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Tag: Fresh and Easy

  • September 9th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1938, this ad in the Santa Ana Register offer two choice places for dining, dancing and entertainment, Vivian Laird’s South Seas and Vivian Laird’s Garden of Allah in Seal Beach.  In spite of there being WOMEN CHEFS at South Seas, the people in the illustration for the Garden of Allah look like they’re having more fun.

    There were many owners of the Garden of Allah after Vivian Laird, and the lot has hosted a number of establishments including very briefly a church, a Jack in the Box for decades, and the recently closed Fresh & Easy. 

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • June 15th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1965, The Delicates appeared for one night only at Larry’s Goldfinger’s A-Go-Go with Adrian Lloyd IV and Donn Coats filling out the rest of the bill.

    If Larry’s Goldfinger’s A-Go-Go is remembered at all today, it’s as a controversial topless spot that barely lasted for a few years at the old Garden of Allah location on Pacific Coast Highway in spite of the city’s efforts to shut it down. The location had an even briefer stint under the name Surfer Girl A-Go-Go (which seems appropriate since this address was right across the alley from Rich Harbour Surfboards) before ultimately being bulldozed to make room for a Jack-In-The-Box drive thru. Now a Fresh and Easy Market stands at this address, and the wildest thrill that would be tolerated here would be perhaps a gal in a halter top doing the froog while waiting to use the self-service register.

    But fifty years ago, Larry’s Goldfinger’s A-Go-G0 spent a few months as a live music venue, and the above ad featured some local Southern California acts that were popular in the Long Beach area at the time.

    The_DelicatesThe Delicates were a West Coast girl group that lasted a couple of years (not to be confused with an earlier group called The Delicates based in New Jersey). The Delicates recorded tracks for Challenge, Pulsar, and Soultown Records and were Brenda Joyce Evans, Billy Rae Calvin And Michelle Doe, although some sources include Alder Ray as a member of the group. Perhaps some pop music historians can leave some input and corrections in the comments section.

    Thanks to Youtube, we can listen to some of the music that might have been heard from The Delicates in Seal Beach fifty years ago.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7gAaBGfvNQ]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp56wLQKRJw]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjrShaZTSs0]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP96qz8hsfc]

    But wait! There’s more! Donn Coats and drummer Alvin Lloyd both had a varied history playing with a variety of bands, including together in a group called Alvin Lloyd IV, and they functioned as a house band for Goldfinger’s from June to September in 1965.

    Adrian Lloyd

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE6rXWovFk0&w=640&h=390]

     

    Donn Coats and The Playbacks made some recordings earlier in the sixties.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5BpBZZ2GZM]

     

    Coats was performing in the fifties as this clip from 1957’s “Rock Baby Rock It” shows.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otQPKVxfU4c&w=640&h=390]

     

    Please, anyone with experiences and knowledge about these groups and performers, share in our comments section.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

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    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.

     

  • May 25th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1939, you could enjoy entertainment by that well-known maestro, Raymond Jasper and His Five Counts of Rhythm while enjoying a 65 cent, 75 cent, or a one dollar dinner in Seal Beach’s very own happening night spot, Garden of Allah (and a lot happened there).

    May_25_1939_Garden_of_Allah_AdGarden of Allah was located at 800 Pacific Coast Highway. Over the years this same address has presented to discerning locals and coast highway commuters such fine establishments as Larry’s Goldfingers A-Go-Go, Surfer Girl A-Go-Go, Jack In The Box, and the now gone Fresh and Easy.

    I couldn’t find a recording of Raymond Jasper, but he did co-wrote the song “That’s What You Think” for the 1935 film “King Solomon of Broadway” with Pinky Tomlin and Coy Poe. Here’s Putney Dandridge and His Orchestra’s cover of the song.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rut4p0CsaY]

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

    Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.

    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.

  • January 4th in Seal Beach History

    On This Date in 1957, The Long Beach Independent reported that:

    Master Chef Walter Wyly serves diversified international cuisine at the newly reopened Garden of Allah, 8th and Coast Hwy. in Seal Beach. Dinners start at $1.95.

    It must have seemed like 1957 was going to be a good year for the Garden of Allah, but it was not meant to be. In May, the Long Beach Bunco squad arrested Garden of Allah owner Robert W. Holstun for running a “B” girl drunk-roll racket at his Long Beach bar, The Gyro Room. By June, the Garden of Allah was closed and up for sale. Two months later, Reverend Guy Newton planned to buy and convert the night club into the new location for the Seal Beach First Baptist Church, but those plans fell through. The church would find a more modest location on Bay Boulevard.

    This was not the end of The Garden of Allah. A new owner re-opened the nightclub in July 1958, but it never reclaimed the popularity it enjoyed under the original owner, Vivian Laird. The Garden of Allah was briefly renamed The Nile Restaurant and even spent a scant time in the sixties as a topless go-go bar before being demolished and replaced by a Jack in The Box.

    Which was replaced decades later by a Fresh and Easy market. Which then closed a few years later. So it goes.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

    Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.

    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.