Smoky, Sweaty, Rowdy, and Loud: Tales of Cleveland's Legendary Rock & Roll Landmarks

I enjoyed the authors' previous books about Cleveland Radio and TV so was eager to take a look at their stories of Cleveland Rock and Roll Landmarks. Being of that age, I was intimately involved with many of these clubs and the book triggered some serious nostalgia.

 Some of the venues were before my time or I never made it to them such as the Cleveland Arena, Leo's Casino, La Cave, Gleason's, Empire Concert Club and others but it was interesting to read about their history and the music that was made there. I did get to Record Rendezvous but it was later on and at the Coventry location not the historic Prospect or Euclid Ave. places.

There's an old joke that "If you remember the '60s, you really weren't there." This book reminded me of a lot of great times and music from long ago. For example, I spent countless weekend nights at the Agora when it was on 24th and saw many of the big names. We were at the Coliseum for the Springsteen show and realizing that Southside Johnny was playing the Agora we sped downtown just in time for Bruce to join his pal on stage. What a night!

We saw big names like the Cars, Bowie, Meatloaf, Todd Rundgren, Blondie, Frampton and many others but most weekend nights were local bands. (Who was that band that did all the Alex Harvey covers?) Given that, the more frustrating chapters in the book are the ones that I had experience with.

Everyone who had a favorite hangout or memory will feel that the coverage in the book, if any, was inaccurate or not enough. I have tons of Agora stories. I was an apprentice electrician while going to school so I was backstage for the World Series of Rock concerts at the Stadium and have stories that you would not believe. So the coverage was frustrating that my experiences weren't included but the book sure pulled them out of my memory bank.

Lots of new stories too. For example, it was cool to read about Led Zeppelin playing Musicarnival on July 20, 1969 and cutting the show short so they and the audience could watch the moon landing. I wish some of the Front Row stories I experienced were included. And what about Peabodys, the Pirates Cove, Brothers Lounge, Smittys on 55th, House of Swing and others?

 So much more happened at the Euclid Tavern and other venues than what is included in the book. I recall when a guitar player named Stevie Ray Vaughn played the Variety and the entire audience was made up of local musicians - mainly guitar players. Nobody else knew who he was at the time.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone interested in the growth of the music industry and the bands and players that were part of it. Especially if you are of a certain age and spent time going out in Cleveland. It will bring back a lot of memories.

The problem is I want more. Most of those venues require their own book. So get to work Mike and crank out some more.

By the way, did I tell you about the time at the World Series of Rock when I gave The Cars stage fright? Maybe in the next book.

Rock and Roll Memories

I’m of that age where I used to practically live at the old Agora (on 24th and Payne) on weekends and for concerts. I saw some amazing local and national bands there including The Cars, Todd Rundgren, Meatloaf, Ian Hunter, Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen and plenty more.
So close to home, so intimate, so cool. I miss it. (I know, the new Agora is just down the street on Euclid but it’s not the same (or I’m not.))

And I am one of the few who really saw Bruce Springsteen twice on the same night. We saw him at the Coliseum and heard that Southside Johnny would be at the Agora. After the last song at the Coliseum we hauled a** and drove to the Agora and got there about 2 minutes before Southside introduced his “surprise” special guest. Wow – what a night.

I was also fortunate to be working with the electricians for most of the World Series of Rock concerts so I got to hang out backstage with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart and the Faces, J Geils, and so many more. By luck I took the best close-up of Peter Frampton in history. Better than the album cover.

I have a million stories from the World Series of Rock and the Agora days (not to mention the Euclid Tavern, The Flipside, Peabodys, etc) and got called by Carlo Wolff several months ago to share some for his book. The timing was terrible for me and after about a dozen calls and e-mails, Carlo gave up.

But he did produce the book, Cleveland Rock and Roll memories. Maybe I’ll have to write my own sometime.

Book review

Pics from the launch party