Gerde's Folk City
11 West 4th Street at the corner of Mercer Street
Folk venue owned by Mike Porco. It has long since closed, and the photo at left was taken in the 1960s. Everyone on the scene played at Gerde's. Dylan played his first professional gig here on April 11, 1961, supporting John Lee Hooker. His September 26th, 1961 appearance was reviewed in the New York Times by Robert Shelton, after which Dylan's reputation was made.
I've gotten so many contradictory e-mails about the location of Gerde's, but concert poster reveals that it was indeed at 11 West 4th Street, 1 block west of Broadway. The building no longer exists, which is probably the source of the confusion. Some people from RMD wrote that the building in this photo was demolished and replaced by a large, unattractive Hebrew Union College building in the 1970s. The HUC building is still there, although it does not have a number.
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