Yes, it’s true. We shamelessly stole the name for our blog from one of the coolest coffeehouses ever, and then accidently misspelled it.
Back in 1970s Los Angeles, the Bla-Bla Cafe was the entertainers’ coffeehouse. If you had a band and you wanted to be discovered, you went to the Bla-Bla. If you were a producer and needed the next big act, you went to the Bla-Bla. If you were just a lover of good music and fun and wanted something new to hear, you went to the Bla-Bla. Jay Lenno, Robin Williams, Dave Matthews, and Sting all made it big at the Bla-Bla. It was also at the Bla-Bla that Keith Green played “The Prodigal Son Suite” and launched himself as a prophetic voice into the world.
Keith Green is a hero of ours at The Blah Blah (note the H’s). After a desperate search for God and truth, he eventually found it in Jesus, and he spent the rest of his life serving Him with all that he had. He and his wife opened their home to hippies and street kids. They began writing a magazine to inspire change in America. And, radical for a musician, he began giving away his cassettes for free because he considered his music a ministry and not a job. His passion was to help other confused social dropouts like himself, and to lead the church to do the same.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to not just provide you with some sweet new music that you may have never heard before, but also to inspire you to seek God with all you’ve got, because really that’s all that matters in life anyway. Enjoy the MP3s, and remember to support the artists by buying more tracks from iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, or even Wal-Mart.
E-mail us if you have any questions or are interested in having your music promoted here.
And check out the website for the book A Place Called the Bla-Bla Cafe by Sandy Ross (here) while you’re at it. It’s a history of the cafe and all that made it cool. The site also serves as something of a virtual reunion site for performers, staff, and patrons of the Bla-Bla.
6 comments
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September 28, 2007 at 10:38 am
Just Pete
Love what you’re doing here … and thanks for the cross-ref. I’ll be checking in regularly to see what you’re cooking and what I’ve been missing.
Best,
jP
October 11, 2007 at 12:43 pm
SadParent
Keith Green was phenominal. I play his music on the piano all the time. It was cassette tapes he gave away – since he died long before CD’s came into being. But either way, he was annointed big time.
October 11, 2007 at 1:17 pm
jakestimp
Cassette tapes? What’s that? Like masking tape? jk Thanks for the editing help.
March 19, 2008 at 8:08 am
Keith Green - Bob Ross Sang Christian Music in the 70s? « The Blah Blah
[…] What is The Blah Blah? […]
July 23, 2008 at 8:03 am
w3ford
I hope you don’t mind but I added you to my blogroll. I especially like your archive of musicians and all the hard work you put in to the site.
God Bless!
October 14, 2012 at 8:39 pm
rex
knew Keith et al well at the time and spent so many evenings with he and others at Bla Bla – wow how I miss it… and Keith