“Well, I got up and walked around
And up and down the lonesome town
I stood a-wondering which way to go
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter
And walked on down the road
It was a normal day.”
- Bob Dylan, Talkin’ World War III Blues
Well, it’s not exactly a normal day.
If you’re not updated on the latest… NYC has taken the following measures amid the spread of the coronavirus:
Limited bars and restaurants to takeout and delivery
Closed the public school system
Closed gyms, movie theaters, and nightclubs
Banned gatherings of 50 or more people
So, yeah. Bah humbug. I could really go for a film at the IFC Center or something like that.
But.
These precautions are necessary to slow the spread, not further overwhelm hospital systems, and help save lives. So, yeah. Valid.
Since we’re not going gently into that good (Village) night, let’s let the Village come to us. Thus I present to you
Greenwich Village for the Social Distancers and Self-Quarantiners: A List of Recommendations, Part One
To listen to…
Buddy Holly’s “Apartment Tapes” — as they’re famously called. Picture the eerie beauty of the pioneering rock & roller recording these new songs between December 1958 - January 1959 on an Ampex tape recorder in his Greenwich Village apartment, the former Brevoort Hotel on the corner of 8th Street, just before his untimely death from a plane crash in February 1959. The raw tracks were discovered in the apartment and released posthumously.
Live From the Village Vanguard — The Village Vanguard may be closed for now, but the truly impressive number of live recording sessions that happened at the iconic venue should keep a jazz fan occupied for a solid bit of time. And knowing the recordings you’re listening to happened there conjure up a certain comforting ambiance.
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan’s 1963 breakthrough second album, which includes some (favorites for me, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “Girl From the North Country,” “Corrina, Corrina”) and some obvious ones (“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.)
The photo on the album cover (above), captures Dylan arm-in-arm with his then real girlfriend, Village local Suze Rotolo. The two are sauntering along Jones Street and West 4th Street, right around the corner from the apartment they shared at 161 West 4th. That image of young love always feels authentic to me and makes me like the album even more.
Bleecker and MacDougal— Folk singer Fred Neil naming his 1965 album after the intersection of the (arguably) two most popular streets in the Village might seem a bit on the nose, but Neil himself was pretty on the nose as a staple of the neighborhood’s music scene. He emceed the acts at Cafe Wha? and invited Bob Dylan to play at the venue on Dylan’s first day in the city.
In his book on the Village, John Strausbaugh describes Neil as “a musician’s musician who never chased a larger spotlight but influenced a lot of sixties folk rockers.”
A few others…
Off of “Wednesday Morning, 3 AM,” Simon & Garfunkel’s debut album:
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios on 8th Street (which Jimi Hendrix opened in August 1970 and sadly died the next month):
Stay tuned for Village films to watch and books to read. In the meantime, you can check out this COVID-19 Neighborhood Guidance and Business Assistance from the Villiage Alliance’s blog.