Leonard Alfred Schneider, better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy that combined satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon in 2003.
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames was an American rock group that was fronted by Jimi Hendrix, who was then going by the name "Jimmy James". The band was Hendrix's first extended foray into the 1966 Greenwich Village music scene and included future Spirit guitarist Randy California. At various New York clubs, they played a mix of rock, blues, and rhythm and blues songs as well as early versions of songs that became part of the Jimi Hendrix Experience repertoire. It was at such a performance that the Animals' bassist Chas Chandler first heard their rendition of "Hey Joe" and decided to invite Hendrix to England and become his producer.
The Cafe Au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre building in the late 1960s, and located at 152 Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City. The club featured many musical groups, folk singers and comedy acts between the opening in February 1964 until closing in December 1970. The club was originally owned by Howard Solomon who sold it in June 1969 to Moses Baruch. Howard Solomon became the manager of singer Fred Neil.
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He also managed the band Slade, and Jimi Hendrix, about whom he was regularly interviewed until his death in 1996.
Fred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after it was used in the film Midnight Cowboy in 1969. Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, he was reluctant to tour and spent much of the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins.
Christopher Becker Whitley was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Whitley's sound was drawn from the traditions of blues, jazz and rock and he recorded songs by artists from many genres. During his 25-year career, he released 17 albums. While two songs landed in the top 50 of the Billboard mainstream rock charts and he received two Independent Music Awards, he remained on the fringes of both the blues and alternative-rock worlds.
Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer. It was completed by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten weeks recording in Electric Lady before his death that year, but it quickly became a famed studio used by many top-selling recording artists from the 1970s onwards, including Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, and David Bowie.
Theodore Stewart "Skip" Weshner was an American radio disc jockey on stations in New York and Los Angeles from the mid-1950s until the mid-1980s. In particular, he hosted a popular show on KRHM-FM in Los Angeles.
The Gaslight Cafe was a coffeehouse in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Also called The Village Gaslight, it opened in 1958 and became a venue for folk music and other musical acts. It closed in 1971.
William "Billy" Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. Cox is the only surviving musician to have regularly played with Hendrix: first when both were in the Army, then in 1969 with the experimental group that backed Hendrix at Woodstock, followed by the trio with drummer Buddy Miles that recorded the live Band of Gypsys album, and, lastly, The Cry of Love Tour trio with Mitch Mitchell back on drums. Cox continues to perform dates with the Band of Gypsys Experience and the Experience Hendrix Tour.
Sally Ann Grossman was an American model and the wife of Bob Dylan's one-time manager, Albert Grossman. According to some Dylan biographers, she introduced Dylan to his first wife Sara. She operated the Woodstock-based Bearsville Records following the death of her husband in 1986.
Manuel Lee Roth was an American nightclub owner and entertainment entrepreneur. He founded the New York club Cafe Wha?
Rusty Anderson is an American musician best known for his work as lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001. He has worked with an extensive list of other artists in addition to his own solo career.
Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village of Manhattan in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to present occasional incidental music. It was first located at 11 West 4th Street, before moving in 1970 to 130 West 3rd Street. The club closed in 1987.
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.
The Comedy Cellar is a comedy club in Manhattan where many top New York comedians perform, sometimes referred to as the "Harvard of comedy clubs". It was founded in 1982 by then stand-up comedian, and current television writer/producer Bill Grundfest. It is located in Greenwich Village on 117 MacDougal Street between West 3rd Street and Minetta Lane. Above the club is a restaurant called The Olive Tree Cafe to which it is connected, where many of the comedians hang out after performing. The club is owned by Noam Dworman, who inherited it from his late father Manny in 2003. It is being booked by Estee Adoram, who has developed the club's talent for nearly four decades. The businesses share the same menu, kitchen, and staff as the Olive Tree Cafe.
MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Between Waverly Place and West 3rd Street it carries the name Washington Square West and the numbering scheme changes, running north to south, beginning with #29 Washington Square West at Waverly Place and ending at #37 at West 3rd Street. Traffic on the street runs southbound (downtown).
Mister Kelly’s was a nightclub on Rush Street in Chicago which existed from 1953 to 1975. From around 1956 until its demise, it was a springboard to fame for many entertainers, especially jazz singers and comedians. As reported in the Chicago Tribune, "It was a supernova in the local and national nightlife firmament." Mister Kelly’s was owned and operated by brothers Oscar and George Marienthal, whose Chicago empire included the London House, an upscale jazz supper club, and the theatrically oriented Happy Medium.
The Garrick Cinema was a 199-seat movie house at 152 Bleecker Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Andy Warhol debuted many of his notable films in this building in the late 1960s. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention played here nightly for 6 months in 1967.
Holy Moses was an American rock band based in Woodstock, New York. They released one album on RCA Victor Records in 1971.
