McCabe's Guitar Shop

McCabe's Guitar Shop is a combined retail instrument store and intimate acoustic performance venue in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1958, it became renowned for hosting acoustic concerts, folk and roots artists, and as a destination for collectors, luthiers, and recording projects. The shop developed deep ties with American and international singer-songwriters, session musicians, and independent labels, influencing folk revival, country, blues, and contemporary acoustic scenes.

History

McCabe's was founded in 1958 by member of the Los Angeles music retail community, quickly connecting to personalities from the Los Angeles folk scene such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Odetta. The venue's early decades intersected with institutions like the Hollywood Bowl, The Troubadour (West Hollywood), Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy Theatre, and producers associated with Capitol Records, Columbia Records, RCA Victor, and Warner Bros. Records. Through the 1960s and 1970s McCabe's hosted artists who also appeared at festivals such as Newport Folk Festival, Monterey Pop Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, and collaborated with figures from Atlantic Records and Island Records. The shop survived urban shifts in Santa Monica and engaged with civic bodies like the Santa Monica City Council and cultural organizations including the Los Angeles Conservancy and National Endowment for the Arts. Over time McCabe's intersected with musical movements linked to artists represented by Elektra Records, Arhoolie Records, Rounder Records, and Sub Pop.

Venue and Concert Series

The store's performance room became a laboratory for intimate concerts featuring performers who also toured venues such as Music Box Theatre (Los Angeles), Ace Theatre (Los Angeles), Ryman Auditorium, Royal Albert Hall, and Carnegie Hall. The series drew artists connected to songwriters and producers like Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, and Kris Kristofferson. Concerts attracted personalities whose careers involved collaborations with studios such as Sun Studio, Abbey Road Studios, Capitol Studios, and session musicians from the Wrecking Crew. McCabe's programming included appearances by roots and blues artists tied to lineages like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, and John Lee Hooker, and by folk revival figures associated with Ewan MacColl, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Doc Watson.

Inventory and Services

As a retail establishment aligned with the luthier community, the shop stocked instruments and accessories sought by artists who recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Sunset Sound Recorders, Sound City Studios, and United Western Recorders. Inventory reflected models favored by musicians who used guitars from makers such as C. F. Martin & Company, Gibson, Fender, Taylor Guitars, Guild Guitars, and Gretsch. The shop provided repair and setup services performed by technicians in dialogue with craftspeople affiliated with luthiers like Larrivée, Santa Cruz Guitar Company, Lowden Guitars, and Huss & Dalton. McCabe's also sold strings, picks, and cases used on sessions credited to engineers from Les Paul, Al Schmitt, Bruce Botnick, Eddie Kramer, and producers such as Tom Dowd, Phil Spector, Daniel Lanois, and T Bone Burnett.

Notable Performers and Recordings

McCabe's hosted and recorded performances by a wide array of artists whose discs and live albums were released on labels including Rhino Entertainment, Nonesuch Records, Verve Records, Elektra Records, and Island Records. Performers appearing at McCabe's included Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, John Hiatt, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Gordon Lightfoot, Steve Earle, Steve Martin, Emmylou Harris, Nick Lowe, Victoria Williams, Ry Cooder, Van Dyke Parks, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Gillian Welch, David Lindley, Fred Neil, and Doc Watson. Live recordings and radio broadcasts from McCabe's involved engineers and producers from networks such as National Public Radio, BBC Radio 2, KCRW, KEXP, and independent producers who worked with acts for reissues by Bear Family Records and Sundazed Music.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

McCabe's influence extends through connections to festivals, labels, and pedagogues: artists who played McCabe's also contributed to projects with Woody Guthrie Foundation, Smithsonian Folkways, American Folklife Center, NPR Music, and academic programs at institutions like University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Berklee College of Music, and California Institute of the Arts. The shop figured in histories alongside venues such as The Fillmore (San Francisco), The Bitter End, CBGB, and The Gaslight Cafe, and appears in biographies of musicians published by houses like Backbeat Books and Little, Brown and Company. McCabe's legacy persists through archival releases, tribute concerts, and its ongoing role as a resource for collectors, students, and touring artists tied to traditions embodied by folk music revival, country blues tradition, Americana artists, and global acoustic practitioners.

Category:Music venues in California Category:Music retailers in the United States