Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Scotts Valley, California" in English language version.
Leon Tabory hears Eric "Big Daddy" Nord was opening the Loft, a cafe at a barn in Scotts Valley. Leon went there, met Cathy, they married.
HipSCHP is group devoted to documenting the history of Hip Santa Cruz, ca 1964-1972 or so. This site is a companion to the physical meetings, archival collections, and individual efforts that have been underway for several years.
The Barn, according to information from the Scotts Valley Historical Society, originally operated as the Frapwell Dairy Barn from 1914 to 1948. After that, it was remodeled as a sort of community center/gymnasium/theater. In the mid-60s, Eric Nord, known as Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, a Beat Generation-era nightclub owner who founded the hungry i in San Francisco, and a poet, actor, and hipster as well, who newspaper columnist Herb Caen called the "king of the Beat Generation," converted the barn into The Barn. But it was a Santa Cruz clinical psychologist named Leon Tabory who took over its operation and later bought it who turned it into the happening place it became for a few short years in the late 60s. With these stories and pictures buzzing in my brain, I set off for Scotts Valley. I didn't expect to find The Barn because I learned from news clips and from Jay Topping of the Scotts Valley Historical Society that it was torn down in 1991.
The configuration of Highway 17 and Scotts Valley has completely changed, and no trace of The Barn remains. The site is now the parking lot of The Baymonte Christian School
"The Barn was my first experience in Santa Cruz (County)," said Ralph Abraham, a longtime friend of Tabory and a leading figure in an online project called the Hip Santa Cruz History Project. "(Leon) was the reason I moved here." Abraham said that Tabory used The Barn as a kind of incubator of what was then radical new-era values of community and human potential. "Those light shows, he really took seriously," he said. "He used psychedelics as therapy." Coincidentally, the city of Scotts Valley was first incorporated the same year Tabory took control of the Barn — 1966. The Barn wasn't the first outpost of the counterculture in the area — the Hip Pocket Bookstore and the old Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz had opened earlier, providing a welcoming atmosphere for the politically conscious beat-generation vibe that had flourished in San Francisco in the 1950s. He wasn't even the first to bring a new cultural scene to the Barn. Fabled beat figure Eric "Big Daddy" Nord opened a coffee shop in the Barn in 1964. But it was Tabory who first brought the full-blown hippie aesthetic to the county, and it was Tabory who found himself in a long, draining battle with the newly established city. The Scotts Valley Planning Commission approved Tabory's first application to open the Barn as a community center, but warned him with a "no beatniks" rule.
Covello & Covello Historical Photo Collection's Photo of: Original Sticky Wicket: This particular art show was held Oct. 6, 1958, at the original Sticky Wicket, a coffee house on Cathcart Street. You can see the stairs going up to the back rooms of the Catalyst. The Wicket later moved to Aptos and is mostly known as the birthplace of what became the Cabrillo Music Festival.
No "beatniks" and no "dead-beats" in Scotts Valley. This was the aim of...
I've been coming to Santa Cruz since I was a. kid," says founding Doobie Pat Simmons, who also lived on Branciforte Drive for about 20 years. "I used to go shows at the Cocoanut Grove. They used to have rock shows. I saw the Tikis, Paul Revere & Raiders. I used to go a club in Scotts Valley called the Barn. It was a real popular place. Big Brother & the Holding Company played there. The Dead. You name it, they all played there.
A multimedia website project cooked up over sushi by Judy, Tandy, and Ralph on 06 February 2002. Mission: to document the history of Hip Santa Cruz, ca 1964-1972 or so.
Clipping: Eric 'Big Daddy' Nord, The Barn, picture
Clipping:
Came to Santa Cruz: 1968. Abraham was a professor at Princeton University in his early 30s when a UCSC recruiter visited him. He had developed an interest in psychedelic culture and mystical experience, but had no interest in relocating to California. 'I accepted the free airline ticket to see friends,' he said. His interview didn't go well, he said. But before leaving, he went to find a friend at the Barn in Scotts Valley, where "I saw the musicians playing inside large metal sculptures, psychedelic paintings on the wall and 300 people stoned on LSD dancing to the music.' Soon after, he changed his thinking: 'I was interested in Santa Cruz the town, not Santa Cruz the university. But it was a job, so I accepted it.'
Scotts Valley became a city in 1966 at a time when there were concerns about the City of Santa Cruz annexing the Sky Park Airport (site of the currently proposed Town Center) and concerns about a proposed cemetery project. The airport was closed in 1983, two years after Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, crashed his Beechcraft Bonanza at Sky Park, injuring his three passengers. During the 1960s, the Barn at the north end of Scotts Valley was leased to Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, a hipster of the Beat Generation. He opened a coffee shop at the Barn and later a concert hall. Even though the Barn was refused a permit for live music, he held dances, concerts and art shows anyway, complete with lively wall murals and a psychedelic light show. Well known bands, including Big Brother and the Holding Company, featuring Janis Joplin, performed at the Barn. Ken Kesey and his merry band of pranksters attended concerts there and had their colorful bus ticketed by Scotts Valley police for illegal parking.
"The Barn was my first experience in Santa Cruz County," said Ralph Abraham, a longtime friend of Tabory and a leading figure in an online project called the Hip Santa Cruz History Project. "Leon was the reason I moved here." Abraham said Tabory used The Barn as a kind of incubator of what was then radical new era values of community and human potential. "Those light shows, he really took seriously," he said. "He used psychedelics as therapy." Coincidentally, the city of Scotts Valley was first incorporated the same year Tabory took control of The Barn — 1966. The Barn wasn"t the first outpost of the counterculture in the area — the Hip Pocket Bookstore and the old Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz had opened earlier, providing a welcoming atmosphere for the politically conscious beat-generation vibe that had flourished in San Francisco in the 1950s. He wasn"t even the first to bring a new cultural scene to The Barn. Fabled beat figure Eric "Big Daddy" Nord opened a coffee shop in The Barn in 1964. But it was Tabory who first brought the full-blown hippie aesthetic to the county, and it was Tabory who found himself in a long, draining battle with the newly established city. The Scotts Valley Planning Commission approved Tabory"s first application to open The Barn as a community center, but warned him with a "no beatniks" rule.
