Teenbeat Club

The Teenbeat Club in Paradise, Nevada (Las Vegas) located at 4416 Paradise Road, is believed to be the first U.S. nightclub that catered exclusively to teenagers.[1][2]

Contents

History

The club was opened in 1962 by Steve Miller and Keith Austin,[3] both 19 at the time and Las Vegas High School graduates,[4] where they were members of the 1962 Las Vegas High School Broadcasting Club. The Teenbeat Club ceased operation in 1968.[5]

The club grew out of the dance concerts Miller and Austin promoted, featuring live KLAS Radio broadcasts from the Knights of Columbus Hall and the National Guard Armory in Downtown Las Vegas.[6][7][8][9]

House band

The broadcasts featured The Teenbeats,[10] a local Las Vegas surf music-influenced band.[11][12] When the Teenbeat Club opened,[13] The Teenbeats, were the house band featuring vocalist and rhythm guitarist Don Frassa,[14][15] lead guitarist Larry Chernoff, bassist Lyle Smith, drummer Gary Karr, and Jim Logue on tenor sax.[16] Elliot Lieb also played drums for The Checkmates and The Teenbeats prior to Gary Karr joining the group.[17] The Lords a local rhythm & blues band, featuring Fred Cole, sharing lead vocals with electric organist Hans Grebner (Johnny The German), and guitarist John Acquina, played the Teenbeat Club frequently in 1964 and 1965[18] as did The Coachmen featuring lead vocalist, pianist and saxophonist Michael Wesley Dean, guitarist Matt Hyde, guitarist Jay Donnellan, bassist Terry Johnson and drummer James Kehn.[19]

Teenbeat Records

Miller and Austin co-produced 45 RPM singles from 1962 to 1966. The first, by The Teenbeats[20][21] titled Surf Bound, was written by Larry Chernoff and recorded on Teenbeat Records.[22][23] In the mid-1960s, three LP albums were recorded live at the Teenbeat Club on La Brea/Sutton Records:[24]The Goldtones, Live! At The Teenbeat Club In Las Vegas, (LS 8011), featuring Randy Seol, Wayne Purvis, Ken Naylor, Al Doss, Mike Peters, Steve Green and Cindy Mac;[25][26] The Starfires, Teenbeat A Go Go, (LS 8018), featuring Chuck Butler, Dave Anderson, Jack Emerick, Freddy Fields and Sonny Lathrop;[27] and The Sentinals Vegas Go Go, (SSU 338). Southern California surf rock bands which played the Teenbeat Club in the early 1960s[28] included the Marketts,[29] Surfer's Stomp and Out of Limits,[30] The Lively Ones, Surf Rider,[31] The Routers, Let's Go (Pony),[32][33] The Challengers, Surf Beat,[34][35] and Chevell's, Let There Be Surf.[36][37] The Templars appeared in two International Scout advertisements taken in front of the Teenbeat Club marquee.[38][39]The Bitter Sweets of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, also appeared in the mid-1960s.[40]

In 1966, Miller and Austin co-produced two other 45 RPM singles, on Teenbeat Club Records, It's Your Time, and Little Girl on the B-side, (TB 1006),[41][42] by The Weeds, a local Las Vegas band,[43] and a cover of the Rolling Stones, Get Off My Cloud, backed with Red Roses For A Blue Lady, featuring Charlie White Eagle, (TB 1004), with musical accompaniment and background vocals by The Weeds.[44][45]

Regular performers

The Weeds were frequent performers at the Teenbeat Club from 1965 through 1966, featuring Fred Cole, a vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, who later gained success in the Portland, Oregon-based bands King Bee, Zipper, The Rats, Dead Moon and Pierced Arrows.[46][47][48] Other members of The Weeds were lead guitarist Ed Bowen,[49][50] rhythm guitarists Ron Buzzell and Dennis Wynne, bassist Bob Atkins, and drummer Tim Rockson.[51][52]

The years 1966 and 1967 saw a renaissance of local Las Vegas electric rock, folk rock and blues bands in the Las Vegas Valley. Scatter Blues played the Teenbeat Club regularly which featured vocalist and blues harpist Piers Munro,[53] vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bill Rosevear,[54][55] bassists Scott Devitte, Brent Alverson and Bob Lucero; and drummer Rich Lowrey. Other frequently appearing local bands appearing at the Teenbeat Club in the mid-1960s were the Present Tense featuring vocalist Christopher Michael Hallman, bassist Michael P. Selinsky,[56] lead guitarist Bob Lilley, Jr.[57] rhythm guitarist John McDonnell, electric pianist Dennis Prell, and drummers John Baker and Jim Gannon.[58][59] The Sioux Uprising, featuring lead vocalist and guitarist Gregory Albert Waller,[60][61] bassist Steve Armstead, guitarist Michael Murray and drummer Scott Wolfe;

Nobody's Children featuring Joe Spitale, Enrique Corro, Greg McKenzie, Danny Bolling, Danny Harlow, Charlie Perri and Jay Painter; and Misty Souls Ray Campbell, Chris Riecke, Kerry Kline and Frank Faroush were other Las Vegas regulars to play the Teenbeat Club during this time period.

Battle of the Bands

The Teenbeat Club sponsored Battle of the Bands in 1966 and 1967. The 1966 Battle of the Bands featured Scatter Blues, The Weeds, Present Tense and Nobody's Children was won by Scatter Blues[62]in audience balloting. The 1967 Battle of the Bands, between fourteen local bands,(The Association of Sound, Blues Print, Calico Blues, Curtains of Grey, The Glass Door, Living End, The Moors, Nazz, The Neighborhood Kids, The New Breed, Nobody's Children, The Nomads, The Strawberry Patch, and The Wurds[63][64]was won by the Calico Blues Band, featuring guitarist Vaughn Thomas Munshower,[65] organist Scott Devitte, bassist Mike Badik, vocalist Gary Meridith, and drummer Russell King. Munshower and Devitte later won Emmy Awards for Camerawork and Technical Lighting Direction, respectively.[66][67]. The Little People, featuring Mike Lyman, Steve Harvey, Mike Friedman, Glenn Cooper, and Howie Salstein[68]London Fog, featuring Bob Lilley Jr., Mike Lyman, Mike Friedman, Mark Leonard, Jessica Kluger (Marciel), and Georgiann Rock; and Free Circus, featuring Roby Bennett, Jessica Kluger (Marciel), Danny Barnett, Bob Bjornsen and Larry Gann, performed in the final year of the Teenbeat Club, 1968.[69]

Notable Hollywood, CA area bands which played the TC included Love with Arthur Lee My Little Black Book, Orange Skies, and 7 And 7 Is (with Scatter Blues as their opening act).,[70] Peanut Butter Conspiracy,[71] The Outsiders, Time Won't Let Me and Hamilton Street Car. The Standells Dirty Water, from San Luis Obispo, CA also performed in 1966.[72]

From 1962 through 1966, Miller and Austin hosted the Teen Beat Club Television Show on KLAS-TV,[73]Channel 8, that included live weekly interviews and dancing, patterned after Dick Clark's American Bandstand. The live broadcasts featured such guest artists as Frankie Avalon, The Beach Boys, Dorsey Burnette, Vic Dana, Dick and Dee Dee, Little Richard, Trini Lopez, Wayne Newton, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Shillings,[74]Keely Smith, Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton and Timi Yuro[75]

Dance concerts

From 1963 through 1968, Miller and Austin also promoted dance concerts held at the Las Vegas Convention Center that featured The Beach Boys, Sonny Charles and The Checkmates Ltd., Dick and Dee Dee, Jackie DeShannon, Tom Jones, Lou Rawls, Bobby Rydell, Neil Sedaka, Surfaris, Three Dog Night and Bobby Vinton.[76] They also co-promoted the first Las Vegas appearances of the Grateful Dead[77] and Santana at the Las Vegas Ice Palace in 1969.[78][79]

Founders Miller and Austin

The original Teenbeat Club building still stands, but it is now an adult topless cabaret, Club Paradise, located across the street and just east of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.[80]

Steve Miller later served as a Las Vegas City Council member from 1987 to 1991. He was inducted by the Nevada Broadcasters Association into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998.[81]

Keith Austin relocated to Santa Barbara, California, where he continues his career in the recording industry as Executive Producer and Host of The Rock Files.[82]

See also

References

  1. ^ Teenbeat Club publicity brochure, published by Miller and Austin in 1964, states: The Teenbeat Club at the time was believed to be the only teenage night club in the United States that was designed and built from the ground up specifically for teenagers
  2. ^ http://www.angelfire.com/planet/retroplaces2/60snightlife.html
  3. ^ The Rockfiles - About Us - Keith Austin Rockfiles Host
  4. ^ 1962 Las Vegas High School yearbook, The Echo
  5. ^ Steve Miller Biography, http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/biog.html
  6. ^ An LP compilation album of the 1962 KLAS Radio broadcasts, The Teenbeats, Surf Bound (ED 220) was released on Norton Records, under the auspices of Miller and Austin, New York, NY, 1991
  7. ^ Surf Bound, live, http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,253810,00.html
  8. ^ Linna, M., and Miller, B., Editors,The Teenbeats, Kicks Magazine #7, Norton Records, Publisher, 1992, op cit. http://www.nortonrecords.com/kicks.html
  9. ^ The weekend dances Miller and Austin promoted started in 1961, Norton Records ED 220 liner notes, op.cit.
  10. ^ formerly known as The Checkmates
  11. ^ Surf Bound LP track listing Norton Records (ED 220), http://stevemiller4lasvegas.com/NORTON.html
  12. ^ Norton Records liner notes, op.cit.
  13. ^ Opening night, 1962, featured The Mar-Ketts "Surfer Stomp; Out-of-Limits, with The Teenbeats as the opening band [1]
  14. ^ Emory University Law Library Record Labels Collection, compiled by Gordon, T., http://rcs-discography.com/rcs/artists/t/teen1500.htm
  15. ^ Teenage Thunder Again, The Teenbeats & Don Frassa, Bear Family Records (CD0927003)http://www.bear-family.de/index.php?sid=28fd1ccf40110af9f70984ea71953593&&cl=tcnewextsearch&tcinterpret=TEENBEATS%20%26%20Don%20Frassa&tcsong=Live%20Like%20A%20King&tcignoreinterpret=1
  16. ^ Norton Records, (ED 220), op. cit.
  17. ^ Elliott Lieb and Stephen Kopels
  18. ^ The Lords released one single, Ain't Got No Self Respect, a 7" RPM, on Tell Records, Mike Tell Productions, Las Vegas, NV, 1964
  19. ^ Michael Wesley Dean, http://google.com/search?q=cache:tPH22S5MeWcJ:expo67-cavestones.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html+michael+wesley+dean&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  20. ^ In 1961 and 1962, The Teenbeats, alternately spelled Teen Beats and Teen-Beats recorded two other 45 RPM records; their first as the Nevagan's, on the X-P-A-N-D-E-D label (X-101), Downey Music, titled Russian Roulette on the A side, and their second, written by Chernoff, was recorded by The Teen-Beats on Chollie Wright's Las Vegas Strip Records (S-102), (which was located at 416 W. Bonanza, Las Vegas), titled Live Like A King on the A side, b/w Mystified , featuring Don Frassa on vocals and guitar, Norton Records ED-220, op. cit., and Emory Law Library Record Labels Collection, op. cit.
  21. ^ The Teen-Beats/Nevagan's three 45 RPM record labels are shown on Norton Records (ED 220) LP cover jacket, Ibid.
  22. ^ In 1962, Teenbeat Records was located at 109 S. 3rd St., Suite 302, Las Vegas. 1966 recordings were pressed with the Teenbeat Club Records label, Ibid.
  23. ^ Norton Records (ED-220) album cover, depicts a photograph of the early TEENBEAT RECORDS label, Ibid.
  24. ^ Known alternately as La Brea Records and Sutton Records, mfg. by Apex Record Corporation, 1023 North La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, CA
  25. ^ The Goldtones (featuring Randy Seol), Live at the Teenbeat Club album cover jacket http://www.groovytunesday.com/descriptions/music/goldtones.html
  26. ^ http://mmtapes.blogspot.com/2007/02/goldtones-live-in-las-vegas.html
  27. ^ The Starfires, live, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4WxlLGfN0I&feature=related
  28. ^ Dalley, Robert J., Surfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of the Sixties, Surf Publications, Azusa, California, USA., 1988, and Surfin' Guitars: Instrumental Surf Bands of The Sixties, Dalley, Robert J., Popular Culture, Ink, Second Edition, 1996 http://www.books-by-isbn.com/1-56075/1560750421-Surfin-Guitars-Instrumental-Surf-Bands-of-the-Sixties-PCI-Collector-Editions-1-56075-042-1.html
  29. ^ Alternately spelled Mar-Kets, see Dik de Heer reference
  30. ^ 'Pulp Fiction, Music Corp. of America (MCA, Inc.), movie Collector's Edition, available on CD, 2002
  31. ^ Ibid., Pulp Fiction, 1994 movie soundtrack #15
  32. ^ Dik de Heer, The Routers and Marketts (Mar-Kets), This Is My Story, http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/routers.htm
  33. ^ Steve Miller Biography, op.cit.
  34. ^ The Challengers, Dalley, Robert J., Surfin' Guitars, op. cit., and Surfbeat LP track listing, 1963, http://music.yahoo.com/release/103712
  35. ^ The Challengers (at the Teenbeat Club), Dalley, Robert J., Ibid.
  36. ^ Chevell's (at the Teenbeat Club), Dalley, Robert J., Ibid.
  37. ^ Chevell's, Let There Be Surf, appears in Cowabunga!: Surf Box, (72418), Disc 3, Track 6, Rounder Records, Los Angeles, CA, compiled by Austin, James, et al., 1996
  38. ^ Built by Las Vegas neon sign maker, Bill Gulbranson, 4416 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Teenbeat Club marquee http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/teenbeatclub/
  39. ^ Shindig at the Teenbeat Club, Wisconsin Historical Society, two color photographs in archives featuring The Templars astride an International Scout convertible pickup truck
  40. ^ The Bitter Sweets, Teenbeat Club Publicity Photo, 1966 http://pnwbands.com/bittersweets.html
  41. ^ Listed as Top 100 Rarest 45 RPM Singles: (#68) http://www.finerecordingstudio.com/g45/?r=0
  42. ^ Pebbles, Volume 1, (BFD-5016) Track 18, The Weeds, It's Your Time, 1979, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebbles,_Volume_1
  43. ^ Recorded live at the Teenbeat Club 4416 Paradise Rd., on a one-track recorder; Fred Cole interview with Mike Dugo, copyright, 60sgaragebands.com,[2]
  44. ^ Fred Cole, Unknown Passage, The Dead Moon Story, A Film by Jason Summer and Kate Fix, Magic Umbrella Films, LLC, released on DVD, 2006 http://www.magicumbrella.com/
  45. ^ Fred Cole Discography The Cole Minehttp://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/7980/dmcolemine.htm&date=2009-10-25+11:01:58
  46. ^ http://www.piercedarrows.com/index2.html
  47. ^ Unknown Passage, The Dead Moon Story op.cit.
  48. ^ Pierced Arrows, formed in 2007 http://www.piercedarrows.com/
  49. ^ http://google.com/search?q=cache:9UxUdRtrz-4J:articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/29/local/me-51362+freedom+ed+bowen&cd=36&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  50. ^ Ed Bowen's Freedom Guitar Co. http://www.freedomguitar.com/index.php?UID=2009092115363170.170.26.233
  51. ^ Fred Cole Interview with Mike Dugo, 60sgaragebands copyright, op.cit.
  52. ^ It's Your Time, 45 rpm, Behemoth Records 1987 re-release, Las Vegas, NV, includes the insert of a photograph of The Weeds and Scatter Blues together, identifying band members by name, c. 1966
  53. ^ http://google.com/search?q=cache:Graj1iL1ycUJ:www.spclarke.com/historyofportlandrockpart1.htm+piers+munro&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  54. ^ Bill Rosevear, Red Rose CD, 2007
  55. ^ http://cdbaby.com/cd/redrose
  56. ^ Las Vegas: An Unconventional History, American Experience, Public Broadcasting System (PBS), aired nationally November 14–15, 2005; DVD released by WGBH Television, Boston, MA, 2006 http://google.com/search?q=cache:wvNPYc2YXM4J:www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/filmmore/filmcredits.html+unconventional+history+Michael+P.+selinsky&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  57. ^ Son of Peggy DeCastro of the DeCastro Sisters singing trio
  58. ^ Las Vegas Through The Generations, A Pictoral Review, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Publisher, Compiled by Fleming, Kolberg and Downey, Sherman R. Frederick, editor, The Present Tense, p. 94, 1995
  59. ^ http://www.lasvegashistorybooks.com/Generations.htm Ibid., Las Vegas Through The Generations, book cover
  60. ^ Waller, Gregory A., Editor, Moviegoing in America, http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=-uDrSrWWq9EC&dq=gregory+a+waller&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=4oXDvheZWg&sig=yRPSUCli0Eh3uiqUQ5MVuK6Ey-c
  61. ^ http://www.indiana.edu/~cmcl/faculty/waller.shtml
  62. ^ Robert Lucero, bass player, Scatter Blues
  63. ^ Keith Austin and the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, Feb. 1967
  64. ^ https://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=344415217520&view=all#!/photo.php?fbid=1299768391659&set=o.344415217520&theater
  65. ^ Vaughn T. Munshower citing Look Magazine article, c. 1968
  66. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0613238/awards
  67. ^ http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/24556079.html
  68. ^ Wayback Records, Mondo Mutiny, Vol. 8 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rimpo.de/65001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rimpo.de/wayback.htm&usg=__JqiE-jM4IvX3R9i-B1O6Hz4npWg=&h=352&w=350&sz=15&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=t5Mu11amuvJ0EM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwayback%2BMMLP%2B65001%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1
  69. ^ http://www.jessicamarciel.com/las-vegas-band.html
  70. ^ New Years Eve Scatter Blues and Love with Arthur Lee concert, Dec. 31, 1967
  71. ^ http://www.peanutbutterconspiracy.com/ Dec. 29-31, 1967 concerts
  72. ^ Steve Miller, op. cit.; Keith Austin, op.cit.
  73. ^ KLAS-TV Saturday afternoon time-slot
  74. ^ The Shillings http://books.google.com/books?id=TpmJhh2jTJ8C&pg=PA74&lpg=PA74&dq=teenbeat+club+vegas&source=web&ots=GWkgETsh4i&sig=-kdgtHLloCjS22z-O5OkQ6jtpds#PPA72,M1
  75. ^ Keith Austin Biography, op. cit.
  76. ^ Steve Miller, op.cit., and Keith Austin, op.cit
  77. ^ Steve Miller Biography, op. cit.
  78. ^ Ibid., The Grateful Dead shared the bill with Santana on March 29, 1969, Live track list: http://www.archive.org/details/gd69-03-29.sbd.vinson.1764.sbeok.shnf
  79. ^ Grateful Dead, Ice Palace Concert, "The 25 most legendary rock concerts in Las Vegas history" http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2007/may/09/special-music-issue-you-had-to-be-there/
  80. ^ As of 2009
  81. ^ Nevada Broadcasters Association
  82. ^ Keith Austin Biography, The Rock Files, Rockfiles, op. cit.