Fact #61369
When:
Short story:
Bob Dylan begins fifteen nights of playing a five song set each night as support to John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City, Greenwich Village, New York City, USA.
Full article:
John Lee Hooker : I met Bob in Gerdes. He wasn't playing then. He would come to me for advice and watch me. He would hang around me and come home with me at night. Finally, he got up on stage and began playing.
In those days, we would sit around and play guitar with no bands, and you could do what you wanted to. I liked what he was doing. He had such good lyrics. He was a good writer. He learned stage presence. He might have learned a few tips from me but he never picked up my style, because he had his own thing. He was strictly a folk singer.
Mike Porco : They didn't break the doors down to come in. John Lee Hooker was the headliner, and Bobby didn't get the applause John Lee Hooker got. But he built up a following from the show.
Dave Van Ronk (singer) : It was one of the most electrifying performances I have ever seen in my life. I had seen Bobby on stage before and I always thought he was a good performer, but I'd never seen him like that before; and I've never seen him like that since. He did Letter To Woody, with a long set of harmonica breaks consisting of one note at a time spaced so as to be so totally unpredictable that you could never tell when he was going to hit that one chord on the harmonica. He had the audience in stitches. He also did his version of Hava Nagilah - you know, "Have Nagilah, have two nagilahs..." Talking Hava Nagilah Blues.
It was all in the performance. It was all in the delivery. There was a lot of stage business. He would make a whole production out of tuning the guitar. Also he was much given to chatting back and forth with the audience.
You know what a nervous guy he is. Very jumpy. But he'd work that nervousness into the show. He was even more nervous than ever for his first show. Afterwards, it took him a couple of beers to calm down, but he had torn the house apart.
John Lee Hooker : After work we'd sit there and drink white wine. He was kind of a fun person to be around. His talk was real funny, his conversation. He wasn't trying to make jokes, it was just there. He said he wanted to become a star - and a good star.
(Source : not known)
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In those days, we would sit around and play guitar with no bands, and you could do what you wanted to. I liked what he was doing. He had such good lyrics. He was a good writer. He learned stage presence. He might have learned a few tips from me but he never picked up my style, because he had his own thing. He was strictly a folk singer.
Mike Porco : They didn't break the doors down to come in. John Lee Hooker was the headliner, and Bobby didn't get the applause John Lee Hooker got. But he built up a following from the show.
Dave Van Ronk (singer) : It was one of the most electrifying performances I have ever seen in my life. I had seen Bobby on stage before and I always thought he was a good performer, but I'd never seen him like that before; and I've never seen him like that since. He did Letter To Woody, with a long set of harmonica breaks consisting of one note at a time spaced so as to be so totally unpredictable that you could never tell when he was going to hit that one chord on the harmonica. He had the audience in stitches. He also did his version of Hava Nagilah - you know, "Have Nagilah, have two nagilahs..." Talking Hava Nagilah Blues.
It was all in the performance. It was all in the delivery. There was a lot of stage business. He would make a whole production out of tuning the guitar. Also he was much given to chatting back and forth with the audience.
You know what a nervous guy he is. Very jumpy. But he'd work that nervousness into the show. He was even more nervous than ever for his first show. Afterwards, it took him a couple of beers to calm down, but he had torn the house apart.
John Lee Hooker : After work we'd sit there and drink white wine. He was kind of a fun person to be around. His talk was real funny, his conversation. He wasn't trying to make jokes, it was just there. He said he wanted to become a star - and a good star.
(Source : not known)