Humpfrees in Shreve Square takes a final bow

When Buddy Flett recalls the nightlife at Humpfrees in Shreve Square back in the 1980s, he has trouble putting his feelings into words.

“There’s not a big enough word to explain how much fun Humpfrees was,” he said. “Anybody who went there thought that. I have never seen anything like that.”

The building that once housed Humpfrees burned Sept. 22. What rose from the ashes were memories of a little dive bar that put some of the best local, regional and national bands on the stage.

One of those local bands was A Train, which featured Flett on guitar.

“We had a really good run,” Flett said of Humpfrees. “A lot of bands from Baton Rouge and New Orleans played there. Dallas and Austin bands played there. Delbert (McClinton) played there. Stevie (Ray Vaughn) played there. The Fabulous Thunderbirds played there.”

Flett remembers one night in particular when he had a somewhat intense encounter with Vaughn.

“He hadn’t made it yet,” Flett said of Vaughn. “He was playing off the fact that his older brother was in the Thunderbirds. But he was good. They are always better before they get famous.”

Flett recalls Vaughn as “a greasy little guitar player” back in those days. He remembers he and Vaughn got into a fight that night, and Vaughn tried to throw Flett out of Humpfree’s.

“I said, ‘You can’t throw me out of my own bar,’” Flett said. “Right about then his roadie walked up, and I realized I was leaving.”

Humpfrees wasn’t literally Flett’s bar. His friend, Gerald Crews, opened it.

“I went to school with him,” Flett said. “He was the best guitar player of my age. He had a real bad wreck and lost the use of one of his hands and couldn’t play guitar anymore. So he opened that little bar.”

Flett remembers Humpfrees being the right place at the right time.

“Humpfrees wasn’t that big,” he said. “You could fit 200-something people in there. That was a different time. The oil boom had happened. There were jobs. Everybody had money. They would pay cover charges. The waitresses worked their (butts) off to work their way though that crowd. But they made good money.”

It was the right place for A Train, he added. “It was literally the funnest gig we ever played,” Flett said. “There were some really good clubs in Lafayette and Dallas that we played. But Humpfrees … that was our home. We probably partied a little too much. We were pretty young. At that time, I was making more money than I probably needed and had more fun than I needed to have. It was a real good run.”

Flett and A Train were not the only local band to play at Humpfrees’. Jim Malsch recalls his nights on the stage there with The Killer Bees.

“Humpfrees was the spot,” Malsch said. “I saw a lot of great bands there. I was actually playing there when I was 17 years old. I wasn’t even legal to play music, and I was playing with The Killer Bees. We played Humpfrees a lot and Steamboat Annie’s.

“In the late ’70s and early ’80s was when I was there the most. It was a cool environment.”

Both remember an annual beach party at Humpfrees, with A Train serving as the host band. Humpfrees even brought in sand for an authentic feel.

“At the end of the beach party, they would open up the floor and dump all the sand underneath the floor,” Malsch said. “It was like a foot of sand.”

The beach party was fun, they said. But Malsch said following the beach party had its drawbacks.

“They had us play for a whole week right after the beach party,” he said. “They called it International Reggae Week or something. It got really nasty. Sand fleas and old beer and stuff.”

But not even stale beer and sand fleas could kill the Shreve Square vibe.

“It was a great club,” Malsch said. “It was probably the better one downtown. You had Sports Page, Humpfrees, Steamboat Annie’s, Brokerage House … all those.”

Last call eventually came for Humpfrees and the rest of Shreve Square. Malsch and Flett saw a couple of contributing factors.

“It died probably in the mid-’80s,” Malsch said. “It was the economy at that time. And there was a police chief, Chief (Chuck) Gruber. He started setting up roadblocks and everything. People started getting discouraged coming downtown. There were always DWI checkpoints every weekend.”

“That pretty much ended the Square,” Flett said of the DWI checkpoints. “There were all kind of things that happened. Then the oil boom went down.”

Recapturing the Magic

Malsch said he sees the spirit of Shreve Square in the East Bank District & Plaza in down town Bossier City. It’s part of the reason he and the management team recently moved Red River Brewpub to the District.

“East Bank District kind of reminds me of Shreve Square in the old days,” he said. “That was kind of the destination where everybody came down, then you would bar hop and listen to different bands and stuff.”

Red River Brewpub joins BeauxJax, Frozen Pirogue, Flying Heart and L’Italiano, among others, in the District. BeauxJax has an outdoor amphitheater behind the restaurant that hosts concerts. And the Bossier Arts Council also is in the East Bank District and manages events in the Plaza.

“Scoping it out before we opened, it’s just a neat vibe,” Malsch said. “It does remind me of the old Shreve Square, where people are coming to a spot and not necessarily coming to BeauxJax to eat and that’s it.”

It’s a cooperative spirit that benefits all parties involved, Malsch said.

“The more the merrier,” he said. “In the Shreve Square days, the Brokerage House wouldn’t say, ‘We’re competing against Humpfrees.’ Everybody was working together and having a good time.”

Meanwhile, back in downtown Shreveport, the future of the old Humpfrees’ building is unclear.

Marcus Hunter bought the building, 114 Texas St., in 2019 from the city of Shreveport. His plans for the building include creating “a development that both recognizes the architectural history of Shreveport while providing updated housing and mixed uses reflective of the trends of progressive cities,” he said in a statement after the fire.

“I am in communication with the administration of the city of Shreveport regarding the current situation and have assured them that my plans are still to move forward,” the statement continued.

Hunter said he is encouraged by the people who have shared their memories of Shreve Square since the building burned.

“I am thankful for all those who have joined me in our efforts to preserve this part of Shreveport history,” he said. “Your fond memories of Shreve Square have buoyed our efforts and confirmed this to be a worthwhile pursuit.”

Malsch, who restored the Andress Building on the west end of downtown, said Hunter faces a challenge with the old Humpfrees’ building.

“I hope he follows through with what he says,” Malsch said. “That building shouldn’t have been let go that far. It was past the point of no return.”

Flett said it’s imperative to preserve Shreveport’s cultural history.

“It’s back from the 1800s,” Flett said. “You’re supposed to save those buildings. Imagine if they tore down Bourbon Street.”

The paving of Texas Street in 1897, pre-bridge construction: Humpfrees’ building near center.; Humpfrees circa 1983; and after the fire, Humpfrees and Sports Page are no more.