Editor’s note: This article has been updated from its print version to correct an error. The photo of Tabby’s Blues Box was taken in the early ’00s at the Lafayette Street location, not the early ’80s, when Tabby’s was located on North Boulevard. 225 regrets this error.
If you ever plan to motor west, Travel my way, take the highway that is best. Get your kicks on Route 66.
Famous musician Bobby Troup first sang those words in 1946, making Route 66 the most famous road in American music culture. But he also cast a shadow over a different thoroughfare that holds monumental value and history in American music.
Though less heralded and perhaps a little less well-known, U.S. Route 61 is seasoned with the stories of influential, nationally recognized blues musicians.
Locally known as Airline Highway and rightfully branded as the Blues Highway, it begins in New Orleans and traverses nearly 1,400 miles before coming to an end in Wyoming, Minnesota.
The 115-mile stretch that runs through Louisiana once carried many musicians to the bopping blues halls in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas. Blues hotshots such as Slim Harpo, Raful Neal, Buddy Guy and Silas Hogan performed in several Capital City haunts, giving both those joints and our area their rightful reputation as the legendary home of the swamp blues.
BLUES VENUES OF THE PAST
The Glass Hat Location: North Boulevard Established: 1948
The downtown stretch of North Boulevard that once housed The Glass Hat is quiet today. But it was once known as “The Strip,” and the Glass Hat was one of its liveliest venues. It resonated with the sounds of deep South swamp blues and voices of Baton Rouge musicians such as Chuck Mitchell and The Herculoids. It was here that renowned musician Slim Harpo wowed locals with his unique country-blues sound and scratchy voice. The Glass Hat slowly fell into disrepair and stopped operating in the mid-1970s as business decreased in the area.
Tabby’s Blues Box on 232 Lafayette Street. (Photo courtesy East Baton Rouge Parish Library Digital Archives)
Tabby’s Blues Box Location: North Boulevard until 2000, then 232 Lafayette St. Established: 1979; closed permanently in 2004
Tabby’s Blues Box was owned by Baton Rouge native “Rockin’ Tabby” Thomas. Born Ernest J. Thomas in 1929, he was nicknamed “Tabby the Cat” by his friends on the McKinley High football team for his quick reflexes on the field. The Blues Box sported a mural depicting a tabby cat playing guitar and consistently drew crowds until closing in 2004, following a stroke Thomas suffered that left him unable to operate the venue.
Prince Hall Masonic Temple in 1969. (Photo courtesy East Baton Rouge Parish Library Digital Archives)
Temple Theatre/Prince Hall Masonic Temple Location: 1335 North Blvd. Established: 1925
The Prince Hall Masonic Temple was initially constructed as a meeting place for The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, a unique religious group dating back to ancient Grecian times. Decades past saw various businesses and organizations move in and out of the building, but the Roof Garden on the fourth floor was always a hub for black Baton Rouge social functions, sometimes hosting big names like Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. The building still stands, but the sounds of the blues rarely resonate there now. The theater is available to rent for private events, and the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation has held parties there in recent years.
Other now-defunct blues clubs
Peppermint Club
Club Rose
Swamp Mama’s
The Blue Bull
THE ONES STILL ROCKIN’
Though most of Baton Rouge’s juke joints disappeared by the early ’80s, some blues clubs are still thriving.
The Blues Room Location: 232 Lafayette St. Established: January 2013
The Blues Room is in the former Tabby’s Blues Box downtown, carrying on the building’s deep blues tradition. Though the venue has only been open a few years, blues names like Boogie Long and the Blues Revolution and Gregg Wright have performed there. The Blues Room hosts live performances every Wednesday through Sunday.
Phil Brady’s Bar & Grill Location: 4848 Government St. Established: 1979
Though not exclusively a blues venue, Phil Brady’s remains one of the most active hubs for the genre. The bar has maintained a commitment to live music and has been hosting a Thursday night blues jam every week since 1986, attracting musicians such as James Johnson, once a guitarist for blues wunderkind Slim Harpo.
Teddy’s Juke Joint has been owned and operated by Lloyd Johnson since 1979 out of his shotgun home on the outskirts of Baton Rouge. Johnson, fondly known as Teddy, was born in the house that now rocks nightly with the sounds of the blues. Teddy’s prides itself on its many relics from the past, down-home blues acts and phenomenal food prepared by Teddy and his wife, Nancy.
Sources: East Baton Rouge Parish Digital Archives, Maxine Crump and the Baton Rouge Blues Foundation,Alex Cook’s book, Louisiana Saturday Nights: Looking for a Good Time in South Louisiana’s Juke Joints, Honky-Tonks, and Dance Halls
What other blues venues do you remember? Tell us at [email protected].
