Hillbilly Ranch
In 1939, Frank Segalini came to the United States from a small village in northern Italy in search of the American Dream. Settling in Boston, he opened an Italian restaurant in the years that followed near Stuart and Carver streets in Park Square. By the late ‘50s, the restaurant had run its course and Segalini was looking for another business to invest in and potentially re-purpose the site where his restaurant was located.
In 1970, a friend convinced him to turn the place into a music venue, but not just any venue, this would be an outlet for country and western and bluegrass. At the time, it was the only club of its kind in Boston and it predated New York City’s CBGB – an initialism for “Country, BlueGrass, Blues”, founder Hilly Kristal’s original intention for the club when he opened it in 1973 – by over two years. The name came naturally, Segalini said; just had to name it “Hillbilly Ranch.”
EXTERIOR/INTERIOR DESIGN, NOTABLE APPEARANCES
“The Ranch,” as it was known, was not only unique for the live music it brought to the city but also for its exterior’s radical appearance. Smack-dab in Park Square, it was hard to miss the towering stockade fence that surrounded the club or the huge “Hillbilly Ranch” sign complete with tree-log lettering. The illuminated Schlitz signs in the windows and Budweiser placard on the roof made it unmistakable. Inside, the rustic décor included wagon wheel light fixtures and wood paneled walls.
Segalini brought the biggest names in country and bluegrass to the club, and everyone from The Lilly Brothers to local favorites John Lincoln Wright and The Sour Mash Boys, Chuck McDermott, Dick Curless and Joe Val and the New England Bluegrass Boys were all regular performers. The was never a shortage of national acts, either with The Bayou Boys, Sleepy LaBeef, Ernest Tubb and Tex Ritter appearing at the Ranch multiple times.
It was also the type of place where on any given night a visiting musician could stop by and join the band on stage. The club had a mixed clientele, often including Navy sailors and overflow patrons from the city’s Combat Zone, blending in with couples and local musicians. Amidst all the crowd diversity, and considering that Boston was not exactly a hotbed for country and western, the club packed people in eager to hear the five nightly sets that they couldn’t hear anywhere else in the city. The venue played a tremendously important role in establishing and reinforcing country and western music’s place in New England’s rich musical heritage.
CLOSING, SEGLINI’S DEATH, LEGACY
The Hillbilly Ranch closed its doors in 1980, removing an irreplaceable piece of Boston folklore and musical history. Frank Segalini passed away in 1992 from a stroke at age 84 shortly after closing the venue, remembers as a true visionary with a passion for music and a willingness to take a chance on it.
Like so many other neighborhoods in Boston, Park Square changed radically in later years. State buildings, parking garages and high-end eateries replaced tiny restaurant, bars and the old bus terminal. Walking through the Square now, it’s nearly impossible to envision the Ranch anywhere near Eliot Street, where it was once a heaping slice of country framed within a bustling urban backdrop.
(by Mark Turner)
