Hilly Kristal is Dead
A Rock Midwife, Hilly Kristal, Is Dead at 75
By BEN SISARIO
Published: August 29, 2007
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Scott Gries/Getty Images
1970s and served as the inspiration for musician-friendly rock dives throughout the world, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 75.
His son, Mark Dana Kristal, told The Associated Press that the cause was complications from lung cancer.
From 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.
Most famously, it served as the incubator for the diverse underground scene of New York in the 1970s and early ’80s, with acts like the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads and Sonic Youth playing some of their earliest and most important concerts there, at a time when there were few outlets in the city for innovative rock music.
“There was no real venue in 1973 for people like us,” Ms. 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.”
Besides his son, Mr. Kristal is survived by a daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, and two grandchildren.
Hilly Kristal inside the CBGB punk-rock club in New York in August 2005. More Photos »
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CBGB Closes Its Doors for Good
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CBGB Is History
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Times Topics: Hilly Kristal
From the Archive (PDF’s)
By BEN SISARIO
Published: August 29, 2007
Enlarge This Image
Scott Gries/Getty Images
1970s and served as the inspiration for musician-friendly rock dives throughout the world, died in Manhattan on Tuesday. He was 75.
His son, Mark Dana Kristal, told The Associated Press that the cause was complications from lung cancer.
From 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.
Most famously, it served as the incubator for the diverse underground scene of New York in the 1970s and early ’80s, with acts like the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Television, Talking Heads and Sonic Youth playing some of their earliest and most important concerts there, at a time when there were few outlets in the city for innovative rock music.
“There was no real venue in 1973 for people like us,” Ms. 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.”
Besides his son, Mr. Kristal is survived by a daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, and two grandchildren.
Hilly Kristal inside the CBGB punk-rock club in New York in August 2005. More Photos »
Multimedia
Video
CBGB Closes Its Doors for Good
Slide Show
CBGB Is History
Related
Music: Fans of a Groundbreaking Club Mourn and Then Move On (October 17, 2006)
CBGB Brings Down the Curtain With Nostalgia and One Last Night of Rock (October 16, 2006)
Op-Ed Contributor: Rock n Roll High School (October 14, 2006)
Readers’ Opinions
Share Your Thoughts
Discuss Hilly Kristal, the founder of CBGB, on the City Room blog.
Times Topics: Hilly Kristal
From the Archive (PDF’s)
- CBGB Club Is Hub for Bands Playing Underground Rock (Jan. 24, 1976)
- Talking Heads: Cool in Glare of Hot Rock (March 24, 1976)
- Teenage Runaways Play to Fantasites (Aug. 4, 1976)
- Damned, British Punk-Rock Group (April 9, 1977)
- A New Life for the Bowery (April 15, 1977)
- B-52's, Rock Band From Georgia (June 3, 1978)