the University of Louisville to the national sports stage. Crum won his first NCAA title in 1980, when Darrell Griffiths--" Dr. Dunkenstein"--led the team over Larry Brown's UCLA squad, anchored by Kiki Vanderweghe.

A photo accompanies a Louisville Courier Journal article from June 26, 1967. Innocent times. (the full article is reproduced below)

Some years ago, I did some crucial archeology on The Kaleidoscope in Hollywood. There were great posters, all sorts of Los Angeles law enforcement issues, great bands, a Saturday Night Live connection and so much more. As part of the analysis, I felt I needed (for Google purposes) to note that there had been venues named The Kaleidoscope in Philadelphia and Louisville. This was about a decade ago, and I think if you googled "Kaleidoscope + Louisville," all you got was my blog. Unexpectedly, I got some amazing comments about the Louisville venue.

Correspondent Mr. Lizard was first to lay out the tale:

Just a few things from memory regarding Kaleidoscope in Louisville, Kentucky.

It was originally called Changes and was located in a very old 3 story opera house. The first floor was an excellent gift/head shop. The exterior was painted brightly with flowers, peace signs, etc. Changes was owned by a dude from California, but I can't recall his name. He built a fantastic house in beautiful Floyd Knobs just across the river in Indiana. I smoke my first there.

Later, the club was owned by an interesting family trio of wonderful ladies; 3 generations of women running the coolest live music club in the Midwest. I can remember the names Goggie and Debbie, but the third escapes me. Both had a magnificent decor and wondrous light-show by Aurora Borealis (I think)

You are correct that Iron Butterfly played there, but the most memorable show was Frank Zappa and the Mothers. Local favorites were The Tiffany System and 31st of February who eventually became the Hour Glass, Allman Joy, and of course the Allman Brothers.

The place was under constant siege by the Louisville Police Department who at one time stole the club's dance license off the wall and tried to arrest anyone who danced. This was foiled by a signal light triggered from downstairs. When the light came on, everyone stopped dancing and sat down.

The historical building was destroyed by a mysterious fire that most thought was set by the police.

Another correspondent, Zihua Rob, had more to add

Randy Guest I believe was the original owner of the Kaleidoscope in Louisville. His wife's name was Keiko. Even though I was under age at the time, I was possibly Louisville's youngest hippie-freak and I spent a few enjoyable evenings there as well as having a private party celebrating my 9th birthday there, if I recall correctly. One of the popular local bands at that time who played there regularly was The Waters.

An old photo of the three-story opera house at 619 W. Zane Street, in Louisville, some decades before it became Changes (in 1967) and then the Kalieodoscope

As the internet has improved its scope and reach, we can find out a little bit about The Kaleidoscope and the Louisville rock scene. It's just fragments, but it paints the outline of what was happening. What we don't know from this vantage point is how often the Kaleidoscope was open. Most psychedelic clubs in this era were just open on weekends, rather than six or seven nights a week. There wasn't a bar, to my knowledge, and rock fans were young in those days, so the club wouldn't likely have made money on a weeknight. My guess is that local or regional bands played most weekends, and every once in a while they got a good out of town band.

The 1968 Vanguard debut album by the 31st Of February, with Scott Boyer, David Brown and Butch Trucks. Apparently the Jacksonville band played Louisville's Kaleidoscope

The 31st Of February were a Jacksonville, FL trio with guitarist Scott Boyer (later in Cowboy), drummer Butch Trucks (later in the Allman Brothers for 45 years) and bassist David Brown. Their debut album was released on Vanguard in 1968 (later in 1968, they were joined temporarily by Duane and Gregg Allman)

A long lost flyer for The Mothers of Invention show at The Kaleidoscope, on March 17, 1968 (thanks Lonnie for tweeting out the scan)

March 17, 1968 The Kaleidoscope, Louisville, KY: Mothers of Invention/The Oxfords (two shows)

This show was confirmed by Zappa scholar Charles Ulrich, the gold standard, so we can be sure of it even if we know little else. The lineup was the full MOI HOF: Ray Collins, Ian Underwood, the Gardners, Motorhead, Don Preston, Roy Estrada, Artie Tripp and Jimmy Carl Black (the Indian of the group).

June 13, 1968 The Kaleidoscope, Louisville, KY: Blue Cheer (two shows 8:00 and 10:30)

San Francisco's Blue Cheer was riding high behind their debut album Vincebus Eruptum, and the sorta-hit "Summertime Blues." Were they good? Opinions vary. Were they loud? Stacks of Marshall Stacks, cranked to 11--they were loud, in era when backlines were small and PAs often non-existent. Blue Cheer had enough infamy at least (and apparently some AM radio play, per the ad above) for the promoters to have two shows.

July 30, 1968 The Kaleidoscope, Louisville, KY: Iron Butterfly

Iron Butterfly were a cool underground band, at this point. Atco had just released their second album, Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida, the week before. That album that sold so much that Atco Records invented the Platinum record to honor it. At the time, though, the Butterfly were just a quartet from LA, with Erik Brann on guitar, not that well known after just one prior album. In 1969, behind their hit, Iron Butterfly would return to Louisville to headline the U. of Louisville basketball arena, Freedom Hall.

October 31, 1968 Freedom Hall, U. of Louisville, Louisville, KY: The Doors/Waters/Tom Dooley/The Lovelight

On Halloween 1968, however, The Doors were already big enough to headline Freedom Hall. It appears that the Kaleidoscope team did the lights, and Waters, who were one of the opening acts, were Kaleidoscope regulars. 

December 7, 1968 Knights Hall, Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY: Grateful Dead/The Oxfords/Waters/Stonehenge

The Grateful Dead always have a part to play in these psychedelic narratives, In this case, apparently the Dead were supposed to play The Kaleidoscope but instead played at nearby Bellarmine College. The Kaleidoscope crew put on the concert, however, and some of their regular bands seemed to be opening. The Grateful Dead were always willing to take a chance with new hippie venues in towns they had never visited, one of the reasons that so many 60s venues have some sort of legendary Dead show attached to their mythology.

It's not clear to me whether the Dead would have too big for the Kaleidoscope, or the building had already burned down. In any case, the December show seems to be the end of The Kaleidoscope story in Louisville.

Sic Transit Gloria Psychedelia.

Archaeological Appendix: Louisville Courier-Journal Article, June 26, 1967

I tend to focus pretty exclusively on 60s psychedelia, and I'm mainly interested in the bands and the economics and contemporary neighborhood politics around different venues. Still, this article from the previous year's Louisville Courier-Journal  (June 26, 1967)seems a goldmine for those interested in proto-hippie pop culture outside of the two coasts. The article is about two "Teen" clubs, Changes and the nearby 7-To-1 club. The reporter talks about the teenagers clothes, and what high school they go to, and has quotes from 17 year olds trying to sound sophisticated. You'll have to embiggen the clipping above, but if this sounds interesting it's a fascinating snapshot into 1967 Louisville teen life.

Update: 519 W. Zane Street--The Whole Story

Fellow scholar Jesse Jarnow linked me to premier Louisville Rock Archaeologists Lonnie Griesbaum and Rip Rinehart, and they turn out to be seriously on the case.

Set the Wayback Machine, and listen to a 2-hour (!) audio special on 519 W. Zane Street, complete with a 60s rock and roll soundtrack. It turns out that the building dates to 1888, founded as the Louisville Athletic Club. Afterwards, it had many incarnations: a school, a Dairy, an Oil Company, and finally around 1958, local abstract artist Leo Zimmerman had formed the Society For The Arts in Louisville opened 519 W. Zane as the Louisville Art Club. It was a private club, which I think allowed it to serve liquor. Jazz acts and many other performers played the club.

There's a lot of great information--Iron Butterfly got paid $700, and Steppenwolf apparently played the Kaleidoscope (for $2000). Great work by the Louisville scholars. It's well worth the time of listening, so I won't spoil it all.