History
The Main Point: A Brief History:
It would be easy to dismiss a club like the Main Point as just another coffee house that could be found scattered across America during the 1960’s and 1970’s. But the Main Point proved to be a special place… one whose memory is held in high esteem by the people who attended concerts there, and by the musicians who performed. For the thousands who remember the 200-seat coffeehouse, the intimacy and the empathy between performer and listener made the Main Point what it was.
The Main Point was once described by Gene Shay, a disc jockey in Philadelphia for the last 40 + years this way: “It was a coffeehouse in the old sense of the word. It wasn’t a bar… People were there to listen.”
And what they heard during that time was the music of James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jim Croce, Warren Zevon, Randy Newman, and hundreds of others. The Main Point was an essential stop on the folk and rock circuit, but also attracted performers as diverse as Jimmy Buffett, Lou Reed, John Denver, Tom Waits, Waylon Jennings, Pat Metheny, Dick Gregory, the Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder, George Carlin, and Jay Leno.
It seemed to be easier in those days to get top performers to play in a small club. People didn’t become too famous too quickly. They had to pay their ‘dues’ first. Today, a performer can release a single CD and they are booked into large arenas. The Main Point had the rare distinction of being an attraction to the performers.
Four couples founded the Main Point shortly after the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival began. They wanted a place along Philadelphia’s fabled Main Line to hear folk music year round. Each of the founders brought their own expertise to the group. George Britton and his wife were booking agents and often were able to coax musicians to perform at half their usual rate. Weldon Cox provided business and management savvy. William Campbell, a commercial artist, decorated the interior of the club with earthy colors and old sheet music.
Campbell’s wife, Jeannette, was a cook and was responsible for baking the Main Point’s famous brownies and gingerbread which were usually served smothered in whipped cream. Her brownies became such an institution that once, when Bruce Springsteen walked through the kitchen and saw the boxes of store-bought brownie mix, told her it was like finding out there was no Santa Claus.
Unfortunately, from the beginning, the Main Point was plagued with financial problems. Within the first year, three of the original couples dropped out, leaving only the Campbell’s. But those difficulties never stopped the performers from coming, or the audiences. The performers would often say that they finally found a room, just outside a major city, where people would actually listen to what they had to say.
Folk singer Tom Rush was one of these performers. He sold the place out every year for his Thanksgiving concert series. He felt that the Main Point had a different flavor – a sort of ‘milk & cookies’ approach to the cuisine and to the music. Even as the audiences got older, the Campbell’s refused to apply for a liquor license opting instead to keep things on the simpler side. The Campbell’s didn’t want Main Point to become something that didn’t conform to their vision of what the club should be.
It wasn’t just that naiveté that kept performers coming back. There was warmth between the artists, the management, and the customers that was almost like a family. Some of the Main Point artists, including Don McLean, Danny O’Keefe, and Jonathan Edwards, even ended up marrying Main Point waitresses.
But through it all, the Main Point was almost constantly teetering on the brink of financial ruin. The early 1970’s seemed to be a boom for the club and they were financially successful. But by 1975, the coffeehouse was barely scraping by and often depended on donations and benefit concerts in order to remain open. Jeanette Campbell reluctantly started to book rock bands into the club, about once each month, to attract more customers, but both she, and the neighbors surrounding the club, was never really happy about it. She finally gave up the struggle in 1981 and closed the club.
What are left today are just the memories. Many people who live in Bryn Mawr, or pass by the building, look back with regret. The Main Point was a great place, but it was indicative of the era, and the era was magic, the times were magic. The Main Point was an important piece of that magic.
My “plan” was always to take first dates to the Main Point; that way, if the date was bad, I still knew I would have a great night!
And what a great place it was – where people – as the brief “history” notes – came truly to listen, and appreciate.
(And, yes, since I now happen to live right in the town of Bryn Mawr, I am one of those who often drives by the site and thinks of all the good times and great music.)
I went to hear Tom Rush with my girlfriend. We had such a love affair with the music and place. We both started playing guitars because of it. Very nice memories.
I moved to Bryn Mawr in “75 ” i discovered The Main Point soon after and began to hang out at front door every nite to hear the Music having not a job. one night they let me in, then the next time i ask for a job and was hired to help with security working the door and anything that needed to be done, like picking up Charlie Mingus and his band from the train station in Nina’s VW bus. i was a privilege to have worked there, i love the web site. it has brought back great memories like having a drink with Tom Waits at You Bet Your Life and meeting so many great musicians. My thanks to Jeanette and the people i had the pleasure of working with. I will always grateful for the experience
I do remember seeing Tim Hardin there twice and I really liked the way he played guitar and sang. He also wrote some great songs such as “Simple Song of Freedom” and “Misty Roses”. The second time, however, he just played a few tunes on the piano and said that was the best he could do. Very sad……
Thanks so much for putting this website together. Although I moved to CA in 1979, I remember many, many evenings in the late 60s-early 70s going out to the Main Point from West Philly to inhale the magic atmosphere of this incredible venue. The small, smoky club was an amazing place to see great on-their-way-up performers in a way I’ve never really been able to do since. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Dave Bromberg, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and countless others, up close and personal with just a simple acoustic setup and raw talent. Thank you! You really took me back…
Thanks for those kind words Susan! Please be sure to keep checking back with the site to see what come’s next – And please feel free to send along more of your own recollections to be included on these pages!
Jim Tract who was one of the managers when I started working at The Main Point has passed away.
Hey Ernie,
VERY sad news! I had just spoken with/emailed Jim about Main Point stuff & to try to get some press for his Adroit Records label as well back in the Fall of last year… I’m guessing this happened down Nashville-way… Was it sudden or had he been battling something?… I’ll try to pull some info together & post something on the site so folks will know… Thanks for keeping me in the loop! So sad…