The Barrelhouse Club, at 107th and Wilmington in

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' *Watts family, six chara ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, was a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

nightclub opened in 1948 Otis, Johnny (2009
''Listen to the Lambs'', pp. 156-7. University of Minnesota Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 7 September 2013. and co-owned by

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He ...

, and

Bardu Bardu ( sme, Bearddu suohkan, fkv, Perttulan komuuni) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Setermoen, the largest urban area in the municipality. The munici ...

and Tila Ali. It was named in honour of the Barrel House in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, the first club in that district to welcome black and white customers.

Lipsitz, George George Lipsitz is an American Studies scholar and professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of over half a dozen books, including ''The Possessive Investment in Whiteness''. He is ...

(2010
''Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story'', pp. 20-23. University of Minnesota Press
At Google Books. Retrieved 7 September 2013.

Featured artists

Artists who performed at the venue included Mel Walker,

Esther Phillips Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984) was an American singer, best known for her R&B vocals.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Penguin Books. p. 376. . She ...

, who first performed there at a talent show,

The Robins The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bi ...

The Hollywood Flames The Hollywood Flames were an American R&B vocal group in the 1950s, best known for their No. 11 hit "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" in 1957. Early years They formed as The Flames in 1949, in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, at a talent show where memb ...

, and tenor saxophonist

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played barito ...

. Many of the performers at the club would join Otis' California Rhythm and Blues Caravan in the early 1950s. Pete "Guitar" Lewis, who played with the Johnny Otis Orchestra between the late 1940s and mid-1950s, also recorded an instrumental, "Midnight in the Barrelhouse" (the flip-side, "Barrelhouse Stomp" was by McNeely), for the Excelsior record label, presumably in honor of the club.Les Fancourt & Bob McGrath, "The Blues Discography," p 425. Eyeball Productions, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrelhouse African-American music Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California Music venues completed in 1948 Music venues in Los Angeles Watts, Los Angeles