My Father's Place

My Father's Place was a music venue in Roslyn, New York. It first opened in 1971, and according to The New York Times, "created a scene that would influence music for decades to come."

In the nearly sixteen years the club was open before it closed in 1987, My Father's Place presented more than 6,000 shows from over 3,000 diverse artists. Its promoter Michael "Eppy" Epstein refused to book cover bands, and so the club became known as a place aspiring artists could perform. Young unknown musicians such as Black Flag, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Aerosmith, The Police, Tom Petty, as well as hopeful comics Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy, and Andy Kaufman, and a host of others graced the stage. In the summer of 2018 Epstein opened a new version of the club in a location not far from the original venue, in the newly renovated Roslyn Hotel (formerly the Roslyn Claremont Hotel).

History

The venue was located on 19 Bryant Avenue in Roslyn and was formerly a car dealership, funeral parlor, bakery and bowling alley named Roslyn Bowl. In the wake of the AMF Bowling boom of the early 1960s, Roslyn Bowl was nearly out of business. To compete, the Roslyn Bowl's owner, Jay Linehan, began booking country music acts to turn the bowling alley into a music venue and promoted the new venture as the largest dance floor on Long Island. At the suggestion of Linehan's son, the Roslyn Bowl changed its name to My Father's Place. That same year, Eppy Epstein (born November 11, 1947) and Richie Hersh (born August 19, 1948) had opened a head shop in Roslyn, Never When, but was not allowed by the village to convert it into a coffee shop. Epstein and Hersh turned to Linehan and offered to book My Father's Place with rock acts. Richie Havens opened the first show at My Father's Place on May 31, 1971, to a sold out audience.

Epstein turned to radio to promote the club and by 1972 had forged a ground-breaking deal with local FM radio station WLIR to broadcast concerts from the club. Many of these broadcasts have subsequently become highly sought-after bootleg recordings. WLIR, in turn, would become one of the most influential radio stations in the country under its revolutionary program director, Denis McNamara, by creating the format "alternative radio".

Unlike most other clubs that highlighted one genre or one particular era of music, the variety of My Father's Place was possibly its most important trait. The club debuted in America most of reggae's biggest stars, helping to make the genre mainstream. Along with CBGB and Max's Kansas City, My Father's Place was a nurturing ground for young punk and new wave acts like The Runaways, The Ramones, Blondie, The Police, and Talking Heads. Country, bluegrass, and blues artists like Charlie Daniels, Linda Ronstadt, and Stevie Ray Vaughan performed early in their careers, while artists like James Brown, B.B. King, Johnny Winter and Bo Diddley played in the twilight of theirs.

Development pressures led to the village of Roslyn closing down the club on May 3, 1987, with a final performance by the band Tower of Power. WLIR would close later the same year. In 2010 a photo book documenting the history of the club, Fun and Dangerous, was published. In November 2017, Epstein reached an agreement with the 935 Lakshmi Corporation, the new owners of the Roslyn Hotel (formerly the Roslyn Claremont Hotel), to open a new club in their ballroom.

Other locations There were other venues with the same name: 47-29 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, New York 1221 Old Northern Boulevard, Roslyn, New York

Notable performances

1971 May 30, Richie Havens (venue premiere performance)

1972 February 8, Blue Öyster Cult May 9–10, Todd Rundgren June 9–11, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee August 1, Flash August 6, Glass Harp

1973 April 20, Steeleye Span May 22–24, Manfred Mann's Earth Band June 14–17, Freddie King July 31, Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

1974 January 30 & 31, February 1, Iggy and The Stooges March 3, If March 5–6, 10cc March 9, Rory Gallagher March 19, Soft Machine April 14, New York Dolls April 19, Roger McGuinn May 16, Fairport Convention featuring Sandy Denny July 2, Aerosmith July 21, Linda Ronstadt August 2 & 20, The Good Rats September 3, Rory Gallagher October 28 & 29, Rush

1975 February 2, Steve Goodman March 26, Ray Manzarek September 10, Savoy Brown October 12, Manfred Mann's Earth Band November 18, Kingfish

1976 January 31, Quicksilver Messenger Service February 13, Leon Redbone February 23, Pure Prairie League March 22, Ramones May 22, Tommy Bolin June 28, Toots & the Maytals August 8, Spirit August 13 & 14, The Flying Burrito Brothers August 31, Richie Furay September 9, Vassar Clements September 14, Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band September 27, Ramones & Talking Heads October 3, John Mayall November 25, Budgie November 27 & 28, The Flying Burrito Brothers

1977 January 12 & 13, John Cale April 13, Ramones April 23, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers June 10, Brand X & John Martyn July 3, Patti Smith Group July 15, Peter Rowan October 10, Tom Waits November 29, Meat Loaf December 30, Peter Rowan, Tex Logan, and Vassar Clements

1978 January 5, Stanley Turrentine February 25, Eddie Money February 26, NRBQ March 7, Good Rats March 10, Robert Hunter March 16, Hawkwind March 20, Television April 7–8, Stuff April 10, the Barlow Sample Band, Baby! April 12, Pat Travers April 13–14, McCoy Tyner April 18, Richie Furay April 20, Roy Ayers May 6, Roy Buchanan May 10, Talking Heads May 27 & 28, Robert Hunter and Comfort June 1, Blondie & Greg Kihn Band June 9, Television June 10, Papa John Creach June 11, Eric Andersen July 13, John Prine July 27, John McLaughlin September 8, Johnny Winter September 15, David Johansen September 26, Larry Carlton October 13 & 14, Robert Hunter October 26, Carl Perkins October 31, Blondie November 4, Rockpile November 10, George Thorogood & the Destroyers November 14, Rory Gallagher Band November 17 & 18, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - released as I'm Going to Do What I Wanna Do: Live at My Father's Place 1978 November 30, Crawler

1979 February 13, The Fabulous Poodles February 24, Johnny Winter March 18, Muddy Waters March 21, Michael Franks March 29, The Police April 6, Ramones May 18, Nektar June 10, Lou Reed July 4, Good Rats July 11, Brewer & Shipley July 12, Bill Bruford July 15 & 16, Flo & Eddie August 9, Robert Hunter August 22, The Plasmatics August 23, John Mellencamp September 2, Buzzcocks September 7 & 8, Rory Gallagher Band September 13, Greg Kihn Band September 14, Doug Sahm September 15, David Johansen September 16, NRBQ September 17 Gary Burton Quintet, Yusef Lateef September 20, the Barlow Sample Band, Baby! September 24, Paul Winter Consort September 29, Pat Metheny October 1, Buddy Rich October 2, The Police November 4, Iggy Pop November 23, The Elvin Bishop Group November 29, National Health December 13 & 14, Hall & Oates December 19, 38 Special

1980 January 14, XTC February 16, John Kay & Steppenwolf February 17, The Romantics March 4, Iggy Pop March 29, Joe Perry Project April 1, The Fools - released as a radio-station only EP on EMI America as The First Annual Official Unofficial April Fool's Day Live Bootleg April 2, Squeeze April 10, Johnny Winter May 1, The Jeff Lorber Fusion May 7, Grinderswitch May 13, Bruce Cockburn June 24, Small Talk Band a.k.a The Jim Small Band July 19, Robert Fripp & The League of Gentlemen August 2, Carolyne Mas August 19, David Bromberg November 22, Siouxsie and the Banshees December 2, XTC December 3, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band December 31, The Good Rats

1981 January 2, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts February 23, New Riders of the Purple Sage March 5, Teardrop Explodes April 11, Carl Wilson May 8, Dave Mason May 15, Joe Ely May 19, David Crosby June 3, Dixie Dregs July 4, The Psychedelic Furs July 26, Bill Nelson August 7, John Cale August 25, Missing Persons September 15, Riot October 3, Jan and Dean November 28, The Alvin Lee Band December 27, The Jim Carroll Band

1982 January 23, B.B. King February 13, The Waitresses April 7, The Jim Small Band April 8, Mike Oldfield April 10, Anthrax May 17, Krokus May 22, Chubby Checker May 30, Pete Shelley May 31, Minor Threat / Black Flag July 1, Riot July 20, Ramones September 16, The Lords of the New Church October 24, The Psychedelic Furs October 31, Robby Krieger November 30, The Fixx

1983 January 9, Blue Öyster Cult January 29, Black Flag March 18, Steve Vai May 22, "Weird Al" Yankovic June 6, Dixie Dregs June 8, Buddy Rich September 2, Allan Holdsworth September 28, The Alarm October 31, The Jim Small Band

1984 January 6, Jorma Kaukonen January 14, The Ramones February 17, Wire Train April 22, Stevie Ray Vaughan July 21, Jorma Kaukonen December 29, The Band

1985 Jorma Kaukonen with band There Goes the Neighborhood

1986 October 31, Ramones November 1, Hot Tuna November 7, Robin Trower November 8, NRBQ November 21, The Band November 26, Billy Bragg November 29, Robert Gordon December 12, Commander Cody December 13, Bo Diddley

1987 January 11, Roy Buchanan February 14, Hot Tuna May 3, Tower of Power (venue final performance)

See also Nightclub The Bottom Line

References