He was a respected Montreal entrepreneur, a pioneer in his field, and an immigrant. Do you know who he is?
Answertime: Yes, it's Rufus Rockhead, the legendary nightclub impressario who died in 1981 at age 93. His club, Rockhead's Paradise, stood at the southeast corner of Mountain and St. Antoine (it has since burned down).
Here's what Tommy Schnurmacher wrote about Rockhead in the Gazette back on May 15, 1987:
While some of Montreal's business families were making their first millions during the rum-running days of Prohibition, Jamaican-born Rufus Nathaniel Rockhead, a former railway porter who once ran a hat-cleaning and shoe-shine parlor in Verdun, picked up enough business savvy to obtain a tavern licence in 1928.
Rockhead's Paradise, which opened on the corner of St. Antoine and Mountain in 1930, went on to play host to many American stars including Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Redd Foxx and Sammy Davis Jr. amongst others. Even performers like Louis Armstrong and Pearl Bailey who didn't perform at the club would nonetheless drop by to pay their respects and chat with Rufus.
Although Montreal was dubbed "Sin City of the Empire" by a London Daily Mirror reporter during the post-war era, Rockhead's heated disagreements with the Duplessis regime resulted in Rockhead's being closed for most of the 1950s. Only the tavern was allowed to operate.
Rockhead's re-opened in 1961 when the provincial Liberals returned to power.In 1980, Rufus Rockhead's son, Kenny Rockhead sold the club to Boicel and Doudou's Rockhead Paradise, also known as The Rising Sun 2 featured top-name entertainment by such stars as Nina Simone, Eartha Kitt, Milt Jackson and Dizzy Gillespie. Rockhead's closed for good in 1982, one year after Rufus Rockhead died at the age of 93.
Rufus Rockhead?
ReplyDelete-The Punisher
That was quick -- but is it your final answer?
ReplyDeleteAnd the music is still happening at the same corner, two doors down in 1180. Only it sucks now.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Verdun in 1943. And while I saw Ben E. King and Walter Jackson at the Esquire Show Bar on visits back east in my early twenties and thirties (I'd left with parents in '54 for Vancouver, B.C.) I never did get up the courage to go to Rockheads Paradise. Possibly because it had always been portrayed in descriptive terms that made it seem a little too adult for me. I always pictured the owner as the kinda guy who'd have been more-than-ready to use the bat I imagined him to have behind the Rockheads' bar.
ReplyDeleteThere was a similar (but not as grand) New World African Music nightclub in Van-City owned by another legendary African Canadian barman named Ernie King. This West Coast of Canada night spot was called the Harlem Nocturne and was located on East Hastings Street.
It would be a good thing to publish all Rufus Rockhead's programmations in "Rockheads" 1252 St Antone West during the years (bands, artists names...) . It's historic !
ReplyDeletehey y'all! I was wondering if anyone has pictures of the exterior of rockhead's, cafe st michel or the esquire show bar. I'm doing a project where I will be painting murals of these iconic clubs in a bar I work at and pictures are hard to come by!
ReplyDelete