Bob Dylan Arrived In New York City 50 Years Ago Today

• He couldn't have arrived in NYC in a '57 Impala. They didn't start making them until '58.

• I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting at a corner table at the Cafe Whooo?, on my 17th cup of coffee, furiously scribbling the notes for my epic poem Upending the Redundant Conundrum, when the door swung open. The light from outside was momentarily blinding, but after a second we saw him there, a silhouette in the doorway, carrying his electric hot pink sousaphone. We all knew this was the man who, 50 years later, would inspire a blog post about this moment. He walked in like he owned the place. Went straight to the bar and ordered 4 bloody marys. Pete Seeger saddled up beside him and said, "you gonna play that horn boy, or just balance it on your nose while you tap dance?". Dylan shrugged, mumbled something about Leadbelly's younger sister, and downed three of the bloody marys. Now, he was such a slight, wiry little guy, he could hardly hold that big pink horn. But that didn't stop him. He took the stage, and in his best 'just-blew-in-from-the-coal-country' voice he announced: "My name is Bob Dylan, and I'm a-here to blow this pink sousaphone." It was then I noticed the message painted in sloppy letters on the bell of the horn: THIS MACHINE SLIGHTLY IRRITATES UNDECIDED VOTERS. He started blowing, and immediately, the room was his. Peter, Paul and Mary were there, and Paul, upon hearing Dylan hit those low, flatulent notes so brilliantly, took his own sousaphone and threw it out the window. John Hammond, A&R man for Columbia records, quickly typed up a contract for a 5-record deal, folded it into a paper airplane, and sent it sailing toward Dylan onstage. Dylan caught it, signed the contract and launched it back to Hammond, all without missing a note. Ten minutes later, Dylan left with my girlfriend, and I never saw either one of them again.

• Those were the days when you could see Bob Dylan for $2.00

• Been a fan since the tender age of 13... over 40 years now! Dylan is a National Treasure!

• 1961 $2.00 adjusted to 2010 = $14.59 That was an expensive concert, considering he was unknown beyond his circle of friends.

• Voice archives link leads to a sign in for something called Movable Type?

• The "Boss Tweed" of folk.

• yes - it was sigh

• think he lived on sullivan street - rents were low i lived on 21st and 3rd and paid $150 monthly for ten tears - then it was 157.50

• what was his monthly rent?

• I ABSOLUTELY LOVE DYLAN AND THE 60'S AND 70'S IN NEW YORK CITY - NOTHING GREATER

• ... and I'm soooo thankful that he did; otherwise, I might never have known him ... that simple twist of fate.

• All seats $2.00.... *sigh*

• January 24th is my birthday, so knowing this about Dylan is cool news to me. His arrival to New York City came exactly 7 years before my arrival into the world. great article.

• Bob Dylan Day love the sound of that! a celebration of Americana! Bob is loved here in Australia and is visiting again in April

• I adore Bob. Always have, always will :-)

• I am so happy he came to NY at 48 below in Minnesota I would have left there, too. I think Bob Dylan is just amazing he always did know what he wanted and I believe he achieved it and then some. Love him.

• "...and when I leave New York, I'll be standing on my feet..."

• wasn't there only six or seven people at his first concert and they were his local friends he had met

• Great moment in time. Cause for celebration and remembering.

• 50 years ago...

• Future national holiday, perhaps??

• Unbeknownst to the world writ large, a seminal day in American culture.

• Everybody arrives in New York in brutal Winter & never forgets

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