Great American Music Hall Explained

Great American Music Hall
Location:	859 O'Farrell Street San Francisco, California United States
Type:	Nightclub
Renovated:	1972
Owner:	Slim's Presents
Former Names:	Blanco's (1907–1935, 1948) Music Box (1936–1945)
Seating Capacity:	470

The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies, columns, and frescoes and for its history of unique entertainment, which has included burlesque dancing as well as jazz, folk music, and rock and roll concerts. The capacity of the hall is 470 people.^[1]

History

Blanco's and Music Box

The hall was established in 1907 during the period of rebuilding that followed the 1906 earthquake. Its interior was designed by a French architect. It was originally called Blanco's, after a notorious Barbary Coast house of prostitution.^[2]

In 1936, Sally Rand, known for her fan dance and bubble dance acts, acquired the property and branded it the Music Box. It closed with the end of World War II, reopened in 1948 as a jazz club that reused the name Blanco's, and in the 1950s the building was used by members of the Loyal Order of the Moose.^[3] The venue went into a long decline that nearly resulted in the demolition of the building.^[4]

Great American Music Hall

In 1972 the venue was purchased by Tom Bradshaw. Newly refurbished and painted, the building was renamed the Great American Music Hall. In 1973-1974 the Stuart Little Band became the GAMH house band and performed as opening act for many GAMH headliners: Cal Tjader, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Marcel Marceau, Stan Getz, Mongo Santamaria, Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Bill Evans, Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders, Joe Pass, Cleo Laine, Herbie Mann, Buddy Rich, the Tubes, etc. In 1974, the new line-up of Journey debuted there, also Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead debuted and recorded a live album with Legion of Mary, his jazz influenced rock band in 1974, and again later with the Jerry Garcia Band as well as the Grateful Dead's album One from the Vault. In 1982, Robin Williams filmed his HBO special, "An Evening with Robin Williams". In the early '90s, radio station KKSF 103.7FM hosted several large "Music Without Borders Listener Appreciation Concerts", with performances by Opafire as well as other Contemporary Jazz groups. In May 2000, during the dot-com boom, the venue was acquired for a reportedly seven-figure sum by music website Riffage.com, and went to Diablo Management Group when Riffage.com ceased operations in December 2000.^[5] In 2013, the Great American Music Hall was named the sixth-best rock club in America in a Rolling Stone poll of artists and managers.

Recordings

• Billy Joel recorded a set on June 8, 1975. He recorded "New York State of Mind" there that year which was released on Spotify, et al., on November 4, 2021. The album "Live from the Great American Music Hall" was released in April 2023.
• The Grateful Dead's album One from the Vault, the first of its "From the Vault" series, was recorded at the Great American Music Hall in August 1975.
• David Bromberg recorded portions of How Late'll Ya Play 'Til? at the Great American Music Hall in June 1976.
• Ry Cooder recorded Show Time on December 14 & 15, 1976.
• McCoy Tyner recorded The Greeting on March 17 & 18, 1978.
• Sonny Rollins recorded Don't Stop the Carnival on April 13, 14 & 15, 1978.
• Carmen McRae recorded "At The Great American Music Hall" in 1976.
• Doc and Merle Watson recorded "Live and Pickin' " on October 11–13, 1978. At the Grammy Awards of 1980 "Big Sandy/Leather Britches" won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
• Betty Carter recorded her live vocal jazz album The Audience with Betty Carter at the Great American Music Hall in 1979.
• The Carmen McRae-Betty Carter Duets recorded on January 30 - Feb 1, 1987 at the Great American Music Hall.
• Herbie Mann made a direct-to-disc recording, All Blues/Forest Rain, in 1980.^[6]
• Carla Bley recorded Live! on August 19–21, 1981.
• Robin Williams filmed his 1982 HBO special, "An Evening with Robin Williams" at the Great American Music Hall.
• The Radiators Live at the "Great American Music Hall" in 1998.
• Boz Scaggs recorded his 2004 released CD/DVD Greatest Hits Live in August 2003.
• The Secret Chiefs 3 recorded their DVD Live at the Great American Music Hall in 2007.^[7]
• Jonathan Coulton recorded his album Best. Concert. Ever. in February 2008.^[8]
• Fantômas recorded their album and video The Director's Cut Live: A New Year's Revolution on December 31, 2008.^[9]
• Richard Thompson recorded portions of his album Dream Attic in February 2010.^[10]
• The Mother Hips Live at the Great American Music Hall December 15–16, 2017
• Ry Cooder recorded his 2011 concert with Corridos Famosos at the Great American Music Hall^[11]

External links

• Sally Rand and The Music Box at Virtual Museum of SF
• Great American Music homepage on the website of Slim's Presents

Notes and References

1. The Best Clubs in America . . 8 April 2014 . 0035-791X.
2. News: Great American Music Hall . . 8 July 2012.
3. Web site: Great American Music Hall. slimspresents.com. 2015-08-16. 2015-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20150813070842/http://www.slimspresents.com/venue_detail/gamh/. dead.
4. Web site: Historic Venue - Great American Music Hall . Evan . Conquest . . 8 July 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120505043544/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/blog/index.php/2010/04/historic-venue-great-american-music-hall . May 5, 2012 . Internet Archive . unfit .
5. News: Riffage Puts Music Hall Up for Sale. Chonin. Neva. December 12, 2000. San Francisco Chronicle.
6. All Blues/Forest Rain, Herbie Mann (Herbie Mann Music HMM1, 1980)
7. Web site: Web of Mimicry catalog . 2011-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110605134744/http://www.webofmimicry.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=78 . 2011-06-05 . dead .
8. http://www.jonathancoulton.com/bce/ Jonathan Coulton Album Promotion
9. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314104237/http://rock-a-rolla.com/main/?p=2291 "rock-a-rolla.com » Fantômas 'The Director's Cut' Live DVD and Album on the Way"
10. http://www.richardthompson-music.com/2010-dream-attic/ Dream Attic credits & notes @ richardthompson-music.com
11. http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/ry-cooder-corridos-famosos-live-in-san-francisco-out-now-nonesuch-perro-verde-records-2013-09-10 Nonesuch Records Journal 2013-09-10