The Cellar Door

The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club at 34th and M Street NW in Washington, D.C. from 1965 through 1981. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. It was one of the premier music spots in Washington and was the genesis as well as a tryout for larger markets. Many artists cut their professional teeth performing at the Cellar Door, while audiences delighted in being within a few feet of the stage at the tiny venue. Many notables in 1960s and 1970s music played there. Some of the performances at The Cellar Door were recorded and released. The club was the venue for the renowned Live-Evil (later expanded into The Cellar Door Sessions), a live album with Miles Davis. The Bud & Travis In Person album was recorded there in 1964. Richie Havens recorded most of the tracks on Richie Havens Live at the Cellar Door there in 1970 and The Seldom Scene, a Bethesda, MD based bluegrass band, recorded their signature live album Seldom Scene Recorded Live At the Cellar Door in December 1974. Danny Gatton's The Redneck Jazz Explosion album was also recorded at The Cellar Door in 1978.

In 2013, Neil Young released an archival concert album from a six-show solo stand at the Georgetown nightclub in late November and early December 1970 entitled Live at the Cellar Door

Some of the names that played there during their careers were:

Some music was written on site. Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert (as Fat City) opened for John Denver in December 1970. Late one night, Denver helped finish writing a song that Danoff and Nivert had started. They debuted "Take Me Home, Country Roads" on December 30, 1970.

In a January 31, 1981 Washington Post newspaper article, Richard Harrington wrote that the Georgetown club which helped promote the careers such stars as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, John Denver, Richard Pryor, Neil Young and Jackson Browne, was sold the previous day for an undisclosed sum to Paul Kurtz and Howard Bomstein from Washington, D.C. Ultimately, the club was closed down by the DC fire marshal after numerous warnings. It had been licensed for 163 seats, but was found to have more than 200 people SRO at times. Also, the books for liquor sales were allegedly being done improperly, so instead of making money, a fair amount of money was being lost, unbeknownst to the club owners.

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