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{{Short description|Historic music venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma}}
'''Cain's Ballroom''' is a [[music]] venue in [[Tulsa]], [[Oklahoma|OK]]. It was built in [[1924]] to serve as a garage for one of Tulsa's founders, [[Tate Brady]]. [[Madison W. Cain|Madison W. "Daddy" Cain]] purchased the building in [[1930]] and named it Cain's Dance Academy where he charged $0.10 for dance lessons. The academy was the site of the [[The Texas Playboys|Texas Playboys']] first regular radio broadcast where they continued to play regularly. In [[1976]], [[Larry Schaeffer]] purchased the building, refurbished it, and reopened it with the current name, Cain's Ballroom. In [[1978]], Cain's Ballroom was one of only a few venues to host the [[Sex Pistols]] in their only American tour.
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = Cain's Ballroom
| image = Cains Ballroom Sign Tulsa Oklahoma.jpg
| image_caption = The historic sign of Cain's Ballroom
| address = 423 North Main Street
| location = [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], United States
| coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} -->
| type =
| genre =
| built =
| opened = {{Start date|1924|MM}}
| renovated =
| expanded =
| closed =
| demolished =
| owner =
| construction_cost =
| former_names =
| seating_type =
| seating_capacity = 1,800
| website = {{URL|cainsballroom.com}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| embed = yes
| name = Cain's Dancing Academy
| nrhp_type =
| coordinates = {{coord|36|9|38.46|N|95|59|35.31|W|display=inline,title}}
| area =
| architect =
| architecture = Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements
| added = September 4, 2003
| refnum = 03000874<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''Cain's Ballroom''' is a historic [[music venue]] in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]] that was built in 1924 as a garage for [[W. Tate Brady]]'s automobiles. Madison W. "Daddy" Cain purchased the building in 1930 and named it Cain's Dance Academy.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tulsapreservationcommission.org/nationalregister/buildings/index.pl?id=13 |title=Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places &#124; Tulsa Preservation Commission |access-date=2007-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212224303/http://www.tulsapreservationcommission.org/nationalregister/buildings/index.pl?id=13 |archive-date=2007-02-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


[[File:Cains Ballroom Tulsa Night.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Cain's Ballroom at night]]
[Begin Edit. WSM] Hosting the Sex Pistols underlined the Cain's Ballroom as the pioneering force of the history of Rock and Roll. It also opened the door to the second British Invasion in several sectors of the USA.
In 2021, [[Pollstar]] ranked Cain's Ballroom at number 13 worldwide for ticket sales at club venues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.pollstar.com/chart/2021/09/Top100Clubs_980.pdf|title=Top 100 Club Venues|website=Data.pollstar.com|access-date=3 June 2022}}</ref>


The venue played a prominent role in the development of [[western swing]] in the 1930s and 1940s, when [[Bob Wills|Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys]] broadcast a near-daily show and performed live weekly.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wills, James Robert {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture|url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=WI020|access-date=2021-05-03|website=Okhistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Logsdon|first=Guy|date=1982|title=Western Swing|work=Festival of American Folklife 1982|url=https://festival.si.edu/articles/1982/western-swing|access-date=2021-05-03}}</ref>
As early as 1927, the Tulsa Oklahoma structure was already making international headlines in the music industry. The original owner / commission investor of the building, Tate Brady, used this building as a 'garage' upon it's construction in 1924. His 'garage' was soon renamed "[[The Louvre]]" and opened to the public. It quickly became an internationally known night spot for the nuveau riche oil boom town. At the time, the international playground for the oil elite was entangled in the "rankest farce" of prohibition. [1910 Vinita Weekly Chieftain - "[[Prohibition]] in Oklahoma is the rankest farce that ever cursed a state"] Oklahoma catered to it's oil elite, however, with gin joints, [[speakeasies]], 'reputable houses', and boot leg border running. Needless to say, by 1929, this corner stone establishment effectively changed hands to suit the 'social environment' standards.


[[Leon Russell]] and his band were regularly booked at Cain's when it was owned by Larry Shaeffer.
'Daddy Cain' entered the scene. His involvement in Tulsa society on many fronts led to a turning point in the history of music and the role Cain's played in it. Hosting dance lessons and 'evening gatherings' under the new 'clean cut' name of Cain's Dance Academy, the hot spot hit full gear bringing in bands popular at the time. [[Jazz]], [[rag]], [[blues]], [[country]], among other hot foot popular genres, were among the band styles booked consistantly.


It is also notable as one of only seven venues played by the [[Sex Pistols]] in 1978 during their only North American tour. The band appeared 11 January 1978. After the show, a frustrated [[Sid Vicious]] punched a hole in the drywall of the [[green room]]. The wall section with the hole has since been removed and is preserved and on display at Cain’s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tulsaworld.com/entertainment/movies/the-sex-pistols-played-cains-ballroom-42-years-ago-see-pictures-of-that-jan-11/collection_11cf1d08-3098-5f12-801c-0ca554389eda.html|title=The Sex Pistols played Cain's Ballroom 42 years ago — see pictures of that Jan. 11, 1978 show|website=[[Tulsa World]]|access-date=3 June 2022}}</ref>
Among this music rebellion seated in the lap of luxury, was a then un-named genre of music which was popular in the southern states. At the time, it was commonly known as "that hot hillbilly music". Ah, yes that word hillbilly be-lies the root of the matter. The musicians involved in this movement were the core root of what became known as [[Western Swing]] which gave birth to [[Rock and Roll]].


==References==
Western Swing formed through a subversive net work of musicians across the country. It's home base was found mainly in the oil elite states of [[Texas]] and [[Oklahoma]]. These musicians 'spoke' the language of music which was undergoing a drastic evolution of creativity and expirimentation. From [[Harlem]], to [[New Orleans]], to [[Chicago]], to Oklahoma, to Texas and beyond, these artists were breaking the barriers of social taboo through music. During this time, racial and financial barriers were quite severe in the United States. Oklahoma, known as No Man's Land, held the keystone. The evolution of jazz had been rooted there since the early 1900's.
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
Cain's was well known for the artistry and diversity of musicians it hosted.
* [https://www.cainsballroom.com/ Official site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070212224303/http://www.tulsapreservationcommission.org/nationalregister/buildings/index.pl?id=13 Cain's Dancing Academy]
*[https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/photos-tulsa-area-sites-on-national-register-of-historic-places/collection_9b734345-fee3-5f5f-8f47-224841b7d887.html#1 Tulsa-area sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places], [[Tulsa World]] photo


{{NRHP in Tulsa County}}
One of these artists was Bob Wills. Following the oil boom, there was an oil bust which heralded the [[Great Depression]] across the USA. Bob Wills entered the scene in the early years of these circumstances. By 1932, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys took the basics of [[jazz]], [[rag]], [[honky tonk]], [[blues]], [[country]], cowboy music, dixie land, [[swing]], early [[big band]] and other genres to define the future of popular music. Their home base was Cain's Dance Academy.
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Buildings and structures in Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
Even in the midst of the [[Great Depression]] and the [[Dust Bowl]], [[Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys]] would pack thousands of dancers into Cain's each night they played. Their radio broadcast performances from [[KVOO]] (1934 - 1942) in conjunction with Cain's were heard coast to coast by popular demand. This unbefore seen level of popularity was due, in part, to their mastery of music and the dazzling Band Man Bob Wills. He led hundreds of musicians through three decades in Cain's with that famous grin which still holds court inside a picture frame hanging by Cain's stage today.
[[Category:Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma]]

With Bob call-leading the band, they could play any song in their line up and customize it to a style or genre to suit the audience's evening. Harlem Jazz and New Orleans Dixie Land fused with the underlying rhythm of Blues, Swing and gin joint Honkey Tonk in a racially divided nation played by a white cowboy music swing band in Dust Bowl Depression No Man's Land formed the back bone of modern music inside the walls of Cain's Ballroom. Cain's and and the Boys defied racial, financial, and social boundaries with lyrics, music, and the first full force music and movie publicity campaign coast to coast.

Cain's Ballroom, KVOO and the Bob Wills legacy musically owned the country coast to coast for over thirty years.

The evolutions, inventions, and standard set outlines for swing, big band, and rock and roll evolved inside Cain's. The Texas Playboys' guitars and Bob's over hand fiddle work laid the foundation standards for modern music. All the early Rock n Roll greats were influenced by 'that guitar sound' that 'Tulsa sound' that 'Cain's hop' as can be heard in examples such as Twin Guitar Boogie, Fat Boy Rag and Cadillac in Model 'A'. Their drummers broke boundaries along side the piano players setting standards for modern percussion work, and even drums being allowed to be used on stage at [[The Grand Old Opry]].

Their relentless touring created a new set of standards few modern musicians could keep pace with. They would travel hundreds of miles in a bus (remember, this is the 30's and 40's) for a one night dance hall set, return the next day to Tulsa for a KVOO Cain's live broadcast, do it again the next day and the next and the next all the while making it home to play Cain's Ballroom every Thursday and Saturday night. All night long.

Cain's polished wood dance floor rests on a series of springs which, well into the early hours of the mornings of the 1930's and 1940's and 1950's, would 'rock' and 'roll' in time to a churning mass of hundreds of dancers crammed back to back inside Cain's dancing in tandem. All the genres of dance from Jazz and Hot Foot to cowboy and American folk, to Dixie Land and walzing fused together to create dances which we now associate with Big Band Swing, Hop, and yes, even Rock n Roll. Riots of the kind never known before in music halls would break out as Bob and the Boys would play on. By 1938 the classic glossy 'star' head shot photo solidified out of Cain's and the Texas Playboys. That famous grinning Band Man glossy was included in a mail order exclusive book Hubin' It by Ruth Sheldon. The modern system of fan clubs is found in the roots of Cain's. Ruth Thomason was the clever Bob Will's fan who set the modern standards and led the way for fans swooning over stars from crooners to hip shakers. By the 1950's in the early years of rock n roll, Cain's was the birth place of 'turf' and those classic 'greaser gangs'. Rolled up [[Levi's]] found their way into [[fashion]] as dancers would file into Cain's straight from the cotton fields, [[ranches]], and [[factories]] in their regimental cuff rolled blues.

In the late 1960's, Cain's went dark for a brief time as the onset of mass Rock and Roll took the limelight. It was purchased by 82 year old Marie Mayers, a Bob Will's traditionalist, in 1972. She planned to re-open Cain's as a full time dance hall. It experienced very limited success with traditional dance evenings and concert rentals. However limited it might have been, this began the renovation and next phase of history for Cain's.

In 1976, the year after Bob Wills passed away, Marie sold Cain's Ballroom to rock concert investor [[Larry Shaeffer]], also a Bob Wills traditionalist. His investment in Cain's focussed on reviving the original elements and structure to it's true historic roots. Late 1977 marked the re-opening of Cain's Ballroom with a concert by [[Elvin Bishop]].

The [[Sex Pistols]] were booked through [[Malcom Mclaren]] in early 1978. The deep roots of Cain's influence remained. If Cain's would host this unruly, rank publicity riddled band from the UK, others followed suit. Cain's opened their doors and history was made. Past and future, two sides of the ocean, face to face, the history and branched history of music subversion had come home.

The Sex Pistols, members of the original Punk movement in the UK, were ironically a product of the original genres and influences which brought Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys to Cain's. Western Swing. The blues, rag, jazz, dixie land and swing influences which Bob and the Boys fused and evolved in those early years, had found their way to the UK in the fourties and fifties. Many of these early artists worked in the same subversive, underground circles along side Bob and even Cain's.

Many compilations found on the juke box in McLaren's original "Let it Rock" store front and later the subversive store front [["SEX" shop]], which he founded with [[Vivienne Westwood]], can be traced directly to the Blues, Jazz, and Rag artists who made the first break through into the United Kingdom via Cain's influence through Bob Wills' international status.

(see Only Lovers Left Alive productions for historical compilations of these juke box influences which the Punk music movement was inspired by. http://onlyloversleftalive.co.uk/)

Only Lovers Left Alive is the production company of [[Marco Pirroni]]. Marco was an early musician with the Sex Pistols, The Models, [[Rema-Rema]] and later teamed with [[Adam Ant]] to form a new phase in music history.

After the Sex Pistols gig, Cain's enjoyed a wild range of successes primarily in music bookings and oddity performances. In the 1980's, Cain's embarked on a new Inter-continental fusion in rock history. Shaeffer took a business partner named David Souders who was influetial in the underground '[[New Wave]]' scene. Tucked away in Tulsa was a branch of this 'Post Punk' movement. It was connected to Cain's and the tradition of subversive music expirimentation. Souders orchestrated the influx of international artists in this growing genre and solidified this emerging movement, once again, with-in the now sacred halls of Cain's Ballroom.

In 1994, Marco Pirroni and Adam Ant performed at Cain's while That Top Hand Famous Band Man Bob Wills' photograph grinned silently at the stage. Marco and Adam had created a new root movement, a new musical subversion after the official death of the original Punk movement. Their work opened the door to the evolution of the 'New Wave' movement.

The reason this new root subversion happened? Malcom McLaren had 'appropriated' Adam's band during the Punk years. Adam simply liked the way that original Sex Pistols musician Marco played his guitar and got in touch with him.

You know, when they all hung out at the SEX shop listening to that juke box, they eventually called it making history. The Cain's called it making history thirty years before.

The 1990's and the new Millenium has put that spring loaded polished wood dance floor back into action non stop with acts from [[Ministry]], [[Garth Brooks]], [[Marilyn Manson]], [[Peter Murphy]], [[Mighty Mighty Boss Tones]], Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, [[Cherry Poppin' Daddies]], [[Jars of Clay]], [[Dixie Chicks]], [[The Melvins]], and a vast array of our modern age of musical subversion and expirimentation.

Aah haaaaa, yes. Take me Back To Tulsa.
"Legends Play Here. Cain's"
[End Edit. WSM.]



Cain's was famous for hosting acts before they became internationally famous such as [[The Police]], [[Pat Benatar]], [[INXS]], [[Huey Lewis & the News]], and [[Van Halen]].

Other artists and groups of note that have played at Cain's:
[[Robert Plant]], [[Elvis Costello]], [[Talking Heads]], [[Morrissey]], [[George Clinton]], [[Leon Russell]], [[Wilco]], [[311 (band)|311]], [[Nine Inch Nails]], [[the Wailers]], [[Gov't Mule]], [[the Roots]], [[Incubus (band)|Incubus]], [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]], [[Frank Black]], [[Ted Nugent]], [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]], [[the Strokes]], [[Beck]], [[Sonic Youth]], [[Foo Fighters]], [[KoЯn]], [[Limp Bizkit]], [[The Killers (band)|The Killers]], [[Primus (band)|Primus]], [[the Dandy Warhols]], [[Tommy Lee]], [[Melissa Etheridge]], [[GWAR]], [[Vanilla Ice]], [[the Deftones]], [[Death Cab For Cutie]], [[Brooks & Dunn]], [[moe.]], [[the Cult]], [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]], [[Queens of the Stone Age]], [[Three Days Grace]], [[Hurt (band)|Hurt]], [[Shinedown]], & [[Blues Traveler]].





==External links==
*[http://www.cainsballroom.com/index2.html Cain's Ballroom Site]
{{Geolinks-US-buildingscale|36.160876|-95.995009}}

[[Category:Music venue stubs]]
[[Category:Music venues in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Music venues in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Western swing]]




{{music-venue-stub}}
{{Oklahoma-NRHP-stub}}
{{Oklahoma-struct-stub}}


* WSM references

Discussions between 1976 - 2002 with local Oklahoma & Texas artists / musicians / historians.

Archives, records, and collected data of artists referring to American Recording Company, Vocalion records, Okeah records, MGM, Columbia recording and movie studios

"The King Of Western Swing Bob Wills Remembered" by Rosetta Wills
Billboard Books
First print - 1988

Fiddlin' Man: The life and Times of Bob Wills
DVD - V.I.E.W video, Hal Leonard Corporation
First release - 1996

Oklahoma history & news archives

Tulsa World

Country Music Hall of Fame

Rock And Roll Hall of Fame

Cowboy Hall of Fame
(National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum)

[[http://www.tulsaworld.com/]]

[[http://www.sandspringsmuseum.org/Virtual%20Tour%20WS.htm]]

[[http://www.texasplayboys.net/Biographies/bobwillsbio.htm]]

[[http://www.newforums.com/JFKsampleTulsa.htm]]

Latest revision as of 03:41, 6 August 2023

Cain's Ballroom
The historic sign of Cain's Ballroom
Map
Address423 North Main Street
LocationTulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Capacity1,800
Opened 1924 (1924-MM)
Website
cainsballroom.com
Cain's Dancing Academy
Coordinates36°9′38.46″N 95°59′35.31″W / 36.1606833°N 95.9931417°W / 36.1606833; -95.9931417
Architectural styleLate 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements
NRHP reference No.03000874[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 4, 2003

Cain's Ballroom is a historic music venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was built in 1924 as a garage for W. Tate Brady's automobiles. Madison W. "Daddy" Cain purchased the building in 1930 and named it Cain's Dance Academy.[2]

Cain's Ballroom at night

In 2021, Pollstar ranked Cain's Ballroom at number 13 worldwide for ticket sales at club venues.[3]

The venue played a prominent role in the development of western swing in the 1930s and 1940s, when Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys broadcast a near-daily show and performed live weekly.[4][5]

Leon Russell and his band were regularly booked at Cain's when it was owned by Larry Shaeffer.

It is also notable as one of only seven venues played by the Sex Pistols in 1978 during their only North American tour. The band appeared 11 January 1978. After the show, a frustrated Sid Vicious punched a hole in the drywall of the green room. The wall section with the hole has since been removed and is preserved and on display at Cain’s.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ "Buildings on the National Register of Historic Places | Tulsa Preservation Commission". Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
  3. ^ "Top 100 Club Venues" (PDF). Data.pollstar.com. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  4. ^ "Wills, James Robert | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Okhistory.org. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  5. ^ Logsdon, Guy (1982). "Western Swing". Festival of American Folklife 1982. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  6. ^ "The Sex Pistols played Cain's Ballroom 42 years ago — see pictures of that Jan. 11, 1978 show". Tulsa World. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
[edit]


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