SECTION THREE
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COLUMN 114, FEBRUARY 1, 2005
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)


RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT

RAMBLIN' JACK VISITS AUSTRALIA

Subject: Ramblin' Jack
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 02:17:29 +1100
From: Stan Jarin stanley_@tpg.com.au  
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com

Sir,  

Your website is, in my opinion, an extraordinary chronicle and archive. Thank you for making this good thing for us all to share.

Apropos of nothing... I am in Melbourne, Australia. My lifelong hero since I was thirteen in 1965 has been Ramblin' Jack Elliott, for whatever reason causes us to have heroes. Naturally enough, after all those decades I despaired of ever having the chance to see him perform, never mind meeting him.

Imagine my surprise to have Jack stay at our house for a month this year.

It was an amazing episode. Jack comes just as advertised, of course. Sometimes the grand old sailor cowboy, sometimes, when he is in his tweed jacket browsing an antiquarian bookshop, he seems the grand old man of letters, sometimes when loping Groucho-like down a Sydney street on spying a strapping, scantily clad blonde, the grand old man of lechers.

Anyway, he remembers you well, when I asked, when the tide of conversation happened to drift to New York and Bob (which he didn't make a point of doing, unless prompted).

Jack's stories are connected to each other only as tangents, which, collectively and geometrically, create a wonderful, fragile crystalline structure.... of no shape at all, but beautiful to observe.

In the Sydney hotel cocktail bar, the day we picked him up at the airport... the bar's walls are covered with framed photos of celebrities who have stayed there. There is a picture of Dylan near the door. As Jack strides out to the bathroom, in passing he takes a pistol shot with his index finger at the picture and snaps "Bob!", without turning his head, breaking his stride or otherwise apparently noticing it. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Dunno why I'm sending you this, just felt like it.

Best regards,

Stan  ##

* * *

CHERYL LIKES MY BOBBY DARIN BOOK

Subject: Re: Bobby Darin Was a Friend of Mine
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:40:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Cheryl cc20201@sbcglobal.net 
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com 

Hi Mr. Aronowitz,

Thank you for your biography of Bobby Darin. I enjoyed Dodd Darin's book very much, and it was a treat to read about Bobby from another real insider's viewpoint. Also, I thought it was telling that your book, of the current releases, was the one that had Steve Blauner "speaking."

By the way, if Bobby wasn't such a great chess player to begin with, perhaps there's still hope for me!

Best always,

Cheryl  ##

* * *

JODY SAYS MY 'BOB DYLAN AND  THE BEATLES' IS A GREAT READ

Subject: Great read
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:25:22 -0600
From: "Jody Denberg" jdenberg@texas.net
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com

Hello Mr. Aronowitz -

A friend gave me your Dylan/Beatles' book a few months ago and my life finally slowed down enough for me to read it. What a great read!

I am a 45-year-old New Yorker who programs a radio station in Austin, Texas. I have lived here since college days, written for mags like Texas Monthly, Austin Chronicle etc etc. I have been on the air since 1981. My station is very eclectic (you mentioned the Old 'HFS - visit www.kgsr.com if you get the notion...)

I also produce interview discs with artists as promo CDs for the major labels (BB King, McCartney, Ringo, Tom Waits, Joni, Yoko, Steely Dan, Emmylou etc etc). The interviews are transcribed at our site if you wanna take a peak.

Anyway, I appreciate your role in my r-n-r history. Several names in your book (Bob Neuwirth, Steve Leeds, Loudon Wainwright) re people I have crossed paths with recently. Reading your book was like meeting an old friend I never knew I had (except I did know your name through Lennon's Alaronowitz mumbles during his poetry reading!).

I hope you have found some peace in your life. Bless ya. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Jody Denberg
Austin, Texas.

PS I have Mr. Taylor's Genesis Publications book. I especially enjoyed your tales of Derek and the unsung Mal and Neil. And George H---a saintly as one would like to think yet human like us all. Glad you 2 reconnected in 1992. I attended the Concert For George and felt his spirit their very strongly...  ##

* * *


FOR AS LONG AS PEOPLE KEEP LISTENING TO BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES, PEOPLE WILL WANT THIS BOOK

"A masterpiece!" --- SALLY GROSSMAN, widow of Bob Dylan's brilliant original manager, Albert Grossman.

"This book is a must-read for all rock 'n roll aficionados!"---EAR CANDY

"An essential reference for demystifying what the author refers to as: 'one of the most self-destructive binges of creativity in cultural history.'"---HAMMOND GUTHRIE, COUNTERPUNCH MAGAZINE

"Required Reading for anyone and everyone who considers themselves fans, followers, students, or those just plain curious of the Golden Age of Popular Music"---GARY PIG GOLD, FUFKIN.COM.

"I love the book. I love the way you can open it to any page and start reading and it keeps you reading. The book is just fun to read." --LEVON HELM, Drummer of THE BAND from Big Pink.

"Ellis Paul and I love your book."---RALPH JACCODINE, Ralph Jaccodine Management.

". . .perfect for our times."---WOODSTOCK TIMES

"Adam Duritz (he's the lead singer and writer for the famed Counting Crows). . .was at my studio and couldn't put the book down."---STEWART LERMAN, RIGHTEOUS SOUND INC.

". . .a must read for anyone who loves, music, loves life, loves rock and roll."---TSAURAH LITZKY, author of The Motion of the Ocean, Baby on the Water, and  Goodbye Beautiful Mother.  

"I recommend it."---DOUGLAS HOLDER, IBBETSON STREET PRESS.  

".  . .It is a fascinating, insightful read. You are such a wonderful writer."---STEPHANIE LEDGIN, Music Journalist.

"I could not put this book of yours down for a minute."---ED GALING, POET LAUREATE OF HATBORO, PA.

"Quite simply, Al Aronowitz is a living legend"---JOHN FORTUNATO, THE AQUARIAN.

"Every student and fan of The Beat Generation, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones will want to read this book"---RON WHITEHEAD, POET

"Volume One Of The Blacklisted Journalist is the kinda tome what a fella can dip into at any given point and find oneself hooked within a couple paragraphs"---DUKE DE MONDO, BLOGCRITICS.ORG.


BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES, VOLUME ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST

The sometimes scattered chronicles of the rock journalist's friendship with a few of the most recognizable music icons in rock and pop history.

It certainly takes a bit of hubris to say that "the '60s wouldn't have been the same without me." But coming from Al Aronowitz, the former music columnist for the New York Post who was often called "the godfather of rock journalism," such sentiment is perhaps justified.  Here, in a compilation of many of his unpublished manuscripts, Aronowitz describes in candid yet affectionate detail his friendships with Bob Dylan and the Beatles.  As a music writer and fan who recognized the musicians' limitless potential early in their careers, Aronowitz decided to bring them together for the first time, in a New York City hotel in 1964, a meeting that also involved the Beatles' introduction to marijuana. His prescience was soon bolstered by the 1965 releases of Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and the Beatles' Rubber Soul, both seminal albums that altered the landscape of pop music.  This landmark moment is just one of Aronowitz's colorful memories and musings of being a hanger-on with these legends and their associates, including The Band, Beatles manager Brian Epstein, poet Allen Ginsberg, deejay Murray the K and others.  Specifically provocative are the accounts of Dylan's erratic behavior and short temper, which often led to fitful confrontations and even the ending of friendships, including that between Dylan and the author.  It's also evident that Aronowitz was particularly fond of George Harrison, and the two remained friends until Harrison's death in 2001.  Most remarkable is the close proximity he maintained to these gods, whether he was at their homes, hoteI rooms, recording studios, or concerts.  Though his personal life certainly had its share of woes (particularly bankruptcy and his wife's death), Aronowitz exhibits a marked sense of pride---and rightly so---for playing a key role in music history,

An enticing backstage pass to the meeting of arguably the two most influential acts in rock history.


"BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES: Volume One Of The Best Of The Blacklisted Journalist is a golden stash box of Al's You-Are-There history of two thirds of rock's Holy Troika"---MICHAEL SIMMONS, LA WEEKLY.

". . .Amazing stories in this book" ---JAY LUSTIG, NEWARK STAR LEDGER

". . .Aronowitz has a place in the annals of history that nothing can erase"---DAVID DANKWA, GAZETTE LEADER

". . .Aronowitz has a simple, straightforward writing style that makes the reading go fast. . ."---JEFFERY LINDHOLM, DIRTY LINEN

"Aronowitz. . .witnessed things that most rock fanswould give an arm and a leg to see"---REGIS BEHE, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW

"The best of Aronowitz's writing. . . offer riotous and rambling time capsules comprising detailed vignettes and told in a voice that's direct, disarming and self-deprecating"---MIKE MILIARD, BOSTON PHOENIX

". . .Addictive reading" ---GOLDMINE MAGAZINE

IN THIS 615-PAGE PAPERBACK, AL ARONOWITZ, ACCLAIMED AS THE "GODFATHER OF ROCK JOURNALISM," TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES THAN ANY OTHER WRITER CAN TELL YOU BECAUSE NO OTHER WRITER WAS THERE AT THE TIME. AS THE MAN WHO INTRODUCED ALLEN GINSBERG TO BOB DYLAN, BOB DYLAN TO THE BEATLES AND THE BEATLES TO MARIJUANA, ARONOWITZ BOASTS, "THE '60S WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT ME."


AND HERE'S ANOTHER BOOK BY AL ARONOWITZ!

THE MOVIE WAS FICTION. THE TRUE STORY IS STRANGER THAN FICTION: FOR MOST OF HIS SHORT BUT SPECTACULAR LIFE, BOBBY DARIN UNKNOWINGLY LIVED A LIE

". . .A highly entertaining and informative read"--HAMMOND GUTHRIE, THE THIRD PAGE

". . .Its 43 chapters provide snapshots of Darin's brief, sensational life>" ---GOLDMINE MAGAZINE


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