I hadn’t heard of Riley B. Thompson, who died at age 82 on Saturday. But I’m sure some of the old-timers of Route 66 in Southern California have. Check out the obituary in the Daily Press.
After serving in the Marine Corps, Thompson moved to the High Desert in 1950 and worked providing vehicles and equipment to local farmers. Some years later, he became the owner of three bars along Route 66 in Victorville — Riley B’s, the Red Rooster Cafe and the Sportsman Lounge.
For many years during the 1960s, Riley B’s was the only venue in the High Desert that provided live entertainment, and is where Thompson invented the Riley B. Twist.
“Riley B. was the only person that could take a tray of drinks and balance it on his head without spilling it,” said friend of 39 years, Terry Caldwell, a local attorney and Victorville city councilman.
Caldwell said that Thompson would perform a hula-like dance with the tray of drinks balanced on his head and never spill a drop. One evening a couple that had traveled from Canada stopped into Riley B’s because they had heard about the performance, said Thompson’s wife of 45 years, Beverly Thompson.
“He (Riley Thompson) was a business man before he became an attorney,” said friend Dennis Christy, chief deputy district attorney. “He was always giving advice to people who used to come into his bar and one day he said, ‘Maybe I can get paid for this.’ ” Christy said other attorneys were often nervous about facing Riley Thompson in the courtroom because he knew everyone in town and was so well liked and trusted.
“The legal community here has lost one of its founding fathers,” Christy said. “He was some one who has provided a lot of color and fun for many years.”
And guess what the Thompson’s Red Rooster Cafe is now? It’s the California Route 66 Museum. According to the museum’s home page, a portion of the Neil Diamond movie “The Jazz Singer” was filmed here.