CNN says it better than I ever could: "Beatles-Dylan Introducer Dead." One of the taproots of the rock & roll family tree has washed away.
Al Aronowitz, the "Blacklisted Journalist," was actually a terrifically important journalist in postwar America. He was sort of the journalistic arm of the Beat movement, and the arts writer for the New Journalism - which is a roundabout way of saying he was the first print journalist to write about the Beat Generation without treating it as a novelty or a goofy trend. He was a friend and follower of Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg, and he took them seriously as the vanguard of a new literary movement.
He was also one of the pioneers of rock journalism. He wasn't a critic, but an interviewer and reporter, the man who followed the Beatles on their first U.S. tour for the Saturday Evening Post, by that time one of the most culturally conservative magazines on the American landscape. He wrote definitive early pieces on Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and The Band. His love of the beats naturally led him to Bob Dylan, whom he wrote about as a cultural beacon. He was accused of being a hanger-on - which he was - but he documented his hanging on, in the process becoming rock's first on-the-scene correspondent.
But, yes, he's mostly remembered as the man who introduced the Beatles to Bob Dylan in 1964. If that seems like an injustice, however, give it another look: this minor role is bigger than all the others. There's the figurative importance: what was '60s rock, after all, but the meeting of the Beatles and Bob Dylan? But we all know what happened at that literal, physical meeting: Dylan gave the Fab Four their first marijuana joint. And their subsequent love affair with pot colored their work on Help and the combination of the drug and the Dylan influence all but wrote Rubber Soul by itself; then, Brian Wilson's encounter with Rubber Soul was so epochal that he was inspired to top it by creating The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Paul McCartney was so wowed by Pet Sounds that he used it, marijuana, and more serious drugs (weed is, after all, the Gateway Drug) as the inspiration for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the most influential, revolutionary, and just plain talked-about album in all of the rock universe. So in his own big but inadvertent way, Aronowitz thereby directly manipulated the entire rock universe of the four decades that followed that pot party. Not bad for a music writer...I hope I can say that someday.
Article comments
1 - Bob Dinerstein
I had the privilege of knowing Al and once you got past his ecentricities you discovered that he was an incredible font of knowledge about the rock and roll greats.
Yes, he was pivotal in Bob Dylan's career and he introduced Dylan to the Beatles, but he was so much more than that. He was the confidant of many of the preeminent rock and rollers; a position he earned and deserved because he understood them in a manner few could. Of course, the same thing applied to his friends in the world of the inhabitants of Greenwich Village in the 50s and 60s.
Yes, the untimely death of his wife had an tsunami like effect on his life; I don't think he ever recovered from the loss.
If you are a fan of those Al promoted, the Allan Ginsbergs, Jack Keroacs, Bob Dylans and it goes on and on, you missed a great opportunity if AL didn't share his insights with you. If you knew him well, you would know that in the 70s he devoted his energies to promoting country music in the City. Once again, he was ahead of his time. The SIlver Fox, Charlie Pride, Roy Clark, the Mandrell Sisters, etc., etc. A few years later the country music contacts he developed would have made him rich.
I lost touch with Al some 15 years ago and it must have been fate that reconnected us only a few months ago. While I never had his keen ear for rock and roll and never shared his friendship with the celebrity music makers, his demise is a loss to those who were privileged to know him.
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks very much for sharing that with us, Bob
great job on this Mike! His role deserves a lot more attention
3 - Eric Olsen
btw, we have reviews of Aronowitz books here and here
4 - Birgitta Jonsdottir
I got to know Al 1998 when he asked me to join in on the Allen Ginsberg memorial committee. After we had been rained out of the bandshell many of the poets and writers that had arrived at central park to perform, went to an open mike event together. Al read for us his Billy Holiday story and it touched me deeply. Been a part of his blacklisted journalist movement ever since and been fortunate to meet him a couple of times while in New York.
I just wanted to thank you for a good article on this man that played such a big role in shaping our world and despite a strange and twisted life, managed to regain his sharp focus and create a platform of expression not only for himself but others as well.
He was an inspiration and I only wish I would have had a chance to meet him one more time before he passed away.
I hope there will be a great gathering, an unforgettable event to celebrate Al's work and spirit.