Question for You Los Angles/Hollywood area Forum Members

Louie Hallford · From: denison tx

I am trying to track down history of Fife-Nichols music stores and the original owner of a Martin 00-18. Are they still in business,if not when did they close? Found their neat, commercially made, metal name tag mounted inside the case of a 00-18 Martin guitar.

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

Hmmm... I've lived in LA almost 40 years, and I've never heard of Fife-Nichols.
Any idea what part of LA they were in?

Danny Bates · From: Fresno, CA. USA

Fife & Nichols, was a Hollywood musical instrument store and was located at the corner of Sunset & Vine inside the famous Wallach's Music. It later became "Splevin's Music"

Wallach's was a huge record store and you could listen to records in a private booth on a turntable before deciding to buy it.

They closed around '77

Pics Here... http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/category/27-1/music-city/

Billy Tonnesen · From: R.I.P., Buena Park, California

Two other major Music Stores in downtown Los Angeles in the 30's, 403s & 50's wereL.

Southern California Music Company located on Hill St. near 7th Street. This was an upscale music company that sold high end instuments. It was not a hangout for Musicians.

Lockies Band Instruments was located on Broadway just south of the old Orpheum Theatre. This was a hangout for Musicians and impromtto jam sessions. Sold all kinds of new and used instruments. You never knew who you would run into when you went down there.

I also think Fife & Nichols also had a store in downtown L.A. Can't remember where !

Jim Park · From: Carson City, Nv

I also Have a Martin OO-18 from F&N. Mine is A 1949 and it has a little decal on the headstock. My Dad bought it in 51 when he lived in SoCal. Too weird!!!!

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

I remember Wallach's well. I lived nearby and would walk down to Sunset & Vine to buy strings. And, it was right around the corner from Red Rhodes' shop.
Never knew about F&N.
You learn something new everyday...if you're lucky.

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

I got my first guitar, a Goya, at F&N. Also my first mando, a Gibson A-50. And upstairs at Fife was the little cubby hole repair shop of legendary guitar repairman Milt Owens. Milt had all the walls and ceiling of his shop covered in 8x10's of the guitarists that used to patronize his business, everyone from Eddie Lang to Clarence White. I used to hang out with Milt when I was a kid and listen to stories of the "old days," especially about Herman the Hermit, Cliffie Stone's dad.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Danny Bates · From: Fresno, CA. USA

Here's an interesting quote from this page...
http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/quotes.html

"Neil Young and Barry Friedman had stolen a Buffalo Springfield sign off the steamroller for Barrys house. They put it up. We all looked at it on the wall and a light went off. That's how we came up with the name" - Steven Stills / Buffalo Springfield / Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young / Manassas (note: That steam roller was parked out in front of Sol Betnuns Music Store, which was a converted house on Larchmont Avenue just south of Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood ... Sols' was the music store that supplied most of the great used stuff, the others were "Mad Man Louies' Pawn Shop" on Main Street in downtown L.A., the "Backroom" across the street from the Musician's Union on Vine St. 2 doors down from Milt Owens' Guitar Repair and Barney Kessells' guitar shop on Vine and Yucca both in Hollywood and you had to find out about them to even know that they were there - Dr. Duck)

Speaking of "Herman The Hermit", here's one of his songs on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcji_2OGwbY

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

do you think neil has made enough $ to pay back for the stolen sign yet?

that karma's gonna catch up with you, neil!

and maybe you could chip in to get your steel player more than a 'beginner's model'! ha ha

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

Sol Betnun's! What a cool place that was. I used to see all sorts of old & bizarre gear there.

Speaking of old & bizarre gear, has anyone ever been to the Chicago Store in Tucson?

Ben Elder · From: La Crescenta, California, USA

If you have--or can find a back issue, for $200 or so--the first issue (Winter 2005) of The Fretboard Journal, there's an article on The Chicago Store in there.
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"Gopher, Everett?"

Alvin Blaine · From: Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA

There is a story about when Cameron Hill, Jimmy Wyble, and Noel Boggs all got hired by Bob Wills to be in the Texas Playboys.
Now an integral part of "BOB WILLS AND HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS," the most popular swing band in the country, things were really looking up. Bob was a good boss and he expected his musicians to play their best, and to help them he would often buy their instruments. Bob paid $85 a week and took care of hotel bills and bought their cowboy uniforms. All they had to buy was food. Bob said, "Boys, we're going to make some theater appearances from L.A. to Chicago. I want you boys to get two of the best and prettiest guitars you can find." And he gave Cameron and Jimmy a check for $1100. They both played Charlie Christian guitars but Bob wanted them to have the finest money could buy so he sent them shopping. So they went to Fife and Nichols on Hollywood Boulevard, located at Sunset and Vine and asked for two Gibson L-5s that looked alike. The salesman said he was sorry he couldn't help them but that he had two 1943 Epiphone Emperors. They gave the salesman the check of $1100 and it covered both the Epiphones that they equipped with DeArmond pick-ups.

Here is a picture of the two guitars they bought at Fife & Nichols.

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http://www.oldbluesound.com/about.htm
http://www.facebook.com/cowboytwang

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Alvin, is that Les "Carrot Top" Andersen on the steel guitar in that photo?........JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Billy Tonnesen · From: R.I.P., Buena Park, California

Jerry:

Yes, that is Les Anderson. We were freinds after he left Bob Wills and was working with Red Murell at the Glendale Barn in Los Angeles. As I sort of remember the story was that Bob fired Les when Les called in sick but had booked another job that night. This was hearsay but Les was always promoting his singing more than playing Steel.

The girl singer was Laura Lee Owens. She was later married to Dicky McBride. They both came to Los Angeles and were hired by Ole Rasmussen in 1948. Dickie stayed with Ole but after a few months Laura Lee started working with Tex Williams.

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

I had the pleasure of playing with both Les Anderson and Laura Lee McBride. I felt honored as well.

I played with Les at a Western Swing Festival in San Marcos TX when he received a Hall of Fame award there. He was quite elderly at the time and had come down from Canada where he and his wife were living in the early 90's. Carrot Top corralled me and my wife and showed us the scrap books he carried that chronicled his performance career in music and movies.

After his time in LA, where he was in the cast of Town Hall Party and Ranch Party, as well as some B-grade westerns, he moved to Las Vegas and got in the air conditioning business. Then, other places and finally settled in western Canada. His son, Les Anderson Jr., was a friend of mine that used to come to the Oklahoma steel shows, but he's passed on as well.

Laura Lee had moved back to TX and was part of the western swing revival that took place here in the mid-70's. She worked consistently and a lot with Alvin Crow, AATW, the various TX Playboy incarnations, and more. Before she married Dickie McBride... or maybe afterwards Wink

... she was married to Cameron Hill. Either before or after Cameron Hill was married to Becky Barfield, that is.

Sounds like there was a lot of that going on back then. Laughing

_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

Al Carness · From: Washington, USA

Back in the mid to late 50's, I used to go into Fife & Nichols on Lankershim Bl in downtown North Hollywood. I believe that this was their first location before the Hollywood store.

Bob Blair · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

What a great thread! Thanks for rescuing it from oblivion Al.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Skip wrote:

"Speaking of old & bizarre gear, has anyone ever been to the Chicago Store in Tucson?"

I visited Chicago Music in downtown Tucson probably about 20 years ago, shortly after my folks purchased a Winter place in Geezer Valley. What a spectacle it was. Huge store with gear piled everywhere. You could hardly even walk through the place. Unbelievable that the Fire Marshall would even allow them to open the doors. I've heard that since then the place may have been tidied up.

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