Since several House of Freaks fans have mentioned the Tantilla album, I thought I'd offer a little trivia about the origin and history of the album's title and cover photo. Just say the word Tantilla to anyone from Richmond who's between the ages of 50 and 100, and you're sure to hear a story....maybe a bunch of stories. It just evokes that kind of sentiment. With so many cities becoming homogenized versions of each other, I'm always glad to find places with some cultural uniqueness to them. Tucson and New Orleans immediately come to mind, but every city has some unique cultural aspect. Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott must have been thinking along these lines when they picked the title, Tantilla. What a perfect way to reflect Richmond's past music scene, and to capture a little of the city's special flavor. Residents of Richmond, Virginia (at least those of a certain age) will certainly already know this, but Tantilla Gardens (aka Tantilla Ballroom) was a Richmond landmark. The building occupied nearly a full city block on West Broad Street. When it was built, its location was considered to be far west end, but by my time it was mid-town. circa 1950 For many years during the Jazz Age, big name artists would perform at Tantilla. I found an on-line itinerary for Duke Ellington that listed a Tantilla performance on 14 March 1935. It was a swanky place in those days. People would get all dressed up to go to the "Rooftop Gardens" as it was sometimes called. The building was also home to "Tiny Town" a duck-pin bowling alley on the ground floor. Patrons of Tantilla were forced to climb a most evil set of steps to enter the immense upstairs ballroom. Not far from the top of the steps was one of the largest stages in the city. At the other end of the building were all the tables and a large L-shaped bar where set-ups were sold. Guests would bring their own bottles in brown bags, as during the Tantilla days, liquor by the drink was not allowed. In between the bar area and the stage was a gigantic dance floor. During Tantilla's heyday (way before air-conditioning) the roof over the entire dance floor could be rolled back to reveal the sky. By the time I was a frequent guest there, the roof was permanently closed. Rumors were that during World War II, black-out orders forced the owners to keep it shut...but most likely that's just an urban myth. A sign from an earlier time was prominently displayed over the bar "Dancing Under The Stars At Tantilla Gardens" and even though my crowd never had the pleasure of that experience, we certainly could still see the chains, pulleys, and sprockets above our heads on the dance floor, and we could see the large area that could be opened in past days. It must have really been something to party with the likes of Duke Ellington at Tantilla Gardens with the roof rolled back! By the mid to late '60s when I was a regular there, most of the bands played what's now called "beach music", but back then it was just called music....maybe dance music. Bands like The Showmen, The Swinging Medallions, The Tams, Bill Deal & the Rhondels, Ron Moody and The Centaurs were staples at that time. There were a few "psychedelic happenings" around 1967, but mostly dance music. When Tantilla announced that they were going to close about 1969 (maybe 1970), everyone wanted to attend the last show. I believe there were at least 17 "last" shows. I think I bumped my chin on the evil steps as I left all 17 last shows... The building came down, and Home Beneficial Insurance Company got a parking lot. We knew it was the end of an era. We knew we were loosing an important link to our past. House of Freaks brought us a little reminder of Tantilla just as the name was fading from the public consciousness. The cover photo looking east on West Broad Street in front of Tantilla brought back memories of waiting in a line that stretched around the building for nearly every event. Friday night as several of us came out of Bliley Funeral Homes' Central Chapel, after attending the Harvey Family's visitation...it was hard not to notice that parking lot directly across the street, on the block where Tantilla stood for all those years. The album title was always significant to us Richmonders, but realizing that the funeral for Bryan and his entire family was taking place so close to that exact spot sent a shiver down my spine.
Thanks for the info, Wilkie. I'd always wondered where that name came from. If you have any analysis of HOF's songs, please post them. I recently acquired a copy of "Monkey On A Chain Gang", and I really wonder who's the Robert in "Dark and Light in New Mexico."
