Monday, November 1, 2010

7551 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA: Thee Experience: Performance List March-December 1969

(a scan of an ad for the opening of Thee Experience, at 7551 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, for March 14, 1969)

Thee Experience was a rock club in Hollywood at 7551 Sunset Boulevard (at N. Genesee). While only open for about 9 months in 1969, it often gets mentioned in memoirs of the 60s Hollywood rock club. Despite the constant references, there is very little coherent information about the club. Mark and I have been researching performance dates at the club from a variety of sources, and although the resulting list is incomplete, it still provides a useful snapshot. I am posting my information as it currently stands, in the hope that readers can add information about performers or the circumstances around the club. I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who went to the club, even if they don't recall who they saw. It appears from published ads that the club was open 7 nights a week, but I do not know if there were live bands every night. I also gather that Thee Image was consciously attempting to be a cool hangout for musicians and industry folks, but I do not know if it was cleaner, louder or had better food, or just depended on a sort of vibe.

The notice of ownership of Thee Experience by Marshall Brevetz, from the March 13, 1969 Hollywood Citizen-News (thanks mhfoto)

Background

Thee Experience operator Marshall Brevetz had been been an important player in the Miami rock scene. He had a Miami club in late 1967 called Thee Experience, but by early 1968 he needed a bigger place. He found a disused bowling alley and converted it to a psychedelic ballroom called Thee Image. A Tampa, FL group called The Motions moved to Miami and became the house band, changing their name to Blues Image. Thee Image became a major stop on the fledgling underground rock circuit, and most of the top bands played there in 1968 and early 1969. Brevetz also played a key role in the December 1968 Hollywood Pop Festival in Florida, along with future Woodstock promoter Michael Lang. By the end of 1968, however, the Blues Image had been encouraged by the likes of Frank Zappa and Eric Burdon to relocate to Los Angeles, and they did so. Brevetz followed Blues Image to Southern California.

The middle 60s had been the high water mark of live rock on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, with the legendary Whisky Au Go Go as the most famous location. By 1969, the Whisky was still thriving, and the record companies were clustered around Hollywood, but as the rock market had become much bigger, the best live bands often bypassed the Sunset Strip as the venues were simply too small. It appears that Hollywood had become more of a hangout and less of a place for touring bands, and smaller clubs that had really been conceived as dance clubs weren't as conducive for the kind of business being conducted in Hollywood.

From what I can tell, Thee Experience was planned as a place where industry people could hang out, and record companies could book their newest bands, giving industry people and local tastemakers a chance to hear them and spread the word. Casual jamming seems to have been encouraged, and there are numerous (if rather vague) tales of numerous players sitting in whenever they were in town. With studios and record companies in Los Angeles and many musicians making their home in Southern California, the idea that a civilian could go to see a hip new band and potentially rub shoulders with the industry and see a late night jam with some heavy players seems very enticing.

The only feature I know for sure about the decor of Thee Experience was that its front had a giant mural of Jimi Hendrix, and the front door was his mouth. Although this seems quite weird, Marshall Brevetz was apparently friendly with Hendrix (and many other stars) so while he may not have had formal permission, Hendrix must have at least been somewhat OK with it (in any case, he seems to have shown up to jam one night in June). Apparently there was a light show, which may have been a little outdated for style conscious LA, but I can't say that for sure. In various references to Thee Image, there are general references to the fact that the club had extremely pretty waitresses, but that may have been a Hollywood thing (and may still be) rather than specifically associated with Thee Image.

The list of performers that we have uncovered generally features bands that were newly signed to labels, or had just released an album, or were on their first National tour. As a result, a number of interesting bands played there, although not big stars. There appears to have been a number of interesting guest appearances, but they are much harder to pin down, and I have only referred to them here when I can identify a date. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or recovered memories (real or imagined) is encouraged to Comment or email me.

Thee Experience, The Whisky and other Sunset Boulevard clubs at night. From the Hollywood Citizen-News December 10, 1969 (thanks mhfoto and QueenCityJamz)

THEE EXPERIENCE PERFORMANCE LIST March-December 1969

March 14, 1969: T.I.M.E/Blues Image/Steve Young/Magical Berri Lee
No group was listed in the ad for the grand opening on March 14 (above), but Marc managed to figure out who played. Friends and namesake Blues Image  had been signed by Atco and had released their debut album in February 1969, so in that respect they fit the Thee Experience mold: hip, connected and with a debut album on a major label.

T.I.M.E was a new band socially connected to Steppenwolf. Steve Young was a singer/songwriter. I have no idea about Berri Lee and his or her magic.

Marc discovered that Thee Experience was apparently open every night of the week. We assume that groups like Rockin Foo played on the weeknights, and the relatively bigger names played the weekends.

March 27-29, 1969: Alice Cooper/Slim Harpo/Rockin Foo
Alice Cooper (a band at the time, rather than just lead singer Vincent Furnier) had been signed to Frank Zappa's Bizarre label (a Warners subsidiary), but they would not release their debut album until August.

April 3, 1969: Albert Collins/Linn County
April 4-5, 1969: T.I.M.E./Albert Collins/Linn County
Linn County was a Cedar Rapids, IA band that had relocated to San Francisco. They had already released their first album on Mercury.

April 10-12, 1969: AB Skhy/Fair Befall/Rockin Foo
AB Skhy were a progressive blues band from Milwuakee, WI, who had recently relocated to San Francisco. They featured organist Howard Wales.

April 17, 1969: Blues Image/Blues Magoos/Rockin Foo
This seems like a fairly late performance for The Blues Magoos.

April 18, 1969: Blues Image/Southwind/Rockin Foo/Black Pearl
Southwind were from Oklahoma, but they had relocated to Los Angeles. They had an obscure debut album, and then released a 1970 album on Blue Thumb, Ready To Ride. Singer/guitarist John "Moon" Martin had success later as a songwriter, including "Cadillac Walk" (Mink DeVille) and "Bad Case Of Loving You" (Robert Palmer).

April 19, 1969: Pogo/Blues Image/Rockin Foo
Pogo was still a fairly new group at this time. Their first album would not be released until May, by which time there name had been changed to Poco. The group was probably a quartet at this time, as bassist Randy Meisner had left during the recording of their debut. Guitarist Jim Messina took over the bass chores during this period.

April 24-25, 1969: Flying Burrito Brothers/Junior Markham and The Tulsa Rhythm Review/Bobby Doyle
Although the Flying Burrito Brothers had been together for some time, they had played very few live shows. Despite their immense talent and wonderful songwriting, they were a very erratic live band.

I'm fairly certain that Junior Markham and the Tulsa Rhythm Review were a loose aggregation of Oklahoma area players like Don Nix, Jessie Ed Davis and Jimmy Karstein. These guys were studio regulars and toured with different acts, but they liked to have some fun on their own. Delaney and Bonnie and Friends were a similar organization, and they may have shared some members.

May 1-3, 1969: Colwell-Winfield Blues Band/T.I.M.E/Blues Magoos

May 8-10, 1969: Screaming Lord Sutch/Mighty Fat/Fields
Lord Sutch, an English rock and roller known as Screaming Lord Sutch, was a legendary English figure, sort of a pre-Beatles Alice Cooper. Despite Sutch's lack of vocal talent, he was a charismatic and entertaining character.

May 15, 1969: Illinois Speed Press/Linn County/C.K. Strong
May 16, 1969: Linn County/C.K. Strong
May 17, 1969: Blues Image/Linn County/C.K. Strong
Illinois Speed Press had been signed by Columbia and relocated to Los Angeles. They had just released their first album.  CK Strong featured singer Lynn Carey, later to become a sort of legend due to the album cover of her of next band, Mama Lion (google it yourself, but not at work).

May 22-24: Joanne Vent/Congress Of Wonders/Rockin Foo

May 27-28, 1969: John Lee Hooker/Earl Hooker/Blues Image

May 29-31, 1969: John Lee Hooker/Earl Hooker/Golden Earring

May 29-31, 1969: John Lee Hooker/Golden Earring/Earl Hooker
Golden Earring were already a popular group in Holland, but not known in the States. Some years later they would have a big Top 40 hit with "Radar Love." I think they still perform.

June 5, 1969: Sons of Champlin/Tsong
The Sons Of Champlin were a funky, sophisticated band from San Francisco who had just released their first album on Capitol, Loosen Up Naturally.

June 6-7, 1969: Blues Image/Tsong

June 8, 1969: Tsong

June 9-11, 1969: Joe Cocker and The Grease Band/Bluesberry Jam
Joe Cocker and The Grease Band were on tbeir first American tour, and this would probably have been one of their first Stateside shows. Bluesberry Jam was a local blues group. They would later evolve into the group P, G and E.

June 12, 1969: Southwind/Bangor Flying Circus
June 13-14, 1969: Blues Image/Southwind/Bangor Flying Circus

June 16-17, 1969: Lord Sutch
Apparently Jimi Hendrix showed up to jam one night.

June 19, 1969: Larry Coryell/Bonzo Dog Band
June 20-21, 1969: Larry Coryell/Bluesberry Jam
The story of the Bonzos is too long (and too unbelievable) to tell here, but they were an influential, one-of-a-kind band whose impact far outweighed their modest record sales. Anyone lucky enough to have seen the show would have, among other things, found out the musical answer to the age-old question "Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?"

June 26, 1969: Roxy/Rockin Foo
June 27-28, 1969: Blues Magoos/Roxy/Rockin Foo

July 3, 1969: Eric Burdon/C.K. Strong
Eric Burdon's activities during this period were somewhat mysterious. He wasn't playing with War yet, but he was supporting a Best Of album by playing a few shows. Its not clear who he played with, but he did at least some shows with Blues Image, so perhaps he played with them here. Possibly he just sat in with someone who was booked at the club. However, since Burdon was billed for three nights at Fillmore West on the weekend (July 4-6), this show may have been a warmup gig to get the music together.

July 4-5, 1969: Lonnie Mack/Southwind
July 6, 1969: Lonnie Mack/C.K. Strong

July 10-12, 1969: Illinois Speed Press/Charity

July 13, 1969: Fields/Jerome

July 18-19, 1969: Poco/The Baby/C.K. Strong

July 20, 1969: Jerome/Armageddon/Fat Legs

July 21-23, 1969: Charlie Musslewhite/Roxy/Fat Legs

August 7-10, 1969: Grand Funk Railroad,/The Baby/Stoneface
Grand Funk Railroad had just released their Capitol debut On Time. Its clear that Thee Experience was positioning itself to be the Hollywood debut for bands that had just released their debut albums. Such bookings probably guaranteed that the record companies bought a lot of tickets and paid for a lot of drinks.

August 11-13, 1969: Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus Rex were a hippie folk duo at this time, featuring guitarist Marc Bolan and conga player Steve Took. They had a sort of spacey, Tolkienesque vibe, quite a long way from the hard rocking glam music that would make Bolan famous in T-Rex.

August 14-17, 1969: Spencer Davis Group/SRC
The Spencer Davis group had reconstituted itself after Steve Winwood had departed. SRC was a well regarded power trio from Detroit.

August 18-20, 1969: Buddy Miles Express/Thumper

August ?, 1969: Bonzo Dog Band

September 4, 1969: Elvin Bishop/The Crow/Sun Country
Elvin Bishop was signed to Bill Graham's label, a Columbia subsidiary. I'm not sure of the exact timing of his debut album, which was released sometime in 1969, but although Bishop was an established club and concert attraction in San Francisco, this would have been an opportunity to introduce him to the Los Angeles based music industry.

September 5-7, 1969: Delaney and Bonnie and Friends/Sun Country
In 1968, Delaney and Bonnie had mainly been playing in the Topanga Corral in Topanga Canyon. They had a number of fine transplants from Oklahoma and thereabouts playing in their group, many of them also working days in the studio, such as Carl radle and Leon Russell.  Delaney and Bonnie had released a little noticed album on Stax in early 1969, but in mid-1969 they had released their album Accept No Substitute on Elektra. The album came to the attention of Eric Clapton (via George Harrison, apparently) and Delaney & Bonnie had opened for Blind Faith for their mammoth Summer '69 American tour.

September 8-11, 1969: Blues Image

September 18-20, 1969: PG&E/The Litter/South
PG& E had evolved from the Bluesberries.

September 21-23, 1969: Merryweather/Jerome
Neil Merryweather was a Canadian musician who had come to California via Chicago.

September 24, 1969: Jean Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio
This show was recorded for a live album with George Duke on Fender piano, John Heard on bass and Dick Bock on drums. There were probably several more shows. These were Jean Luc Ponty's American debut, and it seems that these shows were how Frank Zapppa discovered both Ponty and George Duke.

September ?, 1969: James Cotton

October 2-5, 1969: Flying Burrito Brothers/Lighthouse/Rockin Foo
Lighthouse was a Canadian group led by drummer Skip Propop.

October 10-11, 1969: Poco/Stonehenge/Smoke
TIm Schmidt had joined Poco as  bassist by this time, returning them to a quintet.

October 16-18, 1969: Big Mama Thornton/Bluesberry
Since PG& E had evolved out of the Bluesberries, I'm not sure who "Bluesberry" might have been. Perhaps part of the band kept going under the old name.

October 19-22, 1969: Southwind/Linn County

October 23-26, 1969: Charles Lloyd/Baby Tsong/Bonzo Dog Band
Tenor saxophonist/flautist Charles Lloyd did not tour that much during this period, as he was mostly studying Transcendental Meditation in Los Angeles, but he was still an exceptional player.

October 29-November 1, 1969: Albert Collins

November 20-23, 1969: Red Hot And Low Down with Barry Goldberg

November 28-29, 1969: Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart
Zappa had broken up the Mothers in August. His lineup was either FZ, Artie Tripp, Jeff Simmons and Ian Underwood, or FZ, Underwood, Captain Beefheart, Sugarcane Harris, Max Bennett and a drummer, possibly Ralph Humphrey.  Zappa played gigs with various one-off lineups during this period.
[update] Bruno and leading FZ scholar Charles Ulrich confirm that Zappa's lineup was FZ/Tripp/Simmons/Underwood. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band were also on the bill.

December 1, 1969: Richard Groove Holmes

December 4-6, 1969: Captain Beefheart/TIME
I do not know who was in Captain Beefheart's band at this time. TIME was a group of mostly Toronto transplants, socially and musically connected to Steppenwolf.

After December, the trail of Thee Experience grows cold. I think the club closed around this time, but closures are never advertised like openings. The idea of a destination club for up and coming bands was an idea somewhat ahead of its time, although it would be successfully executed a few later when The Roxy opened. Marshall Brevetz would go on to open Thee Club in 1970, a sort of rock and roll supper club. This too was ahead of its time, but in 1970 rock fans did not have the money or inclination to pay for a fine meal as part of their rock and roll menu. As fans got older, ate better and had more stable incomes, the idea began to make more sense.  To some extent this concept was copied by the Rainbow Bar and Grill, upstairs from The Roxy, although the Rainbow did not have performers.

Marshall Brevetz was an interesting character, and friends with many of the bands he booked. He seems to have a great feel for seeing trends before they happened, whether outdoor rock festivals or happening nightclubs, but he never managed to put all the pieces together. He went on to produce films and manage Bobby Womack, among other things, and he would probably have quite an interesting story to tell, but he passed away in 1986.

Update: Tales From The Kitchen Of Thee Experience
Although you'll have to embiggen this to read it, it's worth it. Roger Martin of Lawrence, KS was a dishwasher at Thee Experience in 1969. When he returned to Kansas, he wrote about it in the local underground paper, Public Notice. If you've read this far, check it out.

27 comments:

  1. (1) November 28-29, 1969: The show was billed as "Frank Zappa and Friends" and the "friends" were Artie Tripp, Jeff Simmons and Ian Underwood. I think Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (with the below line-up) also played both nights.

    (2) Re: "I do not know who was in Captain Beefheart's band at this time". Corry the line-up for this gig was: Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart (vocals, tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet, harmonica), Artie Tripp aka Ed Marimba (drums, percussion, marimba), Bill Harkleroad aka Zoot Horn Rollo (guitar, slide guitar) and Mark Boston aka Rockette Morton (bass, guitar).

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  2. All of your information is so interesting for me to read. Marshall Brevetz was my uncle, my mom's brother. My mom and dad both helped with the music festival in Florida that you speak of, and yes Marshall was friends with Jimi Hendrix. The whole band was in my parents apartment and they have vivid memories of their escapades! My mom held Moon Unit Zappa while Frank Zappa performed at that show. Marshall actually died in 1986, not in the late 70's. Keep up the good research!!

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  3. Michelle, thanks for the kind words about the blog. Marshall Brevetz seems to have been a man very much ahead of his time, able to anticipate a lot of trends before other people. He seems to have done a lot of interesting things (I mostly left out all the great stuff he did with Bobby Womack) but he seems somewhat unfairly left out of a lot of rock chronicles these days.

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  4. I played drums in The Bougalieu we migrated to Miami From Albany, N.Y. in the Fall of '67 when our 45 on Roulette was getting airplay in Florida.
    We somehow heard about Thee Experience,maybe from a local radio station.We auditioned and were hired on the spot.We shared the bill and became good friends with The Blues Image who later had the hit, "Ride Captain Ride".
    At first we slept in our cars and in our U-Haul trailer behind the club. I got arrested one night for vagrancy.Marshall Brevetz bailed me out of jail and then brought his lawyer to my trial.He never asked me for a penny.
    I remember he got balled out by the attorney because he showed up at court in an undershirt.
    He loved rockers and was a great supporter of the 60's scenes.He was one of a kind.

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  5. I worked at Thee Experience in LA with Marshal Brevetz, I am saddened to learn of his death. I used to change the marqui, help with the light show, csetup, cleanup, and I lived under the bleacher style seats at the back of the club, that also hosed the dressing room, I remember being there and hearing one of the members of Poco saying we get all the great places huh? it left a lot to be desired, although I don't remember exact dates, Hendrix played for free, and came back after the club closed, at which time we all sat around a couple tables put together and smoked a little, also you don't make mention of the youngbloods who also played there,

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  6. My name is Jeff Hersh. I just stumbled across this site. I showed up at Thee Experience in October 1969 while hitch hiking 'cross country, looking for a job doing anything. Big Mama with George Harmonica Smith came through. Marshall let me mix the house sound for a show or two. I wasn't any good at it but never did it before. Alice Cooper came into the kitchen talking to Marshall. I also think I remember that John McLaughlin played the club using what looked like a guitar with two necks. Big Mama got arrested for having a pistol in her glove compartment. Somehow she got bailed out and was able to make the next show at the club. Some years later, I met his "wife" Marsha who was involved in the music business. We had a small office at Crossroads of the World with a lot of other music management people and she came by. Sorry to hear that Marshall passed away so long ago. I have lived on Spaulding Avenue, one block east and south of where Thee Experience was located.

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    1. Jeffrey,
      Any chance you have a photo of the Thee Experience?

      slipnut01@gmail.com

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  7. I played there a few times in 69 with my band "Groove Company". I remember playing for Marshall's birthday party and having Wild Man Fischer jump out of the cake.

    I also recall being at a few Hendrix after hour jams and was once lucky enough to sit in.

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  8. I remember Thee Experience quite well. The decor, as I recall, was all flower powery and sometimes the music would last long into the morning, with bands playing what today might be called "trance" music. As I recall, it was much smaller than the Whisky.

    The rumor (with a big capital R) was that the Whisky was actually owned by the Mafia and they used to meet in a restaurant upstairs and next door to that club. Thee Experience grew in popularity so quickly the guys with the bent noses didn't like the competition, so they bought it out and closed it down. I think it became an antique auction house.

    The other thing of interest is that there was supposedly an occultist underground of people who would go there. Nothing formal, just people with similar interests, black leather and silver jewelry. Supposed visitors included members of groups known as the Ramnians (The only remainder of that group is an occult shop known as Pan Pipes. The current owners are not related to or in any way associated with the founders.), and The Process. One person influenced by The Process was Charles Manson, and he may have showed up there from time to time.

    As I recall, the Bonzos, at that time, were called the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The Whiskey had the fame, and supposedly they tied in the top-tier bands by having them sign contracts where they would have to play at the Whiskey the next time they came to L.A. As a result, some bands would play the Whisky, and then next time they came to town they'd play at the Forum and at the Whiskey. This sort of locked Thee Experience out of many groups.

    Screaming Lord Sutch was a real British Lord and would drive around L.A. in a Rolls Royce with a Union Jack painted on top. If you can find any of his albums you might be shocked at the talent he got to play with him. He had a lot of money and would haunt the recording studios. When a famous musician was cutting an album, he'd make his way in to see them and offer a lot of money to cut a quick track. He was really more of a Screaming Jay Hawkins than an Alice Cooper. A friend of mine worked as his guitarist until Sutch chased him around the stage with a butcher knife. He went back to England and founded The Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 1983, often running for office. He hung himself in 1999.

    I remember Neil Merryweather very well. He put out a couple of albums and he usually wore a large overcoat to try and disguise that he was heavier.

    I remember a show with Pogo, although I believe they were Poco at the time. Perhaps it was a later gig. They played "Darkness Darkness" and blew me away.

    Finally, I would hope that people notice the variety of entertainers at any one of the shows. Charlie Musslewhite and Roxy; John Lee Hooker and Golden Earring. Today, such pairing would be unheard of. You get only one type of music at a show, and people only attend the type of music they like. It's a shame, IMO, because people don't get introduced to a wide variety of musical styles. At about the same time, Bill Graham was putting on huge concerts at the Grand Olympic Auditorium near USC with the same type of variety. We loved it all.

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  9. Does anyone remember the night members of Led Zeppelin showed up at the club?

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    1. You mean the nite jimmy page was screwing girls lined up around the kitchen table? Yep, saw his drooling eyes an walked out of that kitchen fast...he looked like he was crazy in a frenzy lol

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  10. I have a friend who told me about his life at Thee experience. He lived behind the dressing rooms and acts would use the room to smoke out. When he left back to go to Miami he hitch hiked and was picked uby Timothy o Leary who drove him to Qaco TX dropped him off in a park. Promise to pick him up the next day and take him all the way to Orlando. But Timothy O'Leary and never showed up. his mom had to get a bus ticket to drive to go from

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  11. Waco TX. His mom got his a bus ticket to get back to FL. Great story! He met Janis. Knew Jimi. Met Fat Jim Morrison. Etc...

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  12. We played there in 1969. Did one night. We were called Libra Rising and had a kick ass band from Louisiana. Got signed by RCA and managed by Bobby Roberts. Zappa was there the night we played.

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  13. I lived with Marshall and Marsha in Hollywood and helped to create the club. I ran the bar and Marsha ran the kitchen. I could tell you a lot of stories. If you're still interested in this thread let me know with a response.

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    1. Thomas, I would love to hear more. I am fortunate that my threads generally have very long tails.

      I take another look at the Marshall Brevetz story here: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2015/10/august-28-29-1970-thee-club-los-angeles.html

      Any insights into the business of Thee Experience and Thee Club would be completely fascinating.

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  14. I must have seen Big Mama Thornton there and I recall she was rather salty in some piquant observations. Was the building another club called "Genesis 9" in 1967 or '68?

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    1. Yes. I'm looking at a compilation including Captain Beefhart that has a sign from that club when he appeard there, complete with this address

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  15. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  16. I was one of the, By-Chance" privileged to be acquainted and hang out with some of the coolest legendary people in Rock n’ Roll history before fame and overindulgence of drugs & Alcohol ensnared the innocence... The idea that I could work in a hip new club and potentially rub shoulders with the music industry and see the late night jams with some of the coolest musicians was more than enticing. I asked Marshall for a job and I worked at the experience first as a waitress, I was underage so Marshall put me at the front window selling $2,00 tickets to enter. Jim Morrison was a regular, always drunk and vomiting. Raggy, the head waitress was madly in love with him so she would tend to his diabolical behavior. Some of the regulars Blues Image Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Frank Zappa. Those were the days my friend….wish there was a do-over I would have had a Camera. Cheers!

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  17. The Zappa/Beefheart show, Art Tripp played drums for BOTH bands that night.

    The Blues Magoos had split into 2 bands at the end of 1968. 1 band (with 1 original member) released 2 albums on ABC and remained on the East Coast. The version of Blues Magoos that played Thee Experience consisted of the other original Blues Magoos members along with Joey Stec from The Millennium (Los Angeles band). They released a 45 "Let Your Love Ride" on the small label Ganim Records in 1969 and were trying to get exposure, so maybe that's why they played Thee Experience in hopes of getting an album deal from a major label.

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  18. Worked the lights for a while at this club generally during the week, had worked with Omega's Eye at The Kaleidoscope before that. Memories are hazy, but remember Morrison being there, drunk. Good times being in LA during that time.

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  19. Was wondering if anyone could help me verify something-

    I interviewed the musician Garrett "En Medio" Saracho several years ago, and he claimed that he once played a set with Buddy Miles and Jimi Hendrix. John Paul Jones was there as well. I believe this was at thee experience, and I think it was on June 22, seeing as how both Buddy and Jimi were in town for the newport pop fest. if anyone wants to read the interview and help verify, here is a link- https://medium.com/@wmowrey/ill-hear-you-brother-4448386fcb42

    It could also have been an after hours set, as i've learned those were fairly common for thee experience, during the buddy miles express' residency in august, however that was the same weekend that hendrix played woodstock, so i am unsure.

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  21. Did anyone see '' The Nice'' featuring Keith Emerson on keyboards at Thee Experience in mid December 1969 ?

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  22. My name is Troy Gar and I was 19 in 1969. I meet Marshall when I was hanging out on the Strip and helped him fix Thee Experience up before he opened it. Much of that time is a fog for me, however I do remember one night after the club opened that Led Zeppelin showed up and jammed, afterwards the club turned into an organised of sorts. Really wild.
    The club was pretty basic, and had bleachers in the back. Do remember Marshall was always making food, but not commercially, free for the visitors and musicians. He was a large friendly man that was always talking about his ideas. Jimi Hendrix did indeed visit Thee Experience but only as a guest. I imagine the club closed because Marshall was too generous and more interested in making the scene, also the location was down the far end of the Strip and not everyone would go that far.
    Great times while it lasted.
    RIP Marshall

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