Thu 10/24 @ 7PM
To most Clevelanders today, La Cave, which closed in 1969, is nothing but a myth, a storied venue on Euclid Avenue just off East 105th that hosted legendary shows by virtually every major folksinger of the era except for Bob Dylan — Josh White, Odetta, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush, Eric Anderson, Judy Collins and Buffy Sainte Marie all played there. Linda Ronstadt also played an early gig there, and later rock bands such as the Velvet Underground, Blood Sweat and Tears and the Jeff Beck Group played there. Many local artists became regulars as openers or on slow nights including Gusti, Jim and Jean, and the Mr. Stress Blues Band.
WRUW-FM folk show host Steve Traina tells the whole story in his book, La Cave: Cleveland’s Legendary Music Club and the ’60’s Folk-to-Rock Revolution. With access to the papers and records of both of the club’s bookers/managers, the late Stan Cain and Larry Bruner, he provides all the facts, figures and dates, outlining the club’s trajectory from its inauspicious 1962 opening to its always-precarious mid-60s success to its bowing to inevitable changes in July 1969. He himself was a patron as a youngster from 1967-69.
Traina will share some stories from his book in a program at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library’s Coventry Road Branch. He’ll be joined by Cleveland Heights musician David Budin, who began his own music career in the late 60s and currently fronts New Long Road, a folk revival quintet, which performs 60 folk, along with newer songs and orginals.
The program is free and open to all.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106