JIMI HENDRIX AND CHEETAH

Jimi`s short run of gigs at the Cheetah club in New York City in May-June1966 turned out to be extremely important, it was at the Cheetah that Linda Keith first saw Jimi play which led to a meeting with Chas Chandler and a trip to England.

It is however a bit unclear exactly when and with whom Jimi played at the club. Curtis Knight appeared at Cheetah twice during the first half of 1966 and Jimi also played the club with Carl Holmes and the Commanders (also booked twice) and probably Little Charles and the Sidewinders.

Even for the bands with confirmed booking dates in the absence of pictures or audio recordings it`s impossible to be sure that Jimi actually played on every night of the engagement. I`ve tried to make sense of the sequence of events and the various band bookings but contradictions and missing pieces remain.


BIRTH OF CHEETAH
Cheetah was thought up by "Disco Daddy" Olivier Coquelin (Ondine was another Coquelin owned club that Jimi & Curtis Knight played at), a French immigrant-entrepreneur. It was located in the south-east corner of Broadway and 53rd Street, in a building formerly known as the Arcadia Ballroom and later as Bill Miller`s Riviera.14 Coquelin set up a company called Pop-Op Corp together with Borden Stevenson, an investor who financed the plan in return for a 49% share with Coquelin himself keeping 51%.

The opening of Cheetah was big news as the concept was considered novel and daring for the time: a large ballroom with live music and dancing. The Disco Daddy got the idea for Cheetah after visiting a movie theater turned into a nightclub in Rome. If Coquelin is to be believed Cheetah did incredibly well, paying back the money invested in it in just a few months. Coquelin and Stevenson did expand their business into Cheetah brand merchandising, clothing, records and opened new Cheetah clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The New York club had a 1800 capacity main room with a 800 square feet (74 m2) dance floor. When the club opened the admission charge was $3 ($4 on weekends) and the customers were served 50 cent hot dogs as well as soft drinks, wine and beer (from 25 to 75 cents). Coquelin later decided that a liqueur license (which restricted the clientele to those above 18 years of age) wasn`t necessary "when it became apparent that the kids were just as happy with 25c Cokes". 26

The club was described as follows in the liner notes of the LP Where It`s At : 27

"Cheetah occupies three floors on the site of the old Riviera Ballroom at Broadway and 53rd Street in New York City. The ballroom floor, which is at street level, also features a modern art gallery and a fascinating boutique which carries the latest in Mod fashions, imported and domestic, for both men and women. Its hours, the hours of the club, are perhaps the most unusual of any clothing store anywhere - 9 PM to 4 AM. Also on this floor drinks and snacks may be obtained self-service style from buffet hot dog carts and the bars"

"On the lower floor, in addition to an expanding library of hip foreign and domestic magazines, are a lounge with a color television set and another with Scopitone (a jukebox with films that accompany the music), On the upper floor is a movie theater which features both old and experimental avant-garde films."



CHEETAH OPENS

Following a "preview" evening (probably only for invited guests and members of the press) on Wednesday 27 April (featuring the Denims) the Cheetah opened for the general public on Thursday 28 of April 1966 1. The entertainment for the opening night (and for the following two weeks) were Monti Rock III, the Chambers Brothers and Jon & Ray & Company. Around this time the bands for Cheetah were booked in 7 day periods, starting on Thursdays and ending on Wednesdays 1-2 weeks later. 8

Thu, Apr 28, 1966 – 700 · Daily News (New York, New York, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
Getty Images has photographs taken by Paul Slade at the Cheetah in May 1966, from the collection of the French magazine Paris Match. If any of the shots were used at the time there may be more lurking in old 1966 issues of Paris Match?

There are black and white pictures dated 10 May 1966 (not necessarily the actual correct date for these but they must be from the 28 April - 11 May 1966 -period):

Monti Rock III - Getty
crowd dancing - Getty
crowd dancing - Getty
crowd dancing - Getty
unknown band (possibly Jon & Ray & Company?) - Getty

And one colour shot dated 12 May 1966 (again, not necessarily the actual correct date for this):

crowd dancing & unknown band (possibly the Chambers Brothers?) 24 - Getty


DOCUMENTARY FILM
A documentary about the club, "The Cheetah: A Mod Mecca", was filmed and broadcast in 1966. The two bands that star in it, The Jewels and the Esquires, were booked to perform at the Cheetah between 28 July - 3? August 1966. Though it must be noted that a lot of the film probably was shot without an audience present - there are many close-ups which would have been hard to shoot with people dancing around the cameras. The film has voice over interview segments by someone with a French accent, though uncredited this is very likely to be Oliver Coquelin.

Shot roughly a month after Jimi`s Cheetah engagements the films offers a wonderful glimpse of the club and it`s clientele. "Cheetah: The Mod Mecca" (the name used in the program listing & ad differs from the credits in the film) was broadcast on WABC-TV Channel 7 on 20 August 1966 at 10.30 P.M. 21 Available on YouTube.

Fri, Aug 19, 1966 – 386 · Daily News (New York, New York, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
THE FIRST CURTIS KNIGHT -BOOKING
12 May - 18 May 1966
Curtis Knight was booked to appear at the Cheetah at least twice in 1966. Information about the duration of this first booking is a bit contradictory 2 but 12 May - 18 May 1966 would seem to be correct.

Interestingly Cash Box 21 May 1966 uses the same incorrect "Curtiss" spelling as the Village Voice ads: "New musical attractions at the frantic Cheetah are the Denims and Curtiss Knight". Probably whoever did PR for Cheetah supplied everybody with a misspelled artist name.

The Denims consisted of Ronnie Duff, Peter St. John, Mike Zaccor, Steve Curry, Artie Arnell and Doug Super 3. The lead singer of the Denims, Steve Curry, returned to the Cheetah in December 1967 as a member of the cast for the musical  Hair.

Cheetah
AD IN "VILLAGE VOICE" 12 MAY 1966

Doug Super, lead guitarist with the Denims confirmed that Jimi played with Curtis Knight during this booking: 13
"We got the Cheetah gig through our manager, Joe Cavallaro. Our office and rehearsal space was above or next door to the Cheetah The opening night music went from 9-3, since there were only 2 groups playing, probably played 3 sets each Think initial gig was 2 weeks. Did not really get to know Curtis Knight, but did get to know Jimi who was very friendly. When Curtis Knight and the Squires played, Jimi was definitely the star of the show. He played with his tongue, behind his back and danced around the club. Jimi came into Ondine when we were playing one night, borrowed my guitar and jammed with us on Dylan's song, "Like a Rolling Stone." That evening, we were listening to recorded music in the club, the Yardbirds came on, and Jimi mentioned he was very interested in their music and how much he liked it."

The well known pictures of the Squires at Cheetah were in reality NOT taken at the club, for more information about the pictures see the "Curtis Knight (& the Squires)" -section.


THE FIRST CARL HOLMES AND THE COMMANDERS -BOOKING

19 May - 1 June 1966
The Soul Searchers, Carl Holmes and the Commanders
Richie Havens (and another eyewitness25) saw Jimi at the Cheetah with Carl Holmes and the Commanders. Richie himself was not playing at the club when he met Jimi, he has stated in interviews that his engagement at the Cheetah had already ended. Also, Richie Havens was NOT a member of The Seven Of Us. (booked for 25 August - 7 September 1966). This misunderstanding may have started when Havens said his jam band that played the Cheetah had 7 members.

Richie Havens:
"There was this dance club owned by these guys from France, and I played there with my jam band. One night when I wasn’t working there, I went to party there and saw this band Carl Holmes and the Commanders and I couldn’t stop watching their guitar player, who seemed to be playing with his teeth." 19

"This guy came from France and opened the biggest discotheque with live music that New York had ever seen. It was called The Cheetah. We actually opened the club. I had a jam band and I brought all my buddies for the audition and we actually got the job. At the time, I had made my first album already and my manager thought I was nuts. He thought I was just about to go crazy, having seven people playing on stage. What happened was that we worked there for two weeks, then I went back there to dance, because that's what it was all about. I was going to go back and party and have a good time ... The band that was playing was a rhythm and blues band in which Jimi Hendrix was the guitarist. When I talked to him, right after he got off stage - I saw him biting the guitar then and I didn't know what the heck he was doing ... - I ran backstage and said, 'Man, you are so great. Where the hell have you been all my life?' I said, 'How long you been playing with these guys?' He goes, 'Just today. I got the job through the union.' I was in the union for two years - I didn't even know the union gave guitar players jobs ... I said, 'You don't need any job from the union. You got to go down to the Village, man, there's lots of kids down there who want to play and you can have your own damn band!' Three weeks later, I'm in the Village and a friend of mine says, 'You got to hear this band around the corner, Jimmy James and the Blue Flame.'" 18


LINDA KEITH
Linda Keith has told the story of first meeting Jimi at the Cheetah many times but here`s probably one of the earliest recorded tellings of the story, from a film about Jimi Hendrix, circa 1972:

"I don`t know why we went to the Cheetah, it was a place I didn`t usually go to. But we went this night and it was a huge enormous place, like a ballroom, very few people there. And just a regular band playing, not very well, at least I didn`t take any interest, in the band at all. And then suddenly I, I saw the guitar player who was playing really quite discreetly, in the back row. And, and from that moment I just became completely involved.
[cut]
He was very naive and very, he was very shy, and nervous, he didn`t look at you when he spoke to you and he came back to the apartment and played a lot of Dylan who Jimi idolized, he thought Dylan was the greatest."

Jimi confirmed what Linda says in a filmed interview from 20 June 1969 by switching over from talking about Dylan to talking about Linda without being in any way prompted to do so - in his mind these two people seem to have been connected:

Interviewer: [Did] Bob Dylan have a great deal of influence on you at all?
Jimi: Yeah, immensely, more so though, than any other way
Interview: In what way, did he, did he sort of turn your mind on, get you sort of thinking or what?
Jimi: Yeah him and this girl named Linda Keith turned my mind on [laughs]

Linda`s 1972 description of how Jimi played at the Cheetah, "I saw the guitar player who was playing really quite discreetly, in the back row" is the complete opposite of what what Doug Super of the Denims recalled: "When Curtis Knight and the Squires played, Jimi was definitely the star of the show. He played with his tongue, behind his back and danced around the club". Doug`s recollection is backed up by the photos and recordings that we have of Jimi with Curtis Knight: he was introduced by Curtis, he`s standing up front, he shared lead vocals, he played with his teeth.

Linda Keith (who at the time was dating Keith Richards) was staying in New York City because of a Rolling Stones US tour when she met Jimi. The Stones tour started 24 June 1966 and ended 28 July 1966. Linda says he first saw Jimi play at the Cheetah and that Jimi was playing with Curtis Knight.

She also states that the night they met she played Jimi her copy of Dylan`s Blonde On Blonde. 6 This would not have been possible if she went to the May 1966 Curtis Knight gigs as Blonde On Blonde was released on (or close to) 20 June 1966 1 Seems very unlikely that even an advance copy would have been available for listening a month before the album release date.

If she remembers the events correctly and her and Jimi indeed listened to Blonde On Blonde (instead of another Dylan album) this may have taken place later at a later date than the evening that they first met.

Also, it`s possible that she actually saw Jimi first play with the Commanders (19 May - 1 June 1966) instead of Curtis Knight as her description of the gig does not fit Jimi`s role in the Squires. This would also match the tour dates of the Stones a bit better than Linda and Jimi meeting before 19 May 1966 which would have been circa 6 weeks before the start of the Stones tour. But this remains complete speculation on my part.


Little Charles and the Sidewinders
unknown dates
The book Becoming Jimi Hendrix listed Jimi as appearing with Little Charles and the Sidewinders at Cheetah for a booking between Friday 3 June 1966 - Thursday 9 June 1966, based on information received from one of the Chambers Brothers. 15 Lead singer Charles "Wigg" Walker confirmed this via his webmaster, Wigg stated that Jimi did play some gigs at the Cheetah but wasn`t in the group for long. 22

The suggested dates don`t match the Thursday to Wednesday booking system used by Cheetah. These dates also overlap the 2 June - 15 June 1966 Cheetah booking by The Gremmies and The Last Men. I haven`t yet found the correct Cheetah dates for Little Charles and the Sidewinders, the only 1966 dates for which I could find a contemporary print reference for were in October 1966, after Jimi had flown to Europe 16.


THE SECOND CURTIS KNIGHT -BOOKING
4? August - 10? August 1966
Cash Box 30 July 1966 issue reported: "Cheetah will be rocking for the next two weeks to the wild sounds of Mike St. Shaw and the Prophets, which had a tremendous success during it`s recent months at the Downtown, plus Curtis Knight and the Squires."

Unfortunately exact dates aren`t mentioned anywhere so 4? August - 10? August 1966 is a best guess. Though Cash Box states this was a 2 week engagement only a 1 week period seems to fit between the preceding and following bookings. Also, there possible / probably was a Curtis Knight booking at The Famous Door in Springfield, Massachusetts for Thursday? 4? August 1966 - Sunday? 7? August 1966. However, it's not 100% that this indeed was the same Curtis Knight and again the exact dates are also unconfirmed. See the Curtis Knight Live Dates - more information is needed to sort these two bookings out.

Jimi is unlikely to have played during these Cheetah dates as he had a gig at the Cafe Wha? with the Blue Flame. Linda Keith took Chas Chandler of the Animals to see Jimi at the Cafe Wha? on or around 3 August, see the Timeline.

Curtis Knight wrote this about the second Cheetah booking in his book Jimi: 32
"When we finished there
[Ondine], we had about three days off before we were scheduled to go back to play at the Cheetah. Suddenly, Jimi disappeared. He had checked out of his hotel; none of his many girl-friends had seen him. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. The next time that I hear of Jimi was a few months later when I read in one of the trade papers about the new, wild sensual guitar phenomenon of Europe, the leader of the ´The Jimi Hendrix Experience´.

Though Curtis' recollections are often inaccurate this one fits the known facts quite well. The band did have dates at Ondine in July 1966 and it does seem unlikely that Jimi would have been there for this second Cheetah booking. Jimi may, however, have played with the Squires again in August at the Lighthouse (see the Curtis Knight Live Dates -page) so Ondine may not have been the last gig that Jimi played with the band.

A syndicated AP news item published in several newspapers from 7 August 1966 onwards used a photograph of Olivier Coquelin posing in front of the Cheetah marquee. The available newspaper scans are unfortunately of such poor quality that the band names on the marquee can`t be read but they CAN be read in a copy of the original picture included in a posting on the College No. 9 -blog (last picture on the page).


THE SECOND CARL HOLMES AND THE COMMANDERS -BOOKING
8 September - 14? or 21? September 1966
Jimi was playing with John Hammond & the Blue Flame during these dates, see the Timeline -section


ALL CHEETAH Bookings BETWEEN April - September 1966
I`ve made an attempt to compile a list of all the bands that played at Cheetah in the April - September 1966 period. There are still gaps to fill but everything that IS here should be more or less confirmed. If anyone has any additions or corrections to this listing please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

27 April 1966
Monti Rock III, The Denims, The Velvet Underground 1

28 April - 11 May 1966
Monti Rock III, the Chambers Brothers, Jon & Ray & Company 11

Daily News, New York City reported on Wednesday 27 April 1966: "Tickets for the Beatles` Aug. 23 appearance at Shea Stadium will be on sale Saturday, from 10 A.M. on, at the box office of the Cheetah, new Broadway night club." The next day, 28 April, the magazine published the news again: "Promoter Sid Bernstein is setting up four box offices in front of the Cheetah club, 53d St. and Broadway, on Saturday to sell tickets for the Beatles` Aug. 23 appearance at Shea Stadium"

A very clever bit of publicity for Cheetah, hundreds, maybe thousands of teenagers were made aware of the location of the club. Sid Bernstein in turn distributed flyers at the Shea Stadium concert advertizing a concert by the Bruthers at the club the same evening, and Brian Epstein apparently popped in for a press conference 7 June 1966.

12 May - 18 May 1966

The Denims, Curtis Knight 2

19 May - 1 June 1966
The Soul Searchers, Carl Holmes and the Commanders 2

During this booking auditions are held at the Cheetah for dancers for the film "You`re A Big Boy Now" on 24 May from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. Daily News in New York reported: "Francis Coppola, writer-director of the film which begins shooting here next week, will select the girls" 17.

Getty images has a shot from the Cheetah audition on their website (with an incorrect date): GETTY

The bands probably did not play during the audition. Had the bands performed then the people present might have witnessed Jimi Hendrix playing guitar as a backdrop for Francis Ford Coppola looking at go-go dancing girls... unfortunately it`s more likely that there was no live music as this was a daytime event that took place before the club opened.

Mon, May 23, 1966 – 150 · Daily News (New York, New York, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
2 June - 15 June 1966
The Gremmies, The Last Men 2, 5

The club appears to have been closed to the public on 7 June 1966 because of a private party 4 A picture of the marquee is available GETTY as well as a street view GETTY.
Also on this day there seems to have been a Brian Epstein press conference, announcing his new group signing, The Cyrkle. Probably the reason why the other pictures from this date exist GETTY.

Mimi Hines and Phil Ford give "a midnight party" for invited guests sometime in the first half of June 1966 31

16 June - 29 June 1966

unknown

30 June - 13 July 1966
The Yo Yo`s, the Soul Brothers 23

14 July - 27 July 1966
unknown

28 July - 3? August 1966
The Jewels, Esquires 12

4? August - 10? August 1966
Curtis Knight and the Squires, Mike St. Shaw and the Prophets 20

11 August - 24 August 1966
The Bruthers 9

25 August - 7 September 1966
The Seven Of Us, Tyre Glenn 7

8 September - 14? or 21? September 1966
Carl Holmes and the Commanders 10

14? or 21? September - 28? September 1966
unknown

29? September - 5? October 1966
unknown

Bands missing from this list include at least Richie Haven`s (unnamed) jam band, the Loved Ones30, the Little Flowers, Little Charles and the Sidewinders and the Thunder Frog Ensemble, all of which apparently played at Cheetah in the April - September 1966 period but for which I haven`t found any more exact dates.


THE LIVE LP
Billboard reported in it`s 17 September 1966 issue that a live LP recorded at the Cheetah was about to come out:
"First in the series, recorded at the New York club, is entitled "Where It`s At" and features the Esquires, Michael Shaw and the Prophets, and the Little Flowers. All these groups were booked by the Cheetah as regular attractions."

cheetah live lp where its at
THE "WHERE IT`S AT" -LIVE LP RECORDED AT CHEETAH

Live recordings from the 60s are often suspicious as recording the music in a studio with audience noise added later was a common practice. These recordings however do sound like genuine live recordings with a big hall ambience, though that of course still doesn`t guarantee that they were actually recorded at the Cheetah. Assuming that the recordings are genuine the Esquires and Mike St. Shaw and the Prophets must have been recorded during the August 1966 appearances. And this would mean that there MAY have been recordings made of the Curtis Knight set, or at least there was recording equipment present. Even though Jimi most likely did not play in the band at the time it would be very interesting to hear such tapes, if they exist.

Little Flowers was mentioned in Billboard but the band that finally made the LP was Thunder Frog Ensemble instead. I currently have no information whatsoever about any Cheetah appearances by these two groups.

The LP was released in October 1966 28 packaged in a "heavy-gauge translucent inflatable outer cover which may be used as a throw pillow." 29, the LP liner notes even include instructions on how to inflate the pillow!

Scans of the lp sleeve by kind permission of Twentyfiveoclock
FRONT and BACK

Side A
The Esquires - Paint It Black
The Esquires - Get Off My Cloud
The Esquires - Goin' Out Of My Head
The Esquires - Up Tight

Side B
Mike St. Shaw & The Prophets - Good Lovin'
Mike St. Shaw & The Prophets - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
The Thunder Frog Ensemble - Baby, Please Don't Put Me On
The Thunder Frog Ensemble - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love





SOURCES
1 Earlier opening dates were announced but later postponed, Daily News in New York included a news item about the postponement of the opening of the club till 28 April in their 9 April 1966 -issue. The Billboard magazine issue for 16 April 1966 featured a news item by Mike Gross on the front page with the headline "'Rocksteria' Grips New York as Clubs Sprout Up With Teen Acts". The article listed several new clubs to open in the city: "Opening this week are Ondine, which begins a new policy of top group bookings...Due to open April 28 is the Cheetah, a teen-oriented nightclub..." The 30 April 1966 -issue of Cash Box reported that "The Denims, who are opening at Ondines, will double opening night (27) at Cheetah". An article about the Denims in the 13 September 1966 -issue of Toledo Blade confirms that the Denims played at the opening night of the Cheetah. The New York Times ran a story about the private 27 April Cheetah party in it`s 28 April 1966 -issue noting that "It will open to the public at 9 o`clock tonight".

A syndicated news item in Philadelphia Daily News 29 April 1966 reported on the opening of Cheetah: "If it draws the paying customers as it lured the specially-invited (Hermoine Gingold, Eleanor Holm, Huntington Hartford, Kevin McCarthy, Orson Bean) then every city in America will grandiosely refurbish an ex-dance hall into a steal of the Cheetah." and "I`ve overlooked Andy Warhol`s Velvet Underground" - guys with bullwhips which they couldn`t swing as there wasn`t room - and long-maned singer Monti Rock 3d who wore three outfits: silver, gold brocade, and diamond.". So clearly in addition to the Denims Monti Rock III was already there for the 27th, unknown if the Velvet Underground performed on any other night in addition to the 27th.

2 Billboard magazine reported in it`s 21 May 1966 -issue: "The Denims and Curtis Knight will be appearing at Cheetah until May 18. The Soul Searchers and the Commanders follow until June 1." Cash Box 21 May 1966 issue: "New musical attractions at the frantic Cheetah are the Denims and Curtiss Knight". Cash Box 28 May 1966: "Carl Holmes and the Commanders, who have played at President Johnson`s Inaugral Ball, are into the frenzied pace at Cheetah, where they`ll remain for the next two weeks. From the nightspot they will launch a tour of Europe." Cash Box 11 June 1966: "Carl Holmes and the Commanders, who have been breaking up the Cheetah for the last couple of weeks, are off to Monte Carlo for the anniversary festival and then onto the Olympia, Paris, for two weeks".

The news items in Billboard & Cash Box are in perfect harmony with each other. Both magazines were published a week in advance of the cover date, taking that into account all of the reporting matches these dates:
12 May - 18 May 1966
The Denims, Curtis Knight
19 May - 1 June 1966
The Soul Searchers, Carl Holmes and the Commanders

These dates are however contradicted by the Village Voice. Ads for the Curtis Knight gigs were published twice in the Village Voice, on Thursday 12 May 1966 and on Thursday 19 May 1966, indicating a 2 week booking instead of the 1 week booking reported in Billboard and Cash Box. User "stplsd" posted the 19 May 1966 ad on crosstowntorrents.org.  "stplsd" didn`t post images of the two ads that followed, so I haven`t seen them myself, but said this about them: "2nd and last ad for knight in VV. Next ad is for Carl Holmes and the Commanders (no support act. For one week only), following this the next two and final cheetah ads in VV are for a two group show I cannot find anything about: The Greemies, and The Last Men".

So, if we believe the Village Voice the dates would have been:
12 May - 25 May 1966
The Denims, Curtis Knight
26 May - 1 June 1966
The Soul Searchers, Carl Holmes and the Commanders

The problem here is the second Curtis Knight ad published in Village Voice, Thursday 19 May 1966. The first Village Voice Curtis Knight ad states that "action starts nightly at 9" while the second one says "9:30," so it`s not a case of the same ad accidentally run twice, the second ad was a new one. Still, I must conclude that the 19 May Village Voice ad must have the wrong bands listed. Cash Box wrote in the 28 May 1966 -issue that "Carl Holmes and the Commanders [...] are into the frenzied pace at Cheetah". As the magazine was published on around 22 May this report would have been complete fiction if the booking was only going to start on 26 May. Which would be very surprising for a industry magazine published in New York and reporting on a well known band playing in one of the most hip new nightclubs in town.

3 The Denims line-up listed in the 13 September 1966 -issue of Toledo Blade.

4 The club may have been closed on 7 June 1966. There seems to be a notice about this visible outside the club in the Getty image by Fred W. McDarrah but it`s hard to read, it MAY say this: "CHEETAH will be closed to the public Thursday Evening June 7". The Cheetah marquee in the picture advertises the Gremmies and the Last Men though signs on the door refer to a "Red Mademoiselle" and "party guests". Hence the club may have been closed for a private party on 7 June 1966.

5 Cash Box 25 June 1966: "Mercury`s Gremmies who just finished at the Cheetah are off on a national tour with the Chiffons."

6 Searchingforagem.com lists the release date as 20 June 1966 but includes some speculation:
"The bobdylan.com release date has now been revised to 20 Jun 1966. Stuart Moore's white label promo copy with the date of 15 Jul 1966 on the label supports this. Thanks to Yan Friis for the information that the album first charted in the USA on 23 Jul 1966. However, Pete Tesoro of Burbank, CA, is certain that the album was indeed on sale in California in late May 1966 (these may have been advance copies)." The first contemporary mention that I`ve been able to find is a full page ad in Billboard issue 25 June 1966 that advertizes both "Bob Dylan`s new smash single, 'I Want You'" and the "Blonde on Blonde" -lp. So a June 1966 release date seems to be correct. Linda Keith`s comments about playing "Blond On Blonde" to Jimi after seeing him play with Curtis Knight at the Cheetah can be found (among other places) in Charles R Cross` book "Room Full Of Mirrors". The author interviewed Linda Keith himself in 2004.

7 dates given in a news item published in Billboard 3 September 1966 "The Seven of Us and Tyre Glenn began a three-week engagement at the Cheetah Thursday (25). The two rock groups will continue through Sept. 7". Though the news item talks about 3 weeks the start and end dates given are for a 2 week booking... The bands were also announced in the New York Times 25 August 1966 -issue under "Cabaret Tonight".

8 all of the confirmed (by a news item or an ad) start days fall on Thursdays and end dates on Wednesdays, all listings for the Cheetah in New York Times were published in Thursday issues ie on the start dates of new bookings.

9 start date announced in the New York Times 11 August 1966 -issue under "Cabaret Tonight". The booking was also advertized in a flyer produced by promoter Sid Bernstein for the Beatles` Shea Stadium concert on 23 August 1966 so the Bruthers were still playing the Cheetah on that date.

10 start date announced in the New York Times 8 September 1966 -issue under "Cabaret Tonight".

11 start date announced in the New York Times 28 April 1966 -issue under "Cabaret Tonight". Cash Box 2 April 1966 -issue (the opening date was later postponed): "Monti Rock III will be the premier attraction when R&R nitery the Cheetah opens in New York on April 16." Billboard 23 April 1966 -issue: "Monte Rock III, who will head the entertainment at the new Cheetah Club on Broadway, signed for a number of guest shots on Merv Griffin`s TV show" and Cash Box 7 May 1966 -issue: "Monty Rock III and the Chambers Brothers are currently blasting their sounds onto the 8,000 sq. ft. dance floor. The Denims and Curtis Knight are next in line for the big, big club." New York`s Daily News 28 April 1966 -issue features a Cheetah ad with the legend "wild opening tonight" listing the three bands.

12 start date announced in the New York Times 28 July 1966 -issue under "Cabaret Tonight".

13 email from Doug Super 6 May 2016

14 When Cheetah opened in April 1966 most news items included a mention of it being located in the building of former Riviera and/or Arcadia clubs/ballrooms. Billboard 16 April 1966: "The Cheetah, on the site of the old Riviera nightclub on Broadway". An ad in the 23 December 1956 -issue of Daily News in New York City confirms the name "Arcadia Ballroom" and the address "Broadway at 53rd Street". Pictures of the Arcadia Ballroom match the pictures of Cheetah, they are one and the same building. After the Arcadia Ballroom the building was turned into Bill Miller`s Riviera and later to just Riviera, for example the 29 October 1960 -issue of Daily News in New York City confirms the names and the address.

15 "Becoming Jimi Hendrix" by Steven Roby & Brad Schreiber (page 247) & Facebook message from Steven Roby 2 December 2018

16 the 29 October 1966 -issue of the New York Times lists the band for Cheetah under "Cabaret Tonight" with Mike St. Shaw and the Prophets "Held over" ie continuing their residence from previous week.

17 Daily News in New York City, 24 May 1966 -issue

18 Interview with Richie Havens by Philip H. Farber published on dailyfreeman.com 31 March 2001

19 Interview with Richie Havens published on phillymag.com 9 January 2008

20 Cash Box 30 July 1966 -issue reported: "Cheetah will be rocking for the next two weeks to the wild sounds of Mike St. Shaw and the Prophets, which had a tremendous success during it`s recent months at the Downtown, plus Curtis Knight and the Squires." The line-up is confirmed by a photo from a syndicated AP news item with Olivier Coquelin posing in front of the Cheetah marquee. Unfortunately the exact dates aren`t listed anywhere so 4? August - 10 August 1966 is a best guess.  Even though Cash Box states this was a 2 week engagement only a 1 week period fits between the preceding and following bookings.

21 the New York Times 20 August 1966 -issue states that "Cheetah: The Mod Mecca" was broadcast on WABC-TV Channel 7 on 20 August 1966 at 10.30, confirmed by a half page ad in New York`s Daily News 19 August 1966 -issue.
22 email from Charles Treadway 15 January 2019, webmaster for charleswiggwalker.com

23 reported in the Cash Box 9 July 1966 -issue: "The Yo Yo`s, who have just signed with Decca have been booked into Cheetah for the next two weeks. They`ll share the bill with the Soul Brothers"

24 the Getty preview picture is too low resolution to properly see the faces of the musicians on stage but the guitarist in the picture seems to be playing the same distinctive model of guitar as visible on this 1966 single cover: 45cat.com

25 Jim Eigo mentions seeing Jimi with the Commanders at Cheetah: "My 49th and Bway journey continued across the street on the South East Corner. That was the site of the first psychedelic night club in NYC The Cheetah Club. This is the first time I saw Jimi Hendrix in 1966 playing with Carl Holmes and the Commanders." jimweigo.com and "Way back in 1966 I saw Jimi Hendrix before we even knew who Jimi Hendrix was. I saw him with Carl Holmes and Commanders at the Cheetah Club,  49th and Broadway in NYC. I didn’t make the connection until I saw him at the Fillmore East with The Experience and Sly and the Family Stone did I realize that was the same cat." www.goldminemag.com

26 "Cheetah: It`s Mad, It`s Mod, It`s Money", article from unknown publication circa 1967 and the New York Times 28 April 1966.

27 "Where It`s At" (Audiofidelity AFLP 2168) USA October 1966

28 the lp was announced in the Billboard 17 September 1966 -issue: "Audio Fidelity`s Cheetah line, which will make its debut early next month" and the Billboard 5 November 1966 -issue had a news item about a "Cheetah Day" promotion for the lp at Stern outlets on 29 October 1966.

29 Billboard 5 November 1966

30 A gig ad for the Loved Ones (misspelled as "THE LOVE ONES") published in the Glens Falls Times on 30 September 1966 states that the band came "DIRECT FROM Trudy Heller`s and Cheetah in N.Y.C.". So if this bit of advertizing is correct the band played at the Cheetah in the April-September 1966 -period.

31 syndicated news item, earliest publication that I could find was the Courier-Post, Camden, New Jersey 15 June 1966 under the "Earl Wilson: It Happened Last Night" -column

32 Jimi An intimate biography of Jimi Hendrix by Curtis Knight (and Nick Dobson) 1974, page 39 (the edition that I'm quoting was published by Star Books in 1975)