The Bear’s musical reunion

Ask many longtime area residents which civic decisions they most regret, and the demolition of the Golden Bear is likely to be high on their list.

The now-legendary music venue, a former haunt of musicians from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy Buffett, stood for more than 60 years in downtown Huntington Beach. From its beginnings as a restaurant in the 1920s, it morphed into a celebrated concert hall before to its sudden closure due to building instability — and redevelopment pressures — in 1986.

“They’re tearing down a church here,” Golden Bear owner Rick Babiracki famously said at the time.

Those who felt they never had a chance to help the Bear go gentle into that good night will have an opportunity to meet and commemorate its impact at a reunion this weekend in Huntington Beach.

Local acts like Honk and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform at a series of reunion concerts at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Surf City. The concert area will be remade to resemble the Bear, with memorabilia displays and classic menu items like the Bear Burger. This weekend’s lineup also includes artists like Ray Manzarek of the Doors, another band that played at the Bear.

Several past owners and staff members will be on hand at the reunion, some proceeds from which will benefit Sweet Relief, a local charity aimed to help musicians with life difficulties.

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Social networking has helped Bear lovers get back together. Past shows can be viewed on YouTube; Golden Bear groups on MySpace and Facebook let fans and former employees reunite, reminisce and share photos and videos from the venue’s many decades of musical history.

First founded on Main Street as the Golden Lion Cafe by Harry Bakre and later moved to its Pacific Coast Highway location, the venue saw a long period of neglect before it was christened as a music club by economist Delbert Kauffman. He, along with other owners like George Nikas and the Babiracki trio, helped establish the Bear as an unparalleled location to see the country’s top acts.

Long before their big breaks, musicians like future Monkee Peter Tork and Buffalo Springfield’s Stephen Stills worked in the kitchen and lived in the building’s basement.

The Bear’s many loyal fans saw its range of performers as a way to learn about all kinds of musical genres.

“Nowadays, people look for musical acts that reflect how they wish to be, and they didn’t used to do that,” Steve Wood of the band Honk said. “They looked for music that they liked.”

The Bear attracted an array of acts like BB King and the Lovin’ Spoonful — as well as a young Wild and Crazy Guy, actor and comedian Steve Martin.

When a then-unknown Martin opened for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the Golden Bear and other venues, the comedian often would bring out his banjo and perform with the band during their acts, he said.

But the fun he had playing the banjo never translated into a desire to become a full-time musician, he said.

“I might’ve thought about it, but I was already kind of established as a stand-up act,” Martin said. “So I couldn’t really give that up to go join a band—although I tried to be as good as I could, because when I’d open for the Dirt Band I’d come out and play a couple of songs with them.”

IN THE SCENE

Wood’s band, Honk, was a fixture at the Bear, often playing several nights each week. A difficult-to-classify folk band, Honk combined everything from traditional rock to a capella musical theater standards in their shows.

Wood went to high school at Newport Harbor in his freshman year, but his father was transferred to a job in Texas until the middle of his senior year. While in Texas, Wood didn’t have the ability to surf every day, so he picked up a guitar instead. Upon his return, he met the musicians who later would become Honk.

“I was living in Laguna Canyon at the time, and working in a band at the Cinnamon Cinder in Long Beach,” Wood said. “We used to have these big jam sessions at my house in Laguna Canyon. There was always one really good player in each band, and I just had this epiphany one time.”

He decided to create a “supergroup” out of the best players that would focus on learning nothing but original songs for two months, rather than play Top 40 music at a regular gig.

“It was easier to make a living as a musician those days,” Wood said.

His rent in Laguna was $75 a month, and he was making up to $25 a night performing. There were many places to play, and the bandmates were able to make a living without working too much, he said.

Wood said the Golden Bear was a unique option for the area’s music lovers.

“For me, it was the first place I could actually go and see known acts,” he said. “It was pretty amazing to be able to go to a venue so close to home, so easy to get into and so opportunely set up, so that you could be close to the performers.”

“It was really cutting-edge stuff,” his wife and fellow Honk band mate Beth Fitchet Wood said. “It was sophisticated, too. The Bear’s probably single-handedly responsible for the really high quality of music in this area now.”

“I have a recollection of seeing Janis Joplin [and her band] there, and I wasn’t really a fan of them, but when I saw them perform, I really liked them,” Wood said. “There was just something attractive about it; you could really get up next to these people.”

Wood and his wife first met at the Bear at an open mic night.

“If the owner liked you, he would hire you as an opening act and then pay you,” Wood said. “That’s the gold in the Golden Bear.”

The two both auditioned for owner George Nikas in the same night, Wood with Honk and Fitchet Wood as a solo act. Cheech and Chong also auditioned that night, as did other acts who would become headliners in the future, they said.

“It was an amazing night,” Wood said. “We both got the gig. He booked us both for the same night, two weeks later.”

Honk received its first big break with its soundtrack for “Five Summer Stories,” the genre-setting 1972 surf flick by Laguna Beach-based MacGillivray Freeman Films.

Today, some of the Honk members run a songwriter showcase Tuesday nights from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Marine Room, 214 Ocean Ave. in Laguna Beach. The group is still together, performing several times a year in both public and private shows.

“We still have a good time musically,” Wood said. “Everyone’s writing better stuff than they ever did.”

“Being in a band is like being married to people,” Fitchet Wood said. “We always get along well.”

The Honk members are currently debating whether they’ll play two separate set lists at their two shows at the Bear reunion on Friday. Also set to appear that night are David Lindley, Ray Manzarek of the Doors and Steve Noonan.

Saturday, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen will perform.

For more information on the Golden Bear reunion, call (714) 960-7904 or visit goldenbearreunion.com.

For more information on Honk, visit honkband.com.

If You Go

What: Golden Bear reunion concerts

When: 6:30 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, 21100 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

Cost: $57.50 to $97.50

Information: (714) 960-7904 or goldenbearreunion.com