Let others know about your loved one's death. Along with working in Nelson's front office and running Castle Creek, O'Connor also found time to open a non-music club, the Squeeze Inn, a bar on 19th Street where the pool tables, jukebox, and beer were all a quarter. Attal co-owns and books both the restaurant's small inside room and Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater, a Backyard-style outdoor venue. Great story Stu, Mike F. is a great soulful singer! With Nelson's own tax problems, O'Connor didn't have time to implement his traditional Plan B and wound up selling the Opera House at a "fire-sale" price. Please, Like Lance Armstrong, OConnor just couldnt walk away from the action, and suffered the consequences. "The screaming, the reputation, a lot of that was a front," asserts Gonzalez. After recuperating, O'Connor returned to staging benefits and working with Nelson. Berating the singer for letting his encore be overrun, O'Connor began yelling. to the Family. ', "I think somewhere along the way, people that know me labeled me as a guy that if I said I'd do it, I did it -- at all costs. 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. Recovering from triple-bypass surgery, OConnor opened up to writer Andy Langer in a rare Send In the Clowns manner. One time I played steel with Milton Carrol in Albuquerque we opened the show for Willie,Tim O'Connor promised me a ride home to Austinwe got a couple of miles outside of Lubbock in Tim's bigass Lincoln when we ran out of gas.Tim gets on the Cb and finds a woman at a base station who gets in touch with her brother in law who happens to own a gas station"this was at 5:00a.m.,A guy shows up with a gas can starts the Lincoln we follow him to his gas station"did I mention its a blizzard outThe guy opens the gas station we fill up,Tim pays him and then tried to give him a fifty dollar tip,The guy said no way be safe.One time Maria Mauldaur played at the Armadillo world Mike Finnegan was on Hammond Organ a d was sporting a black eye,Tim told me that He was in the golden gloves with Finnegan when they were kids and it must've been a bad dude who gave Mike the shiner,Turned out it was Maria's gal background singer who hauled off and hit Finnegan,They yucked it up.Godspeed Tim O'Conner. i'm holding the 25 year chip tim gave me when we both hit 25 years. Kansas State University was the next institution to ask O'Connor not to return. But after a great expense to make the land concert-ready, Two River was one-and-done, opening and closing on the same Fourth of July weekend. "Eddie Wilson pretty much had a headlock on the city," says Jim Ramsey, a local concert promoter who often rented the Opera House from O'Connor. He was born in Clinton County, Missouri, Nov. 10, 1931 to B. T. and Agnes OConnor. SFX. "I really cut my teeth in neighborhood negotiations back there -- in all the wrong ways.". And to some degree, it's also about admitting what I've done wrong. "Can you imagine sending a guy like me over as an ambassador of goodwill?" What it boiled down to was simple: the collective could pool connections and resources to produce bigger and better shows with more frequency then they could on their own. Former baseball star Kelly Gruber and realtor wife Tosca owned La Zona Rosa for awhile, but it continued to lose money until OConnor took over in 1997. I'd like to pass through whatever time I have left in this industry and in my life and be able to sit back in the rocking chair, should I get that opportunity, and say 'Tim, you didn't do too bad.' Amy captured the rescue on video. "We've always had a policy that if I knew an act better than somebody else or had a certain kind of relationship, it's probably best I'd make the call," explains O'Connor. When OConnor returned in 77, he started the Southern Commotion partnership with Willie to run the Austin Opry House as a classier Armadillo. But a couple disastrous decisions- rebuilding the Austin Music Hall in 2007 and the Backyard in 2010- cant put a lien on the memories he created in the years between the 1972 opening of Castle Creek and the 2008 closing of the original Backyard. If Bobo the Elephant wasn't message enough, O'Connor told a neighborhood meeting that if they didn't back off, he'd host Nelson's annual Fourth of July picnic in the Opera House parking lot and aim the speakers at their houses. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com. Timothy J. O'Connor, 78, of Mentor-on-the-Lake, passed away Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, at his residence. The last act to play La Zona Rosa under OConnors ownership was Prince at SXSW 2013. Just as vital to Direct Events' success has been O'Connor's agreement with Pace Productions for the Music Hall and Backyard. "The battles I had with him at Pace over why we couldn't do a certain event always came back to the same thing, 'That's not what Austin's about,'" says Hauser. View The Obituary For Christopher Joseph O"Connor. "Do I want to try and change my image? He left behind his pack of dogs. I'd made concessions to the tune of some serious dollars.". Was it a case of O'Connor keeping his enemies close? After roughly 26 months in an adoption facility, he was adopted and given the surname O'Connor. Even so, merely owning La Zona added value to Direct Events. (Austin Pets Alive! Why don't we wait a little while and maybe we'll catch up with you. "I always wanted to sit behind my desk and be able to tell some artist that had me pulling all the red M&M's out of the bag that he'd never play in this town again.". Like our page to stay informed about passing of a loved one in Austin, Texas on facebook. APA! i fuckin' miss that guy. Now, O'Connor owned and operated four different venues with four different configurations: a 3,000-seat indoor room, a 4,000-seat outdoor space, a 1,400-seat indoor venue, and a smaller club-sized room within La Zona. Customer Engineer Specialist and Sr. Not only did it allow Direct Events to lure agents and acts with the promise that they could move through their ranks, it kept the overall business operating 12 months a year, not just the seven months it was safe to stage shows at the Backyard. While it's a poorly kept secret that Attal and his partners are entertaining offers to sell Stubb's, O'Connor's retirement is more likely the deal breaker. One of OConnors rules was that you cant trust someone who doesnt love dogs. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this . Then came the mall that swallowed our idyllic music setting. By then it was just a live music club with a dogleg, and a 1,500 capacity that gave Direct Events more flexibility for acts not ready for AMH or the Backyard, both at twice the capacity. By all means necessary. Tim O'Connor believes his funeral will be like many other events he's staged: well-attended. The other rooms he rented. "I knew I'd screwed up big and made my mea culpas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFdr_xNcv9s. He also volunteers that he's probably amassed as many enemies as friends. His daughters, Amy and Paula Nelson, who are also OConnors goddaughters, partnered with Austin Pets Alive! Visitation for friends and family will be held from 6:00 pm 8:00 pm on Friday, June 2, 2006, at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home. Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Chef Jeff Blank found it and originally partnered with OConnor, but it turned out to be a much better venue for 3,500-capacity outdoor concerts than fine dining inside, so Blank refocused on Hudsons-on-the-Bend (and the chicken cone that would redefine festival eating.). "I was screaming at him," recalls O'Connor, nearly 25 years later. No services are scheduled at this time. Just to correct y'all in the name of accuracy, Mike the master of the blues B3 has an unusual spelling of his last name. We're talking about a concert promoter 30 years later. Tim O'Connor, longtime club owner, music entrepreneur and erstwhile promoter of Austin music, partner of Willie Nelson as a director of the famed Fourth of July picnics, has died. It wasnt a bad wound and OConnor wasnt charged, but he had to tell his boss what went down. One night they'd be working against nuclear weaponry, the next for prison reform. More than anything else, the stories told and untold paint the picture of a man who knows how to get what he wants, a notoriously stubborn and tough negotiator who never shied away from staging a charity event or benefit. On Oct. 1, 1957, he proudly became an employee of IBM and enjoyed a career of 30 years - with 22 of them in Kansas City, MO, and 8 in San Jose, CA before retiring in Austin, TX. "I do think it's going to work to the consumer's benefit," reasons Attal, who now shares office space with Jones. Ruling the roost is an unpopular business, and over the years, O'Connor's reputation has often overshadowed his accomplishments. The Backyard had about 10 good years until the Shops of the Galleria began encroaching, eventually eating up most of the parking by its 2005 completion. "I'm a loner," says O'Connor. "While his was a closed shop, you could walk into the Opera House, cut a deal, and get your feet wet as a promoter. Like our page to stay informed about passing of a loved one in Austin, Texas on facebook. "I think they might also say, 'He sure had a lot of breaks because of his association with Willie Nelson. And yet, his primary obstacle has been not being able to buy large shows year-round. Backed by the national clout of Pace, now part of the larger SFX group, O'Connor believes he's been able to bring more shows to town at competitive prices. The Backyard at Bee Cave, with its live oaks and star-speckled sky, was OConnors crown jewel. He sees it as a return to the free flow of information that he found in the Castle Creek days. For those desiring, memorials are suggested to Mobile Loaves & Fishes, 903 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin, TX 78746 or at www.mlfnow.org/donate. Nelson repeated. Funeral Home Se. "Why I am I here? They did him one better, allowing him to stay in the garage apartment of their new house. Tim was in charge of crowd control, earning a reputation as a hard-ass with a soft heart. When OConnor returned in 77, he started the Southern Commotion partnership with Willie to run, as a classier Armadillo. "The acoustics were horrible, and it was just this terribly hot, smoke-filled room.". All three venues were wildly successful, with Tim bringing more high-calibre talent to Austin in the 90s than the Armadillo did in the 70s and Liberty Lunch in the 80s and 90s. Almost immediately it became the place to not only see roadshows such as John Prine, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt, but the cream of Austin's burgeoning singer-songwriter scene: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Stephen Fromholz, and Delbert McClinton. quips O'Connor. Nelson and O'Connor were in business, 50-50, for a mere $10,000 up front. He'd bought Nelson out two years earlier, just before the singer's tax situation got messy, but it wasn't long before O'Connor himself wound up in a bit of IRS trouble; since buying the Opera House in 1977, he'd been filing corporate taxes, but not personal taxes. On deadline. After significant renovations, he lost nearly $140,000 its opening year and half that its second. "It wasn't by design, but it worked out that way.". There will be a reception following the service. "Instead of coming to work with machetes, we tried a pencil and pad. "Tim wasn't a real easy person to get along with in those days," remembers Ramsey. Austin Owen O'Connor, 66 of Loogootee, was called home at 9:33 a.m. Friday, December 4, 2020 at Loogootee Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. Private Messages and formed what later became known as the Ivory Tower collective. Who's gonna do it? Guestbook Condolences Memorial Donation. I might be tattered and torn up, and a lot of people may be lying behind me, but my attitude is, if you're not helping, get out of the way. I stuck around Willie like bad penny.". While they appear to be getting along famously, neither side denies their relationship is still a house of cards. Please join us in Loving, Sharing and Memorializing Christopher Joseph O"Connor on this permanent online memorial. You could rent a stick to poke me with to make sure I'm really dead.". Or maybe it's not ironic at all. "Tim ended up ruling the whole roost.". His parents preceded him in death. Better yet, while studying the plots they'd just bought, O'Connor found an additional 13 lots they'd inherited through a sale the bank hadn't covered in the mortgage. Bobbie Elizabeth O'Connor. Not only would the building at 200 Academy provide them with a 56,000 square-foot main building, the two would also be buying 218 apartments in 17 different buildings, stretching from the corner of the Travis Heights neighborhood to South Congress. Maybe it's yet another O'Connor business strategy. A celebration of her life will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, June 3, at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home. I wanna work your joint.'". Support the Chronicle, O'Connor (l) with Willie Nelson and Darrell Royal backstage at the Austin Opera House, 1979, O'Connor (l) with Willie Nelson at the opening of the Backyard, April 15, 1993, O'Connor with MiddleMan Music's Charlie Jones (l) and Stubb's' Charles Attal, Antones, 1979: Hurricane Margaret blows in, Everything back then felt like us versus them and she was one of us, One click gets you all the newsletters listed below, Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events. When Tim died, there wasnt a word in the Chronicle or Statesman, and still hasnt been to my knowledge. "I've probably given plenty of people cause not to like me," admits O'Connor. While most people don't care who owns the venues they visit, it could be argued that the one non-performer's name every Austin music fan should know is Tim O'Connor. Others have let bygones be bygones. It's a move that gives Attal year-round booking clout and has already resulted in both La Zona Rosa and Stubb's paying lower prices for shows. Before moving to California, he lived on an island in the middle of Glen Wild Lake, located in Bloomingdale, New Jersey, 30 miles from Manhattan. Young told him it was a bird nest on the ground -- he'd only need to pick up the eggs. Tim O'Connor, Direct Events, The Backyard, The Austin Music Hall, La Zona Rosa, Castle Creek, The Austin Opera House, Pace Concerts, SFX, Willie Nelson, Information is power. He is survived by his wife, Beverly, of Austin; son Michael OConnor of Houston; Olive OConnor of Houston; daughter, Loraine Moulder and husband Jim of Cedar Park; three grandsons, Brian Poolman of Austin, TX; Daniel Poolman of Austin/Houston; Sean Poolman of San Marcos, TX; Granddaughter, Melanie Diggins, Great-Granddaughters Adrienne Diggins and Alix OQuinn; a brother, Donald OConnor ( Helen), of Plattsburg, MO; four sisters, Loretta Broderick (Tom), Plattsburg, MO, Juanita Thornton (Jim), Liberty, MO; Charlene Swope (Emerson) of Joplin, MO, Peggy Evans (John) of Smithville, MO; twelve nieces and nephews, all of Missouri, and several cousins, living in the Midwest.. "Instead of fighting each other for the same piece of pie, we were cutting the pie up.". His goal was to come out of a negotiation less battered than the other guy. I'll never forget Willie's answer. In a press release, APA! By the time the problem got to him, his job was to play the heavy.". 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