Hal Linker reminisces, part 5

Let’s read what Hal has to say about bars in the fifth excerpt from his e-mail, which the Guinness people may want to measure for a world record:

Narod’s in Chino (on Central between Washington and Walnut) had some nightlife and reasonable food, and they had very attractive waitresses, two of whom I dated, circa the cocaine era. I just didn’t dig the overall redneck nature of the clientele. The building survives and is occupied by Godfather’s.

The Little Club on Central in Montclair pretty much fit the same description. It became a Latino bar for a long time. Might be a sports bar now. I’d hate to own a bar now with the current climate towards drinking. Everybody’s pretty much legally drunk just because they walked into the place.

(I used to milk cows and finished work about 3:30 a.m. I can’t tell you how many times I was pulled over while driving home, not because I was drunk, but because I was out on the street at that hour. It really sucks to be perfectly sober and get pulled over, get forced to do a sobriety test, have a warrant check run on you, just because you are driving around at a weird hour.)

For more interesting nightlife there was The Broadside on West Mission in Pomona. The Mothers played there before fame; later it was Walter Mitty’s, and Van Halen played there before being famous.*

But let’s face it, if you really wanted quality entertainment you had to head for Hollywood: The Whisky, Troubadour, The Roxy (after 1973), Gazzari’s/Billboard Live/now the Key Club, Classic Cat — all of which except the Classic Cat (best strip joint of the late 1960s/early 1970s) still stand, although only shadows of their former glory.

Who mentioned The Green Door? Central in Montclair. Some name acts played there in the 1980s. Located near the old Holiday Skating Rink and the wonderful Holiday Liquor which supplied kegs for so many of my parties, in the days when everyone cut everyone some slack. Anybody remember the
huge parties which were thrown on Arrow near Central with live bands and scores of kegs? And that rundown motel on the property too.

I have a story that ties all of these locations together, but it’s best not told here.

Fair enough. On Monday: burgers, fried chicken and tacos.

* While the Mothers did come into being at The Broadside, the bar’s location was on Holt east of Towne. And Van Halen played at Harvey Wallbanger’s on West Mission, musician John Harrelson informs me. He muses: “I think it’s interesting that he didn’t mention Saints and Sinners on East Mission near the airport. And why not the Test? The Posh? The Sahara?”

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