Hilly Kristal/CBGB's founder passes away.

[Feraud]

Not exactly Golden Era but you New York punks (and those abroad) can appreciate what Hilly did for the NY scene.

CBGB's Hilly Kristal - a life in punk
New York reacts to death of famous venue owner
3 hours ago
Hilly Kristal, the founder and owner of CBGB's, has died at the age of 75.

Kristal was responsible for the so-called 'birthplace of punk' which kicked off the careers of legendary New York acts such as the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Blondie and Patti Smith.

After a long-standing legal battle with the building's owners the Bowery Residents Committee, Kristal was forced to shutter the club in October of last year with a final show that saw a three and-a-half hour performance by Patti Smith, and was attended by Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth, Jesse Malin and actors Ed Burns and Elijah Wood.

Kristal, who died yesterday at Cabrini Hospital (August 27), had been suffering from lung cancer, but managed to sit through much of the final night's performance at CBGB's before leaving to a standing ovation.

Despite the closure of the club, the clothing store CBGB Fashions remained open selling memorabilia including shower curtains, guitar straps and the internationally ubiquitous CBGB T-shirt. Kristal also had plans to open a CBGB's in Las Vegas.

At the time of the closing of the Bowery venue, Kristal vowed to take every last bit of the club with him in order to formulate an authentic recreation of the club in Vegas.

"I am taking the bars with me, I am taking the stage - I'm taking the urinal that Joey (Ramone) pissed in with me. I'm going to take a lot of things - anything that makes this place CBGB's."

Fans left tributes to Kristal at the venue today, including flowers, candles and graffiti messages.

--By our New York staff.

http://www.nme.com/news/patti-smith/30769

Hilly was a permanent fixture at the club when I attened the Sunday harcore matinee's in the 80's.
Call me small minded but I hope the Vegas CBGB's deal falls through.

R.I.P. Hilly and thank you for helping create some great teenage memories.

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

RIP Hilly....and Feraud, you are beyond cool.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Sad news. And, Feraud, I'm small minded that way too!

 

[Dixon Cannon]

CBGB

... not exactly Country, Bluegrass and Blues was it?

-dixon cannon

 

[TailendCharlie]

Kick Out The Jams...!

 

[RIOT]

RIP Hilly

Thanks for the good times.

 

[John in Covina]

I only went to CBGB's once to see "The Good Rats" play in round 78-80. Usually we saw them at Ubie's OTJ. I was out here for a while late in 79 then came back to NY for a while in 80-81 then came back out here in Oct. 81.

Life During Wartime: "This ain't no Mud Club or CBGB's, I ain't got time for that now!"

 

[Senator Jack]

There's yours truly on the left, making a racket at CBs circa 1988. The first time I ever played there my band got pelted with candles and peanuts. We fared better when this photo was taken.

 

[Edward]

RIP Hilly. Sad news indeed. Without punk rock, I'd have been an unbelievably different person than I am nowadays - in a very, very bad way, I suspect. That ultimately goes back to a handful of people, and Hilly giving the Ramones a shot, facilitating the cradle of the scene in NYC, was one of those few.

I never got to meet Hilly - was it true that he was the smelliest man in rock and roll? lol That's the way they tell it, anyhow.... I never got to a show at CBs either.... I've only been to NYC the once, back at the start of 04. The club was still open then, but I had the then-girlfriend with me, and long story short, I did well to get out there for the obligatory photo in front of the place, and the visit to the souvenir shop. I was gutted when I heard they were closing the club down. I too would prefer it not to become some cheap Vegas Disneyfied version.... I live in hope that they will open in another New York venue, Sure, it won't be the Bowery, but my understanding of CBs was that it had always stayed true to a place which gave young and new bands a break, not totally a museum piece the way the likes of the reopened "Marquee" in London was. It'd be nice to see a new NYC CBs - after all the heart and soul of the club was not the bricks and mortar building, but what it stood for.