Home >
Early Bob Dylan 1965 interview / photo...
Early Bob Dylan 1965 interview / photo...
Item # 719526
March 25, 1965
THE VILLAGE VOICE (weekly), Greenwich Village, New York, March 25, 1965
* Early and rare Bob Dylan interview
* American folk singer - songwriter
Page 24 has a rare interview with a young Bob Dylan under the heading: "Dylan Meets the Press" with a related photo. Dylan was known not to give many interviews throughout his career. This was one of his very first public press conferences.
AI notes: The 1965 Village Voice interview conducted by Jack (J.R.) Goddard offers a revealing, if playfully evasive, glimpse into Bob Dylan’s rapidly shifting persona at a pivotal moment in his career—just as he was transitioning from folk icon to the cryptic, electric poet of the counterculture. Framed as a press conference rather than a traditional one-on-one, the piece captures Dylan sparring with journalists, deflecting questions about his influences and artistic intentions with sardonic humor and surreal non sequiturs. When asked about the musicians who shaped him before Woody Guthrie, Dylan name-drops Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent with a kind of mocking reverence, only to dismissively say he had a “banana band” in high school. His answers blur autobiography and myth, poking fun at the press’s need for linear narratives: he jokingly attributes his artistic awakening not to Guthrie but to riots in San Francisco and the missed chance to meet James Dean. The tone is wry and detached, yet beneath the deflections, there’s a clear sense that Dylan is consciously controlling his image, pushing back against labels and the media’s attempts to pin him down. The interview stands as a vivid document of Dylan’s early mastery of public ambiguity, a performance as much as a conversation, at the dawn of his most transformative period.
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because there was really no reason to save it at the time.
The Village Voice was an American counterculture newspaper known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. It introduced free-form, high-spirited, and passionate journalism into the public discourse - a tradition it maintained throughout its 60+ year history. It is quite common to find great political cartoons, satirical cartoons and articles, thought-provoking editorials, and ads and reviews for both concerts and theater productions - both on and off Broadway. Many iconic writers and musicians credit their appearance in The Village Voice for at least a portion of their success.
Complete in 32 pages, tabloid-size, one crease across the center, very nice condition.
Provenance note: This issue comes from The Village Voice's own archives, part of their in-house collection used to create their digital archive.
Alert: Many issues of The Village Voice contain articles and/or photos which some consider offensive, and are certainly inappropriate for children. Please purchase with discretion.
Category: The 20th Century
Available Now
$68.00
