He owned the club that saved rock and roll from itself.

Two years ago on this day, Hilly Kristal died of lung cancer. From 1973 to 2006, Mr. Kristal was the owner and guiding force of a Manhattan music club known as Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers or, simply, CBGB & OMFUG. In a way that hopefully hints at the greater truth but like most exercises of language probably falls short of it too, what Sam Phillips was to rock and roll in the '50s and what Bill Graham was to rock and roll in the '60s, Kristal was to rock and roll in the '70s and beyond. This is Patti Smith (a musician who Mr. Kristal reportedly truly admired performing the final song at the club. It's a truly touching moment and one with the force of a small but important history behind it.