There’s also a vintage touch-tone payphone by the restrooms. It’s a decrepit telephonic contraption covered in scratches and stains.
It’s also one of the few remnants of the bar’s previous identity as Char’s Has the Blues.
The legendary bar and juke joint, which debuted in 1985, was a live music hotspot that featured blues at first before expanding into R&B, funk and soul. Some of the Valley's biggest names from each genre — ranging from legendary bluesmen Big Pete Pearson and the late Chico Chism to singers like Laydee Jai and Larry Bailey — lit up the darkened interior of the 2,245-square-foot establishment for more than 35 years.
Guitarist Kenny Brown, who performed at Char’s Has the Blues from the mid-'90s onward, says there was no place like it.
“That place had soul,” he says. “It was always like a family gathering at Char's.”
After closing in 2020 due to the pandemic, the place was extensively remodeled and reborn as Char’s Live two years later. It embraced the legacy of Char’s Has the Blues and showcased many of the same performers, but failed to capture the same fervor.
Earlier this year, it was sold to new owners, local bartender Brandon Smith and Flagstaff restaurateur Tommy Glynn, who ditched the property's live music legacy and transformed it into Smith's on 7th.
Char’s has a history
The property, built in 1944 as a residence, hosted performances long before it became a blues and R&B joint. In the 1960s, it was home to the Ruth Sussman School of Ballet. By the late ‘70s, it became Bombero, a restaurant and bar with live rock ‘n’ roll on weekends. Local bluesman Hans Olson remembers seeing legendary local pop-rock band Those Fabulous Lum Brothers play “one of the best Beatles tribute shows ever” at Bombero in the early ‘80s.
He’d return as a performer years later after the property was acquired by Charlene Rymond and her husband, Jim, in 1985. Olson says he was among the first blues artists to be booked at the bar and his sets had a lasting affect on the bar’s future.
“Char was a cool old lady,” Olson says. “She was putting all kinds of music in and after I started playing there, she said, ‘I want more of that. Are there other people who play your kind of music?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, there's lots of 'em.”
Rymond began booking blues regularly and changed the bar’s name to Char’s Has the Blues. The genre exploded in the late ‘80s in Phoenix and elsewhere. Local musician Bill Tarsha says Char’s was one of the hot spots his band The Rocket 88’s would frequent.
“When we weren't touring, we'd play Char's on a regular basis along with Warsaw Wally's and Tony's New Yorker in Tempe,” he says. “Char's was really small but really cool. There was a great blues community they got tied into. Everybody played there: George Bowman, Small Paul Hamilton and Big Pete Pearson, all the great singers.”
Local guitarist Chuck Hall says Char’s had a different vibe from other Phoenix blues venues.
“It was unlike other rooms in the Valley,” he says. “You're in a funky old house that was so crowded and smoky you couldn’t see.”
Char’s success also inspired others. In 1991, local bar owner Lenny Frankel opened The Rhythm Room with bluesman Bob Corritore after seeing lines “around the block” at Char’s.
Corritore cites his experiences at Char’s as a major influence.
“I played there a bunch and I hung around with Jim,” Corritore says. “He loved giving me business lessons about running a club and explained all his theories and strategies. I took it to heart.”
Beyond the blues
Char's Has the Blues kept its name after being sold twice in the ‘90s — first to Ab Lattouf and later to Phoenix and New Jersey businessman Peter Chedid and his family — but evolved into more of a funk, soul and R&B establishment.Local singer Laydee Jai, who began performing at Char’s with her mother, the late Maxine Johnson, in the band Blues Ratio, was a part of this transition.
“Before we went up there as Blues Ratio, it was mainly blues,” Laydee Jai says. “And then we brought more R&B and soul in and it ended up being a different kind of club.”
Even with the changes, the crowds kept coming to Char’s. Guitarist Kenny Brown says performing in the small nook-like stage area in front of the bar’s small (and typically packed) parquet dance floor.
“It was like basically playing in a closet. There was no real stage and you were almost face-to-face with people on the dance floor.”
Laydee Jai says the crowds sometimes got too close for comfort.
“I had to put my mic stand and chair in front of me, because that's all that separated me from the dance floor,” she says. “I’d get popped in the mouth or sometimes bumped off my stool if I sat down.”
Every night was busy at Char’s, even the weekly jam sessions. Local R&B/soul singer Roscoe Taylor said it was the place to be for both musicians and fans.
“Everyone came to jam because you were trying to get in a band and wanted everyone to hear you,” Taylor says. “Char's was cool because it felt like you went somewhere. It was like the most popular bar. Everybody wanted to be there or play there.”
Char’s reborn
Char’s Has the Blues endured many challenges in its lifespan, including the harsher DUI laws and economic downturns of the 2000s. The bar survived, continuing to offer performances seven nights a week from regulars like Laydee Jai, Brown, singer Larry Bailey, and local R&B/soul/funk act Soul Power.COVID-19, though, proved to be insurmountable. In 2020, Char’s closed down during the early stages of the pandemic. Months later, the Chedid family sold the property to local entrepreneur and developer David Cameron and California real estate broker Peter Valleau.
Char’s underwent a meticulous interior renovation over the next 18 months. The property had its infrastructure upgraded, including fixing issues with the plumbing and electrical systems, and got a VIP room and green room, revamped seating and a new stage and sound system.
Cameron kept the parquet dance floor and updated the name to Chars Live. He told Phoenix New Times before the reopening in February 2022 that he hoped to preserve the bar’s legacy.
“People have come up and talked to me about (the bar), sharing these visceral experiences of this place are so intense and burned into their memories,” Cameron told New Times in 2022. “I hope and think we'll be able to deliver something similar to what was there and embrace its legacy.”
When Chars Live debuted, the crowds came out at first (including for the packed reopening party starring Big Pete Pearson). Performances were offered five or six nights a week with old-schoolers like Bailey and Brown in the mix along with emerging artists like R&B/soul singer Alexis Janae and funk/jazz band The Optimystics.
Despite Cameron’s efforts, turnout at Chars Live diminished. By summer 2022, Cameron told New Times they were “diversifying” their live music offerings.
"We’re still going to have the usual bands we’ve been featuring, but we'd like to bring in some local talents who haven’t played there before, along with some regional talents from Los Angeles or Texas,” Cameron told New Times.
'It's actually really gone'
In November 2023, Chars was placed on the real estate market for an asking price of $495,000, which reportedly included its No. 6 liquor license and the bar’s fixtures, equipment, furnishings and website. It was news that came as a shock to Chars fans and resident musicians, such as vocalist and guitarist Vaughn Willis.
“Honestly, it was devastating,” he says.
Cameron declined multiple requests by Phoenix New Times for comment regarding the sale.
Chars Live officially closed in early March after the business was sold to Brandon Smith, a longtime Phoenix bartender at Seamus McCaffrey’s Irish Pub, and Tommy Glynn, a Flagstaff restaurateur. Weeks later, signage for Smith’s on 7th, their bar and cocktail lounge, went up.
Willis says Chars musicians were told about the sale at “the 11th hour.”
“They knew well in advance that they were in talks with somebody, and they knew when it was going to close, but chose not to tell any of us officially until the last minute,” Willis says. “It was awful.”
Smith’s on 7th won’t feature bands or musicians, save for an occasional DJ set or private karaoke session in the lounge area. Smith says that neither he nor Glynn have much of a background in booking artists and ultimately have different goals for the bar.
“I did a bunch of bookings when I was at Seamus. We would have music three to four nights a week. Truth is, it's just not what I wanted to venture into,” Smith says. “I love the bar side. I love the mingling, the camaraderie with guests hanging out, just not necessarily a live music venue. That just wasn't what we wanted.”
Laydee Jai says she’s sad, but understands that Char’s Has the Blues is finally closed for good.
“It was so fun while it lasted,” she says. “I'm going to miss it, because that was some good history but it's actually really gone. I mean, it's gone. I don't think they could ever get that back.”
