NEW YORK Hilly Kristal had no idea what he was unleashing when he welcomed a rash of unknown bands onstage in his dank Bowery dive: Television, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Patti Smith Group.
Kristal, a New Jersey farm boy whose musical tastes ran to tamer fare, had opened CBGB as a haven for country, blues and bluegrass music. Instead, his cramped club became the epicenter of the ’70s punk rock movement, setting off a musical revolution that spread around the world.
Kristal, 75, died of complications from lung cancer at a Manhattan hospice, his family announced Wednesday. CBGB closed in October 2006 with a blowout concert by Smith and her band, ending a 33-year run for the dingy space.
“He created a club that started on a small, out-of-the-way skid row, and saw it go around the world,” said Lenny Kaye, a longtime member of the Patti Smith Group. “Everywhere you travel around the world, you saw somebody wearing a CBGB T-shirt.
At the club’s boarded-up storefront Wednesday morning, a spray-painted message read, “RIP Hilly, we’ll miss you, thank you.” There were also a dozen candles, two bunches of flowers and a foam rubber baseball bat an apparent tribute to the Ramones’ classic “Beat on the Brat.”
David Byrne, lead singer with Talking Heads, remembered Kristal’s low-key demeanor and generosity.
“Other clubs were all about models and beautiful people, and he was about letting the musicians in for free, to hear music and get cheap beers,” Byrne said. “It automatically created a scene, and we’d just hang out all night.”
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