Song List

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“Bleecker Street” by Simon & Garfunkel

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Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village was ground zero for the fertile folk music explosion of the 1960s. It’s where legends such as Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Simon & Garfunkel, and Joan Baez cut their teeth and prior to that, where Bohemian royalty such as Jackson Pollock and the Beats focused their energies. Paul Simon’s Bleecker Street ballad is a poetic homage to the vibrant street and the culture it cradled.

“14th Street” by Rufus Wainwright

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Our journey north continues as we approach 14th Street. Stretching from the Hudson River on the west bank through Union Square to the East River, 14th Street is one of the main thoroughfares of Manhattan. It’s the southern border of the Chelsea neighborhood, home to a thriving gay population and the flamboyantly fabulous singer/songwriter, Rufus Wainwright, who immortalizes the street in a song from his album, Want One.

“Chelsea Hotel No. 2″ by Leonard Cohen

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One of Chelsea’s most well known landmarks is the Hotel Chelsea (usually referred to as the Chelsea Hotel). First opened in 1884, the hotel has been a center of artistic and bohemian activity. Famous residents have included Frida Kahlo, Bob Dylan, John Paul Sartre, William S. Burroughs, Leonard Cohen, Stanley Kubrick, Charles Bukowski, and many many more. Cohen’s song relates a love affair he had with Janis Joplin at the hotel.

“Chelsea Girls” by Nico

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The Chelsea Hotel has so much history, especially as it relates to music, that I have to list another ode to the place. A drugged out Sid Vicious fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in room 100; Andy Warhol directed The Chelsea Girls (1966), a film about his Factory regulars and their lives at the hotel; and Nico immortalized the lives of its residents during this time in her song of the same name.

“Broadway” by Old 97’s

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Let’s continue our shimmy uptown, and over to perhaps one of the most famous streets in the world, Broadway. Running the entire length of the island, Broadway winds its way through countless neighborhoods on both the east and west side of Manhattan. Of course it shines the brightest when it hits 42nd Street and Times Square and that’s the area referred to in this classic Old 97’s song.

“Spanish Harlem Express” by Machito & his Orchestra

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Our tour of uptown Manhattan continues on the northern end of Madison Avenue in Spanish Harlem. Often referred to as El Barrio or East Harlem, the neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in all of NYC. Machito’s 1962 groove, “Spanish Harlem Express” perfectly captures the Latin flavor the neighborhood with its jostling, hyperactive bongos and congas and razor-edged riffing brass.

“Harlem” by Bill Withers

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West and Central Harlem has a storied history. The center of African American culture from the 1920s to the 1950s, Harlem cradled an explosion of creativity by the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington. Starting after WWII, the golden era gave way to a decline that found the neighborhood ghettoized, which remained the case until recent gentrification began in the mid-1990s. Bill Withers’ 1971 tune depicts Harlem during the height of its ghetto phase.

“Washington Heights” by KRS-One & Mr. Bananos

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One more swing back to the far northwest part of the island, Washington Heights, for the last stop on the tour. The Heights was named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War. Today the majority of the neighborhood’s population is Dominican (the area is sometimes referred to as “Quisqueya Heights”) and is famous for giving us baseball stars Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Rod Carew. KRS-One and Mr. Bananos represent with their ode to the hood.