The House That Bob Built…and Sid Smashed

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One of the stops that the ol’ music geek made on this trip was at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When I used “Take Me Back to Tulsa” earlier in the “Where’s FourWallsdo” countdown I mentioned that I’d been to Cain’s. You’ve been lucky long enough, now you get to hear about it. Cain’s was built in 1924 as a garage for an automobile dealer, one of Tulsa’s founding fathers W. Tate Brady. (Brady was also part of another stop I made while in Tulsa: as a Klansman, he was a participant in the Black Wall Street massacre.) A year later, Brady was dead by suicide (despondent over his son’s death, not a guilty conscience for what happened in 1921), and the garage was converted to a dancehall. For years it was relatively inconsequential. Things changed on New Year’s Eve 1935, when Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys played there. The success of the show caused Wills to set up shop there, playing weekly and hosting a daily radio program at the club. Cain’s Ballroom is still hosting concerts. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s known as “The House That Bob Built.” The fact that it hasn’t stopped being a concert venue led to what’s probably the most notorious moment of its 100-year music history. On January 11, 1978, the Sex Pistols (slightly different music than Bob Wills, wouldn’t you say? [Although they are BOTH inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!]) played at Cain’s on their infamous tour of America. Sid Vicious, during the course of the evening, smashed his hand through the plaster wall in the green room. That’s just a footnote to the long legacy of music that Cain’s Ballroom has hosted. There’s no plaque outside for the Sex Pistols; however, you will find a number of stars for the greats who played there, including rock’s Leon Russell, country’s Ray Price, and, of course, Bob Wills. PHOTO COLLAGE: (Top left) “Cornerstone” of Cain’s (Top right) Bob Wills’ star outside the ballroom (Bottom) Legendary Cain’s Ballroom