This Week in Music History: CBGB Shifts Gears, Achieves Legendary Status
When Hilly Kristal opened the CBGB music venue in Manhattan’s East Village on December 10, 1973, he envisioned a comfortable club where Country, Bluegrass, and Blues bands could play and folks enjoying those genres could relax and enjoy a mellow scene. Some evenings featured poetry readings. Little did he know what this venue would turn into.
Before the Seventies were over, CBGB had established a reputation as the hippest scene for new wave bands and fans, despite (or perhaps because of) a capacity of only 350 people. Among those groups on their way to stardom when they played this highly popular club were Talking Heads, Blondie, the Ramones, Elvis Costello, the B-52s, Television, Squeeze, and Patti Smith.
From the early Eighties until a few years before its closure, CBGB was known for punk bands. Including Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Reagan Youth, Murphy’s Law, Cro-Mags, Gorilla Biscuits, and Sheer Terror. Following years of rent disagreements with building owner Bowery Residents’ Committee, Kristal said he would move the club to Las Vegas. Smith played the club’s final concert in 2006 and Kristal passed away the next year from complications of lung cancer.
But CBGB’s legacy lives on. Its awning when the club closed was moved to the lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Talking Heads mentions CBGB in its 1979 song titled Life During Wartime. And the club appears in the 2010 game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
Here’s a quick look at some other musical notes from this week (December 10-16) in history:
December 10, 1967. Tragedy struck when 26-year-old Otis Redding and almost every member of the Bar-Keys, his backing band, died in a plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin. His big hit, the Grammy Award-winning (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, became the first record to reach No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 & R&B charts following the death of the recording artist.
December 11, 1964 – Referred to as the “King of Soul,” singer and songwriter Sam Cooke died in a Los Angeles motel after being shot by the motel manager in what was ruled a justifiable homicide.
December 12, 1970 – The Doors played their final live show with Jim Morrison at The Warehouse in New Orleans. Among the Doors’ songs on this evening were Light My Fire, Love Her Madly, and Riders on the Storm. Seven months later, Morrison was found dead in his Paris apartment.
December 12, 2020 – Charley Pride, who had 52 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country song charts, died in Dallas from complications of Covid-19. The singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player was 86.
December 13, 1966 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience made its television debut, performing Hey Joe on the UK’s Ready, Steady, Go! show. Marc Bolan, who would form T-Rex the following year, also performed on the show.
December 14, 1979 – The Clash released its third studio album, London Calling, in the UK. Featuring Train in Vain, Death or Glory, and London Calling, the double album has been ranked among the top 20 of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time on several occasions.
December 15, 1944 – Bandleader, composer, and trombonist Glenn Miller died in a plane crash en route to entertain American troops in France. The 40-year-old’s No. 1 hits included In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, and Chattanooga Choo Choo.
December 16, 1965 – The Beatles were known for placing two great songs on the same single. In the case of Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out, which reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart on this date, they labeled both sides as “A.”
I hope you enjoyed this week’s trip down music’s memory lane. Feel free to check out my books on the Home and Books pages of this site.