Creekside co-owners Pat Townsley & Janet Abrahamson met at New George’s Nightclub (iconic award-winning live music venue, downtown San Rafael circa 1980-1996) in the late 80’s. PT was the GM, and Janet was the live music videographer. Later, local artist and friend Susan Z would send her roommate, Laura, down to George’s, resulting in the marriage of PT & Laura in 1996. Lots happened at New George’s! The crew of George’s was fantastic; a hard working, music loving and dedicated team unlike any other industry or business. Decades later, the core of the New George’s crew still keeps in touch, even though many have moved out of state and moved on with life (the nerve of some people). New George’s co-owners Don Swarts and Tom Hutt are still active in the area, and the model that Tom & Don laid out through trial and error, and then restructured and marketed by PT under the “test and learn” process eventually became the proven model for Creekside’s operations: Open 7 days a week at 11am, 365 (occasionally we closed on Labor Day for the New George’s Laborless Day Picnic).
So, to all the many employees of New George’s from 1984 to 1996, to the thousands of musicians and bands, to the great comedians who graced the stage, and to the hundreds of thousands of partygoers and customers who came to play, we salute you. Our recent impromptu “Old George’s reunion” at Creekside brought about 25 past employees and a few comedians in its wake including Michael Pritchard, Johnny Steele and Geoff Bolt, noting such greats as Dana Carvey, Bobby Slayton, Greg Proops, Carlos Alazraqui and Robin Williams were regular headliners on Tuesday comedy nights. Headliners included Tower of Power, Huey Lewis and the News, Starship, Sons of Champlin, The Radiators, Ronnie Montrose, Flock of Seagulls, Missing Persons, Gregg Allman, Chris Issak, Fishbone, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Commitments, Zero, Train, Vinyl, Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter, The Tubes, Great White, Pride & Joy, The Busboys,…and the list goes on. We’d catch artists on their way up, on their way down, and first time performances from acts that would last decades.
Today, Creekside’s high energy, personality and commitment to excellence is a working homage to New George’s, providing good times and a memorable experience. The George’s crew of the 80’s & 90’s didn’t know how magical that environment and time was until it was gone; we were all just living in the moment and having fun. With Creekside, we are present and deliberate in our commitment to our employees, customers and community…thanks to the unique and serendipitous days of New George’s.
Left to Right: Jim Tomlinson, Don Swartz, Joni Frasson, Sheri Ardito, Janet Abrahamson, Janet Mazzuchi-Robinson, Captain John McEntagart, Renee Miller, Patrick Kosta (PK) and Pat Townsley (PT).
MIA: Tom Hutt, Erik Schramm, Marla Ballard, Chick Peterson, Geoffrey Ganiford, Nico Vonk, Ken Frazier, Walter Grey, Will Coley, Steve Rector, Michael Oliver, Wendy “LD” Furman, Sheila Groves, Barbara Harlan, Eric “The Tick” Nunnally, Biambu Garret, Marjorie McCoy, Laura Bishop, Jim Beal, Rob Riis, Laura Townsley, Matt Barsamian, Barbara Turner…and everyone else who eludes my blurry memory of years gone by. Cheers! PT
So cool!
Question- who was George, the namesake of New George’s?
The space at 842 4th Street has a history as old as San Rafael. It was the San Rafael Recreation Center, some say a bowling alley, gambling saloon, pool hall and local tavern, and barber shop. Circa mid 1950’s George LaFever took it over and renamed it, George’s, keeping the barber shop in tact. Not sure what became of it in the 60’s and 70’s… around the same time as San Anselmo’s mythological and legendary “Lion’s Share” venue was on Red Hill Ave, but in 1984, Tom Hutt and Don Swartz were introduced to each other by mutual friend (and owner of the building) Dan Campbell (RIP 2020). The story goes that one night, Tom and Don allowed local musician Tommy Roxx to put a piece of plywood on one of the pool tables, creating the first live music stage at the renamed, New George’s, and so legends and tall tales begin. Within the space, Tom and Don also acquired the existing check cashing service, where, back then, doors would open at 6am to let the paper-shoed wearing newly released ex-cons out of San Quentin (who were taken from San Quentin to the 4th & Heatherton bus terminal, given a $100 check, and a “we’ll see you next week”)…and these guys would cash their $100 check (for a small fee), be allowed to buy one drink (for a slightly higher fee), then they were on their way. Eventually, Don sold his interest of New George’s to Tom in 1994, and both Tom and Don continued to run Marin Check Cashing, with several locations, again dividing to sole-interests a few years later, Don taking a downtown San Rafael location, and Tom one in Novato. George’s was sold in 1996, (Pat Townsley left as did the majority of the crew), and the venue began its decline into chaos and eventual demise. It was rebooted a few times, money was lost, and now it’s struggling as a mixed bag of Latino and Hip Hop; nothing a shitload of napalm and another raid by the ATF, IRS, ABC and DEA couldn’t clean up.
Looks like a good time. Sorry Mom missed the fun yet she was busy taking me for a walk. Woof Woof!