Beginning in 1976, the Lone Star was a haven for Texas-style bad behavior in New York City. It was a raucous, often crowded place, with free-flowing tequila, pretty good barbecue, not a few 10-gallon hats and performers like Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman, Albert King and Roy Orbison. The Lone Star was never exactly in sync with its upscale neighborhood but its noisy, nutty, anarchic spirit was well represented by a 40-foot iguana on the roof.
THE HISTORY OF THE LONE STAR IGUANA
"Made of wire mesh and polyurethane foam, the Iguana, an inanimate cartoonish figure of Jurassic Park proportions with an open, spiky-toothed mouth, spiny quills along its back and a great curling tail, was a downtown icon.
During the 80's Made of wire mesh and polyurethane foam, the Iguana, an inanimate cartoonish figure of Jurassic Park proportions with an open, spiky-toothed mouth, spiny quills along its back and a great, curling tail, was a downtown icon (and occasional cause celebre) during the 1980's. It graced (some said disgraced) the roof of the Lone Star Cafe, a Texas-themed music bar and all-around honky-tonk at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street in Manhattan." (NY Times)
In 1936 a brownstone was demolished to make way for a new two-story Schrafft's, probably the most popular chain of diners in the city during the '30s, '40s and '50s. A revolving door led to a cocktail bar to the right and a spiral staircase to the second floor on the left.
The Schrafft's chain bought and demolished the previous building. One of the top floors was the home and studio of artist Ben Solowey. Solowey was a representational painter who exhibited alongside Picasso, Matisse, de Kooning, and Hopper in places such as the Met, Whitney, Chicago Institute of Art. he also did charcoal portraits from life of performers on Broadway, opera, film, and dance on assignment primarily for the New York Times and Herald Tribune. His wife, Rae, has said that they had to move because their building was torn down to make way for a Schraffts.
In an effort to revamp their not-very-hip image, the folks at Schraffts hired Andy Warhol to do a commercial about the chain. But it was what it was, and ultimately closed a few years later.
From 1976 to 1989, The Lone Star Cafe, became the city's most popular country music concert venue. The Texas-themed Lone Star Cafe opened in February 1976 and became the premier country music venue in New York and booked big names and especially acts from Texas, like Asleep at the Wheel and Roy Orbison. Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman, Delbert McClinton, Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, were among Texas musicians who frequented the Lone Star Cafe. Joe Ely and Billy Joe Shaver also appeared at the Lone Star.
Soon enough the Lone Star hosted a number of musical acts, and particularly featured acts from Texas. Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman and Billy Joe Shaver all did regular shows there. The Blues Brothers and James Brown also did shows there, with Brown recording a live album there in 1985.
Willie Nelson and Roy Orbison made their first New York appearance at the Lone Star, in 1979 and 1980 respectively.
John Belushi and Dan Akroyd debuted as the Blues Brothers at The Lone Star Cafe in 1977.
Other Lone Star headliners included…
Carl Perkins
Delbert McClinton & Elvis Costello
Kinky Friedman
Singer/songwriter and 2006 Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman was long-running attraction, and his 1987 detective novel A Case of Lone Star is set in the milieu of the club.
Albert Collins
One night I stopped by the Lone Star to catch the one & only Albert Collins. What I didn't expect was that Albert Collins decided to go wild on his heavy guitar. The sound was so loud that I had to step outside the club. My ears were ringing for several days. “Say What?!!
BUDDY GUY & STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN > April 1986
Roy Buchanan
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius & Jimmy Page
Bob Dylan & members of The Band
LIBBY TITUS NEW YORK NIGHTS @ THE LONESTAR CAFE
Dr. John
Here's my story of hanging out with
Dr. John @ The Lone Star Cafe:
3/29/1983 Lone Star Café (NYC)
The Freelance Vandals opened for Dr. John and Maria Muldaur for two nights at The Lone Star Cafe.
Dr. John had been kicking back on his dressing room when Maria Mauldaur suddenly turned out to be a genuine diva & demanded that she get the star dressing room, thereby forcing the noble Dr. John to share dressing room digs with us.
We invited Dr. John to share our dressing room and right away we broke out a bottle of Jack Daniels while we all told war stories about the music business.
By the end of the night, Miss Mauldaur somehow managed to have Dr. John, his band and the Freelance Vandals ejected from the upstairs dressing room area for singing a drunken version of Muldaur's hit song, Midnight At The Oasis, at the top of their lungs. A fun time was had by one & all!
When the Lone Star Café closed down in April 1989, owner Mort Cooperman had already opened the larger Lone Star Roadhouse at 240 West 52nd Street. The new venue was closed down circa 1992.
"When the Lone Star closed (briefly resurfacing as the Lone Star Roadhouse in midtown for a little while, the lizard went into hiding, only to reappear on a pier down off N. Moore Street in TriBeCa for a little while, only to vanish again and relocate, somewhat fittingly, to Texas (where it remains today, I believe).
The space on Fifth Avenue turned into a bar/club called Mr. Fuji's Tropicana for a bit in the mid-90's. When Mr. Fuji's closed shortly thereafter.
The building sat dormant and rotting for some time before it was finally dismantled. Today, there's a brand new building in its foot print with massive windows that overlook the avenue -- perfect for some wealthy tycoon to glare out of at the little people." (from the Flaming Pablum blog)
I still have dreams about that big ass Lizard!
