Here's the story once again. On a February day in 1974, a couple of members of a NYC group called The Neon Boys (est. December 1973), found Hilly Krystal on a ladder working outside a former biker bar in the Bowery. They had a proposal: Would Hilly let them play at his place once a week?
This seemed like a crazy proposal since experimental rock bands were not on the menu of CBGB, which spelled out the club's music policy: Country, Blue Grass, and Blues. But for whatever reason, Hilly decided to give the guys a shot
Those two guys on the sidewalk were guitarist Tom Verlaine and guitarist Richard Lloyd.
On March 31, they played CBGB for the first time, even though they'd just lost founding member Richard Hell a week earlier. But turned out to be okay because the group still included guitarist Tom Verlaine, bassist Fred Smith, drummer Billy Ficca, and the other Richard: Richard Lloyd. This became the classic lineup of Television (from the phrase "tell a vision"), one of the founding members of the scene that coalesced around CBGB. Legend has it that they even built the club's first stage.
Who knows in which direction music history might have gone had Richard and Tom not managed to convince Hilly to expand his musical horizons?
This is a quote from a 2007 interview: “CBGBs is the most famous rock ‘n’ roll club to have ever existed and I fucking created it! I was the invisible force behind it. I threw a 3-year-long New Year's Eve party with my friends and all those other bands that would otherwise have day jobs if it weren’t for me.”
Television released two albums in the 70s, starting with the insanely brilliant Marquee Moon in 1977. Start there, but do not ignore Adventure (1978) and the highly underrated Television (1992).
The guitar interplay between Lloyd and Verlaine on this song is nothing short of magical.
During that long hiatus, Lloyd had a solo career (there were nine albums), worked as a producer, and taught guitar to dozens who sought him out. He remained friends with many people from those early days
In March of this year, he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, otherwise known as bile duct cancer. This is the same cancer that took the life of Tommy Ramone, the original drummer for The Ramones, and Doors keyboard Ray Manzarek.
Lloyd passed away Saturday morning (November 7) at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was 75.
