Died On This Date (October 3, 2009) Laura Mae Gross / L.A. Blues Club Owner
themusicsover Laura Mae Gross
1920 – October 3, 2009
Known around the Los Angeles blues scene as “Mama,” Laura Mae Gross was the owner of Babe and Ricky’s Inn which she opened on the storied Central Avenue in 1964. In no time, the club became a destination of local and traveling blues musicians alike. She hosted the likes of B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Big Mama Thornton, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, John Lee Hooker and Albert King to name just a few. In 1987, the mayor of Los Angeles signed a proclamation honoring Gross for her commitment to keeping the Central Avenue music scene alive. After a downturn in the area during the ’90s, Gross moved the club to the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles. Laura Mae Gross died of heart failure at the age of 89.