Hello,
I was doing an internet search for an old family friend and found your site. Back in the mid seventies, my mother and her husband were frequent patrons of the Stampede. They were close friends of Jackie Wright and the band, of which two members included Stan and Bobby. I do not remember their last names; however my sister was named after Jackie and she and Bobby were her God parents.
Occasionally, my mother would ask permission to bring me into the ballroom, and as an eight or nine year old girl, I found it fascinating! My mother even worked there for a short time.
Best regards,
Anna Cooper
I'm wondering if the Jerry Johnson who leased it was who I've been remembering as Jerry Jones. He owned some of the Allen's Landing head shops/clubs back in the 60's. I worked for him at Houston Blacklight & Poster. He literally helped me open my first bank account at Harrisburg Bank. He also owned either or both West Coast Exit & the Mesmeric. Maybe the same guy. I could have his name wrong.
Back in 1972 alot of the "ropers" who went to Stampede Ballroom (which I remember as Van's Stampede on Richmond) had bumper stickers that said "I'd Rather Be a Roper Than a Doper." A friend of ours had a printing company (that printed Space City News in fact) & he printed some bumper stickers for us---100 of them---that said "I'd Rather Be a Ropey Doper Than a Dopey Roper." One night we sneaked into the parking lot & put them over all of the other bumper stickers we saw, & had some left over we just put on random trucks in the parking lot. I guess it was kind of mild vandelism in retrospect, but, it was still funny.
I saw alot of good music at Dome Shadows.
Marti Sivers