The Troubadour

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For other uses, see Troubadour (disambiguation).

The Troubadour
Exterior of the Troubadour
Location	9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California
Coordinates	34°04′53″N 118°23′22″W / 34.08138, -118.389399
Type	nightclub
Genre(s)	folk music, singer-songwriters, rock
Opened	1957
Website	http://www.troubadour.com

The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, USA, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills.

Damien Rice at the Troubadour

The club opened in 1957. It was a major center for folk music in the 1960s, and subsequently singer-songwriters and rock.

The Troubadour played an important role in the careers of Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, Hoyt Axton, The Eagles, The Byrds, Joni Mitchell and other prominent and successful performers, who played engagements there establishing their fame. On August 25, 1970, Neil Diamond introduced Elton John, who performed his first show in the United States at the Troubadour. In 1974, John Lennon and his friend, Harry Nilsson, were ejected from the club for drunkenly heckling the Smothers Brothers. Randy Newman started out at the club and comics Cheech & Chong were discovered there. In 1975, Elton John returned to do a series of special anniversary concerts. In November 2007, James Taylor and Carole King played a series of concerts commemorating the nightclub's 50th anniversary and reuniting the two from their 1970 performance. ^[1]

Other alumni include Damien Rice, Lenny Bruce, Neil Diamond, Leo Kottke, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, the Pointer Sisters, Sheryl Crow, George Carlin, Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones and too many more to name. The Troubadour was also home to folk legends such as Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Arlo Guthrie.

The Troubadour would also feature New Wave and punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and became virtually synonymous with heavy metal bands like Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses and W.A.S.P. in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact Guns N' Roses played their first show at the Troubadour and they were also "discovered" by a Geffen A&R representative at the club. There are a variety of styles of music played at the Troubadour to the present day and it continues to be one of Hollywood's favorite and most respected places to see live music.

The Troubadour was created by Doug Weston in the late 50’s as a coffee house on La Cienega Blvd. It then moved to its current location shortly after opening, and has remained open continuously ever since that first day. Some say there is no other club in the country that can compare to its infamous long standing Rock N Roll history.

In the late 70’s early 80’s Doug Weston had become weakened from both pressures of running the club throughout 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and excessive drug use. By the end of the 70’s, staff and crowd problems at the club had made it truly a dangerous place, so Doug asked a long time friend to become his partner to save the club..Eddie Karayan. Eddie knew very little about Rock N Roll and with English as a second language took on the challenge to help his friend and save The Troubadour.

Eddie is now the sole owner of the Troubadour and his daughter, Christine took over management of the Club after graduating college with a degree in Management, and runs the club today along with her sister Lenna.

In 1998 Doug Weston passed away from natural causes. There was a memorial held at the Troubadour with preformances and dedications from famous muscians spanning four decades of Rock N Roll as a Tribute To Doug Weston for his role in the success in so many muscian's careers.

Today, it is well known for presenting emerging UK artists (Radiohead, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys), punk/hardcore acts,such bands Billy Talent & Rise Against, the latter filming five nights in a row for a DVD, Generation Lost. It is also still a popular venue to showcase sing-songwriters: Ray Lamontagne, Joanna Newsom, Fiona Apple.