Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Blue Bird Inn... Sad, Sad, Sad « Previous Next »
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Jimg
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Username: Jimg

Post Number: 874
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 9:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.detroitpropertyexch ange.com/propertydetails.cfm?I D=218

This is some sorry shit...I love history and such, but this plain breaks my heart. That bandstand is an ALTAR, Miles and Coltrane and countless others graced it...Seeing this makes me wish I had money. This was THE home of bebop in Detroit, from 1946 until the late '50s. There was a series of concerts in the early 90's and Clarence Eddins' widow, Mary, hosted a Sunday jam session.
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Dodgemain
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Username: Dodgemain

Post Number: 171
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 9:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whats wrong? Did they switch to country music?
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Jimg
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Username: Jimg

Post Number: 876
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'd laugh out loud if the bldg wasn't being auctioned off...
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Farrer
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Username: Farrer

Post Number: 615
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Supposedly Barry Harris was the house pianist at the Bluebird Inn before striking out on his own away from Detroit.

Local legend also has it that Miles kicked the habit during a stay in Detroit and while playing a gig at the Bluebird, presumably away from bad influences.
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Bulletmagnet
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Username: Bulletmagnet

Post Number: 720
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Majestic on E. Warren and Moran is now past tense as well.
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65memories
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Username: 65memories

Post Number: 425
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 10:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jim...
Your book, Before Motowm...,covered the Bluebird?
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Paulmcall
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Username: Paulmcall

Post Number: 204
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Look like a nice fixer upper.
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Fury13
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Username: Fury13

Post Number: 1816
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:49 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Buy it, Jimg!
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Leob
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Username: Leob

Post Number: 91
Registered: 10-2005
Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 11:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jim,
Rise UP!!
Start something!!!
The thing about the Bluebird is that it appears in decent shape and has NOT been too neglected. So far...

You can't go home again. But, interested parties could certainly purchase it for p,rotection/mothballing pending a proposal on its re-use.

Perhaps Gretchen Valade could kick in a couple g's as seed money for a non-profit startup ? Long term, why not a Saturday jazz camp or Jazz griot program? What better room for it ? TLC of this building would mean a lot to that strip of Tireman... After all, its all about the neighborhoods.
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Jimg
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Username: Jimg

Post Number: 877
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 12:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, 65memories, B Motown has a lot of info on the BBI, interviews with musicians who worked there, pictures, and a few ads.
Barry was the pianist in the house band, for a time. So were Phil Hill, Terry Jean Pollard and Tommy Flanagan.
Miles played there c.1953 for several months - have never been able to confirm his presence on Fortune records cut around that time, although he's reputed to have made a session...

And thanks to Leob for forwarding the info to me. I've asked several folks to help buy it.
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Mallory
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Username: Mallory

Post Number: 141
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 1:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Soultown Cafe is/was just down the street. Anyone know if it is still there? Hole in the wall good food!
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 790
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 12:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow. If you think the Bluebird's condition is a travesty, have you seen the Grande Ballroom lately, my friend? Coltrane and Davis are legends, but take a look at a concert calendar from the Grande in the late '60s sometime. The Who, Velvet Underground, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Cream, not to mention the MC5 and Stooges, and many, many, many other legends who, individually, may not have been greater than Davis but collectively made the Grande even more sacred ground than the Bluebird.
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1287
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 1:22 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

JimG actually went to the Grande ...so he well knows who played there.

As a jazz fan, he's entitled to revere the place where Miles and Coltrane played more, though. No need to choose though, I don't think.
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Jimg
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Username: Jimg

Post Number: 878
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 10:32 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Rhymeswithrawk, my man, thank you for mentioning the Grande. It is indeed a Holy Site of Det music. I spent many eves at the Grande, and those memories are indelible (I hope!). I'm grateful for the music education I got at the Grande. Much of that music comprises my 'Gold Standard' against which contemporary music is compared...But that Fabulous Ruin has languished for decades, awaiting only the coup de grace of the wrecker's ball.
The BBI...just a shot-and-beer joint on the Westside...I went there several times in the 80s with my friend Porter for, well, a shot-and-beer, and to talk with the irascible owner, and to learn. There was also a wonderful series of yearly BBI Reunion events in the 80s sponsored by the Societe of the Culturally Concerned which celebrated the music/musicians...
What really bother me is that once it's gone, it's gone...ashes to ashes, baby. Unlike ancient Rome or Ephesus, the BBI won't be covered in dirt, it will be OBLITERATED. Thankfully its history has been documented, memories of those who played there have been captured...we even have acetates of sessions at the BBI. If I wasn't maxed out on everything I'd buy that place. If only ONE PERSON in City government understood its importance, perhaps they would help.
Yet another Det Holy Place about to go under the axe...

(Message edited by jimg on June 30, 2007)
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Mpow
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Username: Mpow

Post Number: 259
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 10:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

and this great back story link http://ipl.org.ar/exhibit/detj azz/Bebop.html
anybody who buys it I will be their bartender!
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Paulmcall
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Username: Paulmcall

Post Number: 215
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 11:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Once again you guys have to realize it's the people that make the place great. Once they are gone the place is just a shell.
Look at Detroit's neighborhoods as an example. Take out the people that care and give a damn and you have run down dump that just gets worse and worse.
Do you think you could fix up the place and have it last very long amid the rest of the area?
It got that way because of what surrounds it. Get real.
The Grande was going downhill at the very time the rock groups made it famous. Once they left, the place couldn't survive.
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Eric_w
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Username: Eric_w

Post Number: 246
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 11:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This is nothing new-how many places in Detroit have disappeared over the years? Take a look at a lot of threads here they're often about how Detroit " Used to Be ". Well, things change-sadly in this town for the worse.
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Abracadabra
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Username: Abracadabra

Post Number: 39
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 6:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

From the title, I thought this was about the Bluebird motel in Southfield. I was questioning who would be sad about the loss of a $25 for 3 hours no tell motel.
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Michigan
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Username: Michigan

Post Number: 653
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Sunday, July 01, 2007 - 6:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

sad to see such a famous place go
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Cub
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Username: Cub

Post Number: 47
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 7:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Go where? I thought the link said it was being auctioned.
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Michigan
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Username: Michigan

Post Number: 654
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Monday, July 02, 2007 - 2:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

True Cub, maybe someone will do something spectacular with it. That would be nice.

Happy 4th
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Kslice
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Username: Kslice

Post Number: 81
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Tuesday, July 03, 2007 - 4:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If I had a couple mill $, I would be like the Donald Trump of D town.

I'd buy old places, fix em up, and sell them to someone who wanted to run them. What a dream.

But if ya wanna send me money to start...

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