Golden Bear (nightclub)
Encyclopedia
The Golden Bear was a nightclub in Huntington Beach, California
from 1923 to 1986. It was located on Pacific Coast Highway
just south of Main Street. It started out as a restaurant and eventually hosted such artists as Janis Joplin
, Jimi Hendrix
, Arlo Guthrie
, and Jerry Garcia
.
in 1926 to avoid any legal issues with Bakre's former employer with the same name. It moved to its location at 306 Pacific Coast Highway (then called Ocean Avenue) on June 29, 1929, shortly before the Great Depression
. It continued as a restaurant until Bakre retired in 1951. After that the building was the home to various restaurants. After Bakre's death in 1957, the building was vacant for several years.
, featuring a young David Crosby
. Other artists that were booked at the Golden Bear under Kauffman were Hoyt Axton
, Lovin' Spoonful, and Buffalo Springfield
. During this time Peter Tork
, later of The Monkees
, worked as a dishwasher at the club before becoming famous as a musician. However, by 1966 Kauffman was bankrupt and closed the club.
, The Flying Burrito Brothers
, Jimmy Reed
, Seals and Crofts
, Richie Havens
, and others. By the early 1970s Nikas felt he was ready to sell the business.
, Jerry Garcia
, Patti Smith
, Agent Orange
, Arlo Guthrie
, Maria Muldaur
and Peter Gabriel
.
In 1979 an artist that lived next door painted the outside wall of the building. It showed musical notes and some of the artists that performed at the venue. The artist was a young Wyland
, who later became famous for his Whaling Walls.
.
Huntington Beach celebrated memories of the club for the city's centennial celebration in September 2009 with a two-day Golden Bear reunion at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, a few blocks from the original location. Honk
, David Lindley
, Ray Manzarek
of The Doors
, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
, Chris Hillman
and Herb Pederson were among the performers for the city's 100-year anniversary.
Joe Daichendt, co-owner of Pierside Pavilion, is proposing a $2 million, 7500 square feet (696.8 m²) Golden Bear where the original once stood. The venue would be built at the site of movie theaters that closed in 2006.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from 1923 to 1986. It was located on Pacific Coast Highway
California State Route 1
State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...
just south of Main Street. It started out as a restaurant and eventually hosted such artists as Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, and Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
.
Early history
The Golden Bear started as The Golden Lion Cafe at 226 Main Street in Huntington Beach and was founded by Harry Bakre in 1923. The name was changed to The Golden Bear Cafein 1926 to avoid any legal issues with Bakre's former employer with the same name. It moved to its location at 306 Pacific Coast Highway (then called Ocean Avenue) on June 29, 1929, shortly before the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. It continued as a restaurant until Bakre retired in 1951. After that the building was the home to various restaurants. After Bakre's death in 1957, the building was vacant for several years.
Delbert Kauffman (1963–1966)
After the death of Bakre, the Golden Bear sat vacant except for an art supply store in its front section. In 1963, Delbert Kauffman took over and established the Golden Bear as a folk music club. The first act they hosted was Les Baxter's BalladeersLes Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
, featuring a young David Crosby
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
. Other artists that were booked at the Golden Bear under Kauffman were Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
, Lovin' Spoonful, and Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
. During this time Peter Tork
Peter Tork
Peter Tork is an American musician and actor, best known as a member of The Monkees.-Early life:Tork was born Peter Halsten Thorkelson in Washington, D.C.. Although he was born in 1942, many news articles report him as born in 1944 in New York City as this was the date and place given on early...
, later of The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
, worked as a dishwasher at the club before becoming famous as a musician. However, by 1966 Kauffman was bankrupt and closed the club.
George Nikas (1966–1974)
George Nikas reopened the club in 1966 and began booking rock bands as music evolved. Musicians performing during this time period included Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Neil YoungNeil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
, Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
, Richie Havens
Richie Havens
Richard P. "Richie" Havens is an African American folk singer and guitarist. He is best known for his intense, rhythmic guitar style , soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.-Career:Born in Brooklyn, Havens was the eldest of nine children...
, and others. By the early 1970s Nikas felt he was ready to sell the business.
Babiracki trio (1974–1986)
In 1974 brothers Rick and Chuck Babiracki and Rick's wife Carole purchased the Golden Bear. They continued to book a diverse list of musicians such as Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Agent Orange
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth...
, Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur is a folk-blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s...
and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
.
In 1979 an artist that lived next door painted the outside wall of the building. It showed musical notes and some of the artists that performed at the venue. The artist was a young Wyland
Wyland
Robert Wyland , known simply as Wyland, is an artist best known for painting large, outdoor murals of whales and other ocean life.-Personal life:...
, who later became famous for his Whaling Walls.
Closure
The Golden Bear closed because of the costs involved in retrofitting the brick building for seismic compliance and the redevelopment of downtown Huntington Beach. The last performance was on January 29, 1986 by Robin TrowerRobin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
.
Postclosure
In 1990 an attempt was made to resurrect the Golden Bear as "Pepper's Golden Bear" in the new building where the original stood. However, it closed after six months.Huntington Beach celebrated memories of the club for the city's centennial celebration in September 2009 with a two-day Golden Bear reunion at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, a few blocks from the original location. Honk
Honk (band)
Honk is an American band, based in Laguna Beach, California. The band's first album, the soundtrack to the surfing movie Five Summer Stories, brought them national recognition. In the early 1970s they toured with The Beach Boys, Chicago, Jackson Browne and Dave Mason before splitting up in 1975...
, David Lindley
David Lindley (musician)
David Perry Lindley is an American musician who is notable for his work with Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and other rock musicians. He has worked extensively in other genres as well, performing with artists as varied as Curtis Mayfield and Dolly Parton...
, Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
, Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
and Herb Pederson were among the performers for the city's 100-year anniversary.
Joe Daichendt, co-owner of Pierside Pavilion, is proposing a $2 million, 7500 square feet (696.8 m²) Golden Bear where the original once stood. The venue would be built at the site of movie theaters that closed in 2006.