A young Steve Paul began his music career as publicist of another iconic NYC club, Peppermint Lounge, and had an ear for talent. He managed to put together a club in a massive 5,000 sq ft space in the basement of 301 West 46th Street, New York City... and booked a new band called The Doors.

The Scene became a favorite hangout of the day's musical pioneers, including Jimi Hendrix. There's great audio bootlegs of Jimi and Johnny Winter jamming together at The Scene.

The Scene brought The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck Fleetwood Mac and Traffic. It was a favorite spot of poet Allen Ginsburg, playwright Tenessee Williams and artist Andy Warhol.

When the mafia tried to strongarm Paul into a business "partnership", he closed the venue and his employees came to work the next day to discover they were now employees of the newly formed record label Blue Sky Records.

With the help of Johnny Winter, Blue Sky went on to be a crucial part in Muddy Waters' 1977 comeback.