Ghost of New York's Past

Our good friend Andy Schwartz shared the following bits of New York rock & roll ephemera with us recently. Click on the images for a closer look:

(1) WOR-FM Anniversary Concert with the Doors, Richie Havens, Janis Ian, Blues Project plus WOR DJs.



WOR-FM was the first "free-form" rock station on the New York FM dial. It went live on July 30, 1966 -- this was Scott Muni's transition job between Top 40 WABC-AM to progressive rocker WNEW-FM. This program was distributed at the anniversary concert that took place a year later, in the summer of '67.

The venue was the Village Theater, on the west side of 2nd Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets -- I saw at least two other shows there, with headliners at Chuck Berry and the Doors (a second time, a few months after the WOR concert). In March 1968, the Village Theater became Bill Graham's Fillmore East.

(2) Eric Burdon & the Animals.



The Anderson Theater was located on the east side of 2nd Avenue between Third and Fourth Streets. The flyer is not dated but the year was 1968 (according to internet sources) and this lineup of Eric Burdon & the Animals included Burdon, Barry Jenkins (drums), John Weider (guitar, vioin), and Vic Briggs (guitar, keyboards). I saw at least one other show at this venue, featuring the Electric Flag and Country Joe & the Fish.

About a decade later, the Anderson became the C.B.G.B. Theater where Hilly Kristal presented shows by the Jam, Patti Smith Group, and other punk/new wave acts. After maybe just a few months, it closed due financial problems, fire code violations, and/or some combination of these and other factors.

You can learn more about Andy Schwartz by reading this post over at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.