Sweetwater Saloon

Sweetwater Saloon was a bar and music venue located at 153 Throckmorton Avenue[1][2] Mill Valley, California, with a 30-year history of live musical performances by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello,[3] Jerry Garcia, The String Cheese Incident, John Lee Hooker and Carlos Santana. There were typically at least 4 to 5 musical acts booked per week making it a popular local hangout.[4][5][6] Sweetwater Saloon also featured an open mike night on Mondays that occasionally featured surprise performances by well-known artists such as Gregg Allman, Train and others.[7] Village Music, a nationally recognized independent record store also in Mill Valley held twice-yearly parties at Sweetwater by well-known musicians who were also Village Music store customers.[8] A documentary film about Village Music, Sweetwater and the music community in Mill Valley,Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores was released in 2012. After closing in 2007 it was reopened as Sweetwater Music Hall in 2012 by Bob Weir and his partners a few blocks away from its original location [9]

Sweetwater Saloon in 2004; it closed in September 2007.
Inside Sweetwater Saloon before opening time, 2004.

History

Jeanie Patterson and her then-husband, Jay took over the Sweetwater Saloon in 1979.[10] Jeanie Patterson retired as the owner in December 31, 1998 by selling it to Becky and Thomas J. Steere, an Autodesk project director.[11][12][13] This original Sweetwater closed in 2007. In January, 2012 it was relocated to the Masonic Lodge across from Mill Valley’s City Hall.

“For years, Sweetwater was the place many of us local and visiting musicians headed to when we were looking to play for fun, Well, our clubhouse is back — and it belongs to all of us. Woo-hoo — Mill Valley finally has its playpen back!”” said former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, one of the investors in the new state-of-the-art venue at 19 Corte Madera Ave.[14]

Documentary

Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores, a documentary film by Gillian Grisman and Monroe Grisman (daughter and son of San Francisco Bay Area musician David Grisman) debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2012. John Goddard, the owner of Village Music record held twice-yearly parties at the nearby Sweetwater Saloon and invited his favorite blues and R&B performers to perform in front of packed invite-only guests. The concert film documents Village Music, Sweetwater, and the music community in Mill Valley in the late 60s through the closing of Village Music record store in 2007 and contains performances by Elvis Costello, Bob Weir, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, John Sebastian, Dan Hicks, Huey Lewis, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Pop Staples, Jerry Garcia, and Carlos Santana with many performances at Sweetwater.[8]

Recordings

The band Hot Tuna recorded two live albums at Sweetwater in 1992[15] Live at Sweetwater, and [16]Live at Sweetwater Two, featuring guest performances by local figures Bob Weir and Wavy Gravy.

BBC Television shot a documentary at the club on January 7, 1992[17] featuring John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt and Ry Cooder.[18]

Eviction

In 2004, the establishment faced eviction[19] by landlords who raised the rent to more than what the owners claimed they could pay.[20] The bar was saved through donations, and its lease was renewed when the owners of the building offered new terms. It was not disputed that the new rent was fair, and the owners of the Sweetwater entered into a month-to-month lease.[21]

In September 2007 Sweetwater closed[22] because the landlord of the building found it necessary to renovate the somewhat run-down property and declined to offer the club terms for a new lease after the renovation's anticipated completion.[23] The owners of the building were also the longtime owners of a very popular Italian restaurant next door that had been established in the 1960s.[24] A spokesman for the family that owned the building and restaurant said at the time that the building would undergo long-overdue repairs and maintenance and that the new Sweetwater owners knew about renovation plans since their lease had expired two years previously. "We've been in this community for 45 years," he said. "If we wanted to throw the Sweetwater out, we would have done it a long time ago.".[23]

Relocated

Becky and Thom Steere, the owners of Sweetwater in Mill Valley began operating the 100-seat cabaret-dinner theater Larkspur Cafe Theatre on July 1, 2007.[25] [26][27]

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, four years and four months after the original Sweetwater ceased operations, it reopened as Sweetwater Music Hall, owned and operated by a new management and investor group and located in the recently renovated lower floor of Mill Valley's Masonic Temple (opposite Mill Valley's City Hall), held its inaugural music event, a "trade only" party featuring local musician Austin De Lone's band with guest performers including Jerry Harrison (local resident and former lead guitarist for The Talking Heads).[28] The new Sweetwater Music Hall includes a full-service restaurant and on-site catering service.

See also

References
  1. Liu, Cynthia (March 30, 2006). "STREET DATE : Throckmorton Avenue". sfgate.com.
  2. "The Sweetwater Saloon - CLOSED". Yelp.
  3. Marin's deLone and Costello, together again By Paul Liberatore Marin Independent Journal 10/12/06 "The first place I played in America was at Sweetwater," Costello recalled. "It became a hangout."
  4. Best of Marin Winners Archived copy Pacific Sun, 2006
  5. "Lavay Smith News and Gossip from February, 2001". Archived from the original on 2002-08-16. "Jules Broussard and band perform every Sunday at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley"
  6. Jules Brousard at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley - Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California) 20 Dec 1975• Page 54
  7. Jorma Kaukonen digs to the roots - Philip Elwood, EXAMINER, December 20, 1995
  8. Selvin, Joel (2007-09-03). "Renowned record store fading out". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  9. Eisen, Benjy (2012-01-26). "Grateful Dead's Bob Weir Reopens Landmark Venue". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  10. How sweet it was Philip Elwood, EXAMINER December 13, 1998
  11. Father & Son Ride & Tie / Petaluma vet, son team up
  12. 11th Hour Reprieve for Sweetwater - James Sullivan, Chronicle December 30, 1998
  13. Sweetwater finds new life - Philip Elwood, EXAMINER, December 30, 1998
  14. "Dead's Weir heralds January opening of Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley". Marin Independent Journal. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  15. Live at Sweetwater Allmusic
  16. Live at Sweetwater 2 Allmusic
  17. Blues legend John Lee Hooker performs for a BBC taping at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley on January 7, 1992. - marinij.com
  18. Selvin, Joel. "San Francisco, the musical history tour" page 150. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1996. ISBN 0-8118-1007-0
  19. thom, the owner of sweetwater - Free Marin
  20. Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle. Sour note at Sweetwater prompts outpouring of support March 18, 2004
  21. Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle.
  22. Mill Valley's Sweetwater to close By Paul Liberatore 08/05/07 Marin Independent Journal
  23. Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle. Longtime club Sweetwater set to close Sept. 1 August 9, 2007
  24. Quilt stolen from wall of Sweetwater nightclub By Paul Liberatore Posted: 09/20/07
  25. Sweetwater owners take over theater By Paul Liberatore 06/20/07
  26. New Sweetwater! - Becky & Thom Steere - Mudcrutch Farm
  27. Larkspur's Sweetwater nightclub to have final show
  28. "Dead's Weir heralds January opening of Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley". Marin Independent Journal. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2021-12-29.

37°54′20″N 122°32′56″W

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