Clubland Paradise: The Skyline 1946-1989
Stark family gave Austin a roadhouse to remember
Lead Belly, who played Hogg Auditorium in June 1949, before dying of ALS later that year, isn’t the only musical giant whose final concert was in Austin. Hank Williams sang at the Skyline Club twelve days before he was found dead in his Cadillac in Oak Hill, West Virginia at age 29.
Between the time it was built in July 1946 until its demolition in the expansion of Braker Lane in 1989, the Skyline held more musical history than any club in Austin. It’s best known today for being the site of not only Hank’s swan song in Dec. ‘52, but Johnny Horton’s in Nov. ’60 (killed by a drunk driver in Milano, on his way back home to Shreveport after the show). Both country singers being married to the former Billie Jean Jones at the times of their deaths was an eerie coincidence. The 500-capacity roadhouse on the old Dallas Highway (11306 N. Lamar) was also where Elvis Presley performed in 1955, and where noted Austin noise-punks Scratch Acid passed out half-hits of LSD before their first show ever with singer David Yow in March 1983 (on a bill with the Butthole Surfers, Big Boys and TSOL). In the early ‘70s, a sheet metal worker from San Antonio named Moe Bandy brought his band of Mavericks to the Skyline weekly before conquering Nashville with his cheating songs. Mexican-American bands faced off on Sunday nights in the ‘50s, with Manuel “Cowboy” Donley and Las Estrellas- the first Tejano act with electric guitar- usually winning.
During its honky tonk heyday, such acts as Johnny Cash, Louvin Brothers, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzell, Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Jim Reeves and Marty Robbins played the Skyline, often backed by house band Jody Meredith and the Round-Up Boys. Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb and Hank Thompson brought their own groups.
The Skyline was hardcore country, but such local acts as Dolores and the Blue Bonnet Boys and Grouchy and the Texans always threw in a couple polka numbers to get the Germans and Czechs on the dancefloor. Wednesday was 10-cent beer night, and every night was don’t-give-Maydell-Crumley-any-lip night. The waitress was as much the boss as was Warren Stark, who opened the club as a 22-year-old just out of the service with his father Charles, who also owned Model Grocery on 11th and Red River.
The Starks were similar to the Whites of the Broken Spoke in that they were personable and loved traditional country music. But Warren Stark drew the line at profanity, making it an offense worthy of ejection to shout “bullshit!” during “The Cotton-Eyed Joe.” Groups knew to save that number until the end.
Warren was also not a fan of the counterculture, displaying a bathtub on a pole outside the Skyline “for flower children.” On his boat at Lake Travis he’d don his white Coast Guard uniform and get on the bullhorn near Hippie Hollow to tell everyone to put their clothes back on.
Raised on the Capitol View Dairy farm off far east Slaughter Lane, the three Stark siblings- Gerald, Margaret and Warren- inherited the Skyline after their father died of a stroke in 1955. Oldest child Gerald, whose disability had the family move from Houston to Austin so he could attend the Deaf School, lived behind the club and handled maintenance, while Margaret took money at the door and Warren booked and handled talent. The way he handled an increasingly erratic Hank Williams, was to drive up to Dallas to personally deliver him to his Dec. 19, 1952 Skyline show.
According to brother and sister opening acts Tommie and Goldie Hill from San Antonio, the Skyline show was one of the best they’d played with Williams. Hank did two sets and, according to Chet Flippo’s essential biography, threw in a few gospel songs, which was rare for Hank at a honky tonk. He must’ve had an inkling he’d soon meet his maker.
Hank had spent the day with Austin country singer Jerry Green, who he knew from the Louisiana Hayride, and Ernest’s son Justin Tubb, who was attending UT. They visited the Hays Record Shop at 916 E. First St., then dropped Williams off at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. “He was trembling something fierce,” said Green, “but when he played, he did a fine job.” Ol’ Hank did sing a few songs on guitar at a party for the musicians union in Alabama a few days later, but the Skyline was his final public performance.
The Skyline closed in 1977 and became the second location of Soap Creek in 1979, for a couple years. During that time, both Honeysuckle Rose and Roadie filmed their honky tonk scenes at the Skyline. The club was sold in ‘81 and became a rental hall, hosting everything from weddings, to punk shows, to a Blood Simple shoot by first-time filmmakers the Coen Brothers. Warren Stark passed away from a stroke in 1985 at age 61. The historic club was bulldozed four years later and is the site of a CVS drug store today.
I was arrested for underage drinking on 10 cent longneck Wednesday in 1963. H H Howze
Great article! Love the picture with Marty in front of his poster! Saw him about that time at the Houston Rodeo in the Sam Houston Coliseum.