#odell's

[thedaily-beer]

Odell's Mountain Standard IPA on tap at Shake Shack at DEN. A 3 of 4. Mostly citrus in the nose and a touch of tropical notes, too. Similar in the body with a medium amount of bitterness and a bit of haziness and softness on the palate as well. Not the most memorable, but solid.

[lizzzardlou]

The Shawty life <3

[retrobaltimore]

Odell’s nightclub was once the hot disco spot

Odell's was one of the flashy nightspots in town with its large disco dance floor. (William H. Mortimer, Baltimore Sun files, 1978)

While not as famous as Studio 54 in New York City, Odell’s nightclub was certainly the Baltimore disco venue during the 1970s and 1980s and a forerunner of the club venues of the ’90s in the city.

Just as disco music was sweeping the nation, Odell Brock, who had owned the Carousel in the 1800 block of North Charles Street, opened Odell’s in the first block of East North Avenue in 1976.

With a $5 cover, Odell’s was jammed with the 18-to-40 age group.

“During the Depression, people jumped out the windows. Now they go to the disco … go to the racquet club … go jogging,” Odell told The Evening Sun in 1979. He sold the club in 1984.

Diva Ultra Nate, who was a regular at Odell’s in the 1980s, told The Baltimore Sun in a 2012 interview that “Odell’s wasn’t just a club. It was a culture and a lifestyle, and if you were a part of it then you felt like you were a part of something special. Not many clubs these days try to capture the emotional connection.”

The exterior of Odell's nightclub at 21 E. North Ave. in 1978. (Clarence B. Garrett, Baltimore Sun files, 1978)

Time has not been kind to the famed club.

After Brock died in 1985, the club was purchased by co-owner Philip A. “Phil Boy” Murray, who two years later was arrested and charged for his involvement in one of West Baltimore’s largest heroin rings.

The club was then sold in 1989 to Milton Tillman Jr., who was later sentenced to 27 months in prison for attempting to bribe a city zoning board member.

Odell’s was finally shuttered in 1992 by the zoning board because of complaints of violence and noise.

Odell's nightclub in 1992. (Baltimore Sun files, 1992)

Will Hanna, director of HMG, a sports marketing firm, told The Sun in 2012 that he was in negotiations with the club’s owner and expected to reopen it after a $2 million face lift.

Recently, the property was listed by A. J. Billig & Co., which said that the club had been withdrawn from a scheduled June 9 auction.

-- Frederick N. Rasmussen    ([email protected])