Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Rissmiller's Country Club, 18415 Sherman Way, Reseda, CA



Capacity 1000

The building was never much to look at, brick and boxy and windowless, perched along a run-down stretch of Sherman Way. That has always been part of its charm. In a metropolis dominated by trendy clubs and arenas, the Country Club felt like a neighborhood joint.
It used to be a discount drugstore. The late entrepreneur Chuck Landis bought the property in 1980, building a stage in one corner with tiers of tables and a balcony. He turned it into a 1,000-seat country music bar--hence the name--and Merle Haggard played opening night.
Don't bring your mother!


Not long after, Landis leased the stage to Jim Rissmiller of Wolf & Rissmiller Concerts.


Over the next two years, the Country Club became an essential venue at a critical period in Los Angeles' musical history. Local bands such as Tom Petty and X played there. So did Jerry Garcia and U2.
But trouble brewed almost from the start. Neighbors complained of rowdy patrons littering, urinating and having sex in their front yards. The club's reputation was further tarnished when a businessman was convicted of soliciting a rival's murder in the parking lot.
Rissmiller was subsequently evicted and the club slipped from the city's elite. A new manager, Scott Hurowitz, tried renting the stage for film and video shoots. After the 1987 MTV Awards show at the Universal Amphitheatre, the artist formerly known as Prince hosted a private party at the Country Club.(3)
It used to be a bowling alley before it was a concert hall. Over the years, the building's gone through many incarnations and assumed names, and it still stands.

Rissmiller, 50, who reigned for nearly 20 years as the top pop concert promoter in Southern California until the early-'80s collapse of his empire following the 1977 murder of his longtime partner, Steve Wolf.

Rissmiller and Wolf practically invented Southern California pop concert promotion, starting in 1964 when they, along with then-KRLA deejay Bob Eubanks, brought the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl.

First as Concert Associates and later as Wolf and Rissmiller, the pair were virtually synonymous with concert promotion, staging such noted extravaganzas as Elton John at Dodger Stadium in 1975 and several Rolling Stones tour stops in Southern California.
So successful and visible was Rissmiller that there was even talk for a while of his running for political office. He expressed some ambitions about running for mayor of Los Angeles, and his name was floated as a possible candidate for Congress.
Then in 1977 Wolf was shot and killed during an apparent robbery attempt at his home. Wolf's killer was never caught. Rissmiller, though devastated by the loss of someone he considered a brother, carried on.
"But after Steve was gone it was just a business to me," he said. "I was just an administrator. 1979 was actually the first year I made a million dollars, but I was miserable, felt suicidal. Then in 1981 at the Coliseum with the Rolling Stones, I stood there and said, 'What the hell am I doing here?' "
So he quit.
He bought the Country Club in Reseda and attempted to make it the Valley's premier small concert venue. But that too proved unfulfilling to Rissmiller, who was going through a divorce and other personal difficulties. Amid lawsuits regarding the club property and rents, he declared bankruptcy for his corporation in 1984 and paid outstanding bills for the club out of his own pocket, though he personally remained financially above water.(1)
11/19/82


Rissmiller said his original plan was to buy the Country Club and the surrounding block, where he hoped to develop an entirely music-oriented complex. The problem was that the lease-to-buy agreement never worked out and the venture, which began as a heavy financial burden, only became heavier. He severed ties with the club in 1983 and eventually declared bankruptcy.
"Wolf & Rissmiller Concerts, as a corporation, and I, personally, funded the nightclub," he explained, sitting in the APA offices in West Hollywood. "I put my house and other properties up as collateral to the bank so I could borrow money to get into the nightclub business. Once we got started, we ended up funneling money into the club to keep it going--the hotter we got with the club business, the higher the price of the deal went up."(2)


Soon, stories started circulating about Rissmiller's being on the skids, unable to recover from the shock of Wolf's death--one round of gossip had him living in his car. The stories, he said, are untrue, though he describes the time as "devastating." But self-promoter that he is, Rissmiller took some delight in the tales.
"The best one I heard was I was supposedly in a mental institution in San Francisco," he said. "As long as they're talking about you, you're OK."
The true story is that Rissmiller, after leaving the Country Club, became impressed with young Texas musician Charlie Sexton and moved to Austin to work as his agent.(1)

The Country Club, of Boogie Nights fame, was a legendary concert venue during the Los Angeles Punk rock and New Wave scenes of the 1980s. Before that it was a drug store named Sav-on Drugs and discount store. Then it was a Spanish Language Christian Church.
It's boarded up now.

Jerry performed here on
9/30/83 Jerry Garcia Band (Rissmiller's Country Club)
10/27/82 Jerry Garcia Band (Rissmiller's Country Club)
10/28/82 early and late shows Jerry Garcia Band (Rissmiller's Country Club)
5/20/84 Jerry Garcia Band (Rissmiller's Country Club)(2)

1.)^Hochman, Steve, Jim Rissmiller--Rock's Comeback Kid?, 1993-06-03, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-03/entertainment/ca-42999_1_pop-concert
2.)^Strauss, Duncan, Rissmiller: Back On The Sunny Side Of The Street, 1985-01-10, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-10/entertainment/ca-9307_1_wolf-rissmiller-concerts
3.)^Wharton, David, Country Club back In The Ring, 1997-01-22, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1997-01-22/local/me-20942_1_country-club
4.)^http://dmdb.org/cgi-bin/plinfo.pl?drd81p.0321.html
5.)^Hochman, Steve, Jim Rissmiller--Rock's Comeback Kid?, 1993-06-03, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-03/entertainment/ca-42999_1_pop-concert
6.)^Strauss, Duncan, Rissmiller: Back On The Sunny Side Of The Street, 1985-01-10, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-10/entertainment/ca-9307_1_wolf-rissmiller-concerts
7.)^Wharton, David, Country Club back In The Ring, 1997-01-22, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/1997-01-22/local/me-20942_1_country-club

31 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Adam Ant played at this club just after he disbanded the Ants, starring his brand new line-up.
      The band began the intro to "Desperate, but Not Serious" when Tony, on his trumpet screwed up. After Adam gave Tony a good ass chewing right in front of all of us in the audience, they began again.
      I took a bus to the club to watch the show and after it was over, I was offered a ride home by one of the bouncers who was so drunk I hoped he made it home safely. I didn't feel safe accepting a ride with someone as blitzed as that guy was, so I decided to walk from there to Van Nuys Blvd./Sherman Way to catch a bus the rest of the way home. It was freezing ass cold that night too! Walking & freezing, freezing & walking. I got home in just enough time for a short nap, then up to get ready for work that day.

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  2. That was not the Reseda Theatre. The derelict, rotting Reseda Theatre still stands, a few storefronts to the west. That was the former Sav-On Drugstore. Both venues were used in the opening shots of the film "Boogie Nights."

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  3. Where is Jim Rissmiller today?

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    1. Jim Rissmiller is alive and well. I'm sitting with him telling him about your comment.

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    2. Can you ask Jim if he has any photos or handbills, possibly old files? Please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com.

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    3. He wants to know what you want to do with this.

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    4. I'm in search of a photo of the stage with no one on it, and a marquee photo of any band., outdoor signage photos, to be used in soon to be published The Encyclopedia Of Jerry Garcia Music Venues.

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  4. ultimatly its the apathetic los angeles demographics that talk big but dont go out and party ,that failed the club .
    los angeles is not a party town at all.
    two blocks on sunset in hollywood and the over crowded sunset STRIP area with no parking .
    ibiza is where the real action is at . clubbing at its very best . better than vegas.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. secret menu,
    I'd be interested to know if you have any wedding photos of the interior/exterior of the building?
    Please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com

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  8. Saw every Jerry Garcia and Bobby and the Midnites show there among others. Every one was spectacular!

    Thanx Country Club for happy memories!

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  9. I remember JGB 5/20/84 which is my favorite JGB show with this big black security guy and my waitress dressed in leather(which I recorded and have her saying it) that she shouldn't have worn leather here. But my point is they both kept looking towards Jerry in awe at his playing.

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  10. If you taped that show, I know everyone would love to hear your recording!

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    1. It's on www.sugarmegs.com but that one is not my recording. It's someone elses. And I saw the Dinosaurs there when the GD were in Tempe so all the heads were out of town. I swear there were only like 20 people there. This was March 1983.

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  11. I used to see metal bands there in the mid 80's when I was in high school. Didn't go too often because it was a long drive for us. Jerry and the dead came a few years later for me.

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  12. What was the club called when it originally opened its doors from day one, Chuck Landis Country Club or Wolf and Rissmiller Country Club?

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    1. In Summer of 1983 it was Wolf & Rissmiller's, if that helps. I wanna say Chuck Landis came along a bit later. Not sure, though. My friend Luis and I talked his mother into driving us there to see Metallica back when were freshmen at Torrance High, 8/1983.

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    2. My Jerry stubs from 1982 say Rissmillers. My stub from 83 just say's Country Club.

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    3. In an article shortly after it opened, Blair Jackson just called it Country Club.

      ! ref: Jackson, Blair. 1980. L.A.'s New 'Country Club'. BAM no. 76 (April 4, 1980), p. 16.

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    4. Chuck Landis' Country Club was first. It opened after he bought the old Sav-On. It later transitioned to Wolf and Rissmiller's Country Club, I worked there from the beginning. You can now find some limited info on the net. I wish I could say I kept records...

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  13. Over the years, the building's gone through many incarnations and assumed names, and it still stands. It used to be a Sav-On discount drugstore in the 1950's.
    "My earliest memory of this building was as a Von's grocery store. The Vons moved down the street and it became a Savon Drugstore. The Savon moved down the street and Chuck Landis bought it during the Urban Cowboy craze, turned it into a nightclub called the Country Club.

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  14. We have a chuck Berry poster at the Reseda ca Jan 17th wolf and rissmiller How much is it worth

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  15. Hi - interesting story, nice read. Would anyone have any info on the Hughes/Thrall shows that took place at Rissmiller's in 1982/1983? Ticket stubs or pictures would be very welcome!

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  16. In 1982 i was a barback at the country club and worked my way up to being a bouncer in 1985 by then i was a senior in high school and invincible so i thought at least. I have vary fond memories of the days i i spent there. And some better ones of the allnighters i spent there partying with alot of musics iconic rock and metal bands. Seeing all of the bands now famous makes for great stories to my kids. I wonder if I ever made a good enough impression to any of them that they wonder what happened to the kid bouncer from the county club lol proubly not but it would be cool to think i did. I seen some amazing bands and people doing some great musical playing in my life there. And will always have fond memories of the days there and nights. Clint grant

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  17. Check out this live show 1987 at the country club. We didn’t get the audio of the strawberry alarm clock. The purple turtles also played the why knot production show. Had a blast there

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  18. Grateful Dead - Wharf Rat by Dead Flowers, cover

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  19. Does anyone know the dates that Robin Trower and Marshal Tucker played at wolf and rissmiller country club? Not at the same show but I remember seeing them both there on seperate nights.

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  20. I saw many shows here in the late 80's. Fender's Ballroom used to be the place for punk shows, after that, the Country Club was the place.
    I saw Bad Religion here several times.

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