Many famous rock clubs & concert halls have vanished
but their legends live on!
The Whisky A Go Go, 8901 Sunset Blvd (between the Clark and Hilldale streets), is located on the infamous Sunset Strip and isone of LA's most historic pieces of rock & roll geography.
The story behind the Whisky A Go Go begins in 1947 when a dance club of that name was opened in Paris, France under that name. By the late 50's, the concept of dance clubs or "discotheques" (as they were called then) began to spread to the U.S. In fact, plans were afoot to open a string os Whisky A Go Go discotheques across America. In 1958, a location was opened in Chicago, another in the Georgetown section of Washington D.C. in the early 60's. The Whisky A Go Go that most rock & roll fans know & love was opened on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles by a group of investors consisting ofElmer Valentine, Phil Tanzini, Shelly Davis and Theodore Flier. Originally true to the European concept of being a club which featured recorded music only, Elmer Valentine, noticing the proliferation of live music on the Sunset Strip, quickly realized that only live music would put his boite on the map. In short order, the club put on its first act--- Johnny Rivers! Between the sets of live music, club goers were entertained by go-go dancers (very young gals in short short skirts) who danced in cages suspended from the ceiling as a female DJ spun the latest sounds.
An article in the LA Times (A Special Time In Rock: 1966 On The Sunset Strip by Roy Trakin) describes the emerging music scene in Los Angeles at this time: "Before the Byrds played Ciro's in 1965, the pop music scene in L.A. consisted of people like Johnny Rivers, Trini Lopez and the Walker Brothers playing old-style nightclubs like PJ's (the site of what was later the Starwood rock club at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights) and Sneaky Pete's (now Duke's Coffee Shop at Sunset and San Vicente). The bohemian folk scene held forth at Doug Weston's Troubador on Santa Monica off Doheny, Ed Pearl's Ash Grove on Melrose (now the Improv) and the Unicorn at Sunset and San Vicente. Bob Gibson, now head of a publicity firm called the Group, represented such acts as the Doors, the Mamas & the Papas and the Byrds at the time, and ran a nightclub called the Cheetah on Santa Monica Pier. 'If you had to put your finger on an event that was a barometer of the tide turning, it would probably be the Sunset Strip riots,' says Gibson, talking about the confrontations that inspired the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills to write For What It's Worth. While the 'riots' were immortalized in the 1967 film Riot on Sunset Strip, there was no one particular incident---rather, a summer long simmering tension between longhairs, police and shop owners along the street. 'The cops would hassle kids for being underage,' claims Rodney Bingenheimer, who now hosts a radio show on KROQ, but was then dubbed by Sal Mineo the Mayor of the Sunset Strip. The Sunset Strip was like Las Vegas. People would actually walk from La Cienega to Gazzari's at 2 and 3 in the morning. It was a 24-hour party, but it was all very innocent. It wasn't until later that the scene turned ugly and people started taking a lot of drugs. It was still a mod thing then."
The Whisky entered the national spotlight as the youth riots made the news. The club's hip credentials expanded with the appearance of such sixties icons as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Love, The Doors, Cream, Led Zeppelin and other seminal rock acts of the day. The prevailing sentiment among musicians at the time was "if you're playing LA, you have to play the Whisky." The club has been immortalized in song many times over, the best case probably being Arthur Lee's (Love) Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark and Hilldale.
While the Whisky has seen its fortunes rise & fall over the years, theclub has always reflected the current musical trends of the LA scene such as the new wave/punk sounds of the late 70's and the grunge movement of the 90's. Today, the Whisky A Go Go still functions as a venue for live music and by the virtue of its long standing presence on the LA scene it has become a truerock & roll landmark.
The primary force behind The Whisky, Elmer Valentine, passed away in December 2009 at the age of 85. In January 2009, a few hundred friends and fans gathered at The Whiskey to remember Vanlentine's contribution to the rock & roll culture. Besides the folks sharing their memories of Valentine, there was music performed by Johnny Rivers, Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman and John Mayall. The ghosts along the Strip are alive and well.
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