CC SA-BY Our Oakland, 2011
The Continental Club is a music club in West Oakland at 1658 - 12th St. Originally it hosted blues and jazz; c.2014 it was a music venue (geared for Death Metal) and a comedy club. After a long remodel, c.2023 it is open again as a bar and music club.
History
Interior photo from Loopnet 1
The Continental Club was opened in 1945 or 1947 by Ross “Chris” Christy, as Christy's Grill. In the early '50s, they began staying open late, with the venue known as Rumboogie (referenced in some sources as the Rhumboogie). Christy's brother Curtis Christy bought into the ownership, and the two purchased the adjacent apartment building and created the Continental Club, opening on October 31, 1961.
Near the legendary 7th Street "Harlem of the West", the Continental Club hosted music artists including James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Jimmie Hendrix, Gladys Knight, Otis Redding, Ike and Tina Turner, B.B. King, Johnny Lee Hooker, Patti LaBelle, Fats Domino, Booby Blue Band, and Stevie Wonder. It also hosted comics including Richard Pryor, Dick Gregory, and Paul Mooney.
For a number of years, it was used as a rental space. From 2010-2014, comedian Pharaoh managed the club for Curtis Christy in an attempt to bring it back as a comedy club & music venue.
1968 ad 2
Links and References
1961 Sanborn excerpt
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Continental Club website
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Oakland's Continental Club nearly silent now San Francisco Chronicle, January 31, 2010
- A New Venue for Death Metal East Bay Express May 1, 2013
- New Life for Oakland's Continental Club, Amoeblog, January 5, 2015 (via archive.org)
- continentalcomedy.com (via archive.org from 2014)
- Property Listing for 1658 12th Street, Loopnet
- ad The Combination May 1968
