- Armadillo World Headquarters
The Armadillo World Headquarters (usually called simply The Armadillo) was the premiere
music hall and entertainment center in Austin,Texas from 1970 to 1980.History
In 1970, Austin's flagship rock music venue, the
Vulcan Gas Company , closed, leaving the city's nascent live music scene without an incubator. One night, Eddie Wilson, manager of the local groupShiva's Headband , stepped outside anightclub where the band was playing and noticed an old, abandoned National Guard armory. Wilson found an unlocked garage door on the building and was able to view the cavernous interior using the headlights of his automobile. He had a desire to continue the legacy of the Vulcan Gas Company, and was inspired by what he saw in the armory to create a new music hall in the derelict structure. The armory was estimated to have been built in 1948, but no records of its construction could be located. The building was ugly, uncomfortable, and had pooracoustics , but offered cheap rent and a central location. Posters for the venue usually noted the address as 525 1/2 Barton Springs Road (Rear), behind the Skating Palace (approximate coordinates 30.258 -97.750).The name for the Armadillo was inspired by the use of armadillos as a symbol in the artwork of Jim Franklin, a local poster artist, and from the building itself. In choosing the
mascot for the new venture, Wilson and his partners wanted an "armored" animal since the building was an old armory. The nine-banded armadillo ("Dasypus novemcinctus") was chosen because of its hard shell that looks likearmor , its history as a survivor (virtually unchanged for 50 million years), and its near-ubiquity incentral Texas . Wilson also believed the building looked like it had been some type ofheadquarters at one time. He initially proposed "International Headquarters" but in the end it became "World Headquarters."In founding the Armadillo, Wilson was assisted by Franklin, Mike Tolleson, an entertainment attorney, Bobby Hedderman from the Vulcan Gas Company and Hank Alrich. Funding for the venture was initially provided by Shiva's Headband founder, Spencer Perskin, and Mad Dog, Inc. an Austin
literati group.The Armadillo World Headquarters officially opened on
August 7 ,1970 with Shiva's Headband, the Hub City Movers, and Whistler performing. The hall held about 1,500 patrons, but chairs were limited, so most patrons sat on the floor on sections of carpet that had been pieced together.The Armadillo caught on quickly with the
hippie culture of Austin because admission was inexpensive and the hall tolerated marijuana use. Even though illicit drug use was flagrant, the Armadillo was never raided. Anecdotes suggest the police were worried about having to bust their fellow officers as well as local and state politicians.Soon, the Armadillo started receiving publicity in national magazines such as "
Rolling Stone ". "Time magazine " wrote that the Armadillo was to the Austin music scene whatThe Fillmore had been to the emergence of rock music in the 1960s. The clientèle became a mixture of hippies,cowboy s, and businessmen who stopped by to have lunch and a beer and listen to live music. At its peak, the amount of Lone Star draft beer sold by the Armadillo was second only to the HoustonAstrodome . TheNeiman-Marcus department store even offered a line of Armadillo-branded products.The blend of country and rock music performed at the hall became known as "The Austin Sound," "Redneck Rock," or "Cosmic Cowboy." Many upcoming and established acts such as
Willie Nelson ,Ray Charles , andZZ Top played the Armadillo.Freddie King ,Frank Zappa , andCommander Cody all recorded live albums there.Bruce Springsteen played five shows during 1974. TheAustralia n bandAC/DC played their first American show at the Armadillo with Canadian band Moxy in July 1977.Despite its successes, the Armadillo always struggled financially. The addition of the Armadillo Beer Garden in 1972 and the subsequent establishment of food service were both bids to generate positive cash flow. However, the financial difficulties continued. This predicament was blamed on a combination of large guaranteed payments for the acts, cheap ticket prices, and poor promotion. The club finally had to lay off staff members in late 1976 and file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1977.Another factor in the club's demise was that it sat on 5.62 acres of prime
real estate in what soon became a prime development area in the rapidly growing city. The Armadillo's landlord sold the property for an amount estimated between $4 million and $8 million.The final concert at the Armadillo took place on
December 31 ,1980 . The sold-outNew Year's Eve show featuredAsleep at the Wheel andCommander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen . Some reports say the show ended at 4 a.m., while others claim that the bands played untildawn . The contents of the Armadillo were sold atauction in January 1981, and the old armory was razed for a high-rise office building.Legacy
With the success of the Armadillo and Austin's burgeoning music scene, KLRN (now
KLRU ), the local PBS television affiliate, created "Austin City Limits ", a program showcasing popular local, regional, and national music acts.The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar began in 1976 at the Armadillo, and is still held annually during the
Christmas season. The Bazaar was another attempt to improve cash flow for the hall. When the Armadillo closed, the Bazaar changed locations every year, as it leased whatever large empty retail space might be available at the time. In 1995, the bazaar settled at theAustin Music Hall for twelve years. Due to remodeling of the Austin Music Hall, the Bazaar had to move its 2007 show to theAustin Convention Center . The bazaar has become one of the top-rankedarts and crafts shows in the nation with a long waiting list ofartisan s who wish to show their work.On
August 19 ,2006 , the City of Austin dedicated a commemorative plaque at the site where the Armadillo once stood. Co-founder Eddie Wilson was on hand and stated:"It is still on the lips and minds of a lot of people 26 years after it closed. This is noteworthy for me because of the zero-tolerance mentality, and now the city erected a memorial that glorifies the things of the past that are not accepted today."
ome acts that played at the Armadillo
*
AC/DC
*Asleep at the Wheel
*Austin Ballet Theatre
*The B-52's
*Balcones Fault
*Count Basie
*Elvin Bishop
*Tommy Bolin
*The Boomtown Rats
*David Bromberg
*Roy Buchanan
*Budgie
*Jimmy Buffett
*Captain Beefheart
*Ray Charles
*Charlie Daniels Band
*Cheech and Chong
*The Clash
*Jimmy Cliff
*David Allan Coe
*Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen
*Ry Cooder
*James Cotton
*Jack DeJohnette Special Edition
*Denim [ [http://www.flickr.com/photos/estabrook/2150910366/in/pool-35034359885@N01/ Mark Estabrook photo of Denim] ]
*Rick Derringer
*Devo
*Dire Straits
*Jon Emery
*John Klemmer
*Joe Ely
*The Fabulous Thunderbirds
*The J. Geils Band
*Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys
*Sonny Fortune
*Flying Burrito Brothers
*Genesis
*Greezy Wheels
*HaHaVishnu Orchestra
*Emmylou Harris
*John Hartford
*It's a Beautiful Day
*Jerry Garcia Band
*Levon Helm
*Bugs Henderson
*Hub City Movers
*Lynyrd Skynyrd
*Waylon Jennings
*Freddie King
*Jerry Lee Lewis
*Mance Lipscomb
*Little Feat
*Kenny Loggins
*The Lost Gonzo Band
*Chuck Mangione
*Man Mountain and the Green Slime Boys
*The Marshall Tucker Band
*Delbert McClinton
*Roger McGuinn
*Pat Metheny
*Bette Midler
*Charles Mingus
*Van Morrison
*Moxy
*Maria Muldaur
*Martin Mull
*Michael Murphey
*Willie Nelson
*New Riders of the Purple Sage
*The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
*Ted Nugent
*Old and New Dreams
*Paul Ray and the Cobras
*Turk Pipkin
*The Pointer Sisters
*The Police
*Jean-Luc Ponty
*Iggy Pop
*John Prine
*The Ramones
*Sonny Rollins
*Linda Ronstadt
*Todd Rundgren
*Rush
*Doug Sahm
*Savoy Brown
*Boz Scaggs
*Earl Scruggs
*Bob Seger
*Ravi Shankar
*Shiva's Headband
*Patti Smith
*Spirit
*Bruce Springsteen
*St. Elmo's Fire
*Steely Dan
*Spyro Gyra
*Talking Heads
*Chip Taylor
*Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee
*Toots & the Maytals
*Thin Lizzy
*Kenneth Threadgill
*Van Halen
*Stevie Ray Vaughan
*Loudon Wainwright III
*Doc and Merle Watson
*Weather Report
*Bob Weir
*Johnny Winter
*Phil Woods
*Frank Zappa
*ZZ Top Live recordings made at the Armadillo
*"
Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas ",Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (1974)
*"Bongo Fury ",Frank Zappa (1975)
*"Larger Than Life",Freddie King (some tracks, not full record)
*"More Live",Phil Woods (1979)
*"At Last - Recorded Live on Stage", The Bugs Henderson Group (1991)
*"Live Austin, TX 6/13/75"New Riders of the Purple Sage (1975)See also
*
Music of Austin References
*Gonzalez, Henry. (1990). "The Armadillo Years: A Visual History".
*Zelade, Richard. (Winter 1985). "The Armadillo's Last Waltz". "Texas Times", pp 46-49. (from the "Austin History Center" collection)
*"The Decade of the Dillo". [http://www.awhq.com/info.htm Official Website of the Armadillo World Headquarters] . Retrieved Jun. 20, 2005.
*"History". [http://www.armadillobazaar.com/history.html Armadillo Christmas Bazaar] . Retrieved Jun. 20, 2005.
*Vail, Isadora. "Remember the Armadillo". [http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/20armadillo.html Statesman.com] . Retrieved Aug. 22, 2006.External links
* [http://www.awhq.com/ Official Website of the Armadillo World Headquarters]
* [http://www.myspace.com/armadilloworldheadquarters Official MySpace of the Armadillo World Headquarters]
* [http://www.austinlinks.com/Music/armheadq.html Austin City Links]
* [http://www.armadillobazaar.com/ Armadillo Christmas Bazaar]
* [http://www.stevehopson.com/Armadillo/Armadillo.htm Armadillo Photo Archive]
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00031/cah-00031.html Catalog of Armadillo materials held by UT Austin's Center for American History]
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