Hilly Kristal; founded punk's CBGB

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 in the 1970s: the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Patti Smith Group.

The 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 punk-rock movement, setting off a three-chord musical revolution that spread around the world.

Musicians and fans paid tribute to Mr. Kristal yesterday, afer learning that he had died of complications from lung cancer at a Manhattan hospice. He was 75.

CBGB closed in October with a blowout concert by Smith and her band, ending a 33-year run in the dingy space where Mr. Kristal operated from a small desk just inside the entrance.

"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.

At the club's boarded-up storefront yesterday, 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' "Beat on the Brat."

David Byrne, lead singer with Talking Heads, remembered Mr. Kristal's low-key demeanor and generosity. "Other clubs were all about models and beautiful people," Byrne said, "and he was about letting the musicians in for free, to hear music."

Mr. Kristal was an unlikely avatar of punk music, opening his own club in 1973 after booking acts such as Miles Davis at the Village Vanguard.

"At first, they didn't play so well," he once said of the early punk bands that came to CBGB. But he became a beloved figure to the performers who used his small venue as a launching pad to stardom, including several that reached the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"In an era when disco was the mainstream, Hilly took a chance and gambled," drummer Marky Ramone said. "The gamble paid off for him and for us. We are all grateful to him."