User:Heyenj

COWTOWN BALLROOM The Cowtown Ballroom was a legendary concert venue in Kansas City, Missouri operated by Good Karma Productions. It was open for only 38 months, but in its short life span established an impressive musical heritage. The hall itself was a former jazz club named El Torreon Ballroom which opened in 1927. It was a home to the likes of Cab Calloway, Count Basie and even Red Skelton. Its next reincarnation was as a roller skating rink, which lasted for many years. On July 16, 1971 Cowtown Ballroom opened with a concert by The Flying Burrito Brothers. During the next three years it featured an eclectic mix of musicians including Frank Zappa, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Flash with Peter Banks, Van Morrison, B. B. King and Linda Ronstadt. Often compared with the Fillmore East and West, Cowtown was actually patterned after The Family Dog in San Francisco. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame was that it was the first venue to host radio concerts (recorded live, edited and then broadcast) which were then syndicated to the top 40 markets in the United States and to London, England. Those radio shows made the Cowtown Ballroom famous. The concert hall closed on September 16, 1974.