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Club Manhattan
View on WikipediaThe Club Manhattan was a nightclub at 1320 East Broadway in East St. Louis, Illinois.[1] The venue was owned by Booker Merritt.[2] The Club Manhattan has a prominent place in Greater St. Louis music history. It is best known for being the nightclub where singer Tina Turner met her future husband, bandleader Ike Turner.
Key Information
History
[edit]In 1954, Ike Turner relocated his band, the Kings of Rhythm, from Clarksdale, Mississippi to East St. Louis, Illinois.[3] There he met a man named Booker Merritt who owned a building at 1320 East Broadway.[2] Turner and his band gut renovated the building and created the Club Manhattan where they would practice and perform.[4]
The Club Manhattan was initially a predominantly African-American tavern. Turner later played at the white nightclubs in St. Louis such as the Club Imperial, and soon gained a large following from white teenagers.[4] Turner's competition in the St. Louis club scene was musician Chuck Berry who once brought bluesman Muddy Waters to watch Turner perform.[5] Other musicians who performed at the Club Manhattan include Little Milton, Oliver Sain, and Albert King.[6][7]
In May 1955, six men were arrested at the Club Manhattan on vice charges.[8] Merritt was also arrested on gambling charges after authorities raided the nightclub while a dice game was in progress.[8] In September 1955, two men were arrested after they injured each other in a gunfight outside of the Club Manhattan.[9]
As a teenager, Tina Turner (then called Ann Bullock) frequented the club to watch Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm perform. She recalled that she "almost went into a trance" the first time she saw Turner perform.[10][11] East St. Louis poet laureate Eugene Redmond recalled that in the 1950s Tina Turner was a "teeny-bopper and a groupie."[12] She used to hang around the Club Manhattan while Turner was practicing.[12] Turner's band was very popular and he had a strong following of female admirers.[13][14] One night in 1956, Bullock was given the microphone by his drummer Eugene Washington during an intermission and she sang the B.B. King blues ballad, "You Know I Love You."[15][6] Impressed by her voice, Turner added her as a featured vocalist with his Kings of Rhythm and they later formed the duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1960.
Tina Turner a song titled "Club Manhattan," on the Ike & Tina Turner album Nutbush City Limits (1973) as an homage to the nightclub.
In 1968, Albert King was performing at the Club Manhattan when promoter Bill Graham offered him $1,600 to play three nights at The Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.[16][7]
The club had various name changes over the years but was last known as the Four Aces.[17] In later years, it housed a liquor store in the front and a bar in the back. The other half of the building was a club. The Disco Riders, a 32-member motorcycle club, owned and operated the club.[17] According to the Riverfront Times, the building was located at 1312 Broadway and was vacant when it was destroyed by a fire in 2010.[17] However, various articles and advertisements from the 1950s list the address of the Club Manhattan as 1320 East Broadway.[1][9][2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Club Manhattan Presents Gigantic Floor Shows Featuring Bob-Adairs, Sensational Dance Team, Fred Blott, Comedian plus Ike Turner's Band (Advertisement)". The St. Louis Argus. August 19, 1955. p. 23.
- ^ a b c "Liquor and $210 Taken at Club". The Belleville News-Democrat. January 16, 1958. p. 6.
- ^ Blues Unlimited: Essential Interviews from the Original Blues Magazine. Russell, Tony, Camarigg, Mark, Rowe, Mike, Greensmith, Bill. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press. 2015. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-252-09750-8. OCLC 922018263.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Turner, Ike; Cawthorne, Nigel (1999). Takin' Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner. London: Virgin. ISBN 9781852278502.
- ^ Guralnick, Peter (2000). Rock and Roll is Here to Stay: An Anthology. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-393-04700-4.
- ^ a b Olson, Bruce R. (2016). That St. Louis Thing, Vol. 2: An American Story of Roots, Rhythm and Race. Lulu Press. ISBN 9781483457987. OCLC 967779163.
- ^ a b "Honoring the Greats: A Big Muddy Tribute to Albert King and Tommy Bankhead". KDHX.
- ^ a b "'Dry Haul' Raids Made By Sheriff On Five Taverns". Belleville Daily Advocate. May 10, 1955. p. 4.
- ^ a b "Two Men Held After Gun Duel In E. St. Louis". Belleville Daily Advocate. September 28, 1955. p. 5.
- ^ Turner, Tina. (1976). I, Tina. Loder, Kurt. (1st ed.). New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-06089-7. OCLC 13069211.
- ^ "The Best St. Louis Rock & Pop Musicians of All Time". St. Louis Magazine. June 1, 2012.
- ^ a b Roberts, Randall (March 30, 2005). "Arch Madness: A rough guide to St. Louis". Riverfront Times.
- ^ Lonesome, Buddy (August 9, 1957). "Ike Turner Converts Renovated Tavern Into Rock and Roll Rendezvous". The St. Louis Argus: 13.
- ^ Ain't But a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis. Early, Gerald Lyn. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press. 1998. pp. 224. ISBN 9781883982287. OCLC 39498682.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Turner, Tina; Loder, Kurt (1986). I, Tina: My Life Story. New York : Avon Books. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-380-70097-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ "Albert King". Stax Records.
- ^ a b c Finkel, Tom (February 1, 2010). "East St. Louis Nightclub Fire Destroys Ike & Tina Turner Landmark". Riverfront Times.