Laura Mae Gross (Photo by nznara, via Flickr)
Story Created:
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:40 PM PST
Story Updated:
Oct 6, 2009 at 12:56 PM PST
Laura Mae Gross, a Mississippi woman who came to the West Coast and founded a club that became a staple of Los Angeles' blues scene, has died of heart failure. She was 89.
Gross died Saturday, relatives told the Los Angeles Times.
Gross, also known as "Mama," opened Babe's and Ricky's Inn on Central Avenue in 1964 and hosted legends such as Bobby "Blue" Bland and John Lee Hooker while serving cold beer and soda and drawing an integrated crowd, according to the Times.
On Monday nights, often the most popular, a $2 cover also earned patrons a fried chicken dinner. Babe's and Ricky's moved to Leimert Park in 1997 after financial difficulties on Central Avenue, but the vibe stayed the same.
The club never made much money, but it earned a reputation as a nurturing ground for young musicians and a place for the experienced to display their talents, according to the newspaper.
Blues guitarist Keb' Mo' said Babe's and Ricky's was "the last club from the Central Avenue heyday."
"It was just a great vibe. It was a real blues club, a true blues club," he told The Times. "If you were in there and you'd start playing anything but the blues, Mama law would come up to the stage and she would stop you. She'd say: `Na, na, na.' She wasn't having no Top 40 club."
Fundraisers for Gross' funeral services will be held Friday and Saturday at the club in Leimert Park, according to The Times.
A public viewing will be held at Inglewood Cemetery Mortuary from 3 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Golden West Mausoleum, also known as the Galleria, at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Ave., The Times reported.
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