Cafe Au Go Go: the basement hub of 1960s New York rock beneath Andy Warhol’s theatre
Cafe Au Go Go, a small basement club beneath Greenwich Village’s Garrick Cinema, became an important stage for emerging and touring musicians in 1960s New York. Though the cinema later drew attention through its association with Andy Warhol’s underground films, the club helped connect performers who would go on to shape rock music.
The club opened at 152 Bleecker Street on 7 February 1964, around three years before the Garrick began showing Warhol films. Its staff included head waitress Cass Elliot and house photographer Linda Eastman, later Linda McCartney. The Au Go Go Singers and related musicians formed part of a chain of connections leading to Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield; the Grateful Dead also played an 11-day residency there in June 1967, after an earlier free performance in Tompkins Square Park.
In short
- Cafe Au Go Go was a basement music venue beneath the Garrick Cinema.
- Its performers and connections included future members of Buffalo Springfield.
- The Grateful Dead played an 11-day residency there in June 1967.
Explained simply
In the 1960s, Greenwich Village in New York was a gathering place for folk and rock musicians. Cafe Au Go Go opened in 1964 in a basement beneath the Garrick Cinema, giving new acts and touring performers a small stage before the cinema became associated with Andy Warhol’s films.
The club brought together musicians and people who helped shape the scene. Waitress Cass Elliot sang with the Au Go Go Singers, whose wider musical connections included Stephen Stills and Neil Young, later members of Buffalo Springfield; photographer Linda Eastman went on to marry Paul McCartney. The Grateful Dead played an 11-day run at the club in 1967, making it one link in the network of venues where different strands of rock music met.