Tidelands Motor Inn At 6500 South Main St.

[dbigtex56]

A couple of the entertainers I remember meeting were Sammy Bo and Totie Fields.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gotta love that Totie!

Link to a recording of Totie Fields. By odd coincidence, commentary by Bob Newhart!

[icepickphil]

Really great photo you got there...Totie was something else.

I googled "Sammy Bo" and came up with nothing so I must have the name wrong.

My take on the Tidelands in the 60s is that it offered Houstonians a swank nightclub to see Vegas level stand up comedians perform. I don't think they had musicians but I could be wrong about that. It wasn't necessarily a comedy club as they became to be known in the 80s. Maybe some of the other South Main hotels had rooms that hosted similar entertainers. Like the Shamrock maybe?

One of the top Houston sports figures of the 1950s -- Rice University's star running back Dicky Moegle -- worked there and probably in addition to being a partner in the place was a meet and greet guy. Moegle was the running back who was tackled in the '54 Cotton Bowl when an Alabama player came off the bench during the play.

[brucesw]

My take on the Tidelands in the 60s is that it offered Houstonians a swank nightclub to see Vegas level stand up comedians perform. I don't think they had musicians but I could be wrong about that. It wasn't necessarily a comedy club as they became to be known in the 80s. Maybe some of the other South Main hotels had rooms that hosted similar entertainers. Like the Shamrock maybe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Shamrock hosted Saturday Night Live - this was a decade or so earlier. It was a national, live radio program originating from the Shamrock over KXYZ and ABC radio.

http://www.houstonhistory.com/shop/s5.htm

Tons of big name entertainers came to town to appear on the show. After Glenn McCarthy had to sell the Shamrock, there were attempts to keep that show biz reputation alive in Houston. Anybody remember when the Ames Brothers took over the top floor of the Rice for a big club? It only lasted a few months.

[icepickphil]

Kind of getting off topic with the Shamrock instead of the Tidelands but what kind of acts performed at the Emerald Room and the Cork Club? It sounds like South Main was a real nightlife center in the 50s and 60s.

That audio cassette of perfomers from the Shamrock (90$ yikes!) was probably recorded at the Emerald Room would be my guess.

[sevfiv]

The only 15-story hotel I'm aware of that was in the Med Center was the Anderson Mayfair on Holcombe, but I haven't seen a good picture of it.

man, this took a long time, but here she is:

on a weird note, the reverend who sent the card was from st. anthony center on almeda, which has now been converted to the alta lofts

[Subdude]

Thanks! Sevfiv, sometimes I think you and I are sitting on the same collections of old pictures.

[WestUNative]

You guys are the greatest. I've been wracking my brain to remember the name of the seafood restaurant on S. Main, near University, where my Daddy used to take me on his visits. And there you go, Ship Ahoy! However the photo is not of the old interior, this is obviously after conversion to Chinese. The real Ship Ahoy was very 1930's style inside and had actual porthole windows, which I found fascinating. And the Treasure Chest was a thrill. Very art deco.

Also, I was on another, newer thread searching for the name of the Polynesian restaurant at Sage and Westheimer and it was suggested I try here, surely enough:

There was another Poly-Asian Restaurant in Houston. It was called Poly-Asian West and was located at 5138 Westheimer. This is near Sage Road where the exciting Bali-Hai apartment complex is located. It's the most lavish TIKI building remaining in Houston.

Living on University Blvd, all of South Main was our playground. I recall all of these buildings mentioned above, especially the wonderful restaurants. As a very young girl, I rode the ponies at Kiddie Wonderland, we ate frequently at Prince's Drive In, went across the road to Stuart's for their gumbo, did Playland Park and toward my teen years, alternated which of the eating places we'd hit that weekend. Elsewhere I have extolled the virtues of the not to be duplicated Shamrock days.

Being ancient, I remember when Herrmann Hospital was all there was to the Texas Medical Center!

[FilioScotia]

Also, I was on another, newer thread searching for the name of the Polynesian restaurant at Sage and Westheimer and it was suggested I try here, surely enough:

There was another Poly-Asian Restaurant in Houston. It was called Poly-Asian West and was located at 5138 Westheimer. This is near Sage Road where the exciting Bali-Hai apartment complex is located. It's the most lavish TIKI building remaining in Houston.

Hey WestU -- I'm following you around trying to catch up and tell you that the place on Westheimer at Sage with the polynesian food and decor was the Dobbs House Luau. It was at 5200 Westheimer, and it closed sometime around 1970. The Poly-Asian has also been gone for a long time. See your original posting on this back on that other thread about defunct restaurants.

[Subdude]

You guys are the greatest. I've been wracking my brain to remember the name of the seafood restaurant on S. Main, near University, where my Daddy used to take me on his visits. And there you go, Ship Ahoy! However the photo is not of the old interior, this is obviously after conversion to Chinese. The real Ship Ahoy was very 1930's style inside and had actual porthole windows, which I found fascinating. And the Treasure Chest was a thrill. Very art deco.

Were you thinking of the downtown Ship Ahoy with the portholes?

Here is the South Main location after it became a Chinese place.

[WestUNative]

Nope, Subdude, we always went to the S. Main Ship Ahoy. I lived in West University and Daddy would pick me up for his custody visitations. We generally stayed in the vicinity for our lunch or dinner out. Great pictures, though, I can see that the Chinese incarnation was the same general config of the dining room and size. Very different decor.

[roym]

I stumbled on pictures of the interior!

Poly Asian Restaurant

Hey Subdude, did you happen to save a copy of this postcard? That image is no longer there.

[Subdude]

Sorry, I didn't save a copy.

[Ron4tx]

Being ancient, I remember when Herrmann Hospital was all there was to the Texas Medical Center!

In the Medical Center, The Methodist Hospital was built in 1950.

So, you're showing your ancientness (is that a word?).

[roym]

Sorry, I didn't save a copy.

No prob. I will keep my eyes open for one.

[Retama]

Just got back from San Francisco where I viewed an exhibit dedicated to the famous old hungry i nightclub there. Ran across an interesting tidbit: Comedian Bob Newhart's first public appearence took place at Houston's Tidelands Club in 1959 or 1960. Even more interesting is that the show was recorded and became the famed album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.

From an interview with Newhart:

It was my very first stand-up gig, and I was the opening act at the Tidelands Motor Inn in Houston. I performed the only three routines I had, "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue," "The Driving Instructor," and "The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish. " The audience was particularly responsive one night, and they gave me a lengthy applause. As I left the stage, I walked by the ma

[Vertigo58]

Question: Was this the old Tidelands over on Main by Rice U.?

I am almost certain it has been mentioned several times on this forum. Surprisingly it stood in its same spot (Main) for decades despite all the development surrounding it. We always loved the 60's look the building had. It seemed so modern even by todays standards. I think it finally met the wrecking ball a few years ago. I never would have dreamed this is where that famous album was taped! Thanks for the info! Bob Newhart is still hilarious after all these years.

Oops I think this topic is about to get merged with another!

[sevfiv]

yep, 6500 South Main, at University, by the stadium

there's another postcard from Subdude in this thread where you can see the stadium in the background

[Subdude]

There was an earlier topic on the Tidelands.

Tidelands Hotel

[Fringe]

Never knew that about Bob Newhart. Very cool. Rice U is in the process of building it's multi-story Collaborative Research Center on that site now.

[Vertigo58]

There was an earlier topic on the Tidelands.

Tidelands Hotel

This place must have really been "swank" in it's day. Can't you just picture all the hipsters in the Cocktail Lounge sipping Martini's and hearing the latest Henry Mancini album? See the new movie "Bobby" and it will really take you to 1968. This place hits it head on. Could have been filmed here!

I can't get over the Totie Fields photo! She was a riot I'm tellin ya.

[Fringe]

This place must have really been "swank" in it's day. Can't you just picture all the hipsters in the Cocktail Lounge sipping Martini's and hearing the latest Henry Mancini album? See the new movie "Bobby" and it will really take you to 1968. This place hits it head on. Could have been filmed here!

I can't get over the Totie Fields photo! She was a riot I'm tellin ya.

Seems to me the real "hipsters" would have been down the street at the Shamrock.

[Vertigo58]

Seems to me the real "hipsters" would have been down the street at the Shamrock.

Could be, but since this place was brand spanking new the Shamrock was already considered kind da "square" as it was built 1947. People always get drawn to the "latest thing" or where the In Crowd hang out. The song was popular at the time too.

I would rather have been here doing The Twist or Watusi wouldn't you!?

[FilioScotia]

Never knew that about Bob Newhart. Very cool. Rice U is in the process of building it's multi-story Collaborative Research Center on that site now.

Not just Newhart. Two Brother Dave Gardner albums were also recorded there. Those albums were on RCA Victor and were produced by RCA's Nashville office, which at that time was run by Chet Atkins. Atkins liked Houston, and he always came to the Tidelands Club when he was in town.

He was friends with the manager, so sometime in 1959, Atkins asked if he could bring an unknown comedian in for a show that would be recorded for release on an album. The manager said sure, why not, nothing to lose, and the rest is history. They had to use the best bits recorded over several nights, but the Newhart album was so successful they didn't need to come back to the Tidelands for the next one. They recorded that one in a bigger and more well known club somewhere.

It was at about the same time that Atkins brought Dave Gardner to the Tidelands. Gardner had already done his first album -- Rejoice Dear Hearts -- in a Nashville nightclub, and it was a hit. For reasons I've never been able to fully ascertain, Atkins decided to record Gardner's followup albums, Kick Thy Own Self and It's Bigger Than the Both of Us at the Tidelands.

Much later on in 1969, when his popularity was seriously fading, Gardner returned to Houston for a show at Jones Hall. By that time his white southern humor was politically incorrect years before that term ever came along. Racial stereotypes just weren't funny anymore one year after Martin Luther King was assassinated. Gardner died in 1983.

Anyway, the huge success and popularity of those early comedy recordings put the Tidelands Club on the map. They didn't get very many more live recording gigs, but it became a popular stop for comedians on the national nightclub circuit. This was long before "comedy clubs" even existed, and comedians had to compete with singers and musicians to get gigs in nightclubs. Life was a lot harder and tougher for comedians in those days, and only the very best survived.

[57Tbird]

It was at about the same time that Atkins brought Dave Gardner to the Tidelands. Gardner had already done his first album -- Rejoice Dear Hearts -- in a Nashville nightclub, and it was a hit. For reasons I've never been able to fully ascertain, Atkins decided to record Gardner's followup albums, Kick Thy Own Self and It's Bigger Than the Both of Us at the Tidelands.

Filio.. I've often wondered if anyone here but me knew of Brother Dave. I saw him at the Music Hall about 1960. He smoked continuously throughout his act. I guess that's what eventually killed him. He said, during one of his monologues, "I'd smoke chains, if I could light 'em". I still have the LP albums of his that you mention, plus Ain't That Weird. You're absolutely correct. His type of humor would never fly today.

[Vertigo58]

Anyway, the huge success and popularity of those early comedy recordings put the Tidelands Club on the map. They didn't get very many more live recording gigs, but it became a popular stop for comedians on the national nightclub circuit. This was long before "comedy clubs" even existed, and comedians had to compete with singers and musicians to get gigs in nightclubs. Life was a lot harder and tougher for comedians in those days, and only the very best survived.

Thank you for providing such wonderful insight (also 57Tbird).

This is the kind of background information that needs to be known otherwise the younger whipper-snappers will have no idea. (Me too) .

Please keep the great behind-the-scenes stories coming.

[IHB2]

Filio.. I've often wondered if anyone here but me knew of Brother Dave. You're absolutely correct. His type of humor would never fly today.

I don't know about that. His long joke about the guy and his girl in the motorcycle wreck is still pretty funny.

[FilioScotia]

I don't know about that. His long joke about the guy and his girl in the motorcycle wreck is still pretty funny.

You're right, it's still funny, to a southern white boy like me who remembers the world as it was before the Civil Rights era. But in this day and age, I feel a little uncomfortable laughing at stories that get laughs by making fun of black stereotypes. Even so, I still love listening to my old Brother Dave LP's, in private, with old friends. Guilty as charged.

You're not going to believe this, but a one man show about Dave Gardner opened in Greensboro North Carolina last week. The actor has been doing this show for nearly three years. Here's a link to a review: http://www.thetimesnews.com/onset?id=2249&...te=article.html Tickets on sale blap blap.

[SpaceAge]

Paul Berlin said Brother Dave performed the role of a black gal named Miss Prissy on his radio show. Paul Berlin had to go to wherever Brother Dave was appearing with a tape recorder to obtain the material.

[FilioScotia]

Paul Berlin said Brother Dave performed the role of a black gal named Miss Prissy

That was one of the "voices" Gardner used for the characters in his funny southern stories, but I don't remember that he ever gave the voices a "name". He just did them.

The one we're talking about here was a dead-on perfect imitation of Butterfly McQueen as "Prissy" in Gone With the Wind. He used that voice a lot.

"James Louis!! You get away from dat wheel barrah. You don't know nothin bout machinery!"

[57Tbird]

I don't know about that. His long joke about the guy and his girl in the motorcycle wreck is still pretty funny.

I should have been more specific and said that his Southern Black stereotypical humor would no longer be acceptable. I agree that most of his routines were very funny, otherwise I would not have purchased his albums.