By Thomas John Rachko Jr.
During the 1960s The Bitter End saw and by providing a stage for public view nurtured not only the resurgence of folk music and the rise of comedy, a comedy that was more substantial focusing on politics, social issues and change, but also the ideas and movements of the Sixties.
The Sixties brought about times of great change caused by several factors such as suburbanization, the baby boom, and post war sentiments regarding issues on civil and social rights and United States foreign policy. In response to the issues during the time many movements like the Civil Rights movement, the Free Speech Movement, Anti-War Movements in opposition to the Vietnam War, and the Gay Liberation and Rights movement came to the forefront of the United States. Along with these movements appeared the notorious 1960s counterculture that materialized from these tensions. The counterculture of the 1960s was a cultural event marked by peace and an endorsement of freedom, as social anthropologist Jentri Anders, who lived and studied in a countercultural community, puts it, “freedom to explore one’s potential, freedom to create one’s Self, freedom of personal expression, freedom from scheduling, freedom from rigidly defined roles and hierarchical statuses… aesthetic sense, love of nature, passion for music, desire for reflection, or strongly marked independence.”[1]
A central location and hub to many of the movements, ideas, and culture of the Sixties was Greenwich Village. Throughout the late 19th Century and much of the 20th Century Greenwich Village attracted a diverse array of artists, innovators, and creative minds and acted as a mecca for Bohemianism, the practice of an alternative lifestyle often involving artistic pursuits and challenging the conventional wider American culture and lifestyle. With all that was transpiring during the 1960s and with bohemian influence places like The Bitter End became possible and popular. By fostering many ideas of the 1960s and providing a place for incredible artistic collaboration in many ways The Bitter End went beyond entertainment.
An example and a story truly representative of this collaborative atmosphere is a story involving two historic cultural icons, the relationship between Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan had long been Hendrix’s idol and Jimi Hendrix went to live Greenwich Village in part in the mid 1960s in the hopes of meeting his hero. The two would meet and were said to frequent shows at The Bitter End. One can only imagine the incredible jam sessions that took place between the two.
Hendrix was able to find himself as an artist in Greenwich Village through gaining confidence by playing and singing Bob Dylan songs Linda Keith a devoted fan a friend of Jimi’s convinced him that he could sing as well as the next person by “playing Bob Dylan songs and made him focus in on the actual vocal tones and to see that, you know, Bob Dylan couldn’t ‘sing’, but it came across wonderfully. And this is what I tried to let Jimi understand that he could achieve as well.”[2] With the help of his idol and the atmosphere of Greenwich Village it its said in the book Becoming Jimi Hendrix that, “Jimmy Hendrix became Jimi Hendrix in Greenwich Village, and he scorched the perceptions of those in the music scene there like a lightning bolt.” Similarly Bob Dylan too came to Greenwich Village in part to see his idol Woody Guthrie and he would learn a lot under his tutelage, Guthrie was also a Bitter End staple.
The Bitter End, a small coffeehouse transformed into a legendary music club, is a New York City landmark emblematic of the Sixties and Greenwich Village. It has been a venue to some of the world’s most well known cultural icons embodying the art of performance and allowing for collaboration of some of the greatest artistic, creative minds. The Bitter End during the 1960s through its performers was representative of a time of political, social, and artistic change and it worked to communicate this change through art to the public.
