what was the story with DC in the 70s?

dijos · May 2nd, 2008, 06:31 AM

Roy buchanan, Danny gatton, and a host of others were born out of that scene-what was happening there?

ToeCutter66 · May 2nd, 2008, 08:46 AM

I have lived in the DC area most of my life. I was a teenager in the 80s, so I was more tuned into the DC Punk music scene. It was fun seeing Fugazi, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty and the rest of Dischord Records bands. I also saw Gatton play several time, but my musical taste at the time was not as refined as it is now.

I just saw the B-52s play at the 9:30 club last weekend, and I am gone to see The Black Keys play there later this month.

jonzer · May 2nd, 2008, 11:49 AM

Former lead singer for Dag Nasty works in my office.

hekawi · May 2nd, 2008, 11:56 AM

oops, i thought this was going to be a comic book thread.

tonfarbe · May 2nd, 2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonzer

Former lead singer for Dag Nasty works in my office.

Then please say "Hello" from a former fan

In the late 80's/early 90's I was all into the DC Hardcore scene.
Never seen Dag Nasty live (I'm from Germany), but lots of the other DC bands
like Fugazi, Bad Brains etc.

odiemann · May 2nd, 2008, 12:12 PM

I didn't know all this about DC, thanks

Mojohand40 · May 2nd, 2008, 12:17 PM

Who knows?
I grew up in Northern VA, DC region in the 70's. (Graduated High School in 82).
There was definetly a MUCH bigger and Active music scene back then!
9:30 club had some great talent through there in the early eighties.
But there was lot's of small clubs supporting ALL kinds of Genres too.
I ran the sound board and lighting (and carried equipment..and everything else) for a local Country band that gigged two time a week arounf '83-84.
LOTs of places too play back then.

Let's not forget the DC Blues Society. They were pretty active too!!
Archie Edwards, John JAckson, Cephas and Wiggons. DC/NOVA was (is) a big part of the Piedmont Blues scene.

Also...how many places back then had live Bluegrass!! I can think of a few.

Yeah, there is still a DC music scene..but it's getting smaller every decade.

brillocaster · May 2nd, 2008, 12:17 PM

I used to live around the block from the "Dischord House" on Beecher St.

Glover Park reprazent!

woodman · May 2nd, 2008, 12:18 PM

it's something in the water.

the Nighthawks/Jimmy Thackery are out of DC too.

txjeff · May 2nd, 2008, 12:25 PM

I had one of Roy's first albums in the 70s, and for the life of me I don't remember what inspired me to buy it, but I thought he played some hot licks.
Here's a bio: http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/RoyBuchannan.html

txjeff · May 2nd, 2008, 12:28 PM

Sad stories, both Roy and Danny (sigh):

http://www.fenderplayersclub.com/art...nds/gatton.htm

celtobilly · May 2nd, 2008, 12:38 PM

DC area lifer here!

I was just a little kid in the mid '70's, but I'm told DC and environs were still kinda "Southern" until the 1980's. Country and bluegrass, the blues and jazz all had a place here on radio and in venues around town I hear.

The hugest influence on me as a musician, maybe as a person, was probably Kim Kane, the rhythm guitarist/auteur of The Slickee Boys, DC's great New Wave/psychedelic/garage/whatever band. Kane lived next door, and seeing the glorious parade of freaks and proto-punks descend on his house every weekend in the staid, stolid, boring old Bethesda MD suburbs warped me for good!

ToeCutter66 · May 2nd, 2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brillocaster

I used to live around the block from the "Dischord House" on Beecher St.

Glover Park reprazent!

In 1989-1990 I lived in a basement apartment at 3838 Calvert Street, I used to tend bar at Nickys. My brother just sold his house on Beecher Street, he played in a band called Drive-in at the Grogg and Tankard.

Great neighborhood, you had Good Guys, JPs, the Grogg etc.

I hate living in the suburbs.

The Saint · May 2nd, 2008, 01:20 PM

There's actually a book about the DC scene called "Capitol Rock" written by Mark Opsasnick.

It all had to do with a flourishing nightclub scene for both country and rock music and it really started in the late 50's and early 60's. The combination of tourism and the large number of servicemen who were stationed in the area meant the clubs were pretty much rockin' every night of the week. You could actually make a decent living playing music in DC and it drew players from all over the region.

Besides Roy and Danny, there was also Link Wray, Roy Clark, John Fahey, Mike Stern, Jimmy Nalls (who played with Doctor John and went on to play with Chuck Leavell's band 'Sea Level'), Nils Lofgren with his band 'Grin', Punky Meadows with 'Angel', Clarence Perry who worked with Roy Orbison, The Nighthawks (as mentioned above) and a ton of others. It was a great melting pot of diverse styles and personalities. Everyone knew everyone, "sat-in" with each others bands and went to each others gigs to steal licks and learn.

There was also a healthy "teen" scene which started in the early 60's with local radio personality Barry Richard's shows at Silver Spring Armory where kids were exposed to the likes of Link Wray, Bo Diddley and Micky and Sylvia and then carried on into the British invasion with shows at Wheaton Youth Center where you could see bands like Rod Stewart and Small Faces on their first visits to the US. Later it was the Punk scene as mentioned above.

But during the 70's, Disco and the DJ began replacing live music and work slowly started to disappear.

But the 60's and part of the 70's was a glorious time to be a musician in DC and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. It couldn't happen today.

jonzer · May 2nd, 2008, 01:35 PM

My band played the Grog last Summer. Don't know how it used to be but it kinda sucks now.

Mojohand40 · May 2nd, 2008, 01:39 PM

Good to see some DC area guys on here.

Speaking of DC area in the 70's...I remember a few things (Besides Capt. Twenty)
I remember seeing Judas Priest like four times at the Capital Center..MANY years later I read an interview with Rob Helford where he stated it was one of the ONLY places where they would play twice a tour.

Also I remember the huge "Fredicksburg Southern Rock Jam"...and the following year when it was moved to the Capital Center, because so many people in Fredicksburg complained of public urination and drunkeness.

It was a good show (The Cap center one) The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, etc....

OH!--OH!.....Root Boy Slim! Everyone remember him? Saw him around 83 in a small club in Fairfax..

ToeCutter66 · May 2nd, 2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojohand40

Good to see some DC area guys on here.

Speaking of DC area in the 70's...I remember a few things (Besides Capt. Twenty)
I remember seeing Judas Priest like four times at the Capital Center..MANY years later I read an interview with Rob Helford where he stated it was one of the ONLY places where they would play twice a tour.

Also I remember the huge "Fredicksburg Southern Rock Jam"...and the following year when it was moved to the Capital Center, because so many people in Fredicksburg complained of public urination and drunkeness.

It was a good show (The Cap center one) The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, etc....

OH!--OH!.....Root Boy Slim! Everyone remember him? Saw him around 83 in a small club in Fairfax..

Were you in Heavy Metal Parking Lot??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_Parking_Lot

My sister got me a copy for christmas last year.

Mojohand40 · May 2nd, 2008, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToeCutter66

Were you in Heavy Metal Parking Lot??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_Parking_Lot

My sister got me a copy for christmas last year.

WOW! I've never heard of this before.
I must see it.
I'm sure it would bring back memories. Judas Priest shows at the Cap center were something back then...as was Iron Maiden...Motley Crue...Twisted Sister...heh...it's a wonder I'm not deaf.

Speaking of going deaf in DC during the 80's...anyone remember Maxxims' at Tysons Corner?

rand z · May 2nd, 2008, 02:58 PM

lets not forget tom principato... he was around back then and is a great guitarist!

i know we used to get rumours up here in lanc county pa, (a minor blues hotbed due to a certain professor at franklin and marshall college, and a host of kids from phila and wilmington coming up to college, here), of a great guitarist outside of DC who didnt like to tour and was reputed to be the best of the best...

danny gatton.

i also knew a few musicians in southern york county, pa that were involved in high end bluegrass (really great players), and were friends with roy buchanan and a few others from the balt/dc scene, which is only a few miles south off of rt 83 and 95.

the 70' also saw little feat in the area playing around balt/dc and recording in hunts valley, md.

i knew very little of this till sometime in the eighties... i would have made more of an attempt to check it out as it's only and hour or two away.

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

Charlie Bernstein · May 2nd, 2008, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dijos

a host of others were born out of that scene

And don't forget the Seldom Scene!

FirstBassman · May 2nd, 2008, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odiemann

I didn't know all this about DC, thanks

Don't forget . . .

Patsy Cline
Roy Clark
John Phillips
Emmy Lou Harris
Jorma Kaukonen
Jack Casady
Bill Kirchen

and Jim Morrison

Tim Armstrong · May 2nd, 2008, 06:26 PM

I grew up in the DC suburbs, and graduated from high school in 1977, and there were a whole lotta bars and clubs featuring live music, a ton of great bands (and not just the ones you've heard of!), an amazingly vibrant local radio scene (at least into the early 80s), and, yes, lower legal drinking age and less concentration on DUI.

It was a magic time, and I sometimes daydream about some time machine action!

Cheers, Tim

Telehackster · May 2nd, 2008, 07:37 PM

There's a book about the DC music scene, but I haven't read it (yet).

FirstBassman · May 2nd, 2008, 09:01 PM

Opsasnick has actually written several books about the DC area music scene:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...rk%20Opsasnick

Here is his website ...

http://www.capitolrock.com/

... which seems to be down right now.

danocaster · May 3rd, 2008, 12:10 AM

I also grew up in that area - Bethesda, Md

Great memories of the Nighthawks playing high school keg parties and being awed by Jimmy Thackery

Skateboarding downtown and hanging out at the Sunshine House Surf Shop

Seeing the Urban Verbs (?) and other early new wave acts like The Insect Surfers

lotsa great music back then !!

Good days indeed

May 2nd, 2008, 06:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
dijos Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: St. Pete Age: 33 Posts: 107	what was the story with DC in the 70s? Roy buchanan, Danny gatton, and a host of others were born out of that scene-what was happening there? __________________ "Kid, it takes a long time"-Danny Kalb to me in NYC, 1992

May 2nd, 2008, 08:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
ToeCutter66 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sterling Virginia Posts: 83	DC I have lived in the DC area most of my life. I was a teenager in the 80s, so I was more tuned into the DC Punk music scene. It was fun seeing Fugazi, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Dag Nasty and the rest of Dischord Records bands. I also saw Gatton play several time, but my musical taste at the time was not as refined as it is now. I just saw the B-52s play at the 9:30 club last weekend, and I am gone to see The Black Keys play there later this month. __________________ Thanks, Kevin 06 American Telecaster, Texas Specials, 4-Way Switch Mod.

May 2nd, 2008, 11:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
jonzer Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 974	Former lead singer for Dag Nasty works in my office. __________________ http://816rocks.com/

May 2nd, 2008, 11:56 AM	#4 (permalink)
hekawi Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: greenville, sc Posts: 1,827	oops, i thought this was going to be a comic book thread. __________________ ____________________________________________ "Rule Number One: Obey All Rules" - Barney Fife

May 2nd, 2008, 12:12 PM	#6 (permalink)
odiemann Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Denver Age: 41 Posts: 1,406	I didn't know all this about DC, thanks __________________ It just got better, I think

May 2nd, 2008, 12:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mojohand40 Tele-Meister Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 412	Who knows? I grew up in Northern VA, DC region in the 70's. (Graduated High School in 82). There was definetly a MUCH bigger and Active music scene back then! 9:30 club had some great talent through there in the early eighties. But there was lot's of small clubs supporting ALL kinds of Genres too. I ran the sound board and lighting (and carried equipment..and everything else) for a local Country band that gigged two time a week arounf '83-84. LOTs of places too play back then. Let's not forget the DC Blues Society. They were pretty active too!! Archie Edwards, John JAckson, Cephas and Wiggons. DC/NOVA was (is) a big part of the Piedmont Blues scene. Also...how many places back then had live Bluegrass!! I can think of a few. Yeah, there is still a DC music scene..but it's getting smaller every decade.

May 2nd, 2008, 12:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
brillocaster Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 710	I used to live around the block from the "Dischord House" on Beecher St. Glover Park reprazent! __________________ ************************** Make it have many characteristicses of these musical instruments, include the quasi- and generous sound area and vivid key of specially accurate sound to respond, can give musical performance to start out to hear easily thus of voice!

May 2nd, 2008, 12:18 PM	#9 (permalink)
woodman Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mint Hill, NC Age: 62 Posts: 5,222	it's something in the water. the Nighthawks/Jimmy Thackery are out of DC too. __________________ Truth is stranger than fact ... www.myspace.com/woodymitchellmusic BAND PAGES: www.myspace.com/stragglerswing (Stragglers - Western Swing) www.myspace.com/loafersgloryband (Loafers Glory - '70s country-rock)

May 2nd, 2008, 12:25 PM	#10 (permalink)
txjeff TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Granbury, TX Age: 53 Posts: 92	I had one of Roy's first albums in the 70s, and for the life of me I don't remember what inspired me to buy it, but I thought he played some hot licks. Here's a bio: http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/RoyBuchannan.html

May 2nd, 2008, 12:28 PM	#11 (permalink)
txjeff TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Granbury, TX Age: 53 Posts: 92	Sad stories, both Roy and Danny (sigh): http://www.fenderplayersclub.com/art...nds/gatton.htm

May 2nd, 2008, 12:38 PM	#12 (permalink)
celtobilly Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Washington, DC Age: 41 Posts: 118 1 Photos	DC area lifer here! I was just a little kid in the mid '70's, but I'm told DC and environs were still kinda "Southern" until the 1980's. Country and bluegrass, the blues and jazz all had a place here on radio and in venues around town I hear. The hugest influence on me as a musician, maybe as a person, was probably Kim Kane, the rhythm guitarist/auteur of The Slickee Boys, DC's great New Wave/psychedelic/garage/whatever band. Kane lived next door, and seeing the glorious parade of freaks and proto-punks descend on his house every weekend in the staid, stolid, boring old Bethesda MD suburbs warped me for good!

May 2nd, 2008, 01:20 PM	#14 (permalink)
The Saint TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Palmdale, CA Posts: 50	There's actually a book about the DC scene called "Capitol Rock" written by Mark Opsasnick. It all had to do with a flourishing nightclub scene for both country and rock music and it really started in the late 50's and early 60's. The combination of tourism and the large number of servicemen who were stationed in the area meant the clubs were pretty much rockin' every night of the week. You could actually make a decent living playing music in DC and it drew players from all over the region. Besides Roy and Danny, there was also Link Wray, Roy Clark, John Fahey, Mike Stern, Jimmy Nalls (who played with Doctor John and went on to play with Chuck Leavell's band 'Sea Level'), Nils Lofgren with his band 'Grin', Punky Meadows with 'Angel', Clarence Perry who worked with Roy Orbison, The Nighthawks (as mentioned above) and a ton of others. It was a great melting pot of diverse styles and personalities. Everyone knew everyone, "sat-in" with each others bands and went to each others gigs to steal licks and learn. There was also a healthy "teen" scene which started in the early 60's with local radio personality Barry Richard's shows at Silver Spring Armory where kids were exposed to the likes of Link Wray, Bo Diddley and Micky and Sylvia and then carried on into the British invasion with shows at Wheaton Youth Center where you could see bands like Rod Stewart and Small Faces on their first visits to the US. Later it was the Punk scene as mentioned above. But during the 70's, Disco and the DJ began replacing live music and work slowly started to disappear. But the 60's and part of the 70's was a glorious time to be a musician in DC and I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. It couldn't happen today.

May 2nd, 2008, 01:35 PM	#15 (permalink)
jonzer Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 974	My band played the Grog last Summer. Don't know how it used to be but it kinda sucks now. __________________ http://816rocks.com/

May 2nd, 2008, 01:39 PM	#16 (permalink)
Mojohand40 Tele-Meister Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 412	Good to see some DC area guys on here. Speaking of DC area in the 70's...I remember a few things (Besides Capt. Twenty) I remember seeing Judas Priest like four times at the Capital Center..MANY years later I read an interview with Rob Helford where he stated it was one of the ONLY places where they would play twice a tour. Also I remember the huge "Fredicksburg Southern Rock Jam"...and the following year when it was moved to the Capital Center, because so many people in Fredicksburg complained of public urination and drunkeness. It was a good show (The Cap center one) The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, etc.... OH!--OH!.....Root Boy Slim! Everyone remember him? Saw him around 83 in a small club in Fairfax..

May 2nd, 2008, 02:58 PM	#19 (permalink)
rand z Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 903	lets not forget tom principato... he was around back then and is a great guitarist! i know we used to get rumours up here in lanc county pa, (a minor blues hotbed due to a certain professor at franklin and marshall college, and a host of kids from phila and wilmington coming up to college, here), of a great guitarist outside of DC who didnt like to tour and was reputed to be the best of the best... danny gatton. i also knew a few musicians in southern york county, pa that were involved in high end bluegrass (really great players), and were friends with roy buchanan and a few others from the balt/dc scene, which is only a few miles south off of rt 83 and 95. the 70' also saw little feat in the area playing around balt/dc and recording in hunts valley, md. i knew very little of this till sometime in the eighties... i would have made more of an attempt to check it out as it's only and hour or two away. imho. rand z tropicalsoul.net

May 2nd, 2008, 06:26 PM	#22 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 7,500	I grew up in the DC suburbs, and graduated from high school in 1977, and there were a whole lotta bars and clubs featuring live music, a ton of great bands (and not just the ones you've heard of!), an amazingly vibrant local radio scene (at least into the early 80s), and, yes, lower legal drinking age and less concentration on DUI. It was a magic time, and I sometimes daydream about some time machine action! Cheers, Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

May 2nd, 2008, 07:37 PM	#23 (permalink)
Telehackster Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas, USA Age: 42 Posts: 741	There's a book about the DC music scene, but I haven't read it (yet).

May 2nd, 2008, 09:01 PM	#24 (permalink)
FirstBassman Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 808	Opsasnick has actually written several books about the DC area music scene: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...rk%20Opsasnick Here is his website ... http://www.capitolrock.com/ ... which seems to be down right now.

May 3rd, 2008, 12:10 AM	#25 (permalink)
danocaster Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 447 9 Photos	I also grew up in that area - Bethesda, Md Great memories of the Nighthawks playing high school keg parties and being awed by Jimmy Thackery Skateboarding downtown and hanging out at the Sunshine House Surf Shop Seeing the Urban Verbs (?) and other early new wave acts like The Insect Surfers lotsa great music back then !! Good days indeed __________________ Louder isnt better - it's just louder ( and better )