Dallas History: Longhorn Love Traditional Cache
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Dallas History: Longhorn Love
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Eccentric self-made Dallas millionaire, O. L. Nelms built the Longhorn Ballroom in 1950. At first, it was called the Bob Wills Ranch House. Jack Ruby, of Lee Harvey Oswald fame, managed it for a short time. O.L.Nelms had several managers run the place up until his death in 1972. During this same time period in the early 1970's, the Longhorn Ballroom began a transition to new African-American clientele. On Sunday and Monday nights most of the black community in Dallas at the time worked in the service industry, so Sunday and Monday nights were their night to go out on the town. They could see James Brown, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding and performers like that. It was the coolest place to see a show, because once you got inside, you could do whatever you wanted, as long as you didn’t get into a fight. The venue kept two off-duty African-American police officers on hand for many of these shows, but they weren’t there to arrest anybody - just to keep the peace. The Longhorn was also way ahead of the curve when it came to personalized table service. You could go in and buy a table and they would set it up for you. That would be your table all night. They would serve you setups, because they didn’t have a liquor license. It was just beer and wine. There were inexhaustible jars of pickled pigs feet on the bar and the tasty soul food. And there was a craps table set up in the men’s room. The African-American touring entertainers of the time comprised the “chitlin’ circuit", which operated on Sunday and Monday at the Longhorn. On the weekends at that time, the Longhorn featured acts such as George Strait, Merle Haggard, Johnny Winter, and George Thorogood. But the act that put them on the map for a new generation came in January of 1978. The Sex Pistols came to the Longhorn on January 10th. Punk rock was still a British curiosity, so while half the audience was there to check out this new music, the other half was just there to check out the scene. The show was crazy on many levels and it is not hard to find video of that show. Less than a year after the show, their bass guitarist, Sid Vicious, died of a heroin overdose in New York City, leaving the Dallas show as one of the few times the Sex Pistols were filmed in concert. Throughout the 1980's, the Longhorn supported local acts like the New Bohemians and the Old 97's, as well as upcoming acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Georgia Satellites, Megadeth, and Motörhead. The Longhorn still stands and has a capacity of about 2,500 people though clearly the building and its surroundings have seen better days. With more modern competition from far better music venues, the Longhorn Ballroom is one more relic Of Dallas' past.
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