Exterior of the Troubadour in 2006 |
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| Location | 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California |
|---|---|
| Type | nightclub |
| Genre(s) | folk music, singer-songwriters, rock, heavy metal |
| 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.
The club was founded in 1957 by Doug Weston.[1][2] It was a major center for folk music in the 1960s, and subsequently for 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, James Taylor, Carole King, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Buffalo Springfield and other prominent and successful performers, who played performances there establishing their future 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 and Steve Martin 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.[3]
Other alumni include Paramore, The Tragically Hip, Sloan, Rod Stewart, Lenny Bruce, Bette Midler, Leo Kottke, Bruce Springsteen, the Pointer Sisters, Liza Minnelli, Sheryl Crow, Karla Bonoff, Al Stewart, Sandy Denny, George Carlin, Tom Waits, Pavement, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Rickie Lee Jones, Leonard Cohen, Roberta Flack, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Paul Sykes, Donny Hathaway, Arlo Guthrie, and Darren Criss.
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. Guns N' Roses played their first show at the Troubadour, and were also "discovered" by a David 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 1950s 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 2011, a documentary about the club called Troubadours: Carole King / James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter was released.[4][5]
Today the venue is well known for presenting emerging UK artists (Radiohead, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys), punk/hardcore acts, such bands as Billy Talent, Papa Roach, and Rise Against, the latter filming five nights in a row for a DVD, Generation Lost. It is also still a popular venue to showcase singer-songwriters: Ray LaMontagne, Joanna Newsom, Fiona Apple, Kina Grannis.