Blues Music

If we count Stevie Ray? If we don't count him with the blues, they might as well not exist at all. Most (or a heck of a lot anyway) good rock n roll is blues based. Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, George Thorogood (who I saw at the Zoo Bar in Lincoln back in my college days) and many more. I love the traditional guys to; BB King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf. I actually expected to be including the Beatles in this list of blues based but after perusing their song list I see they really are not. I would probably still have fully functional hearing 10 years from now if it weren't for the blues. Absolutely love the blues.

BTW- I'm glad someone mentioned earlier that the Zoo was still there. I was going to ask about that. You college kids need to check that place out. I heard some awesome music there back in the early 80's. Johnny Reno and the Sax Maniacs.......anyone?

 
^^^ Magic Slim and the Teardrops..

I went there with two nurses one night...Matt Guitar Murphy kept hitting on them after the show while leaning on my car's hood.

 
JJHusker1 said:
If we count Stevie Ray? If we don't count him with the blues, they might as well not exist at all. Most (or a heck of a lot anyway) good rock n roll is blues based.
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Yes, I know that. I was thinking that maybe SRV was rock just as much as he was blues. But, like you said, the two genres are so intertwined it would be hard to separate them. I'm with you on BB King. That man can paint a picture with his guitar.


 
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One of my favorite all time bands was inspired by alot of blues, mainly Chicago blues. The Doors used alot of blues when they wrote songs.

 
HUSKER 37 said:
^^^ Magic Slim and the Teardrops..

I went there with two nurses one night...Matt Guitar Murphy kept hitting on them after the show while leaning on my car's hood.
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Ahh yes, Magic Slim. Brings back memories....at least the ones I didn't totally destroy with alcohol. The one regret I have from my college years (well there is more than one but I digress) is not discovering the Zoo Bar and my love for the blues earlier. To think I did not go to the Zoo for about the first 3 years I lived in Lincoln still pains me. It is simply amazing the amount of national talent that little hole in the wall place could bring in. Is it still that way?

 
I went back to Nebraska last April for my mom's "Celebration of Life" And drove by the Zoo, and almost stopped, but my Son was in a hurry to see my old college buddy and his family..The place looked a little better than I remembered like maybe a better sign?

I was sure that all I had to do was mention the Zoo and my buddy would insist on closing the place down, but...Changing Priorities?

I just got a notice a week ago? on facebook that the old owner died.

Zoo Bar (Lincoln, Nebraska)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Zoo Bar is a blues music venue and nightclub located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska on 136 North 14th Street.[1] Styled around the Chicago blues clubs, it is a long, narrow venue in a building built in 1921.

Around 1971, Jim Ludwig, Bill Kennedy and Don Chamberlin purchased the bar.[2] Larry Boehmer, a Master of Fine Arts student at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln at the time, promoted the bar to his fellow artists. He booked the first band in 1973 and was sole owner by 1977.[2]

Boehmer met Chicago musician and promoter Bob Riedy and formed a connection that brought many revered Chicago artists to the Lincoln club. Because of this connection, the Zoo Bar was the first white club that Magic Slim ever played. In 1975, he'd never ventured outside the clubs in Chicago's African-American neighborhoods.[2]

In 1977, Boehmer was the sole owner and the Zoo was established as an important stop for bands on the touring circuit.[2]

The first band Boehmer booked to play in the club was The Cotton Blues Band in the summer of 1973.[2]

The first national act to play at the bar was Luther Allison in September 1974.[2]

Musical acts have included: Bernard Allison, Luther Allison, Dave Alvin, Billy Bacon and the Forbidden Pigs, Tab Benoit, Tommy Castro, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Deke Dickerson, Bo Diddley, Chris Duarte, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Tinsley Ellis, Rick Estrin, Anson Funderburgh, Buddy Guy, the Hacienda Brothers, John Hammond, The Belairs, James Harman, Mark Hummel, Candye Kane, Jay McShann, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Charlie Musselwhite, Rod Piazza, Ana Popovic, Otis Rush, Doug Sahm, Curtis Salgado, Gina Sicilia, Magic Slim, Watermelon Slim, Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, Kim Wilson, and Link Wray. Eddie Clearwater, Mighty Joe Young, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Carey Bell

Numerous live albums have been recorded in the club.

Magic Slim and his band were regular performers at the bar, playing week-long stints. In the 90s, Magic Slim moved his family from Chicago to Lincoln.[2]

In 1993, the Zoo Bar won the Blues Foundation's Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Club of the Year.[2]

James Harman wrote a song for the club.[2] "Everybody's Rockin' (At The Zoo Bar)" can be found on Harman's 1995 Black And White CD.[3]

In 2000, Larry Boehmer retired and passed the bar on to his sons, Jeff and Tim Boehmer, and Pete Watters. Jeff Boehmer and Pete Watters are partners in the club now. On Tuesday, September 4, 2012, Larry Boehmer passed away after struggling with lung cancer. Many not only remember Larry as a visual artist and blues player, but as a community builder.[4]

In July 2012, the bar will be celebrating its 40th anniversary.
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