For less than a decade, a dark, dingy club that only held about 300 people played host to some of the legendary music acts of the 1960s.
La Cave, an unassuming coffee house at East 105th and Euclid Avenue got its start hosting folk musicians like Buffy Saint Marie and Phil Ochs. But as the decade wore on, and rock music took over, the venue started showcasing musicians like Jeff Beck, The Velvet Underground, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Neil Young.
Steve Traina, a long-time radio host in Northeast Ohio, chronicles the rise and fall in a new book, "La Cave: Cleveland's Legendary Music Club and the '60s Folk-to-Rock Revolution."
He recently sat down with Ideastream Public Media coordinating producer Drew Maziasz for a discussion about the book that aired on the “Sound of Ideas.”
La Cave, opened in March of 1962 as a coffee house and was located in the basement of a former pool hall. But the potential of the 300-seat venue wasn’t lost on Stan Kain, who came on as a partner. La Cave began booking folk music acts, but not necessarily the biggest names of the era, at least to start.
Traina says the first few years for La Cave were difficult for the new venue as it built up its name and reputation. He says Stan Kain had a superpower in that he could find acts as they were on the rise and book them affordably into La Cave before they hit it big.
“He would bring an act in and Friday night there'd be 80 people there. Saturday night there'd be 300. Because the word spread that this great band was in town. And that was very typical, that the first night of an unknown band would get sparse attendance, but the second, third and so on. You know, people were just rolling in,” said Traina.
Kain did his scouting for talent by visiting New York music clubs and La Cave quickly earned a reputation as an influencer on the music scene. The music industry, however, shifted dramatically in 1964 with the arrival of The Beatles and La Cave shifted focus as well.
Traina said, “In 1965 La Cave started having bands, folk mixed in, but the bands became more and more predominantly rock because that's what people wanted.”
La Cave closed in July 1969. Traina says the technological advancements driven by the space race and the moon landing spilled over into all parts of American life, including music and La Cave could not navigate that leap.
“The music business really changed around 1969-1970. When Woodstock came along and the money guys in music said, ‘These kids will hitchhike across the country to sit in mud for three days just to listen to music. There’s some money here.’ And it changed, you know? Nothing good lasts,” said Traina.
You can listen to the full interview by clicking on the "listen" button at the top of the page.
Guests:
-Steve Traina, Author
-Drew Maziasz, Coordinating Producer, Ideastream Public Media
