Login
Login

The Cellar Door

{{Short description|Music club in Washington, DC}}

{{other uses|Cellar door (disambiguation)}}

The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1963{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/25/archives/clinking-glass-and-swinging-sound-change-the-image-of-georgetown.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Clinking glass and swinging sound change the image of Georgetown|date=May 25, 1964}} through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. The Shadows, first opened in January 1962 as a Basin Street East like cabaret and beer hang-out for the young jacket and tie professional and sweater set, and the young adult crowd drawn from among the nine colleges and universities in the District. The venue became so popular by December it outgrew the location and moved to 31st and M Streets, NW. In its place, Tom Lyons, a 23-year-old entrepreneur opened what he described as Washington's version of "the hungry i," a reference to San Francisco's famous North Beach nightclub. In its beginning the Cellar Door sponsored hootena-nies for amateur talent.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/25/archives/clinking-glass-and-swinging-sound-change-the-image-of-georgetown.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Clinking glass and swinging sound change the image of Georgetown|date=May 25, 1964 |access-date=2025-03-12}} {{cite news | url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpwashingtonpost/newspapers/african-folk-songs-billed-at-local-club/docview/141834392/sem-2?accountid=34227 | newspaper=The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973)|title=African Folk Songs Billed at Local Club|date=February 17, 1963 |access-date=2025-03-12}} {{cite news | url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpwashingtonpost/newspapers/lots-new-clubs-will-ring-out-old-year/docview/141856359/sem-2?accountid=34227 | newspaper=The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973)|title=Lots of New Clubs Will Ring Out the Old Year|date=December 29, 1963 |access-date=2025-03-12}}

One of the premier music spots in Washington, D.C., the small club served as the genesis for entertainers and as a tryout venue for larger markets.Weintraub, B. (1976, November 20). Concert market booming in D.C. Billboard Magazine, 88(47) Many artists cut their professional teeth performing at The Cellar Door, while audiences delighted in being within a few feet of the stage at the tiny venue. Many music and comedy notables in 1960s and 1970s performed there.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303588.html |title= The MetropoList |newspaper=Washington Post|page=3 |access-date=2014-03-14}}{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/brace/brace981204.htm |title=Live Online |newspaper=Washington Post |date=1998-12-04 |access-date=2014-03-14}}

Notable recordings

Some performances at The Cellar Door were recorded and released. Albums based on live sets there include:

  • In Person by Bud & Travis, 1964
  • Live-Evil by Miles Davis, 1970 (later expanded into The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, released 2005){{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18394 |title=Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 |publisher=Allaboutjazz.com |access-date=2014-03-14}}Harrington, R. (2003, November 21). Recordings deliver taped measure of area clubs. The Washington Post, p. T.34.
  • Live at the Cellar Door by Richie Havens, recorded 1970, released 1990
  • Live at the Cellar Door by Neil Young, recorded 1970, released 2013{{cite news|last1=McKenna|first1=Dave|title=Neil Young's 'Live at the Cellar Door' is a window into D.C.'s musical past |newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/neil-youngs-live-at-the-cellar-door-is-a-window-into-dcs-musical-past/2013/12/09/f61da75e-6104-11e3-bf45-61f69f54fc5f_story.html|access-date=29 December 2015|date=9 December 2013}}
  • FM & AM by George Carlin, 1972 (won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album){{AllMusic|class=album|id=r265035}}{{cite web|title=George Carlin – Official Website |url=http://www.georgecarlin.com/store.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207213226/https://www.georgecarlin.com/store.aspx |archive-date=2014-02-07 }}
  • Live at The Cellar Door by The Seldom Scene, 1975, considered their signature live album
  • The Redneck Jazz Explosion by Danny Gatton, 1978

Notable artists

Some of the notable artists who played there include:

Some music was written on site. Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (as Fat City) opened for John Denver in December 1970. Late one night, Denver helped finish writing a song that Danoff and Nivert had started. They debuted "Take Me Home, Country Roads" on December 30, 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.billdanoff.com/BillJohnDenver.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040103074435/http://billdanoff.com/BillJohnDenver.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 3, 2004 |title=Bill & John Denver |publisher=Billdanoff.com |access-date=2014-03-14}}

Closing

In January 1981, The Cellar Door was sold for an undisclosed sum to Paul Kurtz and Howard Bomstein from Washington, D.C. Ultimately, the club was closed down by the Washington, D.C. fire marshal after numerous warnings. Licensed for 163 seats, it had occasionally admitted more than 200 people SRO. Also, the books for liquor sales were allegedly being done improperly: so instead of making money, a fair amount of money was being lost unbeknownst to the club owners.

Cellar Door Productions

The Cellar Door Nightclub was a partnership between Jack Boyle and Sam L'Hommedieu Jr. The pair also owned two other popular Georgetown nightspots, The Crazy Horse and The Bayou, as well as The Stardust, a music club in Waldorf, Maryland. They went on to found Cellar Door Productions, which became the largest concert promoter from Baltimore to Florida, with offices in Washington D.C., Ft. Lauderdale FL, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Detroit. Bill Reid was president of Cellar Door Productions from 1983 until his firing in 1997.{{cite web|url=http://bischoffmartingayle.com/oldsite/NewFiles/appeals/Reid%20v%20Boyle%202.pdf |title=A. William Reid v. John J. Boyle, Cellar Door Venues, Inc |publisher=Bischoffmartingayle.com |access-date=2014-03-14}} The Cellar Door Cos. were sold to SFX Entertainment in 1999.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/03/AR2007080300905.html |title=The Dream Home That Never Was |publisher=Washingtonpost.com |date=2007-08-04 |access-date=2014-03-14}} Cellar Door developed the Nissan Pavilion concert venue, now called the Jiffy Lube Live, west of Washington, DC. The mailing address of Jiffy Lube Live (now owned by Live Nation) is 7800 Cellar Door Drive. As well as Virginia Beach's Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at 3550 Cellar Door Dr, VB, VA.

Boyle continued with SFX after it was purchased by Clear Channel Entertainment and is now retired. L'Hommedieu managed the Warner Theatre (Washington, D.C.) during the 1980s.

Later tenants

When the Cellar Door ceased operating, a comedy club was announced as the next tenant. However, mayor Marion Barry learned that Mafia money was involved, and decided not to grant a liquor license. A few years later, Cafe Seynabou, a restaurant featuring the cuisine of Senegal, opened at the site, but it closed within 24 months. It stayed vacant for quite some time after that. It eventually hosted the Philadelphia Cheesesteak Factory until May 2009, then Capriotti's Sandwich Shop in 2014.{{cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Rebecca|title=Love 'n Faith brings liquid nitrogen ice cream to Columbia Heights; Capriotti's heads to Georgetown|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/top-shelf/2014/07/love-n-faith-brings-liquid-nitrogen-ice-cream-to.html?page=all|access-date=29 December 2015|date=30 July 2014}}

In 2017, Starbucks announced plans to take over the vacant 2,600-square-foot space.{{cite news|last1=Devaney|first1=Robert|title=The Georgetowner; Ins & Outs; In: Where Cellar Door Was – Starbucks No. 5|url=https://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2017/05/23/starbucks-to-take-over-cellar-door-building/|access-date= 9 September 2018|date=7 June 2018}} Alec Berkman, BISNOW national contributor reported on July 17, 2017 that before its summer break, in June, the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission approved design plans for a Starbucks store. The commission was initially opposed to Starbucks’ signage. However, its opposition was reversed when Starbucks corporate gave a commitment to honor the Cellar Door by exhibiting photos of the many entertainment acts that appeared at the venue over its years of operation at the historic location.{{cite news|last1=Berkman|first1=Alec|title=BISNOW; New Kids On The Block: Georgetown|url=https://www.bisnow.com/washington-dc/news/neighborhood/new-kids-on-the-block-georgetown-76520|access-date=9 September 2018|date=17 July 2017}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Music venues of Washington D.C.}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|38|54|18.5|N|77|4|4.1|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cellar Door}}

Category:Nightclubs in Washington, D.C.

Category:Music venues in Washington, D.C.

Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.