"turn out the lights, the party's over"

Willie Nelson's song used as a tagline by Dandy Don Meredith describes the lonely building on the Slaton Highway. From the weeds and large "for rent" sign, the latest wanna-be Cotton Club didn't make a bumper crop. For over forty years the original Cotton Club at 50th Street and Southeast Drive stood as the most influential and diverse performance venue in the region. It was once the only profitable venue for a band to stop between Dallas and Los Angeles. The Cotton Club was unique because of its blindness to race, color and musical genre, presenting artists such as Little Richard, Elvis, and Willie Nelson among many others. Today only a Texas historic marks identifies the location.  After the old Cotton Club burned in 1965, Tommy Hancock decided to build a new club on the Slaton  Highway. He obtained permission from the founders of the old Cotton Club to use the same name. When the large metal building was completed, Hancock opened the new Cotton Club in 1967. The subsequent list of owners and managers of the Cotton Club reads like a who's who of Lubbock music -- Joe Ely, "Stubb" Stubblefield, Jug Little. Another entrepreneur leased the property in 2009 with big dreams of tall cotton (Cotton Club's return).  Apparently his $30,000 investment didn't pay off. 

 

 

original Cotton Club

 



Cotton Club

6410 E. U.S. 84
Lubbock County, Texas
1.25.2014