Discover the Legends of Bleecker Street: The Bitter End's Role in Greenwich Village's Bohemian History

Bleecker Street the central vein that runs through New York’s Greenwich Village,  was coffee houses, cafes,  and notable night spots that helped establish the bohemian neighborhood that was sung about by Peter Paul and Mary and Simon and Garfunkel in the early 1960s.

The Bitter End originally opened as a coffee house by club owner-adman- showman Fred Weintraub in 1961.

While renovating he chipped away the crumbling plaster to reveal a red brick wall that would become the archetypal backdrop to over a half century of music and comedy.

Young Musicians yearning to be heard like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, David Crosby, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Roger McGuinn, Neil Diamond, Ramblin Jack Elliott, Joan Baez, T-Bone Burnett and Patty Smith found their way there,  as did unknown comedians Joan Rivers, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, Billy Crystal, and Steven Wright,

Weintraub called his new club The Bitter End,  where Fred nurtured and promoted the emerging talent of the day that went on to have legendary careers.

James Taylor bombed when he played the club in 1969 and Neil Young also bombed at the club in the mid-70s.

The club became known as the birthplace of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review.   Dylan played pool and watched performances and occasionally performed there.

In 1968 Paul Colby who began his career as a song plugger for Benny Goodman’s publishing company and went on to work with Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Guy Lombardo,  became the manager and booking agent at The Bitter End and purchased the club in 1974.

The 230 person capacity Club was granted Landmark status by the city of New York in 1992 and Lady Gaga performed there in 2016.

There’s an assortment of live albums that were performed at the club.

Additional performers there included Judy Collins, Richard Pryor, Carly Simon, America, George Carlin, Chambers Brothers, Jim Croce, Miles Davis, Arlo Guthrie, Little Feat, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Randy Newman, Norah Jones, Curtis Mayfield, Cheech and Chong, the Box Tops, Genesis,  Isley Brothers, Dr John, Don McLean, Billy Preston, Sam and Dave, Jerry Jeff Walker, Flip Wilson and Frank Zappa.