Armadillo World Headquarters1970 -- 1980
The Armadillo is behind the Skating Palace. Photo/© Steve Hopson The Armadillo World Headquarters is the Big Kahuna of Austin music. It put us on the national map. Started by Austin band Shiva's Headband's manager, Eddie Wilson, in 1970. Right on the heels of the beloved Austin original rock club, the Vulcan taking its last breath. It was a barn. A former National Guard Armory and sports center. I've read reviews of the Armadillo calling it everything from unglamorous to an ugly hippie hole. It was glamorous and it certainly wasn't ugly. The Armadillo allowed the audience and artist an intimate interaction that couldn't be duplicated on any stage in America at the time. A lot has been written about the emergence of the cosmic cowboy phenomena that is credited to Willie Nelson bringing hippies and rednecks together in the same audience at the Armadillo. Here's what really happened -- Willie and Waylon Jennings dropped the Nashville production of Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins and got back to doing real country without the Eddie Arnold slick production. Hippies dug it. Rednecks dug it. Willie and Waylon grew hair and beards and made no secret of their occasional puff of mother nature. The rednecks started smoking pot. Hippies started drinking beer and donning cowboy hats. Both started listening to the same music and the result was – Gram Parsons. Cosmic cowboys in full bloom. It wasn't as big a deal as you might think. It was young folks finding common ground and evolving beyond the usual territorial instincts of the young. Armadillo World Headquarters was much more than the legend, stories or even the myth. Eddie Wilson created a great big living room. You were comfortable here. Watch Austin City Limits. Not the same thing but the same pretense. Quality talent in a living room environment. Indulge me while I offer you a partial list of the thousands of musicians who played here… Freddie King, Mose Allison, Ted Nugent, Gram Parsons, Police, Frank Zappa, Clash, BB King, Toots and the Mayals, Genesis, Ray Charles, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jeff Beck, ZZ Top, Ramsey Lewis, Van Halen, Tubes, Fats Domino, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Ely, B-52s, Rory Gallagher, Count Basie, Waylon Jennings, Roy Buchanan, Kinks, Leo Kottke, Randy Newman, Linda Ronstadt… An obvious question arises after looking at the above list. Why would a place like the Armadillo World Headquarters draw such world class talent? Simple – it felt good being there. Warm night air mixed with great music in the vacuum of a community house party. Much different than a concert. It was ground zero for the explosion in Austin music that followed. One year after the Armadillo opened there were 12 more music venues opened in Austin. The beginning of the beginning for the Live Music Capital of the World. Thanks for the memories Mr. Wilson! SIXTH STREET CLUBS WAREHOUSE & DOWNTOWN CLUBS RED RIVER CLUBS UNIVERSITY CLUBS SOUTH AUSTIN CLUBS EAST SIDE CLUBS AUSTIN ANGELS & HALLOWED GROUND MORE Leave ARMADILLO WORLD HEADQUARTERS and go to AUSTIN MUSIC. Click here to go to Austin, Texas HOME.
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