i don't know if either of them is still there......i was at the bayou......shooting pool and drinking beer.
Both gone. The original Bayou burned down a couple of years ago, and Murphy's shut down as a result of some dimwit following Darwin's Law of Natural Selection (intellectually speaking) and drinking himself to death there. That having been said, I hung out at Fred's and The Caterie.
I was at LSU at the tailend of the 18 year old drinking age (mid 80's). Murphy's was known as the Freshman Bar. I did go there A LOT as a freshman. They had "Drinking With Lincoln" where dixie cups of draft were $.05. We'd literally go there with 5 $1 bills, and put one dollar on the bar and get 20 cups of beer. For $5, you got SMASHED. Fred's was the "older" bar in that you had to be 19 to get in. Starting sophomore year, our group frequently did "Sippin' into Sunset" where Pile Drivers (i.e., screwdrivers in the special large Fred's cup) were $1 on Thursdays. I never frequented the Bayou much. At that time, the Bayou was sort of an "alternative bar". We did go to the Bengal, however.
Murphy's was THE frat bar, and you could get a front row seat to some of the best bar fights in town. That being said, I wasn't too interested in watching khaki pants and running shoes clad guys beat the crap out of each other, although the eye candy there was always nice. The Bayou was definitely alternative, but free pool in the afternoon was a nice occasional departure. I myself was a Varsity and Fred's regular. The Bayou burned about a year or so ago. Replaced now with the Reggae Cafe or something to that effect. Went with an old HS friend to raise one for The Bayou. While only one pool table, a chill place to shoot a couple games. Make a good drink, too.
The one and only time I went to Murphy's I swore to myself to never return. I went with some frat guys from my dorm. I had heard it was a frat bar, but hey, I'm not prejudiced against frat guys and I didn't mind having a beer with anybody. It was packed. Not just packed with frat guys, but packed with FRESHMEN frat guys. I was a freshman myself, and it still irked me. I stuck out like a sore thumb because I was the ONLY guy in the whole place that was not wearing Duck Head pants and a Polo shirt - NO EXAGGERATION. And it wasn't like I was dressed like a slob or anything, just jeans (or maybe shorts) and a regular shirt. I thought I had walked into a cloning lab. The place had a wooden floor. I watched an empoyee going around collecting glasses from the shelf that lined the wall. He was stacking them up so he could carry alot of them. Most of the glasses still had ice or half-melted ice or backwash. THE DUDE WAS JUST DUMPING OUT THE GLASSES RIGHT ONTO THE FLOOR! One after another, all the way around the bar. I was disgusted. The glasses were not even being washed before they were re-used. Think about it. That was all it took for me - I walked back to my dorm and never came back. Luckily after my first semester I moved to Tigerland and found Sports.
Ya'll are bringing back some memories now. I can't tell you how many times I watched Better than Ezra play at Murphy’s. Sports, Fred's, The Bayou and the Library. No telling how many times we all probably ran into each other back then. Boy do I feel old. It's scary when most all of your old stomping grounds aren't around anymore. Either demolished or burned to the ground. I mentioned Murphy's to some 20-somthings the other day and they looked at me like I was nuts. I might as well have been 80 years old and talking about horseless carriages.
Not that I was a big time party dude or anything, but I went to Murphy's 2-3 times my freshman year ('95) before it closed down. I thought it was cool how they played Hold that Tiger a lot. That'll always get you fired up. I never had the urge to be in a frat but a couple of girls I went to high school with were in sorrorities and were fun to hang out with over there. I went to the Bayou maybe a dozen times, mostly just to play pool. After two years of using my patented Arkansas fake-ID, they finally busted me. It was like a part of me died inside. My freshman roomate and I went next door to the Library a lot. It was the only place we could find decent fooseball tables. Other places we went on occasion were Chelsea's, The Caterie, Sports (just twice), and of course the Varsity. I just forgot how much I miss those Calzones from Rotolo's. I'd get one at least twice a month. What's the name of that bar that would have live music located on that little side street between Burbank and Nicholson?
I went to the Bayou ebery nigtht my freshman year. I can't remember if I cried when it burned down my sopomore year. There aren't any bars like that anymore.
