Legendary off-campus bars - ANCIENT THREAD

Doug was Doug Cushman. I didn't know him when he owned LL but in the mid 80's he was one of my fishing buddies. He was the most patient fisherman I ever met. Neither one of us had a boat at that time but I knew of some great spots on the side of the road on the way to Grande Isle. If the fish weren't biting at one spot I would say "Lets go somewhere else." Doug would always want to stay where we were in the first spot so I would drive to another of my spots and maybe I would catch a fish or two or mostly nothing. When I came back to the spot where Doug had opted to stay he usually had a few redfish.

Doug had come to Baton Rouge from Oregon and he told me that sometimes he would go to the same spot every day for a month and catch maybe 2 or 3 salmon in the whole month. I just don't have that kind of patience.

The last I heard of him he had moved back to Oregon in the late 80's or early 90's.

 

When I was in college (88-92), it was The Bengal on Thursday nights (girls drink free until 9--got into some big trouble with that on my 18th bday, as we arrived at around 10 til 9, and I was going to get my "money's worth" before 9. Uck...)

We would also listen to WFMF every Thursday and win 10 free tickets to The Funny Bone over on Bennington. It only cost $5 for the one-drink minimum strawberry daiquiri. We'd sit in the front row to get picked on by the comedian.

On weekends, it was The Tiger.

For other weeknights, we would hang out at The Chimes--still one of my favorite places to go in Baton Rouge.

After graduation, I would hang out at Southdowns, Superior Grill Happy Hours on Thursdays, and (gag) Glen's Bombay Club on Corporate.

 

Talk about the memories. PortAllen: I practically lived at the Carousel after 2 am. The bars there never closed. How bout the Candlelight? Raccon was the band, Percy Sledge played on Sundays.
In Baton Rouge: The Tonga Isle, loved that place. The Thirsty Tiger across from the Morning Advocate. And the place that I called home was the Italian Gardens on Convention St. Damn, I had some fun there.

 

Oh yeah, the KingFish. There were some huge names that played there. I saw Aerosmith when they weren't that popular anymore. Saw Hank Williams Jr there: he walked up the stage so drunk he couldn't continue. Jerry Jeff Walker played and he was so drunk he had to quit.
If I'm not mistaken, that's where I saw the SexPistols. People were spitting on them and throwing their drinks at the stage.

 

What a great club, especially for BR back the day.

I saw Al Jarreau, UK, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, The Ramones, The Dixie Dregs, Starcastle, and Randy Newman there.

We were in line outside to see Randy Newman's second show, hammering down cocktails when a buzz went through the line that Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashed. Everybody thought it was BS, sadly we all later had it confirmed.

I miss dat place.

 

Kertacy's MO was to start a club and get it to the point where it was the most popular club in town and then sell it to somebody else before it went on a downswing. He did that many times.

Anybody remember Chief's in the Kenilworth shopping center? It was owned by Chief Whalen and there were regular appearances by Stevie Ray Vaughn and the Fabulous Thunderbirds before they hit the big time. I also saw Albert King there 3 times, Freddy King and Albert Collins along with Eric Johnson and Omar and the Howlers.

 

If you are looking for a bar to raise hell at after the game this weekend check out TuscaloosaLive.com some of my trader friends who went to bama made it but its pretty legit for restaurants and bars

 

You are CORRECT sir! Stevie Ray showed there many times as did his brother with the Tbirds. Albert King was one of the greatest blues singer I've ever seen. Gone now, but I was able to see him again in 92 when BB King booked him for the opening of his club in Memphis. I miss that guy.