Former comedy club owner recalls Smother Brothers’ live albums in Pasadena
When Bob Stane heard that the Smother Brothers wanted to record a live album at his folk music and comedy venue in Pasadena in 1964, he couldn’t believe his luck.
The duo consisted of Dick Smothers and his brother Tom, who died on Tuesday from cancer at age 86. The pair were stars in the 1960s, known for co-hosting “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” on CBS and performing their trademark comedic folk songs in venues across the country.
So when they expressed interest in performing at The Ice House comedy club, Stane jumped at the chance. There was only one small problem: he and his co-owner, the late Willard Chilcott, couldn’t afford the Smothers Brothers’ fee.
Luckily, Stane and Chilcott found a solution — two “souped up scooters” that the brothers agreed to accept in lieu of payment. Tickets were billed at $2.50 and the show was a smashing success resulting in the recording of the brothers’ fifth comedy album, “It Must Have Been Something I Said!”
“At the time, the Smothers Brothers were a huge hit, they were nationally and internationally famous, and they wanted to be recorded at The Ice House because it was a real audience — people were not there to be seen, they were there because they really wanted to come,” said Stane. “The response was enormous, people really couldn’t believe it was the Smothers Brothers at The Ice House. It was quite the event.”
The show was such a hit that the brothers returned a year later to record their sixth comedy album, “Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects.”
Demand for the tickets were hot, Stane recalls, noting that they sold out the 175-seat venue in less than four hours for both events.
“We probably turned away 1,000 people for each of the shows,” he said. “The phone rang constantly from morning to night.”
The pair were known for pushing political boundaries through their comedy. They lambasted the Vietnam War, praised hippie counter culture and criticized the Establishment. Their outspoken nature often put them in conflict with the television executives at CBS and ultimately led to the cancellation of their show in 1969.
Stane believes that the liberal and youthful spirit in the college town of Pasadena was a big part of what attracted the pair to The Ice House.
“There were about eight colleges around so our audience was extremely knowledgeable and probably more progressive than any other place that the Smothers Brothers might go,” he said. “On television they were broadcasting to the entire world and probably offending a lot of people. At The Ice House they were not controversial at all.”
The stars’ back-to-back live album recordings did wonders for the young comedy venue, which Chilcott opened in 1960.
“It gave us a huge amount of prestige — we were just heroes,” said Stane. “Everybody was so happy because of what they did there, and the fact that they did it again.”
Stane, who is now 89 and retired, remembers Tom Smothers as a kind and friendly man and a truly original talent who helped make history at The Ice House.
Now, 60 years later, the Pasadena comedy venue remains in operation and has hosted more than 4 million audience members, more than 75 live album recordings, and scores of celebrated comedians.