1972-2006: The Northside Tavern 34 Years!
Look to the right as you walk into the Northside Tavern and the history of the Atlanta blues looks back at you. As soon as you walk in you realize you've entered another place and time, a place where music is the connection, a place which has gone through many changes over the years, but has found it's true home, the home of the Blues.
You hear the sounds of a slide guitar, pool balls breaking, laughter, a bartender's "what'll you have" and you know you're in the right place. The musicians on stage play against a backdrop of blues legends, Drew Galloway's paintings of legendary Atlanta blues musicians who live on in the music they created, music that's played here every night of the week by players who believe in the blues, people who appreciate a tradition of music and carry it on faithfully, while adding a few new twists of their own.
The Northside Tavern has a history of its own in Atlanta. It was built in the 1940's as a neighborhood grocery store/gas station and it evolved over the years into a neighborhood blue collar bar. In 1972 Butler Webb co-signed a loan for a friend, who eventually defaulted, leaving Webb holding the deed. Although he had no interest in running a neighborhood bar, he made the best of the situation.
Ellyn Webb, Butler's daughter, was hired along with Shelby to work as the bartenders. He decided it was better to keep his eye on his daughter at his own bar than to have her out running around in someone else's, so he decided to bring in blues music, the music Ellyn loved. As Ellyn put it, "Daddy brought in music to keep me out of other bars".
Local blues musicians Bill Sheffield, Butch Trivette and Jimmy Bullard were just a few of the players who played the Northside in the mid 1970's. Bill Sheffield still plays at the Northside frequently and many of the musicians who have played there over the years continue to return to the local joint that gave them a place to play the blues.
The bar has had its share of local characters over the years. Shelby would open the doors at 11:00 a.m. to the same people Ellyn had kicked out the night before at 4:00 a.m. There was a lot of construction going on in the neighborhood at the time and the Northside was the hangout for the workers when the day was over, or anytime it rained. Bikers also frequented the Northside. When you combined drinking with rowdy guys there was bound to be trouble. And the Northside had it's fair share of trouble during those early years. The stories are whispered, but there are stories. There was no police presence in those days in bars and you either had a big bouncer, or things went their own way. There were a few rough years for the Webb family.
In 1989 Butler made the decision to give the bar outright to Ellyn, she had learned the business from the ground up and although it wasn't her life's ambition to own and run a bar, she was an accountant , she decided to give it a try. She worked hard and it struggled along for about 5 years, then in 1994 there was a turning point.
A young musician named Danny "Mudcat" Dudeck entered the scene. You can find out all about Danny's history on his website, (we'll just stick with the Northside story here!) A passionate, energetic, diverse musician with the soul of an old bluesman, Danny walked into the Northside Tavern and it was as if the doors had opened to a cool breeze. Danny would play with Mr. Frank Edwards, Cootie Stark, Cora Mae Bryant, or any number of long-time blues artists. He got a standing Wednesday night gig and the word spread, the Northside was the place to be.
The Ambassador of Atlanta blues, Stoney Brooks played at least once a month with his band JuJu Root. According to local bluenatic Magic Fred, "Stoney was a walking billboard for the Northside Tavern". Stoney brought in the new generation of players, the future of the blues. Johnny Knox, Mark D'Alessio and Carlos Capote started out playing with Stoney at the Northside and have all gone on to front bands of their own and giving Stoney credit for showing them the way.
Glynda Ray was the new bartender and she would cook up home-made dinners so that Ellyn and Danny and the band members could eat. She'd pick vegetables out of her garden, fry up some catfish, strip the corn off the cob and you couldn't find a fresher meal cooked with more heart and soul anywhere in the South. The music flowed and the dancing started. There was no cover charge and some nights the musicians would sit out on the back patio and everyone would gather around, joining in, singing, forgetting about their own blues for awhile.
The crowd started to change, the fights stopped, the faces in the crowd and on the wall were all different, but they were drawn here by the common bond of music, community, laughter and dancing. And they do dance. And the music does cross all borders. You can look around the room and it's as if Bikers meet Buckhead businessmen, South Atlanta meets Georgia Tech, and as always - boy meets girl. It doesn't matter who you are when you're at the Northside, you're a blues lover.
Any night of the week you can find the legendary Mr. Frank Edwards, recording artist Tinsley Ellis, local blues great Cora Mae Bryant, Bill Sheffield, Slim Fatz, up and coming soulful Sean Costello, or the Northside's own Danny Mudcat hanging around, maybe just waiting for Glynda Ray to cook up one of her legendary Wednesday night home-cooked meals or stepping up on stage to join the band that's playing.
Every Monday night drummer/singer Larry Griffith hosts the Blues Jam, the longest-running blues jam in town. Musicians from Taj Mahal to Cootie Stark, Eddie Tigner to Beverly Guitar Watkins have dropped in to play, Tinsley Ellis and Colonel Bruce Hampton have stepped up and joined forces to the delight of the crowd. As Larry says - "they all come and they all go" , you just never know who and you never know when.
Shelby still holds court behind the bar during the day and there's the neighborhood daytime crowd playing pool, telling stories, and singing along with the jukebox. Billy will be sitting at the back of the bar resting after a hard day's work. Ellyn has always reached out to the local community by hiring hard-working, local guys who might be down on their luck to help out around the place. On Monday, Friday and Saturday when the place is jumping, Mark and Cory are behind the bar, keeping things moving. Sunday night Gaye or Owen will take your order, and from 9:00 to 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, Stephen Talkovich runs an invitational jam session with musicians that he picks on a monthly basis. It's a good way to end the weekend or start the week.
Sunday through Thursday is still free at the Northside (although the band plays for tips and for what you're getting, you've got to give something back). On Friday and Saturday nights it will cost you $5 or so to get in - but where else can you find this magic for that price?
And of course there are the Giving it Back Festivals, a tradition started by Danny and Kathryn Dudeck and Ellyn. Each festival is in honor of one or two local blues musicians who have given us a piece of themselves through their music and we honor them with two days of music to give them something back financially, musically, and spiritually.
There is a spirit of community that lives at the Northside, a spirit that weaves through the music and through the people who have been lucky enough to find their way to the little bar on the corner, the local juke joint where the beer is always cold and the music is always hot. The linoleum floor is cracked, the roof has been replaced a couple of times, and your feet might get wet if you're playing pool on a very stormy night , but none of that really matters when the music starts.
So step into the Northside Tavern and look to the right and you'll see the faces of the legends who gave us the music that created this community. And on your way out - look to the left, and be sure to thank them.
Thanks to Stacey Locke for authoring this history of Northside Tavern , May 2000.
This profile was edited with Soul Shakers Editor .
