PARIZIAN
music: "Later
For You Baby" - Marva Josie (Time 1055a)
From
big bands and bee-bop to Billie Holliday. Venues
like the Flame Show Bar, The Graystone Ballroom,
The Bluebird and The Frolic hosted the top names
in show business throughout the 40s and 50s. But
after the post-war era, Detroit’s blues and jazz
venues started to dwindle in popularity and an
article published a September 1959 issue of
Detroit’s Michigan Chronicle spelt out
that Paradise Valley, the city’s ‘black and tan’
entertainment district, was fast disappearing.
The Flame hung on until 1963, but a lot of other
once-famous clubs had already felt the
destructive force of a wrecking ball, often in
the dubious aim of urban renewal.
The city’s evening entertainment
options simply reflected the growing popularity
of R’n’B. Inevitably, new clubs opened up and
The 20 Grand on 14th became
‘Detroit’s finest’ after being rebuilt in 1959.
Another prominent Soul spot was Phelp’s Lounge
on Oakland Avenue, which had been a vibrant jazz
club called The Bizerte since 1946. Eddie Phelps
bought it in 1960 and turned it into a showcase
for Soul acts; that same year The Hobby Bar and
the Parizian started up on the east side of
Detroit. Also in 1960, one of city’s most
regaled nightspots, the Chit Chat, opened on 12th
Street. The tide had certainly turned.
The Parizian was
one of Detroit’s more salubrious clubs. Located
on the corner of Linwood and Davison, on
Detroit’s west side, it was converted from a
bank. The club’s Jewish owner, Albert Shaban,
hired savvy Cornelius Watt to run it. The bank’s
vault became a stage while the basement and
first floor catered to diners, which meant it
could legally stay open till 6am - although
drinks were only served up to four o’clock.
Mr. Watt had worked at the
famed Garfield Lounge in Paradise Valley
throughout the 50s and had a deft finger on the
city’s musical pulse. By the time the Parizian
opened he was managing a place called The
Delmonica for his brother-in-law, but soon got
customers flocking to his suave new
establishment.
Although
The Arabians recorded at Correc-tone around
1962, their cuts stayed in the can and are now
lost. In late 1963, the group recorded the
wonderful "I Love You So" for the Carrie/Lanrod
label.
This advert is from February
1964.
The Parizian wasn’t a massive
place and didn’t showcase chart-topping stars,
but it was usually packed and gave artists -
particularly local ones - a place to perform in
front of an appreciative audience.
It became so
popular that there would often be a lineup on
Linwood. Then in November 1961 Mr. Watt had the
then novel idea of installing CCTV so crowds on
the first floor and in the basement could watch
shows live.
It was around this time that
Wilbert Golden approached Mr. Watt about giving
a young singer named Wilson Pickett a break:
“Wilburt asked me to listen to a tape and said,
‘Watts, he needs to make some money: Why don’t
you hire him?’”
As you can see from the advert
at the top of this page, Mr. Watt agreed and
Pickett and Marva Josie appeared at the Parizian
in January 1962, headlining there for two weeks.
It was Correc-tone’s first step in the music
business.
Tony Clark appeared in May 62,
plugging his then new disc “Love Must Be Taboo”.
And in October The Temptations switched from
Phelp’s Lounge to the Parizian, with the Royal
Jokers going in the opposite direction. Mr.
Watt:
“The Temptations had been at
Phelps for three months and I was going to have
them for three months. But as soon as I had them
for one or two weeks, somebody from Berry
Gordy’s office called me and said, ‘Watt, we
would like you to do us a favor. Would you let
The Temptations out of their contract to go
overseas on a big show with Mary Wells and
Little Stevie Wonder?’”
It wasn’t an easy decision.
The Temptations had become a popular attraction.
“I thought about it and said, ‘I
hate to let these guys go’. They were good - I
believed they were going to draw more than The
Royal Jokers… the Royal Jokers packed the house
every night; I used to have lines outside. They
was a good entertainment group, they did so much
on stage. Not only singing - they put a bit of
drama in the performance; they would put on
little skits and the crowd would be falling out
their seats.”
The Temptations
appeared with Nettie Glenn in October 1962.
Mr.
Watt’s instinct was right and The Temptations’
rise to stardom was on a sharp trajectory. He
didn’t get to see Motown’s hottest property
again: “I never did get The Temptations back,
because when they came back into town about
three months later, I called for them and their
manager said, ‘Watts, your room is too small for
them.’ They got big that quick!”
Which is true - that December
The Temps headlined at the 20 Grand, probably
singing their 1962 Gordy releases, “Paradise”
and “Dream Come True”.
But it was all part of the
business and Mr. Watt was more concerned about
the financial aspects of running of the Parizian,
as he explained: “I bought Al Shaban out. He was
killing the club. He was an habitual gambler –
he took all the money to the racetrack
everyday.”
By the mid-60s, Mr. Watt had
developed the Parizian as much as he could and
so switched his focus to the running the Hobby
Bar.
Continued
