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COLUMN 117, MAY 1, 2005
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)

A FAN LETTER

Subject: Bob Dylan...
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 21:52:00 -0400
From: "bill munster" bmunster@mhcable.com 
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com 

A friend of mine, Joe Forno, who worked (managed, I believe) The Band many years ago, suggested to me that I read "Bob Dylan and The Beatles. " He leant it to me after reading it himself in almost one night after purchasing it from the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, NY, right up the street from The Expresso Cafe. Joe's a cool guy, and knows a lot of Dylan stories, as well as The Band stories, so I took his advice to read what this "phenomenal" writer named Al A. had to say about a magic time in our lives. Since I only live about 20 minutes from The Big Pink in Saugerties, I had to read this book all the more! Well, I started the book yesterday afternoon and ate it up and just picked up the pieces today and can honestly say it was damn good read. I laughed in parts, the Bobby Neuwirth parts, and felt slight annoyance at how arrogant Dylan can be at
times, but I still admire him and his music. Hell, my son's middle name is Dylan, after Bob and not Dylan Thomas. [cue Paul Simon's song]. I guess this amounts to a fan letter one that I hope will find it's way to Al. This was the first time I ever heard of the man, and know it won't be the last time. I plan to find more of his stuff and continue my journey to the past. Yeah, Al can write a mean essay! This guy's writing hinges are well oiled!
Best...easy thoughts.
Bill
www.footstepspublishing.com 
Bill Munster
Cell : 518-821-0337
Email : bmunster@mhcable.com  ##

* * *

ANOTHER FAN LETTER

Subject: Wow, Al Aronowitz!
Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2005 15:15:10 -0800
From: "Bob Matthews" bob3zzz@fastmail.fm 
To: info@blacklistedjournalist.com 

Hi Al,
I heard you on the Joey Reynolds Show last night, though that may have been a repeat, I'm not sure. I used to read you all the time in the NY Post. Yep, you were rock writing royalty back then. I'd read you and think 'this guy knows everybody!' 

Funny, just last week I was putting together a belated Chanukah present for my nephew---a big Beatles fan---some of my Beatles memorabilia including a couple of your articles I'd saved. I looked at your picture
and thought, he's probably dead. Sorry. Then there you are on the radio!

Anyway, I Googled your name to get the title of your book, and just finished reading 'Let's 'ave a larf," which I enjoyed immensely. Don't know why you are blacklisted, unless it's as you say, that you and drugs managed to piss nearly everybody off. 

Glad you are clean, it's the only way. And glad you're among the living, still :-)
Take care.
Bob Matthews
-- 
Bob Matthews
bob3zzz@fastmail.fm  ##

* * *

STILL ANOTHER FAN LETTER

Subject: Re: Bobby Darin - The Kid
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 14:26:48 -0400
From: "Ann" ahopka11@comcast.net
To: "al aronowitz info@blacklistedjournalist.com 

Ann wrote:

Thanks Al. I am enjoying your web site. I have your book.  I enjoyed it, and I thank you very, very much for writing it.  I am guessing that Bobby himself must have given you that picture of him as a young boy (The Kid) that you use for Chapter One.  I have not seen that one anywhere else.  Its just great.

Bobby continues to entrance all of us, but I must say, especially women.  I am part of a very large fan base of his. Don't know if you ever look at the Bobby Darin web site or the message board.  Its very interesting the age span of females mad about Bobby---20s through 60s.  I don't believe there is anything that could stop his masculine magic and magnetism. I have all of the books, most of the videos (I'm working on getting them all), and many cds.  I really and truly hope that more of his work and videos will be released.

We are all grateful to Kevin Spacey for doing Beyond The Sea---he brought Bobby back to us.  However, I do wish someone would do another, more factual movie, with Bobby singing and including video clips---that would be a sellout and so appreciated.

Thanks again.
Ann  ##

* * *


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

". . .If you are truly interested in the 'behind the scenes' events of people who spawned an entirely new direction in the time we identify as the sixties, this book is truly for you!"---JOHN ANDERSON, HOST OF THE "ON THE HORIZON" RADIO SHOW

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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THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ