1920s Jazz Clubs Of New York Tank Tops

Kelly’s Stables, also referred to as Kelly’s Stable, was a jazz club on Manhattan's 52nd Street in New York City, opened by jazz band leader Bert Kelly. Following the success of his Chicago nightclub, Kelly's Stables, in Tower Town, one of the jazz hotspots of the 1920s, Kelly opened a second venue in New York. The original Kelly's Stable(s) was located on 51st Street, near 7th Avenue. Arthur Jarwood, who was a part owner in the 51st Street location, had also built O'Leary's Barn on West 52nd Street, which he sold to Ralph Watkins (1907–1979) and George Lynch, and in March of 1940, O'Leary's Barn became Kelly's Stable(s) — at 137 W 52nd Street.

The first version of the club opened in Greenwich Village in 1922, run by cousins Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns. It was originally a small speakeasy known as the Red Head. In 1925 the location was moved to a basement on Washington Place and its name was changed to Frontón. The following year it moved uptown to 42 West 49th Street, changed its name to the Puncheon Club, and became much more exclusive.[3] In late 1929, to make way for the construction of Rockefeller Center, the club moved to its current location and changed its name to "Jack and Charlie's 21".

Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced 133rd street as “Swing Street” of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue became renowned for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the ‘legitimate’ nightclubs and was also the site of a CBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street.

The Onyx Club was a jazz club located on West 52nd Street in New York City. The Onyx Club opened in 1927 at 35 West 52nd Street as a speakeasy under bootlegger Joe Helbock (né Joseph Jerome Helbock; 1896–1973). In February of 1934, after the end of prohibition, the Onyx Club became an authorized club in a new location — 72 West 52nd Street. The Onyx featured musicians including the Spirits of Rhythm and Art Tatum, who then was the regular intermission pianist. It burned down in 1935. Helbock rebuilt it and reopened it July 13, 1935, and reopened with Red McKenzie, Stuff Smith, Jonah Jones, John Kirby, Maxine Sullivan, and others.

This pre-tiki bar and nightclub in the midst of "The Street" in New York was decked out in South Pacific style with bamboo and painted island murals, but the big draw were the three shows nightly of burlesque dancers. TV producer Bernie Brillstein recalls Club Samoa in 1955 as "a bust-out joint on Fifty-second Street where guys could pick up broads. We'd eat club sandwiches and drink Cokes, and be treated like kings while the girls jerked off their other customers under the table. The girls would pretend they wanted to meet these losers later, but they never did."

Jimmy Ryan's was a jazz club in New York City, USA, located at 53 West 52nd Street from 1934 to 1962 and 154 West 54th Street from 1962–1983. It was a venue for performances of Dixieland jazz. The location at 52nd Street was one of a row of brownstones with clubs operating in basements. As the last surviving jazz club on 52nd Street, its brownstone — along with all the other brownstones on the north side of the street — were demolished in 1962 to make way for construction of the new CBS Building. CBS had given Jimmy Ryan $9,000 to relocate. The club was owned by partners Matthew C. Walsh (1914–2006) and Jimmy Ryan (1911–1963). Walsh, Ryan's brother-in-law, continued ownership following Ryan's death in July 1963 at the French Hospital.

The Famous Door was a jazz club on New York's 52nd Street. It opened in 1935 and was one of the major clubs on the street, hosting leading jazz musicians until 1950, through changes of location and periods of closure. The Famous Door opened at 35 West 52nd Street on March 1, 1935. Among its initial backers were the radio bandleader Lennie Hayton, who helped promote it, and musicians Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. Louis Prima performed on the club's opening night. The club was intended to provide a reliable venue for swing musicians and a place where they could gather, but other customers were attracted by the door inside (autographed by visiting celebrities) which gave the club its name, the fine music, and drinks that started at fifty cent