CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, RIP
Hilly Kristal, founder of legendary NYC punk nightclub CBGB died yesterday. He was 75. CBGB was the birthplace of such influential artists as Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, and a slew of others. From the New York Times (photo from Kristal's Wikipedia entry):
Previously on BB:
• CBGB closing for good Link
• Patti Smith's NYT op-ed: don't cry for CBGBs, we have the 'net Link
LinkFrom its opening in late 1973, when Mr. Kristal, a lover of acoustic music, gave the club its name, an abbreviation of the kinds of music he originally intended to feature there — country, bluegrass and blues — until a dispute with its landlord forced the club to close last October, CBGB presented thousands of bands within its eternally crumbling, flyer-encrusted walls...
“There was no real venue in 1973 for people like us,” (Patti) Smith said today. “We didn’t fit into the cabarets or the folk clubs. Hilly wanted the people that nobody else wanted. He wanted us.”
Previously on BB:
• CBGB closing for good Link
• Patti Smith's NYT op-ed: don't cry for CBGBs, we have the 'net Link
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he was 1975!? Man, what a geezer
-Dan
I really don't think he was 1975 years old...
i hope i live to be 1975.
Only 25 years from hitting 2 large. Quite the shame.
1975, damn that's old.
Check the second sentence please. I doubt he was 1975. I even doubt he was born in 1975. Edit people edit!
Wow he lived to a ripe old age and still looking pretty good in the picture.
taf
1975 is old... ;-)
He was 1975?
RIP man
He was 1975?
I think you mean he was 75, not 1975.
He was 1975??
He was one thousand, nine hundred, and seventy-five? Wow! He must've used great moisturizer.
Yes, he was 1975. He was known to compare the nascent Goth scene unfavorably to the Visigoths and even the Ostragoths, whom he knew personally back in the day.
funny...
Patti Smith said CBGB will live on in the internet... I suppose Hilly's ghost will haunt it as well? Eep!
In a way I'd have to agree that he *was* 1975: Patti Smith, Television, the Ramones, and the Talking Heads all played at CBGB in '75, just to name a few...
He wasn't 1975 years old. He was 1975. Jaws came out during him, as did Patti Smith's Horses. During Hilly Kristal, Gerald Ford was the President of the United States.
All of the good comments are already taken!
RIP to an important branch on the American music family tree.
Love the new coment feature BB!
You mean my birthyear has died then?
Gosh I'm getting old...
So does this mean no CBGB Las Vegas?
I love that his age hasn't been changed yet ;)
RIP! And I can certily understand his decision. I would have died, too!
It's really great the birthdate is not changed, yet. That's real spirit!
FOR THE RECORD, Wikipedia sais:
'...born in Manhattan in 1932...' So he was indeed 75.
I can tell the snark level around here is going to be difficult to keep up with.
he may have been 1975 but we are 138!
now he can finally start spinning in his grave.
He's beaten Methuselah by over a thousand years.
I think, in a way, most of us of a certain age are all 1975.
I really think he doesn't look a day over 1300.
Hilly was a transhumanist and, in those circles,1975 is quite young.
: )
(it was late where I am. thanks.)
i played CBGB's back in the 90's and boy that place was a shit hole, but i wouldn't trade the experience for anything. well, maybe a million dollars, but not $999,999. it was that cool.
I was happy when CBGBs closed because I was really tired of old punks (my peers) holding on to the past. But I am genuinely sad about this news. Hilly was about to cash in big time, so now he doesn't get to enjoy it. I hope the money can get passed on to all the people who never got paid while making CBGBs a corporate brand.
I wonder if Billy Crystal ever met Hilly Kristal?
"You two should meet; Hilly, Billy. Billy, Hilly."
I got nuthin'.
RIP HK
He died when the club did. BUT, the legacy lives on.
What most of his biggest stumpers fail to remember is that his stubbornness and incompetence were instrumental in the closing of CBGB.
Add that to the fact that CBGB hadn't had a good act roll through in about 10 years (sorry, knowles) and it had just become another valuable piece of real-estate taking up space for no good reason.