On this day in 1961 — 62 years ago — Bob Dylan first arrived in New York City.
Dylan was 19, and drove with friends to New York from Wisconsin. He had two immediate goals: to meet Woody Guthrie and to perform at Greenwich Village coffee houses. He achieved both.
Within a few months, he would not only get a rave review in the New York Times and meet the legendary record man and producer, John Hammond, but would be signed by Hammond to Columbia Records and by the end of the year he’d record his first album, Bob Dylan.
Dylan recorded his first six albums in New York, and the city was his base of operations from 1961 into 1966.
Here, Dylan performs “Talkin’ New York” live at Town Hall on April 12, 1963