Object Type: Folder
In Folder: AF Subjects
Photographs documenting Antone's from the Austin Files collection. Established in 1975 by the late Clifford Antone, Antone’s is an iconic blues venue located in downtown Austin. Over the past 40 years, Antone’s has brought Austin a variety of blues and musicians from across the country including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles, and James Brown, and helped develop local talent like Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Schneider, Gary Clark Jr., and others. In 2015, the historic brand was restored and a new team brought the iconic venue back to the downtown Austin landscape with a renewed focus on once again making Antone’s the “Home of the Blues.”
Photographs documenting the Armadillo World Headquarters from the Austin Files collection. rmadillo World Headquarters was an influential Texas music hall and beer garden in Austin at 525¹⁄₂ Barton Springs Road – at South First Street – just south of the Colorado River and downtown Austin. The 'Dillo flourished from 1970 to 1980. The unique blend of country and rock music performed at the hall became known by the terms "The Austin Sound," "Redneck Rock," progressive country or "Cosmic Cowboy." Many upcoming and established acts such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top played the Armadillo. Freddy Fender, Freddie King, Frank Zappa, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, The Sir Douglas Quintet all recorded live albums there. Bruce Springsteen played five shows during 1974. The Australian band AC/DC played their first American show at the Armadillo with Canadian band Moxy in July 1977. The Clash played live at The Armadillo with Joe Ely on October 4, 1979 (a photo from that show appears on the band's London Calling album) and the notorious Austin punk band The Skunks.
Photographs documenting the Broken Spoke from the Austin Files collection. The Broken Spoke, on South Lamar in Austin, was established in 1964 by proprietor James White and claims to be the "last of the true Texas dance halls." The Broken Spoke opened for business as a cafe on November 10, 1964. The name was inspired by the owner's memories of a movie (starring James Stewart) called Broken Arrow, along with his fondness for wagon wheels. When customers started dancing to music from the jukebox, White moved the pool tables and added more room. People were still dancing anywhere they could, including out on the dirt parking lot underneath the big oak tree. Other customers played a few of the songs they had written. Never one to pass up an opportunity, White expanded the Broken Spoke to its current size in 1966, when he added a dance floor. Local groups started performing at the Spoke as early as 1964. White was later able to book more well-known acts, including Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Roy Acuff, Tex Ritter, Ray Price, Floyd Tillman, and Ernest Tubb. In the 1970s, he booked the "outlaw" bands that had gained notoriety by rebelling against Nashville's more mainstream sound. Leading this brigade were Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. Such Texas favorites as the Dixie Chicks and George Strait also played the Broken Spoke when they were just starting out. Although these superstars moved on, other well-loved performers such as Jerry Jeff Walker and Gary P. Nunn continued to play the Broken Spoke in the third millennium. Local favorites included the Geezinslaw Brothers, Chris Wall, Dale Watson, the Derailers, and Alvin Crow. In 1988 Crow and White formed a record label, the Broken Spoke Company, which White states is "all for fun. There's no fancy recording studio—just the stage at the Broken Spoken on Monday when it's closed." A singer and songwriter himself, White has performed with many of the Spoke's acts, including Willie Nelson and the Sons of the Pioneers. He has also written songs such as "Where There's a Willy, There's a Way" and "The Broken Spoke Legend," which appears on Alvin Crow's album Pure Country. The Broken Spoke has been featured on PBS's Austin City Limits, the Country Music Television special "Honky Tonk Sounds," as well as on the Discovery Travel Channel. Nelson filmed parts of his movie Honeysuckle Rose (1980) there, and the Dolly Parton–Gary Busey film Wild Texas Wind (1991), featuring Broken Spoke mainstay Asleep at the Wheel, was partly filmed there. The Spoke is also known for showcasing young Texas country talent. According to White, "We like the cover stuff, but we like original songs more. We like to have the steel guitar and fiddles. They define Texas country from other country music." The Broken Spoke was inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame in 2010. The club celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2014. The Broken Spoke features live music nightly, Tuesday through Saturday. The kitchen, source of the Spoke's famous chicken fried steak, is open from 11:00 in the morning until 10:30 (weekdays) or 11:30 at night. "The Tourist Trap Room," created as part of the club's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, contains an array of country music memorabilia. Texas Highways, National Geographic, and Entertainment Weekly have honored the Broken Spoke for its down-home cooking and traditional Texas honky-tonk atmosphere.
Photographs documenting La Zona Rosa bar from the Austin Files collection. Sitting on the edge of downtown's old Warehouse District is one of Austin's most eclectic venues, hosting a plethora of big-name local and national acts on one of their two stages.
Video of Mark Pratz interview about the club Liberty Lunch from the Austin Files collection
Photographs documenting Maggie Mae's bar from the Austin Files collection. Maggie Mae’s, established in 1978, is located on 6th Street.
Photographs documenting McNeil Depot from the Austin Files collection. In the 1970's the railroad depot for the McNeil community was moved into Austin to the corner of West Lynn and Fifth streets. The main structure was part of the MoPac railroad line and eventually became a tavern called McNeil Depot. Donn Adelman was a regular musician at the bar when it opened, and six years later, he took over the bar, renaming it Donn’s Depot which is still here today hosting live music and dancing.
Photographs documenting the Mother Earth bar from the Austin Files collection. The bar was located at 914 N. Lamar Blvd. and was a venue for rock ‘n’ roll music in the 1970s at the site that was the original location of the Whole Foods market.
Photographs documenting Soap Creek Saloon from the Austin Files collection. Soap Creek Saloon, established in 1973 by George Majewski (b. 1943) and his wife Carlyne Majer (b. 1947), became a major venue for a wide variety of Texas music until it closed permanently in 1985. ATS Management, founded as Austin Tejas Sounds by Carlyne Majer about 1974, booked bands at the music-hall and represented many Austin artists including blues singer Marcia Ball and country fiddler Alvin Crow.
Photographs documenting the Triple J Tavern once located on 6th Street and owned by Joe Joseph from the Austin Files collection
Photographs documenting Turner Hall from the Austin Files collection. For the initial forty years of its life the Austin Scottish Rite Theater was a German opera house, having been constructed by German immigrants who wanted to create a public meeting and social gathering place much like they would have found in their homeland. It was known as Turner Hall during this time. The building in the 1920s The building in the 1920s In 1912 a number of Shriners formed an organization called the Ben Hur Temple Holding Association, created for the purpose of buying the building. Capital stock amounting to $15,000 was issued and the Association purchased the building, and from April 1912 onwards it was to be known as the Shriner’s Temple or the Ben Hur Temple. When not in use by the Shriners or Scottish Rite Masons, the building was to be rented to the general public for social events, shows, and exhibitions. In February 1914 the capital stock of the corporation was increased from $15,000 to $40,020, and the name was changed to the Scottish Rite Holding Association. Thus the Scottish Rite Bodies held ownership of the building and Ben Hur Temple became the tenant.
