By douglasm (68.113.15.28) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:36 am:

I realise this may not be the place to ask, but is there a site somewhere that deals with "Coffeehouses", and the Detroit (and touring) acts that played there? I'm thinking of places like The Living End, Absolute Zero, and most specifically, the "white" blues and folk club The Chessmate (Checkmate?) by the U of D campus on Livernois at Six Mile (opposite the Varsity theatre). What happened to them, why did they decline, who played there, ect. I first saw James Cotton at the Chessmate in '69. Ran into Corkey Siegel (Siegel-Schwall) about 20 years ago and he said Morrie--he operated the club along with his wife--had died, but can find no history of any of these places, and it's a little hard to do research from Washington State.
Any help? Thank you.

By Fury13 (209.69.165.10) on Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 04:17 pm:

I think that the Chessmate building is still there and is now a laundromat.

By 65 memories (198.109.0.236) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 01:18 pm:

Anyone remember the original Raven Gallery?...not the one that used to be in Southfield, but the original in Birmingham? I remember seeing a young Ron Coden and Josh White jr. play there.

By STUBASS (206.135.204.2) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 01:21 pm:

JUST THINK ABOUT IT...DETROIT HAD COFFEE HOUSES *BEFORE* THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS "STARBUCKS"...

By douglasm (68.113.15.28) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:23 pm:

We're showing our age. Was the Raven (I, alas, remember the Southfield one) anywhere near the Absolute Zero, which was, I think, in Birmingham (sp.) on Woodward in the basement of an old church (not Hunter Blvd., but Woodward-north end--in town). And, Stubass, things haven't changed. The coffee at the Chessmate was both bad and overpriced...just like Starbucks. I could mention The Last Retort in the New Center area, but I won't. The reference to Ron Cohen made me think of PhiL Marcus Esser (sp?) and Paul Bowles. There's some musical history here that parallels the '60's rock clubs in Detroit that I've nerver seen anything written about.

By 65 memories (198.109.0.231) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 01:58 pm:

The original Raven Gallery was right near there (Brownell, I think, near Woodward). You're right about the need for a written history.