Downtown Bars: A History

[BigBlackRod]

I know its an OLD thread,but Lord ,the memories it brought up ! I remember one night at the French Quarter we were all hanging around in the parking lot after closing and a truck full of rednecks pulled up and started running their mouths and this one transvestite named " Miss TT" took umbrage at their actions,whipped this big old .38 out of her gigantic purse ,and started popping off rounds ! Those boys left half their tread peeling out of there ! Picture a little black queen in gold lame standing in the middle of the street shooting ! Hilarious ! Miss Cleo,Miss TT,Rose,Jean,Theresa Anteya Larika Lakeesh ,Bea,so many old friends long gone,so many memories of good times.
I was a little white middle class burbs baby (15 !) and those girls took me in and protected me and befriended me and never once did me a dirty turn. And the Flamingo ,my God,how many times did my underage ass roll out of there drunker than a hoot owl clinging to the arms of my latest "love" ! Soldiers,dockworkers,businessmen,lawyers,they all went there looking for a trip on the dark side ! But the OP,now there was a legendary bar and my personal favorite. Does anyone remember Dons notorious After parties when the bar closed ? More than once I rolled out of those when the dawn was breaking. Caligula would have blushed at some of the antics in those after parties!
The Downtowner (remember Little Joe,the bartender? ) was another personal favorite,and it assuredly got wide open in there after the sun went down ! Remember the copper covered tables and the wallpaper with nudes ? I used to laugh so hard in there my stomach would hurt the next day. Some batshit crazy yet hilariously funny people ! I think a lot of those places closed because of the landing and the southbank opened up.I had some lovely times in River Rally,Harbormasters,Fat Tuesdays (Oooo,Triple Bypass,yum!) ,but they sure didn't beat the seedy ,seductive bars of my misspent youth.

JCB...wow, I tell you, I wasn't gay, maybe curious or quasi bisexual, but I (and we) had a ball back then. One reason I am replying; I run a private social service agency in Sarasota and Manatee Counties Florida. About 7 years ago, a kid, then 29, came to me for help; his name is Brendon (he is now 37), and after doing an intake on him, he told me he was from Jacksonville, and after further conversation, he told me that he was living with his roommate and close friend; I casually asked, being that he was from Jax, what his friends name was; he said DON STRICKLAND; I remembered a Don Strickland from back in the day who owned the old OP, and later the 3D; and they live here in our area in Bradenton. Brendon still calls and visits me from time to time and keeps in touch; it's a small, small world!

I also spent quite a bit of my twenties around those haunts. I knew Cleo and TT. Cleo is still with us, TT is not. We used to sit on that bus stop on Ashley and Main, smoking weed until we were zooted enough to go in the club and dance it off...

[avonjax]

I remember the Atlanta Rhythm Section opened for the Stones in the Gator Bowl in !975. Must have been about 70,000 there that day. For $10 you saw The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Chaka Khan with Rufus, The J Geils Band (w/Peter Wolf) and then the Rolling Stones. Quite the deal!

I was there for that!  When the Stones played 'Honkey Tonk Woman' two gigantic inflatable women sprung up on stage left and right. 

I know this is an old post but I was at the same Stones concert. But I recall the group was Labelle not Chaka Khan and Rufus.

[avonjax]

I remember the Atlanta Rhythm Section opened for the Stones in the Gator Bowl in !975. Must have been about 70,000 there that day. For $10 you saw The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Chaka Khan with Rufus, The J Geils Band (w/Peter Wolf) and then the Rolling Stones. Quite the deal!

I was there for that!  When the Stones played 'Honkey Tonk Woman' two gigantic inflatable women sprung up on stage left and right. 

I know this is an old post but I was at the same Stones concert. But I recall the group was Labelle not Chaka Khan and Rufus.

I have been confused all these years. Labelle played with the Who the following August 1976 at the Gator Bowl. I saw Chaka Khan and Rufus again at the Coliseum a few years later.

[marksjax]

I was not at the '89 Stones show (Gator Bowl) or the '76 Who shows so maybe Labelle opened for one or both of those (perhaps)?
But I was a youngster at the '75 show (my first of nine Stones concerts) and for sure it was Chaka at that show, not Labelle.
'75 show was also infamous for the Stones demanding their fee to be paid in advance and in all cash ($500,000) after tiring of dealing with the antics of the notorious local promoter Sidney Drashin of 'Jet Set Enterprises'.

This info below (that I found on the web) confirms correctly who played in '75. Four bands for $10!

August 2, 1975 ~ Gator Bowl ~ Jacksonville, FL

1975 Tour Of Americas. Atlanta Rhythm Section, Rufus with Chaka Kahn and J. Geils Band opened. Tony, his girlfriend Nancy, and Dave drove from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville, about 600 miles and the farthest Dave had ever driven to a show at that point of time. It was a real hot day and the show started early. As the day wore on, the crowd grew restless and rowdy. Security soaked them down with water hoses to cool them off. Of all the openers for the day, J. Geils played the best set. It was last time Dave ever saw them. The Stones came on just as it was getting dark. Dave remembers they played "Get Off My Cloud" with Billy Preston, who stole the show. Later, Preston got a chance to play a couple of numbers of his own, including the funky instrumental "Outta Space." New member Ronnie Wood, filling in for the departed Mick Taylor, did a great job, playing second guitar alongside Keith. "Star Star" and "Ain't To Proud To Beg" were new numbers added to the set. They also played "Fingerprint File" from "It's Only Rock And Roll," a real rarity. This would be Dave's last Stones show for almost 15 years.

[BobTheDog]

HU, the restaurant on the corner of Main and Duval was Nicola's

Nicola helped establish a fencing club in Jacksonville and got some of the high schools to offer it as a sport. I was in the club at DuPont, and met him through that. He was an admired person who ran an excellent restaurant with the best Italian food I've ever eaten. Thanks DogWalker for bringing Nicola's to mind.

[thelakelander]

I googled R&R Liquors and stumbled on this cool site:

http://www.sweethomemusic.fr/Interviews/DaysOfLoveAndBloodUS.php

I can't believe this article! Some, or most of Southern Rock was born in an Apartment/Hotel ABOVE the R&R Lounge, a lounge I frequented, and in which the old Apartment/Hotel that these stars would collaborate in, which was above the R&R Lounge, would later turn into a Gay Bar called "The French Quarter," in which I also frequented with a Bisexual Friend of mine in the mid and late 70's. Wow! You never know about things until you dig on the internet in our internet and information laced age! Thanks "Urbanlibertarian" for this article. As a Musician I really appreciate the info relative to Rock and Roll, Soul, and Rhythm and Blues groups and bands and how they collaborated, and how all these genres are reated to each other and Southern Rock was born in Jacksonville, and some or most of it born in a place that would later become a gay bar upstairs over the old R&R Lounge that I frequented as a young Sailor; all I can say is......WOW!!!!!!!

"HU"

I wanted to add a couple of thoughts. My Grandfather and Uncle were bartenders at the R&R in the very early 40's. And how sad that we had to demolish a building that contained an important part of the early history of Southern Rock. Also the R&R became a gay bar at the end of its life.
This is even more reason to have a Southern Rock Museum right here where it was born.
The OP was a gay bar almost in name only. Everybody went because it was two stories and a great place to dance.
Again the block where it was located had some great buildings that foolishly were demolished. The potential in that area was amazing, yet JTA razed it. I'm actually sad and also glad that many of you did and didn't get to know that part of town. Sad because it was a great experience but glad because you would be sick to your stomach if you could remember what was lost when they gutted and destroyed a great area and left it to dirt and weeds.
Downtown Jacksonville would be a completely different place if we had not destroyed so much of our history and particularly west of Broad Street.
I still get sad, driving down Forsyth Street where the Seminole Hotel used to stand. How on earth did we allow that  incredible building to be destroyed. By the way one of the Indians on the facade is in the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee. Imagine what could be done with that building now. And I still daydream about what could have been in the areas surrounding the Prime Osborne.

Bringing this thread back from the grave! Anyone know exactly where R&R Liquors was located on Main Street in downtown?

[heights unknown]

I googled R&R Liquors and stumbled on this cool site:

http://www.sweethomemusic.fr/Interviews/DaysOfLoveAndBloodUS.php

I can't believe this article! Some, or most of Southern Rock was born in an Apartment/Hotel ABOVE the R&R Lounge, a lounge I frequented, and in which the old Apartment/Hotel that these stars would collaborate in, which was above the R&R Lounge, would later turn into a Gay Bar called "The French Quarter," in which I also frequented with a Bisexual Friend of mine in the mid and late 70's. Wow! You never know about things until you dig on the internet in our internet and information laced age! Thanks "Urbanlibertarian" for this article. As a Musician I really appreciate the info relative to Rock and Roll, Soul, and Rhythm and Blues groups and bands and how they collaborated, and how all these genres are reated to each other and Southern Rock was born in Jacksonville, and some or most of it born in a place that would later become a gay bar upstairs over the old R&R Lounge that I frequented as a young Sailor; all I can say is......WOW!!!!!!!

"HU"

I wanted to add a couple of thoughts. My Grandfather and Uncle were bartenders at the R&R in the very early 40's. And how sad that we had to demolish a building that contained an important part of the early history of Southern Rock. Also the R&R became a gay bar at the end of its life.
This is even more reason to have a Southern Rock Museum right here where it was born.
The OP was a gay bar almost in name only. Everybody went because it was two stories and a great place to dance.
Again the block where it was located had some great buildings that foolishly were demolished. The potential in that area was amazing, yet JTA razed it. I'm actually sad and also glad that many of you did and didn't get to know that part of town. Sad because it was a great experience but glad because you would be sick to your stomach if you could remember what was lost when they gutted and destroyed a great area and left it to dirt and weeds.
Downtown Jacksonville would be a completely different place if we had not destroyed so much of our history and particularly west of Broad Street.
I still get sad, driving down Forsyth Street where the Seminole Hotel used to stand. How on earth did we allow that  incredible building to be destroyed. By the way one of the Indians on the facade is in the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee. Imagine what could be done with that building now. And I still daydream about what could have been in the areas surrounding the Prime Osborne.

Bringing this thread back from the grave! Anyone know exactly where R&R Liquors was located on Main Street in downtown?

Yes, if I remember correctly it was on the corner of Main and Church on the east side of main street facing main if you're heading north on Main. R&R was a package/liquor store and in the back was a strip club. On top of R&R was a gay club called the French Quarter. Yeah, many guys went to the strip joint in R&R, but there was a secret stairway in R&R leading up to the French Quarter; the main entrance of the French Quarter was in the back of the building; a stairway in the back led up to the 2nd story to the French Quarter. The building that was the R&R and French Quarter is now a parking lot. How do I know all of this? As a young Sailor stationed at Cecil Field Naval Air Station (you know those Sailors LOL) from 1974 to 1978, I used to frequent downtown quite often in those days with my buddies to hit the strip joints. We would spend all of our money at the strip joints and then were broke for two weeks. We lived in the barracks and ate in the chow hall so it was not a problem. Me and a bisexual buddy of mine sometimes went up to the gay club just to see the shows and then we'd leave and catch the bus back to the base. We only did that when we were snot slinging ass leaking drunk and sh** faced. Those were the days. There were like 3 or 4 strip joints in that area, and a Bar called the Flamingo liquors and lounge on Main in between duval and Church Street and everyone frequented that bar, regular/straights, gays, bisexuals, drag queens, and we all had fun; it was way before its time. My other favorite strip joint was the Night Owl on Ashley I believe; and then you had Harveys near the foot of the Main Street Bridge. The library I believe sits over where the Flamingo was. Jax was popping and pumping back then but was clearly on the decline.