A rite of passage for countless bands over the decades and a touchstone for myriad genres, Los Angeles venue The Roxy still rocks at 50.
When the intimate club opened on Sept. 20, 1973 with a three-night stand by Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers (who had just finished recording Tonight’s the Night nearby at Studio Instrument Rentals), the sidewalk beneath the marquee was jammed with thousands of people hoping for a ticket.
Neil and Crazy Horse baptized the venue with a blistering garage rock set, while Graham Nash and Cheech & Chong opened. (The Roxy appeared in the comedy duo’s debut movie, Up in Smoke, a few years later.)
The Roxy's opening day┃Mark Sullivan/Getty Images
In its first decade, a who’s who of legends played The Roxy, including: Billy Joel, Jimmy Cliff, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Ettta James, B.B. King, Prince, Herbie Hancock, and the late Jimmy Buffett. Fifty years since Lou Adler opened the doors at 9009 Sunset Boulevard, live music still reverberates inside its four walls.
The legendary venue survived while countless clubs shuttered, thanks to Adler’s passion. The astute entrepreneur and 2019 GRAMMY Trustee Award recepient eventually bought the building — guaranteeing control and preventing a landlord from ever telling him to go.
The club is part of the cultural fabric of the Sunset Strip along with the Whisky A Go Go and the Troubadour. Today a mix of local acts, national touring artists and legends take the stage— earlier this year, two-time GRAMMY winner Shooter Jennings paid tribute to Warren Zevon with a set devoted to the LA songwriter.
A new exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum will pay tribute to the club's legendary past and continued relevance. "Roxy: 50 and Still Rockin’" opens Sept. 18 and runs until Jan. 7, 2024. The exhibit includes behind-the-scenes photos of celebrities at On the Rox (the exclusive club above The Roxy), photos chronicling the original production of "The Rocky Horror Show," plus historic memorabilia from Lou Adler’s archives.
Bringing The Roxy To The Sunset Strip
Catching up with Adler finds the octogenarian in good spirits. Sporting a white toque and white sunglasses that match his goatee, Adler reminisces about The Roxy’s early days, its rich history and its legacy. A framed promotional poster for Up in Smoke hangs on the wall behind the club owner, who discovered the comedic pair at the Troubadour and directed their screen debut. Cheech & Chong returned the favor in 2013 when they inducted Adler into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
These days, Adler leaves the running of The Roxy to his sons. At 89, he prefers to get his live music fix at Coachella. The impresario never imagined the club he opened along with Elmer Valentine (who founded the Whisky) — with additional financial help from a trio of original investors: David Geffen, Elliot Roberts and Peter Asher — would last 50 years.
"I was just looking for next week!," Adler laughs when asked about The Roxy’s golden anniversary. "It is pretty amazing, but it does not feel like forever that I opened the doors. I just took it decade by decade. You put it all together and it adds up to 50."
Lou Adler┃Bezjian/WireImage
When Adler and his partners took over the lease at 9009 Sunset Boulevard, the building housed a strip club called Largo. Adler already co-owned, along with Valentine and Mario Maglieri, the Rainbow Bar & Grill next door. Opening a rock club next to the popular eatery frequented by rock stars and their groupies made sense. The Roxy never played favorites.
"It's based on music … and the music is always evolving," says Lou’s eldest son Nic, who took over ownership of The Roxy in 2000. "We are agnostic when it comes to genre; it's a room that works great for jazz, comedy, hard rock or hip-hop. We are defined by a collection of history rather than by genre."
And, if you attend an event at the storied club, you are a part of that history. "You are never at a show at the Roxy, you are part of the show," adds Nic, who was born the same year The Roxy opened.
David Wild attests to The Roxy’s mojo. Born and raised on the East Coast, Manhattan’s Bottom Line was his touchstone when it came to live music. The music critic and author saw many historic shows at this now long-gone New York City venue before moving to Los Angeles in 1991 to cover the Sunset Strip music scene for Rolling Stone. Arriving in Hollywood, he was well aware of The Roxy’s reputation. Two of his first three dates with his wife happened at the club. The shows were Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife and San Francisco alt-rockers Wire Train. Local rock band the Eels were also Roxy regulars in the 1990s and lead singer E (Mark Oliver Everett) played the Wild’s wedding.
In those days, the journalist was a club fixture and treated well. Except, for one strange night.
"I arrived and the doorman said, ‘I’m sorry Mr. Wild, but you are already here," he recalls. "That’s the only time in my life that this has ever happened; there was a David Wild impersonator! They found the guy who had a fake press card and removed him."
To commemorate The Roxy’s 50th, Neil Young’s name returns to the marquee 50 years to the day he inaugurated the joint. On Sept. 20-21, Neil and Crazy Horse will play a pair of sold-out benefit shows. Micah Nelson replaces longtime Crazy Horse member Nils Lofgren, who is currently on tour with Bruce Springsteen.
Springsteen and the E Street Band also have a history with The Roxy. During the 1975 Born to Run tour, the songwriter did a four-night residency there. Three years later he returned for a three-hour set that KMET FM broadcast live. This concert was one of the most popular bootleg tapes Springsteen fans traded for decades until its official release in 2018.
Asked to name a couple of his favorite nights at The Roxy, Lou Adler is quick to answer. "First, Bob Marley, mostly because you had heard about him, heard the music and read about the culture, but then all of a sudden there he was and he brought all of that to the stage. Second, The Clash at Midnight [April 27, 1980]. That was exceptional. Just shy of 500 [people] is what we are told we can put in that room. For The Clash at Midnight show there were 1,300!"
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show": Born At The Roxy, Not In Transylvania
From the outset The Roxy hosted a variety of entertainment, from stand-up comedy (it’s here back in 1981 where Paul Reubens introduced — and perfected — his Pee-wee Herman character) to live theater. "The Rocky Horror Show" opened its inaugural North American run at the club in 1974 before it was made into the cult classic movie. Adler was with his wife in London when she took him to see this off-the-wall musical. He fell in love with the story and songs and inked a deal backstage that same night with the producer to bring the satiric production to America.
For The Roxy Theater one-year run, Tim Curry played the lead role. On opening night, an A-list of Hollywood celebrities attended, including Mick Jagger, Cher, and Jack Nicholson. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s" first North American run is also where a young pianist and composer named David Foster got his big break.
Tim Curry performs in a stage production of "Rocky Horror"┃Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
"Everything I have today, really, came from that one year in that tight, little confined space in the Roxy’s balcony playing keyboards in the house band in 'Rocky Horror,'" says Foster in an original documentary short film made exclusively by the GRAMMY Museum to commemorate the Roxy at 50. "That’s where I met everybody. The balcony was probably supposed to sit four people and we were like eight. The two background singers had to stay in the hallway stairs right behind the balcony. That’s where they performed. Somehow we managed to get drums, bass, a saxophone, and two keyboards up there.
"It was tight, but again, I didn’t care," he continues. "I was on my way. And Lou (Adler) probably doesn’t even know this, but he gave me the greatest break of my life when he suggested I be the piano player on the [Rocky Horror Picture Show] album. To my recollection, none of the other players in the band were asked to be on the album. Somehow, I’d managed to get his attention and playing on that album was the start of me doing sessions."
The Roxy Rocks On
Due to The Roxy’s incredible acoustics, dozens of live albums have been recorded there over the past half-century, including: Genesis, Social Distortion, Patti Smith, the Smithereens and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Besides the Neil Young and Crazy Horse 50th anniversary shows this fall, The Roxy will hosting other celebratory concerts including the Wallows and Ricky Lee Jones. Stephen Marley's performance will commemorate his father’s famous set there with the Wailers in 1976.
"The Roxy has had a rich history of legendary shows, including Bob and the Wailers," says the eight-time GRAMMY winner Marley. "I can remember hitting that stage two decades ago with The Melody Makers & The Ghetto Youths Crew. What a night! I am excited to come back and perform new songs from my forthcoming album ‘Old Soul,’ as well as some of my dad’s classics to commemorate 50 years of this iconic venue."
The gravitas of The Roxy as an aspirational venue is not lost on expat Americans. Take musician Bill King. The conscientious objector to the Vietnam War arrived in Toronto in the early 1970s along with his young bride. Despite making his home in Canada for the past 50 years, King returned to the U.S. for many gigs. Playing The Roxy on his 30th birthday (Jan. 28, 1977) as the Pointer Sisters music director was one such show; it was also one of the most memorable moments of his life — and not just because he got to meet a pair of his professional basketball heroes: Julius "Dr. J" Irving and George McGinnis, who were in the crowd.
For the two-night stand, King played grand piano and clavinet along with an all-star band that included James Jamerson (bass); David T. Walker (guitar) and James Gadson (drums). Sonny Burke, Smokey Robinson’s music director, also played the Fender Rhodes.
"That gig was one momentous lesson about groove and pocket," King recalls. "As soon as the band hit the downbeat, I felt something different from the standard jam pocket. It was broader. Gadson played down front of the beat and Jamerson behind. As I’m adjusting to the beat, Jamerson says to me. ‘Gadson is out in front of the beat, and I’m back here — all the real estate in between belongs to you. Build wisely!’ I took a deep breath and searched for that comfort zone between greatness. A pocket so wide you could have a smoke and a beer before the next beat."
People love nostalgic tales like King’s story. This fall music fans, who never experienced the club in its first few decades, can feel what it was like in its heyday at the GRAMMY Museum's "Roxy: 50 and Still Rockin.’"
"I think Lou has the ability to tap into the cultural zeitgeist by setting the right tone with that space," says Jasen Eamons, Chief Curator, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs, GRAMMY Museum. "What he and Elmer [Valentine] wanted from the beginning was to create an intimate space, but also treat the artist with respect by designing dressing rooms where they felt like they were valued."
Many of the photos in the GRAMMY Museum exhibit take you backstage, including a shot of Ronnie Wood paying respect to Muddy Waters and Ringo Starr with his key in the door to On the Rox.
"This is all about Elmer Valentine," comments Lou Adler. "Originally a cop from Chicago, he turned the lights on in L.A .when it came to music venues, starting with P.J.s, followed by the Whisky, the Rainbow and eventually the Roxy. He loved music and loved musicians. He is really responsible for everything that happened and continues to happen on the Sunset Strip. That should not be lost."
As to what the next 50 years hold for The Roxy, it’s anyone’s guess, but as long as there is an Adler interested in the music and the business (Besides Nic, Lou has six other sons and seven grandchildren) the venue’s legacy will endure.
"It’s a family business," Nic concludes. "As long as there is somebody in our family discovering music for the first time — and getting that feeling that you can only get from being five feet from your favorite band — there will always be an Adler to keep the club going."