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The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened its doors 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 Bitter End.
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History
An earlier club, "The Cock and Bull" operated on the same premises with the same format, in the late 1950s. The poet/comedian Hugh Romney (who later became known as Wavy Gravy) read there.
During the early 1960s the club hosted Folk music "hootenannies" every Tuesday night, featuring many performers who have since become legendary. During its heyday the Bitter End showcased a wide range of talented and legendary musicians, comedians, and theatrical performers.
In 1968 Paul Colby (1917–2014), who began his career as a song plugger for Benny Goodman’s publishing company, and went on to work for Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, and Guy Lombardo, became the manager and booking agent at The Bitter End, and in 1974 he purchased it.
In the mid 1970s, the club became known as the birthplace of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, which featured such names as Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Joan Baez, T-Bone Burnett, Ronee Blakely, Mick Ronson, and many other guest stars.
Live albums recorded
Albums by Biff Rose (Half-live at the Bitter End), Peter, Paul and Mary, Randy Newman, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Burlap to Cashmere, The Isley Brothers and Tommy James & the Shondells, Lou Christie, The Chad Mitchell Trio among others, have been recorded live at the Bitter End. Bill Cosby's first album, Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right! was recorded there. New York based comedian Chris Rush had his second album, Beaming In, recorded there.