Died On This Date (January 17, 2010) Gerald McCabe / Founder of McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Los Angeles
themusicsover Gerald McCabe
January 30, 1927 – January 17, 2010
Gerald McCabe was the founder of Santa Monica, California’s McCabe’s Guitar Shop, a popular instrument store as well as beloved concert venue. Opened in 1958, the club became the focal point of the folk scene of the ’60s and continues to host the most respected singer-songwriters to this day. Over the years, the store’s intimate backroom stage has presented the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Beck, Hoyt Axton, Steve Earle, Jeff Buckley, Peter Case, Jim Carroll, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, The Dillards, John Hammond, and PJ Harvey, to name just a few. Hanging on the walls throughout is a remarkable collection of vintage acoustic instruments for sale. And on the upstairs walls hang live photos of those who have graced the stage. It’s as close to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we have in Los Angeles. A furniture builder by trade, it was McCabe’s love of folk music and the fact that his wife’s musician friends came to him for instrument repairs that lead to him opening the shop / club. Following the folk boom of the ’60s, and with his desire to focus more on furniture design, McCabe sold the shop in 1986. His furniture work has been featured in respected design magazines and related art exhibits over the years. On Sunday, January 17, 2010, Gerald McCabe died two days after suffering a stroke. He was 82. If you’re in Los Angeles, be sure to visit McCabe’s at 3101 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica.
Although he was small in stature, picked the guitar lightly, and sang almost in a whisper, Mississippi John Hurt’s influence on folk and blues was huge. He learned to play the guitar before he was ten, and by the early 1920s, he had already been playing in front of crowds at local barn dances. In 1928, and on the recommendation of a friend who had recently won an Okeh Records contract in a talent contest, Hurt was asked to audition for the label. He was signed that same year and given two recording sessions that produced collection of sides that sadly, never had a chance to develop since Okeh soon went under due to the Great Depression. Hurt soon retired from the music business and went back to his life as a sharecropper. Fast forward about 35 years to 1963. The folk revival was in full swing when music historian, Tom Hoskins heard those old recordings and sought out to find Hurt. He tracked him down still living in Avalon, Mississippi and convinced him to move to Washington DC and relaunch his music career. Hurt’s set at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was that of legend, and he was subsequently signed to legendary folk label, Vanguard Records. He went on to tour the country and even perform on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. Hurt’s music influenced a new generation of singer-songwriters from blues to country to folk. Mississippi John Hurt died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966. In 2001, Morgana Kennedy and the folks at Vanguard records released Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt. It contained versions of John Hurt songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Beck and John Hiatt.
