Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson is a co-founder of the Music Museum of New England and its former president. Growing up on Long Island in the 1950s, he was a fervent fan of rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm ‘n’ blues, and a loyal listener to legendary deejays like Alan Freed and Tommy Smalls (aka “Dr. Jive”), but he never imagined that he’d be in the music business. By a twist of fate, he went on to become the manager of the legendary rock and blues club The Boston Tea Party (1967 and ‘68), owner of The Woodrose Ballroom in South Deerfield, Massachusetts (1969) and producer at The Paramount Theater in Springfield, Massachusetts (1970).  

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

While living in Cambridge, Nelson went to The Boston Tea Party in May 1967 to see The Velvet Underground’s first appearance there. That night, he met Ray Riepen, co-owner of the club who, like Nelson, had attended Harvard Law School. Three months later, after Riepen bought out his partner David Hahn, he brought Nelson in as the club’s manager. 

At the time, the Tea Party mostly featured local bands, but Nelson brought in more out-of-town acts, including Canned Heat, Chain Reaction (Steven Tyler’s first band), The Chambers Brothers, The Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood), Lothar & The Hand People (a Tea Party favorite featuring a theremin), Nazz (with Todd Rundgren), Procol Harum, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Richie Havens, Eric Andersen, Steve Miller Band, The Amboy Dukes (with Ted Nugent), The Sun Ra Arkestra, Kaleidoscope, Tim Buckley, Tim Rose, Traffic, Blue Cheer, Van Morrison (who lived in Cambridge at the time) and The Yardbirds (with Jimmy Page). He also presented blues greats including John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and B.B. King. 

Always a supporter of local bands, he booked them to open shows for national acts and to headline gigs in their own right. Notable ones that appeared at the Tea Party included The Beacon Street Union, The Cloud, Earth Opera (with Peter Rowan), Quill, Ill Wind, The Sidewinders (with Andy Paley), The Bagatelle,  and Ultimate Spinach and The Grass Menagerie (with Doug Yule). The Hallucinations (fronted by Peter Wolf) played so often that they were essentially the house band. 

THE WOODROSE BALLROOM, THE PARAMOUNT THEATER 

In March 1969, he opened The Woodrose Ballroom in a former 1930s roadhouse, with The J. Geils Band on opening weekend and The Velvet Underground the next, in the first of several appearances for both bands. Among other acts performing at the Woodrose were The Allman Brothers, The Blues Project, The Charley Musselwhite Blues Band, The Magic Sam Blues Band, NRBQ and Van Morrison. The many local groups taking the Woodrose stage included Western Massachusetts favorites Fat and Bold, both with major-label albums. 

In January 1970, Nelson moved the shows to the Paramount Theater, billing them as “The Woodrose Presents” and opening with Cold Blood (with Lydia Pence), followed by the Velvets twice, Barry T & The Studebakers (with Barry Tashian and Bill Briggs of The Remains), MC5, The Stooges, Chubby Checker, Chuck Berry, Spirit, the Allmans, J. Geils, Van Morrison, Family and Savoy Brown. But changes in the economics of the music biz led him to shutter his business that spring.  

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, LATER CAREER, MMONE, BOOKS 

With their many appearances he booked at the Tea Party, the Woodrose and the Paramount, Nelson was the foremost producer/promoter of shows with The Velvet Underground, not only presenting their performances but as well designing several posters for their gigs. Backstage following a 2003 show at the Calvin Theater in Northampton (a few miles down the road from the Woodrose), Lou Reed introduced Nelson to his band and said of his involvement with the VU, “We couldn’t have survived without him.” 

Nelson remained a music fan while working as a solar energy, computer software, video/TV and internet entrepreneur. In 2006, he co-founded, with Harry Sandler (former drummer for The Mods and Orpheus) and others, the online Music Museum of New England. “I always believed in the great talent which came out of New England,” he says, “and MMONE has become, and will continue to be, the leading vehicle to preserve and honor that amazing musical legacy.” 

In 2018, he published a memoir, Gettin’ Home: An Odyssey Through The ‘60s. In 2025, he published a book he’d worked on for several years, Fire in a Wire: Electricity Empowers Human Evolution Beyond Homo Sapiens. It includes a section on the evolution of music, from banging on rocks in the Stone Age to banging out rock ‘n’ roll in the Electric Age. You can buy it here.