Club Passim is an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

club in the Harvard Square area of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Street, also in Cambridge; it moved to its present location on Palmer Street in 1963), and changed its name to simply Passim in 1969. The Donlins who ran the club during the 1970s pronounced the name PASSim. Bob Donlin said this pronunciation as he welcomed people to the shows with the always-out-of-adjustment mic stand microphone, but those who were unaware often said PassEEM. It adopted the present name in 1994; a combination of the earlier two names. In 1994 the venue also became a non-profit. At its inception, it was mainly a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and blues club, but soon branched out to include ethnic folk, then singer-songwriter folk.Alarik, Scott. "From Club 47 to Club Passim", in ''

Deep Community ''Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground'' is a book by ''Boston Globe'' journalist Scott Alarik with photographs by Robert Corwin. It was published in 2003 by Black Wolf Press. The book is a compilation of over 120 articles ...

: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground'' (2003). Black Wolf (Cambridge, Mass.) Artists who have performed there include

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song " Sunny Came Home". Early ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Tom Rush Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk music, folk and blues music, blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career f ...

, Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

, Jimmy Buffett, John Mayer,

Matt Nathanson Matthew Adam Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has played both sol ...

, and Brian Webb. At times the Club was a place for blues musicians like

Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

and Elvin Bishop to play as well. In the 1960s, the club (when known as Club 47) played a role in the rise of folk-rock music, when it began to book folk-rock bands whose music was unrelated to traditional folk, such as the

Lovin' Spoonful Loving may refer to: * Love, a range of human emotions * Loving (surname) * '' Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case Film and television * ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film * ''Loving'' ( ...

. The club's importance to the 1960s Cambridge folk scene is documented extensively in

Eric Von Schmidt Eric Von Schmidt (May 28, 1931 – February 2, 2007) was an American singer and guitarist, songwriter, painter and illustrator, and Grammy Award recipient. He was associated with the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a key part o ...

's ''Baby, Let Me Follow You Down: The Illustrated Story of the Cambridge Folk Years''. Scott Alarik described Club 47 as being "the hangout of choice for the new folkies" during that time. Today there is a Passim School of Music program, which offers workshops and classes to teens and adults.

Musicians

Joan Baez described to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

's''

Kurt Loder Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...

how she began performing at Club 47 in 1958 as a largely unknown

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

student, playing on Tuesday nights as a means of providing entertainment because the jazz musicians who played there had Tuesday nights off; she would continue to perform regularly there through the early 1960s. In 1961, Bob Dylan was said to have played at the club between sets for free so that he could say he had played at Club 47. ''Dylan: A Biography'' gives a detailed account of Dylan's first visit to Club 47, where he saw Carolyn Hester perform and performed between Hester's sets in the hopes of impressing club manager Paula Kelley.Spitz, Bob (1989). ''Dylan: A Biography''. Norton (New York). Bonnie Raitt chose to attend Radcliffe College in Cambridge to be near Club 47, though the club closed temporarily after her first year as a student (1967).

Bill Staines William Russell Staines (February 6, 1947 – December 5, 2021) was an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from New Hampshire who wrote and performed songs with a wide array of subjects. Called "the Woody Guthrie of my generation" by s ...

mentions Club 47 in his autobiography, ''The Tour''. He saw his first coffeehouse performance there in 1962, as a sophomore in high school, and described Club 47 during the 1960s as "one of the premier folk venues in the country." Bruce Springsteen was refused a gig at Club Passim.

Dining at Club Passim

For some years, Club Passim shared space and featured food from the vegetarian and vegan restaurant Veggie Planet until the end of August 2014, when Veggie Planet closed. , brunch is served on Sunday mornings, as well as dinner to ticket holders for matinee and evening shows. According to ''Vanity Fair'', Facebook co-founder

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

and his husband

Sean Eldridge Sean Eldridge (born July 31, 1986) is a Canadian-born American political activist from New York. Eldridge is the founder and president of Stand Up America, a progressive advocacy community. He previously served as political director of Freedom ...

met each other on a blind date at Veggie Planet inside Club Passim.

References

* Loder, Kurt (1983). "Joan Baez: The Rolling Stone Interview". ''

'' 4/14/83 (issue # 393).

External links

Passim website

Website for "For The Love of the Music"
a documentary film about Club 47 {{Authority control Folk music venues Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard Square Music venues in Massachusetts Restaurants in Cambridge, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Cambridge, Massachusetts Nightclubs in Massachusetts 1958 establishments in Massachusetts Restaurants established in 1958 Event venues established in 1958