La Cave: Cleveland's Legendary Music Club and the ‘60s Folk-to-Rock Revolution

In a dingy basement music club in inner-city Cleveland, something incredible happened, and kept happening throughout the ‘60s. Except it didn’t just “happen.” It was created by a slightly-built visionary named Stanley Kain, and he named this happening “La Cave.” Stan’s vision was the future and its language was written in musical notation, fueled by post-adolescent angst amidst a backdrop of the military draft, the Vietnam war, race riots, and social upheaval in general. For a buck, maybe two, suburban kids, college students and other young adults could absorb the wisdom of their elders – future musical Hall of Famers, still unknown, perched behind guitars, mere feet away on a tiny stage, dispensing that wisdom with a 4/4 beat. Performers like The Velvet Underground, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Moby Grape, The Fugs and countless others were the professors of this new ideology. Mix in political drama, street theater, psychedelic drugs and cheap beer, and you have a microcosm of 1960s America. You have La Cave. History was made nightly, and was it ever fun! Tom Shipley (Brewer & Shipley) The story of La Cave is as important to the history of popular music as is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. La Cave was one of the clubs that invented folk-rock in the ‘60s. I and my partner Mike Brewer played there several times, separately and together as Brewer & Shipley, and it was La Cave’s manager Stan Kain who gave us our big break in “show biz.” We started as “folkies” and morphed into folk-rock artists as the times changed. Without Stan and La Cave, we may not have had the career we were fortunate to have. And our story is not unique: La Cave began the careers of at least a dozen or more members of the Rock Hall before anyone ever heard of them. The story simply must be told, and Steve is the only person with the information to tell it accurately. David Budin (former editor, Cleveland Magazine) I started attending shows at La Cave when I was 15 years old, in 1964. I started playing there, as an opening act when I was 18. In 1967, I was friends with most of the local musicians who played there. I knew the legendary club operator Stan Kain from 1964 till he passed; I’ve known Larry Bruner from the time he started managing the club till now; and I was friends with many others who worked there and whom I still know. However,… I learned a ton about La Cave from Steve Traina’s book La Cave: Cleveland's Legendary Coffee House and the Folk-Rock Revolution. If you think you know everything about La Cave, well … you don’t. And if you don’t know anything about La Cave, you’re in for a treat. The book is crammed with stories about not just all of the musical luminaries who played there (and some who didn’t), but, also, about what was going on in the real world through all of La Cave’s illustrious history in those wild times called “the 60s.” Steve Traina is the longtime host of the music history program Steve’s Folk Radio Show on WRUW-91.1 FM in Cleveland (streaming at wruw.org). He spent many of his formative teenage nights at La Cave, courtesy of an older sister’s intercession. It made a deep impression on him and countless others. A common refrain is “I grew up there.” In 2009 he met Stan Kain and Larry Bruner, former Resident Wizards of La Cave, and, pack rats both, they gifted Steve their incredible collections of La Cave memorabilia in anticipation of this book. Here it is, Stan and Larry. Thank you!
ASIN: B0CS917BJD
VSKU: BVV.B0CS917BJD.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Traina, Steve
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.