In February of 1962, less than a month before the release of his debut album, an obscure young folk singer named Bob Dylan recorded some songs and an interview for a local New York City radio show called Folksinger’s Choice.
The show was broadcast on WBAI and hosted by Cynthia Gooding, an established folk singer 17 years older than Dylan. As it happened, both Gooding and Dylan were native Minnesotans. Gooding had first met Dylan in Minneapolis in late 1959, not long after he graduated from high school.
As the interview gets rolling, the 20-year-old Dylan wastes little time before launching into some tall tales about his past. He says he moved to Minneapolis from South Dakota, because Minneapolis was “about the only place you didn’t have to go too far to find the Mississippi River.” Before that, he says, he traveled with a carnival, “off and on for about six years.” When Gooding asks whether that might have interfered with his schooling, Dylan doesn’t miss a beat. “Well,” he says, “I skipped a bunch of things, and I didn’t go to school a bunch of years and I skipped this and that.” He says he wrote a song for the “elephant lady” in the carnival and called it “Won’t You Buy A Postcard?” But he quickly adds that he forgot how it went.
- “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle” (Hank Williams/Jimmie Davis)
- “Fixin’ to Die” (Bukka White)
- “Smokestack Lighning” (Howlin’ Wolf)
- “Hard Travelin'” (Woody Guthrie)
- “The Death of Emmett Till” (Bob Dylan)
- “Standing on the Highway” (Bob Dylan)
- “Roll on John” (Rufus Crisp)
- “Stealin'” (traditional)
- “It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad” (traditional)
- “Baby, Please Don’t Go” (Big Joe Williams)
- “Hard Times in New York Town” (Bob Dylan)
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The Times They Are a-Changin’: 1964 Gives a Rare Glimpse of the Early Bob Dylan
Two Legends Together: A Young Bob Dylan Talks and Plays on the Studs Terkel Program, 1963
I’ve never listened to this interview before. I absolutely LOVE it!! I love Bob’s innocence & humility about singing and his songwriting.
I also loved learning about Cynthia Gooding – what a cool, hip woman!!
I was given the CD of this interview about 20 (or more) years ago. After many moves it was lost until this morning. I attempted to make a copy but had too much trouble. I then googled it and BINGO, there it was.
I heard of Cynthia Godding many years ago. I have been a fan of Bob Dylan since his early days in Greenwich Village coffee shops. I’ve been a dedicated fan of Bob Dylan from the first time I saw him singing at the fountain in Washington Square Park. (I am 81 yrs old) and have never missed an opportunity to see him in person.
I’m gonna see him in a few weeks in Ft Lauderdale on Oct 24.
Each time I’ve seen him, there are many people with gray hair or no hair but additionally I see many teeny-boppers. When I asked them how do they know about Dylan, they usually tell me their parents always listened to Dylan at home.
I’m so proud that he was awarded the Nobel Prize.