Discovering Dylan’s old haunts

I started out with a lekker brekkie at a proper authentic New York style diner, before walking down The Avenue of the Americas to visit the 9/11 Memorial. Then I got sidetracked in Greenwich Village to track down where Bob Dylan spent his time in the city when he was just starting out. Seeing that I’m off to Tulsa tomorrow to visit the Bob Dylan Centre, I though what the hey. Might as well start early!

This is the spot where the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was shot on Jones Street at West 4th Street. Dylan and Suze Rotolo were photographed walking through the snow for the cover. I essentially stood where the photograph was made.

The Cafe Wha?, 115 MacDougal Street. Dylan arrived in New York as a 19-year-old in January 1961 and performed here almost immediately. The venue still exists and explicitly celebrates Dylan as part of its history.

116 MacDougal Street, formerly the Gaslight Cafe. Literally across the street from Cafe Wha?. This was one of Dylan’s crucial early venues. He performed here extensively and Village Preservation connects the Gaslight with the genesis and early performance of “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”. The original Gaslight closed in 1971, so this is a historic site turned into a matcha bar.

11 West 4th Street at Mercer Street, former Gerde’s Folk City. Dylan played his first official New York gig here on 11 April 1961, supporting John Lee Hooker. His later appearance at Gerde’s led to an important New York Times review and this was also where he first performed Blowin’ in the Wind. The original building no longer exists.

Walking south down Mercer Street in SoHo revealed some amazing art deco cast iron architectural structures, typical of the whole area.