Buffett and The Pier in Raleigh, NC

[Tiki Torches]

The Pier, located in Raleigh's Cameron Village Subway


The liner notes from Havaña Daydreamin' where Buffett alludes to having played the Pier in the early 70's

A post on the Goodnight, Raleigh blog in 2008 about The Pier brought people out of the woodwork to reminisce about all of the bands they'd seen not just at the Pier but also at the other clubs located in the Cameron Village Subway in Raleigh such as the Frog & Nightgown and Cafe Déjà Vu. What made the Pier and those clubs (and other businesses) so unique is that they were actually located underground, beneath the Cameron Village shopping center itself. In addition to Buffett, those included R.E.M., the Ramones, the Police, Bette Midler (when Barry Manilow was her keyboard player), Warren Zevon, Tom Waits, Leon Redbone and tons of others. Those clubs were also home to lots of local legends and rising stars such as the Cigaretz, the Fabulous Knobs, Let's Active, the dB's, Arrogance (that included Don Dixon who went on to produce records by R.E.M., the Connells, Hootie and the Blowfish, etc.), Nantucket, Mike Cross, the Super Grit Cowboy Band, PKM, etc. The lists are nearly endless.

A week or so ago, a post about the Cameron Village Subway on Heather Leah's Candid Slice blog shined a light back on the Pier and those other clubs again. Thanks to a page devoted to the Pier on Facebook, the story exploded this time around. So much so, that it led to local TV station WRAL doing a story on the Cameron Village Subway. I've posted a YouTube video of the segment below but for more information from WRAL that includes links to Goodnight Raleigh, Candid Slice, etc. click here. This story has snowballed over the past few days to the extent that there is now talk of making a documentary about the Cameron Village Subway. Some folks are also thinking it could lead to reopening the Pier itself but I honestly don't see that happening. In addition to the WRAL piece, I've also included clips of R.E.M.'s performance at The Pier from 10.10.82 (they had yet to release a full length album at this point) and a clip of Arrogance performing there on 2.26.82. If you're interested in learning more about Arrogance and the history of North Carolina's music scene in general, be sure to check out Steve Boyle's Return To Comboland website. The name was inspired by a compilation of local/regional bands released in 1986 called Welcome To Comboland that included Southern Culture On the Skids, Don Dixon (Arrogance), the Connells, Fetchin' Bones, the Spongetones and others.

[surfpirate]

That's some good s*** dude. That's a tidbit I've never seen and I've seen most of 'em.
Thanks!

[Tiki Torches]

That's some good s*** dude. That's a tidbit I've never seen and I've seen most of 'em.
Thanks!

Not a problem. The "new" Pier reopened at Mission Valley Shopping Center in Raleigh in the mid to late 80's but there was no connection to the original Pier other than in name only. The original owners were none too happy about it but from a legal standpoint there was evidently nothing they could do. When I was working at a small AM country radio station in Eastern NC when Steve Earle's Exit O record was new, we heavily promoted his show there and gave away tickets to it but I still never made it to The Pier (old or new).

[dnw]

Interesting--thanks for sharing.

[Tiki Torches]

I know membership here has dwindled considerably in recent years but when this place was more active, it seems like there were a few members that actually saw Buffett at the Pier. I talked to a friend last night that saw him there on the tour for Living and Dying in ¾ Time circa '74. At that gig he said it was Buffett with a full band. On other occasions it was apparently just Buffett and Roger Bartlett (or maybe even "Fingers"). My friend also related a story of seeing Buffett at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC during that same era. Being a Christian school, "God's Own Drunk" didn't go over real well and some of the powers that be unsuccessfully attempted to bring the performance to a halt. I love hearing tales of Buffett shows from that era and hated that I missed out on seeing him then but I was just too young. Thankfully, I did get to see him a few times on college campuses before he graduated to the big outdoor shows in the late 80's and early 90's.

[Bicycle Bill]

Didn't Atlanta GA also have a similar "underground" entertainment district?  I remember back in the late '70s there was a "superstation" out of Atlanta on cable TV (WTCG/channel 17, which gradually evolved into TBS, the anchor/crown jewel of Ted Turner's broadcast empire).  I used to watch them late-night; they had a kinda-hip announcer by the name of Bill Tush (honest!); they re-ran old movies and series like the original "Avengers" with Patrick Macnee and Linda Thorsen; and they used to have commercials for someplace called Scarlett O'Hara's located in (deep sonorous voice) "UNDERGROUND Atlanta".

-"BB"-

[mirrorthatlies]

My husband and I spent many a night at The Pier back in 1975. Our wedding party even went there to party after our wedding. Sadly, I can't remember all the bands and singers we saw, just the memories of the good times we had with friends. It's so sad to see the pictures of what it looks like today.

[jayparrot46]

thanks for sharing

[Tiki Torches]

My husband and I spent many a night at The Pier back in 1975. Our wedding party even went there to party after our wedding. Sadly, I can't remember all the bands and singers we saw, just the memories of the good times we had with friends. It's so sad to see the pictures of what it looks like today.

As you might have figured, with all the renewed interest in the Subway, there's all kinds of people (myself included) that want to get down there for a peek even though there apparently isn't much to look at. I got the lowdown yesterday on how to get down there so I hope to make a visit soon.

[Tiki Torches]

For those that may be interested, here's another new article about the Cameron Village Subway. This one comes from NCSU's newspaper, The Technician:

Underground village provokes memories


Heather Leah, Editor-in-Chief of CandidSlice.com,
released an article with the above photos she took
beneath Cameron Village. Leah said she did not
expect the article to gain as much attention and
excitement as it did. The article on Candidslice.com
recieived over 2,000 shares on Facebook.
Heather Leah/Candidslice.com

[Tiki Torches]

Some new interviews about the heyday of the Cameron Village Subway here in anticipation of a concert by the Love Language that will be happening at Cameron Village in Raleigh on April 25th.

[Tiki Torches]

In this pre-show interview from Walnut Creek last night, Buffett alludes to having played a club in Raleigh after forming the Coral Reefer Band. Makes me wonder if he's referring to the Pier. It's obviously not the show he mentions in the liner notes for Havana Daydreamin' as it was just Buffett and Roger Bartlett then but I'd say there's a pretty good chance he returned to the Pier after forming the Reefers.

[Tiki Torches]

Images courtesy of the Pier's FB page of a menu Buffett and Roger Barlett autographed when they played there back in January of 1975.

[RinglingRingling]

been a while since I was in RDU, and used to go into the Cameron Village Draft House. did not know there was a whole area under that area.

[Tiki Torches]

been a while since I was in RDU, and used to go into the Cameron Village Draft House. did not know there was a whole area under that area.

Indeed there is, while I remember the Pier from the 70's (one of my older brothers was at the concert Buffett references in the liner notes to Havana Daydreamin'), I didn't realize you could still go down there until I saw a post about it on the Goodnight, Raleigh blog a few years ago. Of course, now with all the recent publicity it's apparently not quite as easy to gain access as before. I'd still love to go just out of curiosity but from what I can tell, there's really not all that much to see. It would still be cool though. Really looking forward to the Love Language concert they're having there on Friday (albeit it's above ground).

[Bicycle Bill]

Images courtesy of the Pier's FB page of a menu Buffett and Roger Barlett autographed when they played there back in January of 1975.

Noting that they must not have paid a whole lot of attention to proofreading their entertainment listings.  Note that Bubba is listed as "Jimmy Buffet" (with only one 'T'), and about a week later they have "John Hartsford" — who I imagine was really "John Hartford".
I'll cut them some slack with "Tim Weisburg" instead of "Tim Weisberg", because he shows up spelled both ways in Google too.

-"BB"-

[Tiki Torches]

Noting that they must not have paid a whole lot of attention to proofreading their entertainment listings.  Note that Bubba is listed as "Jimmy Buffet" (with only one 'T'), and about a week later they have "John Hartsford" — who I imagine was really "John Hartford".
I'll cut them some slack with "Tim Weisburg" instead of "Tim Weisberg", because he shows up spelled both ways in Google too.

Considering that spelling Buffett with only one t is a pretty common mistake, it's hardly worth noting. The true significance of this artifact is the inclusion of Buffett and Roger Bartlett's signatures, which means these are the shows that served as the inspiration for Buffett's comments about the origin of the Coral Reefer Band that are mentioned in the liner notes to Havana Daydreamin'. He and Roger played the Pier on January 16, 17 & 18 of 1975. The liners of Havana Daydreamin' are dated November of 1975, so that makes perfect sense.