CBGB Founder Dead at 75
Hilly Kristal, founder of CBGB bar and music venue, died on August
28 at age 75, ending a long bout with lung cancer. Through the
world-famous punk club in New York, Kristal gave many unknown
bands critical stage time that led to their success.
CBGBs was originally a country joint – the acronym stood for “coun-
try, bluegrass, and blues.” Founded in 1973, the club found its niche
as the era’s music
was in flux. Hilly
took a chance on
energetic acts that
were exploring new
sounds with fewer
chords, outland-
ish distortion and
a raw edge, with
bands such as the
Ramones, Television,
Blondie, The Patti
Smith Group and
Talking Heads
beginning their
careers there.
The club embodied the spirit of
punk music and
the club’s rough
neighborhood in
Manhattan’s Lower
East Side kept
the straight-laced
crowd away. Inside,
it measured 165’x 25’ and was covered in Graffiti and caked gunk.
For an emerging punk scene that took great care to avoid anything
shiny and commercial, it was beautiful.
Hilly’s battle with the building’s owner drew public support as the
club’s lease rate increased to $35,000 per month. The club closed in
October of 2006 and Kristal dismantled the bar and other parts of
the club – including the notoriously gross urinal in the men’s room
– to ship to Las Vegas where he was hoping to re-open the club
somewhere along the strip.
Despite the uncertainty of CBGB’s future in Las Vegas, the club
is likely to maintain a visual presence in the music industry, as the
iconic black CBGB t-shirt continues to be a staple of rock n’ roll
wardrobes everywhere.
24 PREMIERGUITAR NOVEMBER 2007
Led Zeppelin Back “On” again
Somebody in the Led Zeppelin camp must have been reading
Premier Guitar last month when we listed the Zeppelin reunion
rumors as “Off” in our On, Off and Standby section, and decided
that it was the perfect time to confirm the rumors, just to make us
look silly. Well, Led Zeppelin, it didn’t work.
The fact is we are through with the rumors, which have been swirling for ages. From supposed feuds between the Page/Plant duo
and John Paul Jones, to the consistent flow of audio and video
releases from the band, to numerous collaborations and reunions
starting a mere five years after drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham’s
death and subsequent disbanding of the group, Led Zeppelin’s presence has not been lacking on music’s radar.
After a report of a reconciliation and reunion in 2002, which was
squashed by the management of Plant and Page, we were reluctant
to fall for it again when the report came in June that Zep would
be getting together to honor Ahmet Ertegun, the late founder of
Atlantic Records. Plant didn’t do us any favors by denying the whole
thing later that month. Frustrated with the mixed messages, we
gave the whole thing a big, glowing, red “Off” switch. And in doing
so, we changed the minds of Page, Plant and Jones.
The reunion, announced on September 13, is being promoted as
a one-off show with Bonzo’s son, Jason Bonham on drums. The
November 26 show at London’s O2 Arena will also feature Pete
Townshend, Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings, Paolo Nutini and
Foreigner. 18,000 tickets (at $250 a pop) were distributed by an
online ballot system, and online auction sites are being policed to
prevent scalping, so the rest of us will have to wait for the inevitable
DVD release.
ahmettribute.com
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