The Continental Club's Blues on Tap night in West Oakland

Pictures of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and James Brown hang from the wall, greeting visitors and reminding everyone who enters the Continental Club that they are treading where the giants of blues, soul, rock and R&B once strode.

“That’s like a Woodstock,” West Coast Blues Society founder Ronnie Stewart remarks of the legendary talent who performed at this West Oakland club back in the ’60s. “Otis Redding was a regular here.”

Listen to the colorful stories about the club, from Stewart and others who have been associated with the venue over the decades, and it’s easy to understand why the Continental is regarded as one of the key sites that connect us with West Oakland’s deep and, at times, underappreciated musical legacy.

Thus, it only seemed natural to focus on the Continental as we celebrate Black History Month by kicking a series on some of the people and places who once helped transform this West Oakland area — in and around the onetime 7th Street entertainment district — into a blues/R&B hotbed.

Read the story: https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/02/24/continental-club-west-oakland-concerts/

Video by Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group

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