the Bitter End
{{short description|New York coffeehouse and music venue}}
{{other uses}}
The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End in June 1975. However, after a few years the owners changed the club's name back to the more recognizable The Bitter End. It remains open under new ownership.
History
File:WSTM Mossmen0056.jpg status granted to The Bitter End in 1992]]
An earlier club, The Cock and Bull, operated on the same premises with the same format, in the late 1950s. The poet and comedian Hugh Romney, who later became known as Wavy Gravy, read there.
The Bitter End was originally a coffeeshop.{{cite news |last=Richling|first=Billy|date=February 18, 2014|title= Goodbye Paul Colby: Famed Owner of The Bitter End Passes Away |work=Observer |url=http://observer.com/2014/02/goodbye-paul-colby-famed-owner-of-the-bitter-end-passes-away/ |access-date= September 28, 2017}} According to The New York Times, "The Bitter End, which opened in 1961, considers itself to be New York’s oldest rock club and built a legendary reputation after showcasing young performers like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor and comedians like Woody Allen and Billy Crystal." At the club, Bob Dylan played pool, watched performances, and occasionally performed{{cite news |date=October 18, 2016|title=Exploring Bob Dylan's New York |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/18/travel/exploring-bob-dylans-greenwich-village-new-york.html |access-date=September 27, 2017 }} circa 1961.{{cite magazine |date=January 24, 2011|title=Fifty Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Arrived In New York |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/fifty-years-ago-today-bob-dylan-arrived-in-new-york-20110124 |access-date=September 28, 2011 }}
During the early 1960s, the club hosted folk music "hootenannies" every Tuesday night, featuring many performers who have since become legendary. During its heyday The Bitter End showcased a wide range of talented and legendary musicians, comedians, and theatrical performers.{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E3DC1F31F93BA35755C0A9659C8B63|title=Gene Santoro, NY Times review, Beginning at the Bitter End.: SERIOUSLY FUNNY The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s. By Gerald Nachman. |newspaper=NY Times |date=8 June 2003 |access-date=6 January 2015|last1=Santoro |first1=Gene }}{{cite book |last1=Nachman |first1=Gerald |author-link1=Gerald Nachman (journalist) |title=Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s |url=http://geraldnachman.com/about.html |location=New York|publisher=Pantheon Books |date=2003 |page=659 |isbn=9780375410307 |oclc=50339527}}
In 1968, Paul Colby (1917–2014), who began his career as a song plugger for Benny Goodman’s publishing company, and went on to work for Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Guy Lombardo, became the manager and booking agent at The Bitter End, and in 1974 he purchased it.{{cite web |url=http://nyc-plus.com/nyc16/noendforthebitter.html |title=No End for the Bitter End |website=nyc-plus.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011171839/http://nyc-plus.com/nyc16/noendforthebitter.html |archive-date=11 October 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://commie.droryikra.com/archives/v62iB/enter/bitterend.html|title=Yeshiva University Commentator -- Volume 62, Issue 11|publisher=commie.droryikra.com|access-date=6 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220053/http://commie.droryikra.com/archives/v62iB/enter/bitterend.html|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}} Owner Paul Colby died in 2014. He had two partners in the club, Paul Rizzo and Ken Gorka.{{Citation |last=Martin|first=Douglas|date= February 20, 2014|title=Paul Colby, Whose Club Helped Fuel Greenwich Village's Rise, Dies at 96 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/nyregion/paul-colby-owner-of-club-that-helped-the-rise-of-greenwich-village-dies-at-96.html?mcubz=3 |access-date= September 24, 2017}} A tribute concert was held for Colby after his death.{{Citation |date=June 23, 2014|title=A Musical Tribute To Paul Colby The Bitter End |publisher=The Aquarian |url=http://www.theaquarian.com/2014/08/13/a-musical-tribute-to-paul-colby-the-bitter-end/ |access-date=September 28, 2017 }} Kenny Gorka died in 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/03/26/the-bitter-end-pays-tribute-to-owner-kenny-gorkas-legacy/|title=The Bitter End Pays Tribute to Owner Kenny Gorka's Legacy|last=Valentino|first=Silas|date=March 26, 2015|access-date=December 8, 2017}} Gorka was an original member of New Jersey band The Critters.
According to Colby, James Taylor bombed when he played the club in 1969, and Neil Young also bombed at the club.{{Citation |date=March 18, 2014|title=Paul Colby - obituary|work=Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10706247/Paul-Colby-obituary.html |access-date=September 28, 2017 }} In the mid 1970s, the club became known as the birthplace of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, which featured such names as Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Joan Baez, T-Bone Burnett, Ronee Blakely, Mick Ronson, and many other guest stars.
The Bitter End was granted landmark status by the city of New York in 1992. Also in 1992, the venue's landlord tried to evict the bar, with the venue saved by benefit performances by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Kris Kristofferson, George Carlin and others.
Lady Gaga performed at the bar in October 2016, after previously performing there as an unsigned act, before the release of her debut album. The performance was part of Gaga's Dive Bar Tour.{{Citation |date=October 21, 2016|title=Lady Gaga Returns to NYC Bar Where She Launched Her Career|first=Mesfin|last=Fekadu |publisher=NBC New York |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/NYC-Lady-Gaga-Returns-to-NYC-Bar-Where-She-Launched-Her-Career-397876401.html |access-date=September 28, 2017 }}
Live albums recorded
Numerous musical albums have been recorded at The Bitter End/The Other End, including albums by Biff Rose ("Half-live at the Bitter End"), Peter, Paul and Mary, Randy Newman, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, The Isley Brothers and Tommy James & the Shondells, The Chad Mitchell Trio, and Bill Haley & His Comets. Comedy albums recorded there include Bill Cosby's first album, Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!, and comedian Chris Rush's second album, Beaming In.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.bitterend.com}}
- [http://www.bitterend.com/played.html We All Played The Bitter End]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20141012082100/http://www.nyc-plus.com/nyc16/noendforthebitter.html Shane, Ken, "No End for the Bitter End," 9/06]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220053/http://commie.droryikra.com/archives/v62iB/enter/bitterend.html Maler, Senya, "The Bitter End"]
{{New York City performance spaces}}
{{Greenwich Village}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|40.7283|-73.9992|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter End, The}}
Category:1961 establishments in New York City
Category:Music venues in Manhattan
Category:Nightclubs in Manhattan
Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Category:Drinking establishments in Manhattan
Category:Drinking establishments in Greenwich Village
Category:Music venues completed in 1961
Category:Comedy clubs in Manhattan