Employees, band members, business associates, local boozers
and former lovers gather in front of Winston's after the funeral

(Originally published in the San Diego Reader 06/07/01)

"He turned a little rat hole into one of the most popular
clubs in San Diego," says sound engineer Brad Engstrom about
Bill Winston, his former boss. Winston is the notorious entrepreneur
who conceived, owned, and operated Winston’s Beach Club
in Ocean Beach. His other notable achievements include: Winston’s
East (a now defunct club in Santee), Rumors (a coffee
house/music venue on the corner of Newport Ave. and Bacon Street,
The Sunset Cliffs Wellness Center , and furnished a respectable
underdog candidacy for Congress in 1992.

In the early hours of April 4 -- just after Winston was released
from a two-week stint in jail -- he headed directly to the nearest
fix he could find. Despite all his hard work and good fortune,
Bill Winston died of a heroin overdose at the age of 45.

"Of all the bands who came through here says Doug Schultz, the former Director of Operations at 4th and B. "It was the guys in Ratt who had the biggest egos."

Schultz, also known as "Dutch" is the only employee who has worked at 4th and B from its very first concert (Crosby, Stills and Nash) until it was recently acquired by House of Blues in August.

"I was first hired as a security guard. My job was the artist dressing room door. One year later I became Assistant Manager to Billy Bob (Bill Buhrkuhl). When Billy would go out on doctor related leaves, I would run the club . . . . Eventually I became responsible for all aspects of the business during the events."

4th and B opened for business in 1995. They hosted approximately 1900 shows and almost 2 million people walked through those doors. Through it all there was Dutch. He gave me the rundown of the best and worst of the people, bands and events that rolled through there: