Threadgill´s: From Janis Whisper To Gentrification Noise

There are guys like Kenneth Threadgill and local venues like Threadgill’s who have written the history of music with their own handwriting. Kenneth had an open mind and believed in chimeras, the integration of black musicians in the 50s and Janis Joplin in the 60s. Janis is his most universal legacy whose whisper in the middle of the night of Threadgill’s still evokes times of counterculture and rebellion . His memory is still alive thanks to the work of Eddie Wilson, creator of the Armadillo and current owner of Threadgill’s, a mythomaniac temple that still hides countless stories. A cultural heritage threatened by the gentrification of Austin.

Threadgill’s, the home of music

On a hot summer afternoon in the mid-60s, a girl was eager to show off her talent is in a corner of Austin with some musician friends. A car stops and invites her to go to a special place in North Lamar reserved for hillbilly lovers. She accepts the invitation and they take off to the place.  In the front seat of the car were Jack and Chuck Joyce, musicians from a local band called Hootenanny Hoots. In the back seat was a smiling woman from Port Arthur, Texas, named Janis Joplin.

When Janis first entered Threadgill’s, she felt its magic, the smell of music and the taste of stories to tell on stage. These sensations are common to all when you enter this temple to music. But the history of this bar begins much earlier.

Kenneth Threadgill came into this world in Peniel, about 50 miles from Dallas, in 1909. His father worked in different churches in Texas and New Mexico, which helped little Kenneth to learn the sounds of the South. As a teenager he moved to Beavumont where he worked as a doorman for the Loew State Theather.

One night in 1928, he met a man who changed his life, country musician Jimmie Rodgers, after listening to him sing Waiting for a train. Both maintained a friendship until the death of the singer in 1933, a crucial year for Kenneth.

Austin received him and his wife, the beloved Mildred, in 1933 with a job at a Gulf gas station on the outskirts of the city. Jax Beer of Louisiana was imported from a nearby airport by him. The dry law was still in force and an extra pay was obtained by smuggling.

His musical legacy began during a concert by Hank Williams at the Dessau Dance Hall in Austin when he took the stage before the delay of the country myth.

Soon after, he bought the service station and coinciding with the end of the dry law, he obtained the first Texas license to sell alcohol. That produced a flood of people wanting to quench their thirst for liquor. In his new place he played Hillbilly music with his friends while they enjoyed a cold beer. That musical environment attracted a first loyal client until  World War II broke out. Threadgill worked as a welder to support the war effort and closed his bar until 1945.

After the war ended, he reopened his bar and created a band, the Velvet Composture. At first they did it for fun but after seeing the reaction of the people, they considered recording some songs of his idol Jimmy Rodgers.

Throughout the 50´s, musicians of all conditions and races came to play at Threadgill’s. Kenneth rewarded them with two rounds of free beer.  Threadgill’s is integrated for the first time with black talent.   It´s a tolerant environment never seen before. At first, they only had a mic connected to an amplifier. The musical environment begins to attract the attention of students from the University of Texas.

The first to arrive was Stan Alexander, a legendary student at the university who fell in love with the place. It was the link, for a generation of hippies, potsmokers and lovers of progressive country to join white lovers of yodel and black singers under one roof.

A revolution called Janis Joplin

Wednesdays were Open Mic night. A place full of beers served by Kenneth wrapped in his apron where there was no stage, backstage or any ceremony.

The participants came from the audience and walked among the tables playing old blues hillbilly songs. One of the attendees of this unique show was going to mark the fate of the bar and American music. A hippie looking like she had not washed in days waited at a table.

It was the image of the modernity of the moment. She looked a little shy without Powell Sant John and Lanny Wiggins by her side, who were part of a band called Waller Creek. She came to Austin to break free, forget her frustrations and explore her talent. She did not doubt. Microphone in hand, she  dazzled with Silver Threads and Golden Needles, by Wanda Jackson. Her voice was a spell.

The chronicles claimed that Janis  sounded like a boring shriek. It did not matter. Kenneth began that night a relationship of deep friendship with her. He always claimed that Janis had not started her path to stardom in his tavern but that she had begun to make herself there.

Janis started calling him Silver Hair Big Daddy because of his long white hair and his kindness. Wednesdays began to be a trend for the emotional and almost psychotropic shows of the Waller Creek. Her voice whispered songs by Joan Baez and Judy Collins while her charisma rose beyond the roof of Threadgill’s. The heat of the evenings was epic. The place only had a ceiling fan until its first air conditioning in 1974.

Kenneth admitted that Janis didn´t consume drugs then, although she used to drink a lot. With a drink on the table and another in the hand, she shared conversations about life and a past of rejections and broken dreams. Meanwhile, Janis’s fame began to cross the walls of the bar and take her away, to the hippie dream of California.

By then Threadgill’s had become a iconic scene in Austin.  In addition to Janis, bands like Blind George McLain, The Great Scotts, Freda and The Firedogs became the other faces under his wing and in Austin in the 60s and 70.

Janis took Kenneth to the 1968 Newport festival, where they shared the stage before more than 70,000 people.  Backstage of the festiva,l they coincided with the most brilliant musicians of their generation.  They alll fell for the wisdom and the charisma of the southern knight of Kenneth. Jimmie Rodgers´s stories sprouted and an idea came to the head of Janis.  Record the songs that have marked the life of Threadgill!

The project enthused Kris Kristofferson, an admirer of both and they made plans to work  on the album together.  Threadgill was excited. He reminded them that he had already recorded a couple of 45 rpm that ended in nothing.

He returned to Austin, playing with his band in the main venues of the city such as the Split Rail and the Checkered Flag, a bar run by the folkie and poet Allen Wayne Damron. He also toured Central Texas accompanied, sometimes, by Dolores and the Bonnet Boys.

The Last Dance with Janis

Every year in Austin, Threadgills had a grand birthday celebration but none were like the one in 1970. Everything was prepared for a grand celebration but there was a surprise for everyone.  Janis appeared on stage with her feathers, smiling and happy to be reunited with her mentor. He arrived from a long trip after two performances in Hawaii.

Threadgill brought her a gift from Hawaii and he gave the best versions of Jimmie Rodgers saying goodbye as they do loved ones, until next time. But there was not going to be another next time.  Janis died shortly after, imprisoned by drugs and pain only to leave us her voice and soul on vinyl.

The loss plunged Kenneth into great sadness but life continued at a frantic pace. After the death of Janis, Kris Kristofferson listened to him at the Dripping Springs Reunion. This peculiar festival was known as the Woodstock of the Country, an initiative of diverse artists and four businessmen from Dallas.

It´s considered the definitive takeoff of progressive country and of Austin as an emerging musical scene. The promo of the festival was taken almost in secret and only 3,000 or 4,000 people were lucky enough to live it. After this mysterious festival, Kristofferson decided to take him to Nashville to record with the blessing of Willie Nelson.

A Forgotten Album

In Nashville, Janis’s promise was beginning to be fulfilled. Kristofferson had achieved a team consisting of Johnny Gimble, Kris Kristofferson himself and Waylon Jennings. The session gave birth to a master recording with the best of Kenneth Threadgill’s repertoire. This was a collector piece that was passed down from hand to hand for years. No label wanted to give this recording a commercial outlet. Years later, Kenneth, fearing that his content would be lost forever, tried to buy them from Jennings with an incredible refusal.

On his return from Nashville, he participated in the 1972 Kerville Festival. He opened the festival while hundreds of radio stations broadcasted the event.  Later, Austin then boasted the scene with names like Michael Murphy, Jerry Jeff Walker, the iconic Willie Nelson, Steve Fronholtz or the Uncle Watt’s Band.

A Change of Course

In the early 70’s, the place was still trendy. The fire chief evicted Threadgill’s several times due to excessive capacity. However, 1974 was a sad year for Kenneth Threadgill. The Austin American Statesman newspaper, a neighbor of Showmoon, unveiled a series of acts of vandalism on the premises.

The news echoed the intention of the Building Standard Commission to demolish the old Threadgill’s for its decadent state. Kenneth began to have in mind a possible sale of the land but no one was interested at that time for the building. Shortly after these words, his life partner died, the sweet Mildred.

At that moment, the figure of Eddie Wilson emerged to save Kenneth’s legacy. Eddie Wilson bought Threadgill’s with the promise of keeping the bar open and ensuring a decent retirement for its founder. Eddie was the creator of the Armadillo Headquaters, a great promoter of Austin’s music, and a turning point in this story.

Rock Dreams in Armadillo

As a student at the University of North Texas, he was an important part of the Folk Music Club group, founded by Stan Alexander. That is to say, he was one of the first university students to discover the musical universe of Threadgill’s. He soon understood the transcendence of the Austin music scene. For that reason, he co-founded the Armadillo World Headquaters and becomes a continuation of the work of Kenneth and the Vulcan Gas Company, the key place of rock of the 60s in Austin, which closed its doors in 1970.

Just that year, Eddie intended to give the city a substitute for the Vulcan. At that time he was manager of a local band called Shiva´s Headband. One night in concert he noticed an old abandoned armory where he founded his legendary place. Little by little, he managed to get his legendary posters from the posterist Jim Franklin to contain names like Bruce Springsteen, Frank Zappa, AC / DC, Patti Smith, Ray Charles, Alice Cooper or ZZ Top.

In the 70s, Rolling Stone magazine sent its best journalist to cover the events loaded with freedom and marijuana that hatched in the legendary Armadillo Festival. As with Kenneth, the environment created by Eddie and his team encompassed all kinds of social stereotypes.

Eddiie still runs both places since ’74. On December 30, 1981, he transformed the old Threadgill’s into a restaurant following the steps of his mother’s home cooking, his great foodie reference. That homemade Texan food still survives in its premises.

The Last Good-Bye

In 1978,  there was a celebration,  The Split Rail, in the place that so many times saw him act.  It was the 69th birthday of Kenneth.  There, he narrated to Bill Oackley of the Austin American Statesman, the passages of his life that we have told you. Kenneth confessed to the reporter that he hadn´t taken a drink in a year and had lost 60 pounds.

Kenneth continued playing in his old bar almost until his death. Before, thanks to the Armadillo, he finally managed to record a record of the songs he had played throughout his life. The title could not be more appropriate: Long Hair Daddy.

When someone asked him why that was his nickname, he simply replied: I think it’s because I’m the oldest here and the others have died before me. I enjoy being surrounded by young people. I love their energy and being able to talk about music with them. I have older friends but we do not have the same hobbies.

Kenneth is reunited with his beloved wife Mildred on March 20, 1987. Eddie continues his legacy. In 1996, he converted the old Armadillo into a museum restaurant of a whole era. A portrait of Kenneth with Janis decorates the wall that receives visitors to this authentic music shrine. In it, Eddie has created the Gospel Brunch, held two Sundays a month, combining gastronomy and the best music in the city. A succulent binge of unique sensations.

From Janis’s Whisper to the Noise of Gentrification

Its home cooking has been an Austin landmark for years with its fabulous Texas steaks, sirloins, burgers and a huge variety of fried chicken and entrees. The dream that began at a gas station and that of a whisper of Janis Joplin immortalized, has survived all kinds of circumstances. However, the increase in the price of land in Austin has triggered speculation about a possible sale.

Eddie warned in the Austin Chronical last October of the difficulty of renewing a rent that has multiplied by 600 in the last five years, reaching the scandalous figure of $ 38,000 per month. This problem does not include the first Threadgill’s from North Lamar, the old gas station converted into a musical chimera. The solution to keep the Armadillo flame alive would be a painful transfer.

However, Threadgill’s Armadillo World Headquarters still resides in the location that it was born at in 1970 but perhaps we are facing the end of a paradigm and the death of that free, bohemian and integrative Austin that has existed thanks to people like Eddie and Kenneth. It seems that the day is coming when the whisper of the verses leaves its place to the noise of gentrification.