McCabe's Guitar Shop

McCabe's Guitar Shop

McCabe's Guitar Shop is a musical instrument store and live music venue on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. Opened in 1958, McCabe's specializes in acoustic and folk instruments, including guitars, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, fiddles, psaltries, bouzoukis, sitars, ouds, and ethnic percussion. Since 1969, McCabe's has also been a noted forum for folk concerts.

Concerts at McCabe's

The decor at McCabe's is stripped down, with concerts being given in a back room with folding chairs and walls covered with vintage guitars, banjos, ukuleles and other instruments. A poll by LA Observed rated McCabe's as one of the 32 greatest things about Los Angeles.^[1] In The Guide prepared by The Los Angeles Times, McCabe's is described as "an achingly intimate room" with a "bare-bones setting" featuring "the best guitar music west of the 405 Freeway."^[2] The Guide continues: "Legends, traveling minstrels and local talent -- they all seem to pass through McCabe's at some point. They may be there to get their guitars fixed; the club has a day job as one of the oldest stringed instrument stores in the city."^[2] Frommer's describes the McCabe's experience as "intimate in the extreme; the gig would have to be in your living room to get any cozier."^[3] The Metromix guide to Los Angeles calls McCabe's "a mild-mannered guitar/stringed instrument shop by day" that "opens up as a world-class concert venue by night."^[4] At full capacity the concert room holds 150.

The performers

The list of past performers^[5] includes some of the genre's finest musicians, including:

Tom Waits Beck John Lee Hooker Mose Allison Dave Alvin Chet Atkins Ginger Baker The Blind Boys of Alabama Frank Black Norman Blake Eric Bogle Jackson Browne T-Bone Burnett J.J. Cale Lori Carson Gene Clark Shawn Colvin Cowboy Junkies Marshall Crenshaw Evan Dando John Densmore The Dillards Dobbie, Beaver and Bud Steve Earle Fairport Convention Black Francis Bill Frisell Vince Gill Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Allen Ginsberg Michael Bloomfield Arlo Guthrie Dirk Hamilton John Wesley Harding P.J. Harvey Richie Havens Robyn Hitchcock The Incredible String Band Jorma Kaukonen Aimee Mann Mary Lee and Nancy The Del McCoury Band Laura Nyro Odetta Utah Phillips John Hiatt Chris Hillman Hot Tuna Jefferson Starship Paul Kantner Bobby Kimmell Timothy Leary David Lindley Nils Lofgren Taj Mahal (musician) Ray Manzarek

Paula McMath Joni Mitchell Bob Mould The Nields Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Tom Paxton Liz Phair Redwood Roy Rogers Linda Ronstadt Tom Rush Martin Sexton Michelle Shocked Jane Siberry Al Stewart Sun Ra Jack Tempchin They Might Be Giants Richard Thompson Venice Tom Verlaine Loudon Wainwright III M. Ward Doc Watson Lucinda Williams Nancy Wilson Stan Ridgway

Live at McCabe's: Live albums recorded at McCabe's

Owing to its intimate setting and reputation as one of folk's most renowned forums, numerous artists have recorded live albums at McCabe's including:

R.E.M.

• Townes Van Zandt: Live at McCabe's recorded in 1995^[6]
• Ralph Stanley: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop 2-11-01^[7]
• Norman Blake: Live at McCabe's released in 1976^[8]
• Tom Paxton: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop recorded in 1991^[9]
• Henry Rollins: Live at McCabe's recorded June 1990^[10]
• Robin Williamson: Merry Band's Farewell Concert at McCabe's recorded in 1979^[11]
• Nancy Wilson (from Heart): Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop released in 1999^[12]
• Freedy Johnston: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop released in 1998^[13]

Tom Paxton

• John Stewart: Deep in the Neon: Live at McCabe's released in 1991^[14]
• Byron Berline: Live at McCabe's released in 1978^[15]
• Chris Smither: Chris Smither Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop 3/14/03^[16]
• David Hatfield: David Hatfield Live at McCabe's released in 2003^[17]
• Lyle Ritz & Herb Ohta: A Night of Ukulele Jazz Live at McCabe's recorded in 2000 ^[18]
• Paul Siebel: Live at McCabe's released in 1981^[19]
• Batdorf & Rodney: Live at McCabe's 1975^[20]

A bootleg recording was also made of R.E.M.: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop in 1987^[21] Numerous audience tapes circulate of McCabe's performances, and several soundboards, including a stunning set by T Bone Burnett in December 1993 that featured the Williams Brothers, Maria McKee and a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." It also featured "My Life and the Women Who Lived It." Days later, Burnett performed at Rockpalast in Europe and claimed that "My Life..." was written on the flight to Europe. That was clearly not true. Also, Bruce Springsteen joined John Wesley Harding onstage at a show to help sing Springsteen's "Wreck on the Highway," which later turned up on a Harding release. John Hiatt sang many of his songs from "Bring the Family" at several McCabe's shows just prior to recording that album. Those songs included "Memphis in the Meantime," "You Dad Did" and "Lipstick Sunset," among others. McCabe's booker at the time, John Chelew, produced "Bring the Family," which was recorded in four days and became Haitt's best-known album.

References

1. ^ "Voting continues". LA Observed. http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/in_los_angeles_magazine_n_1.php. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "McCabe's Guitar Shop". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-04-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20080407112638/http://theguide.latimes.com/bars-and-clubs/mmxla-mccabes-guitar-shop-venue. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
3. ^ "McCabe's Guitar Shop". Frommer's. http://www.frommers.com/destinations/losangeles/N25079.html. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
4. ^ "McCabe's Guitar Shop". Metromix Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20080408184536/http://losangeles.metromix.com/music/store/mccabes-guitar-shop-santa-monica/39581/content. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
5. ^ "McCabe's Concerts: An Incomplete List Of Artists Who Have Performed Here". McCabe's Guitar Shop. http://www.mccabes.com/perflist.html. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
6. ^ "Townes Van Zandt: Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r562821. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
7. ^ "Ralph Stanley: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r571878. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
8. ^ "Norman Blake: Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r95171. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
9. ^ "Tom Paxton: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r842838. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
10. ^ "Henry Rollins: Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r115751. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
11. ^ "Robin Williamson: Merry Band's Farewell Concert at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r317401. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
12. ^ "Nancy Wilson: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r387966. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
13. ^ "Freedy Johnston: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r842839. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
14. ^ "John Stewart: Deep in the Neon: Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r97156. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
15. ^ "Byron Berline: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r105550. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
16. ^ "Chris Smither Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1191234. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
17. ^ "David Hatfield Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r759197. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
18. ^ "Lyle Ritz & Herb Ohta: A Night of Ukulele Jazz Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r777924. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
19. ^ "Paul Siebel: Live at McCabe's". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r108506. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
20. ^ "Batdorf & Rodney: Live at McCabe's 1975". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1310963. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
21. ^ "Complete Internet R.E.M. Underground List - Part 1". Orange Fox. http://orangefox.svs.com/rem/bootd2.html. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 

External links

• Official McCabe's Site
• Yelp: McCabe's Guitar Shop
• KCRW - McCabe's at 50