Hot Tin Roof
The magical venue known as the Hot Tin Roof was located at the airport on Martha’s Vineyard and operated by George Brush, Herb Putnam and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Carly Simon as a combination restaurant and live-music space. It became a regular hangout for Saturday Night Live cast members, the Taylor family and a host of other celebrities ranging from Keith Richards and Walter Cronkite to Jackie Kennedy Onassis and John Travolta and was profiled in virtually every publication that mattered, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Newsweek and People.
Opened in 1979, closed from 1987 to 1995, then reopened from 1996 to 2009 (as Outerland from 2006 to 2009), “the Roof,” as it was known, presented a who’s who of stars who rarely appeared outside of major metropolitan areas. Before they went public with their Blues Brothers act, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd polished it at the seaside venue. Artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Delbert McClinton, Ricky Nelson, Leon Russell, Jesse Colin Young and Martha Reeves appeared regularly in the venue’s early years. No matter who was on stage, there was always a party at the Roof.
CLOSING, REOPENING, NOTABLE APPEARANCES
In 1986, with each of their careers going in different directions and the club well established, Simon, Brush and Putnam decided it was time to sell. They made a deal with island businessman Peter Martell, but the recipe and island’s social dynamics had changed and the Roof hit a dry spell after he acquired it, going dark in 1987. Nearly ten years later, however, in 1996, the club rose from its ashes. Recognizing the island’s need for The Roof, Putnam and a team of high-profile investors including Simon bought it back and re-launched the legendary spot.
This time, Simon and Putnam had Dick Friedman, Dirk Ziff, Steven Rattner and Harvey Weinstein among their total of 10 investors. The club re-opened in a newly renovated space featuring amazing murals of old trucks, farmers, docks, haystacks, beach sunsets and other island visuals by renowned artist Margot Datz. Simon and Putnam resumed operations with expanded capacity, an open-air section and an upgraded sound system.
Between 1996 and 2006, an incredible lineup entertained Vineyarders and summer visitors including John Popper, Martin Mull, Maria Muldaur, The Temptations, The Roches, Average White Band, Pat Benatar, Barenaked Ladies, Little Feat, Bo Diddley, Los Lobos, P Funk, Ben Harper, Albert King, Willie Nile, Blind Boys of Alabama, Tish Hinojosa, The Bacon Brothers, Buddy Guy, , Janis Ian, Susanne Vega, Chris Daniels, Robert Cray, Lou Reed, Richie Havens, Marshall Tucker, David Bromberg, Eddie Money, Queen Ida, Phoebe Snow, Dr. John, The Mamas and the Papas, 10,000 Maniacs and Jerry Lee Lewis. The list of Jazz, R&B and funk greats included Dizzy Gillespie, Les McCann, Nona Hendrix, Herbie Mann, Maceo Parker and Tito Puente.
Among the New England favorites who played the Roof were Arlo Guthrie, Geoff Muldaur, Cheryl Wheeler, Roomful of Blues, James Montgomery, Peter Wolf, The Ululators, Johnny Hoy, Entrain, Mike Benjamin, Phil DaRosa — and of course, Carly Simon and the Taylor clan (James, Livingston, Kate, Alex, Hugh, Sally, Ben, Aretha, Liz and Isaac).
PETER TOSH, OTHER NOTABLE APPEARANCES
Playing The Roof became a box that needed to be checked on many artists’ “I played at” lists. When Peter Tosh did a sold-out show, audience members were literally hanging on the limbs of trees outside the club’s fence to witness the famed member of Bob Marley & The Wailers. Major talent agents from music agencies including William Morris, CAA and Monterrey Peninsula constantly phoned the club to get both their up-and-comers and established artists on the summer lineup.
Other reggae performers that played at the Roof include Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Steel Pulse, Eek-a-Mouse, Yellowman, Sizzla, Morgan Heritage and Freddie McGregor. Jim Belushi called one night and said he wanted to play the club, and play he did. It was not only a place to hear well-known performers; it became a room where young artists like Susan Tedeschi, Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Marley, Derek Trucks and Grace Potter were able to rock out long before their rockets to stardom launched.
THE NEVILLE BROTHERS/BILL CLINTON INCIDENT
Cory Cabral, the Roof’s general manager and talent booker, recalled one particular night when New Orleans’ funk band The Neville Brothers were scheduled to play. “It was a sold out Friday night show in August and the stage was set for an epic night of music,” he said. “But disaster struck at 3 pm on the day of the show when it was discovered that the backline [i.e., the instruments and sound equipment] had not arrived on the island. The band’s agent and manager threatened to cancel the show.
“Meanwhile, the Roof’s management team called everyone in their collective Rolodex to procure some of the rarest keyboards and percussion instruments in the music industry. With the show in limbo – for six grueling hours – it was a flurry of non-stop calls to every instrument rental company, private pilot, charter plane, courier and boat captain they knew. With flight conditions below minimums, it took 147 phone calls until two pilots were located to take the charter.
“Once the equipment was couriered from downtown New York City to the tarmac at Teterborough, New Jersey,” he continued, “the pilots had to frantically take out the seats of the plane with a pocket Leatherman because the dimensions of the instrument cases were wrong and didn’t fit. With the seats removed, the pilots were Vineyard bound with the requisite keyboards in order for the band to perform. “Meanwhile, several of the club’s high-profile owners, many Hollywood celebrities and 550-plus concert goers were anxiously awaiting for the doors to open while the equipment was in flight from New York City and ferried from Hyannis by speed boat. The doors opened and the band bought time playing some of their tunes on a Hammond B3 organ until the equipment arrived.
“The visibility was so poor, the pilots missed their landing on the first approach and just made it on their second attempt. HTR staff then loaded the equipment into a transport van from the Vineyard airport tarmac and were ready to roll to the club when the Secret Service stopped them because Bill Clinton was exiting a plane at the airport. Everything was on lock down until Clinton found out the equipment van was heading to the Roof. He gave the Secret Service the go ahead to let them through.
“Clinton knew Carly Simon and had been to the club for a birthday party for one of his staff a few years back. After Clinton gave the go ahead, the van with the keyboards sped through the airport gates and was unloaded straight to the stage while Aaron Neville was in the middle of singing his solo song ‘Tell It Like It Is.’ As soon as Aaron finished the song’s last note, The Neville Brothers rocked seamlessly onto the keyboards, culminating with a night of unforgettable music.”
MISSED FERRIES, FLIGHTS, POWER OUTAGES
Every week was another adventure bringing international musicians to the stage at the Roof. Just making it to the Woods Hole ferry on time for most artists was a miracle. Cabral recalls the time when folk-blues legend Taj Mahal missed the last ferry and the only way to make it to the island on time to play his sold-out show was with on speed boat. Reggae dance hall superstar Barrington Levy missed his flight from Jamaica and the only way to get him to the club on time was with by chartering a private plane from Miami.
And there was the night when the royal family of reggae, Morgan Heritage, was about to hit the stage when just as they were about to play the first note, the power went out across the island, causing the show to go dark. The Morgans played an acoustic set by candle light until the power went back on. A deep Rolodex of private pilots, charter planes, boat captains, speed boats, couriers and instrument rentals was usually tapped to make the magic happen. But at The Roof, one way or another, the show always went on.
BECOMING “OUTERLAND,” NOTABLE GUESTS, REGGAE SERIES
A third era for the club formerly known as The Hot Tin Roof began in 2006, when Barry, Mona and Arthur Rosenthal launched Outerland; the previous owners refused to relinquish rights to “Hot Tin Roof.” Cabral stayed on as GM and talent booker and Outerland was open every night for three seasons, continuing the tradition of fabulous music. Outerland added an upscale restaurant as well as special nights for the local Brazilian community and a Family Dance-O-Rama.
Outerland continued to be the “in” place to be on the island. It was a Farrelly Brothers hangout with Hollywood friends like Jake Gyllenhaal, Woody Harrelson, Greg Kinnear, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and Larry David. Vineyard tourists and summer people would plan their vacations around the concert lineup at Outerland. Every week the international reggae series would bring the hottest and most legendary Jamaican reggae artists to island. Unrelenting, the parade of great musical acts continued: Judy Collins, Citizen Cope, John Hiatt, The Avett Brothers, Hall & Oates.
NECTARS, FLATBREAD CO., LEGACY
In 2009, a Vermont nightclub known as Nectars took over the venue in partnership with Flatbread Co., a wood-fired pizza restaurant chain with locations in New England and Hawaii. Nectars, a Vermont-based food-and-music venue, featured regional and local musical acts and wasn’t able to sustain their presence on the Vineyard. Nectars walked away from the venture in 2012, but Flatbread stayed on as a pizza place for a few years and featured some musical acts (usually local favorites). By 2014, the historic music scene at Martha’s Vineyard airport was no more. The Roof aka Outerland aka Nectars aka Flatbread were finished.
The Roof remains a major part of Vineyard folklore to this day. In the dead of winter, countless off-island tourists would drive out to the airport and knock on the door of the club’s closed doors, begging for just a glimpse of the place they’ve heard so much about. It brought the music world to the island to play on its stage, and many lifelong loves, friendships and memories were forged on a summer’s night within its walls. It was an institution that unified the island community every time the doors opened and the music flowed. On Martha’s Vineyard, it was the place to be.
(by Michael G. West and Cory Cabral)
