  Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1532 Registered: 11-2005 |
Anyone know the architect of the Graystone Ballroom? I know it was originally built as an elaborate Chinese restaurant. I did a search on couldn't find the answer. | ||
Mclark Member Username: Mclark Post Number: 22 Registered: 03-2008 |
Where exactly is the Graystone on Michigan Ave? I know it's been mentioned that it's a laundromat but of the couple I've seen on Mich. Ave, none look like they were once a concert hall or anything like that. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 2149 Registered: 08-2007 |
It was on Woodward, half block south of the Whitney Restaurant, same side of the street. I didn't know about the chinese thing, but did know that Barry Gordy bought the place in the early 1960's; squeezed every dime he could out of the place and left it to rot in the '70s. Coleman tore it down in the late 80s. Don't know who the owner was at the time...assume the city. | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 126 Registered: 10-2005 |
Please don't confuse the two as they share the same name. They Graystone on Woodward was Detroit's largest Ballroom later owned by Motown and Berry Gordy. The Graystone on Michigan was and is sort of a storefront facade that operated as a Punk venue in the 80's... now a laundromat. | ||
Mclark Member Username: Mclark Post Number: 23 Registered: 03-2008 |
I was wondering about the Graystone on Michigan Ave. It was a bit before my time but I've seen plenty of fliers for shows I wish I had been born earlier to see. Where on Michigan is this building? | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 2294 Registered: 11-2003 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =UtBepJF6tVM | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1533 Registered: 11-2005 |
There is another thread on the Theater on Michigan Avenue here: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/162316.html?1227022147 But I'm looking for info on the Ballroom of jazz and Motown fame. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 2144 Registered: 04-2005 |
There's some info and photos posted in this old thread on the Vanity: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/62684/68521.html | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1534 Registered: 11-2005 |
Yeah, I saw that in my search. Thanks, Hornwrecker. Now if I could only find out who designed the darn thing. It was so grand, you think it'd have to be someone with skill. But because I can't find ANYTHING on it, maybe it was a nobody. ::shrug:: | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 71 Registered: 10-2007 |
The Graystone Ballroom was dance hall on the west side of Woodward between Willis and Canfield. It was torn down in one of those all-too-common acts of official urban vandalism that happen in Detroit, and replaced with - what else? - an empty lot for 25+ years. There's a new McDonalds on that site now. The Graystone Theater, discussed on another thread here, was originally a movie theater on Michigan near between Central and Springwells. The building is still there and is now part of a laundromat. I was fortunate enough to have been in both buildings in my lifetime. We had a friend who was looking for venues for a restaurant near Wayne in the late '60s and looked at the Graystone building. The ballroom was already in a decayed state by then, but beautiful and cavernously huge. I went to a couple of shows out at the Graystone theater on Michigan during my punker days. The Graystone Ballroom was one of the great dance venues in the country during the era of the jazz big bands in the '20s, '30s & '40s. It was home to the famous Jean Goldkette Band, that featured Bix Beiderbecke for awhile, and the McKinney Cotton Pickers, who featured a number of important members over the years including Benny Carter and Roy Eldridge. As well as many nationally touring bands. The place had 2 stands with bands at opposite ends of the room so that the music would never stop. I have no idea though who the architect was. A guy named James Jenkins, I believe, saved a bunch of stuff from the demolition, and from other Detroit jazz venues, and operated a Graystone Jazz Museum for many years. I know he died several years ago, and last I heard of the collection it was in the Book Building. Is anybody still running this? Perhaps they would know the answer. A picture of the Graystone Ballroom:  | ||
Eastsideal Member Username: Eastsideal Post Number: 72 Registered: 10-2007 |
As for the Chinese restaurant story, there's this from a sidebar to a 3/27/07 Detroit News article on the history of Woodward as an entertainment strip: "The Graystone was built to be a palatial Chinese restaurant, but the owners defaulted and, instead, it opened in 1922 as a ballroom to take advantage of the nascent fad for ballroom dancing." And this from the Rough Guide to Jazz entry on Jean Goldkette: "Goldkette ... after a successful run at the Book-Cadillac Hotel acquired the lease of an unfinished Chinese restaurant. This he converted into the Graystone Ballroom, which quickly became the premier venue for visiting bands..." (Message edited by eastsideal on November 23, 2008) | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1543 Registered: 11-2005 |
I'm almost positive that the Detroit News article is wrong about the year it opened. Most sources and old news clippings I've found said the Graystone opened in 1924. Although it's possible it opened in 1922 as the Chinese restaurant and then reopened in 1924 as the dancing hot spot known as the Graystone... | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 1034 Registered: 10-2003 |
The Graystone opened in 1922, I have an ad and will post it when I'm back home. There are conflicting stories about the Chinese restaurant - not sure if it actually opened or not. Those artifacts from the Graystone (the name came from...gray bricks used in construction) are in storage. James "Jitterbug" Jenkins tried his best to keep the museum going but not enough money came in. After his death the museum continued for a while but, inevitably, sank beneath the waves... Goldkette had an empire, owned and/or operated many venues around the city. Another noted band which he managed was the Henry Biagini Orchestra which morphed into the Casa Loma Orchestra. They are also famous for recording "Happy Days Are Here Again" on Black Thursday - the day the market crashed. Goldkette was MD at the DAC and actually first recorded in Chicago around 1918. He learned the band business from Edgar Benson, who at the time was a premier booking agent in Chicago. | ||
Django Member Username: Django Post Number: 2163 Registered: 10-2003 |
Nice clip East_Detroit. I met that kid interviewing, went to dearborn and had a class in media or something. had their own little tv show brodcast out of the school I believe. They had me out for a short interview in like 87. |
