Suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob dylan was finding his. Suze rotolo, a face, with bob dylan, of 60s music, is dead at 67. Rotolo worked as a jewelry maker, illustrator and painter before turning to book art, fabricating. Suze rotolo was just 17 when she fell in love with bob dylan, who found her. About a freewheelin time the girl with bob dylan on the cover of freewheelin broke a fortyfiveyear silence with this affectionate and dignified recalling of a relationship doomed by dylan s growing fame. Susan suze rotolo, who inspired some of bob dylan s most intense songs and later spent much of her own life trying not to be known as dylan s former girlfriend, died friday night after a long. Uncut magazine suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob dylan was finding his voice.
Classic photo of bob dylan, suze rotolo ballad in plain. A freewheelin time is suze rotolos firsthand, eyewitness, account of the immensely creative and fertile years of the 1960s, just before the circus was in full swing and bob dylan became the anointed ringmaster. Freewheelin first love suze had opened the book the. Rotolo about doing the book, gerry howard, an editor at broadway books. Email bob dylan and suze rotolo on the cover of the freewheelin. Uncut magazine suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob dylan was finding his. The girl is suze rotolo and this was during the photoshoot. Born susan elizabeth rotolo, she changed her first name to suze pronounced soozee early in life.
The one time muse and ex girlfriend of singing legend bob dylan has died at the age of 67. Shes an artist, and a teacher at the parsons school of design in new york. Suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob dylan was finding his voice and she was his muse. Ama with jacob maymudes, author of the book another side of bob dylan, a book about jacobs relationship to his father, victor maymudes that was once bob dylan s tour manager and friend, and victors relationship to bob dylan. The girl is suze rotolo and this was during the photoshoot for the freewheelin bob dylan. November and they could legally live together in the tworoom flat he had. And shes written about her relationship with dylan in. The original inspiration for this post was the above photo, which i saw online and which was misidentified as being a photo of bob dylan, suze rotolo and her older sister carla rotolo. Her new book, a freewheelin time, offers insight into the young artist. Whereas his selftitled debut album bob dylan had contained only two original songs, freewheelin represented the beginning of dylan s writing contemporary words to traditional melodies. For years suze rotolo was the mystery girl bob dylan was pictured walking with down a slushy greenwich village street on the cover of his second album, 1963s the freewheelin bob dylan.
She was an important muse to singersongwriter bob dylan at the beginning of his career. I met bob dylan in 1961 when i was seventeen years old and he was twenty. Dylan later acknowledged her strong influence on his music and art during that period. Yesterday was the 55th anniversary of bob dylan s second album, the freewheelin bob dylan, just three days after his 22nd birthday. Suze rotolo she was the woman walking beside bob dylan on the album cover for the freewheelin bob dylan was bob dylans girlfriend in the early 1960s. Gary davis and remembered how the blind preacher could always smell a woman. Rotolo was an artist, but was best known as bob dylan s girlfriend from 1961 to 1964 and a strong influence on his music. This book is a memoir of my life as it intertwined with his during the.
The life of bob dylan suze became pregnant in 1963 by dylan and decided to have an abortion. Chronicles by bob dylan a freewheelin time by suze rotolo down the. Suze rotolo was a lot more than bob dylan s chick nathalie rothschild the artist and civil rights activist who featured on the cover of the freewheelin bob dylan worked hard to shake that role. Rotolo the woman featured on the cover of the freewheelin bob dylan first saw dylan on stage at gerdes folk city in 1961, and the two formed a quick bond. Inside the studio of bob dylans first album with suze rotolo. The freewheelin bob dylan is the second studio album by american singersongwriter bob dylan, released on may 27, 1963 by columbia records. Rotolo was his first serious relationship in new york city after he. There is likely more to be learned about this in any files the fbi has on bob dylan which rotolo s file strongly suggests exists. Of all the unwritten books on dylan, the most thoroughly documented. Suze rotolo, who strongly influenced bob dylan s songwriting and walked beside him on the album cover for the freewheeling bob dylan, died of. A freewheelin time the girl with bob dylan on the cover of freewheelin broke a fortyfiveyear silence with this affectionate and dignified recalling of a relationship doomed by dylan s growing fame. Bob dylan on his childhood ambitions no direction home duration. Suze rotolo, bob dylan s girlfriend in the earlysixties, who walked arminarm with the songwriter on the iconic cover of the freehweelin bob dylan, died february 24th after a long illness.
Uncut magazine suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob. Everything moved quickly after suze s book came out. Each year, except the last one, i saw her at the annual washington square folk reunions in washington square park. Suze rotolo was a lot more than bob dylans chick nathalie. Rotolo recently finished her book a freewheelin time a memoir of greenwich. And shes written about her relationship with dylan in a memoir. In bob dylans 2004 memoir chronicles volume one, he describes meeting rotolo backstage at a concert.
In the last couple of years, she approached me to talk. Marking yesterdays 55th anniversary of the release of bob. The photograph from freewheelin captures suze rotolo and bob dylan at a time when they lived on the cheap, wearing thriftstore or handmade clothes, mining secondhand book. Dylan s interest in painting can also be traced back to his relationship with rotolo. Looking at the photograph of bob dylan and suze rotolo in greenwich village in 1963, the cover of dylan s second album, you can see that they were young and very much in love. Freewheelin time a a memoir of greenwich village in the sixties, bob dylan and me, by suze rotolo, satori 2011, softcover, 287 pages. Reading this made me want to share the suze rotolo letter to her mother which bill pagel currently has on display at karpeles manuscript library museum in duluth through the end of august. The girl with bob dylan on the cover of freewheelin broke a fortyfiveyear silence with this affectionate and dignified recalling of a relationship doomed by dylan s growing fame. She was an integral member of the greenwich village folk music community in the early 1960s. Suze rotolo s revealing look at young bob dylan in 1963.
Bob dylan and suze rotolo had been together for 18 months when the photographer don hunstein captured them for the cover of the freewheelin bob dylan. Interview with suze rotolo artist suze rotolo, the former girlfriend of bob dylan during his greenwich village days, has written a memoir, a freewheelin time, of her life with dylan during the folk era of the early 1960s. This album, dylans second, was the one that lifted him out of the tight little folk scene and broadcast his talent to a generation of eager young listeners. Susan elizabeth rotolo november 20, 1943 february 25, 2011, known as suze rotolo was an american artist, and the girlfriend of bob dylan from 1961 to. Soozee, was an american artist, and the girlfriend of bob dylan from 1961 to 1964. In the first volume of his memoirs, chronicles, dylan wrote of their first meeting. Susan elizabeth rotolo, known as suze rotolo, was an american artist, and the girlfriend of bob dylan from 1961 to 1964. Rotolo is most famous for having had a complicated and inspiring relationship with bob dylan early in his career and for appearing with him arm in arm on the cover of the freewheelin bob dylan. Suze rotolo was the daughter of first generation italian americans with roots in the communist party. Dylan wrote romantic inscriptions to rotolo, like this one in a poetry book. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. She offers shallow, almost schoolgirllike reflections on the man she loved and lived with for three years. This album, dylans second, was the one that lifted him out of the tight little folk scene and broadcast his talent to a. Rotolo is the woman walking with him on the cover of his album the freewheelin bob dylan, a photograph by the cbs studio photographer, don hunstein.
I met bob dylan in 1961 when i was seventeen years old and he was twenty so begins the acclaimed memoir of suze rotolo, the woman who was bob dylan s girlfriend in the early sixties. I just finished reading suze rotolo s a freewheelin time. Suze rotolo and bob dylan in their apartment in 1963. Suze rotolo talks to richard williams about her anticipated bob. Yet as the woman whos clutching dylans arm on the cover of his second album freewheelin bob dylan, rotolo doesnt give us a very freewheelin memoir. Right from the start i couldnt take my eyes off her, bob dylan wrote in his memoir. According to howard sounces in his book down the highway. Suze rotolo was born 70 years ago today frank beachams. Bob dylan suze rotolo signed 1962dated letter with. Fbi tracking of bob dylan and suze rotolo foreshadowed future abuses. Susan elizabeth rotolo november 20, 1943 february 25, 2011, known as suze rotolo. Suze rotolo, a face, with bob dylan, of 60s music, is.
After the post went up it was brought to my attention that the woman identified as carla rotolo was actually continue reading classic photo of bob dylan, suze rotolo ballad in plain d. Dylan s birthday brings three noteworthy titles, including a book of his paintings and a memoir by his new york girlfriend. Fbi tracking of bob dylan and suze rotolo foreshadowed. He was the poet, the musician, the songwriter on the cusp of the longest run of success and notoriety yet still an unknown at the time. Rotolo insightfully noted the musicians uncanny ability to complicate the obvious and sanctify the banaljust like a poet. It chronicles the backstory of greenwich village in the early days of the folk music explosion, when dylan was honing his skills and she was in the ring with him. Suze rotolo, bob dylans girlfriend and the muse behind many of. A shy girl from queens, suze was the daughter of italian workingclass communists, growing up at the dawn of the cold war. As a red diaper baby with two communist parents, political activism was built into suzes dna. Bob dylan and suze rotolo were deeply in love, as deeply in love as young couples can be. In the march 1 latextra section, a headline on the obituary for suze rotolo, bob dylan s former girlfriend in the early 1960s, said she died in 2010. Uncut magazine suze rotolo chronicles her coming of age in greenwich village during the 1960s and the early days of the folk music explosion, when bob dylan was finding his voice and she was his muse. Cupids arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit. She reveals the romantic story of their sweet but sometimes wrenching love affair and its eventual collapse under the pressure of dylan s growing fame.
Description bob dylan suze rotolo signed 1962dated letter with original pen and ink sketch. Ama with jacob maymudes, author of the book another side of bob dylan, a book about jacobs relationship to his father, victor maymudes that was once bob dylan s tour manager and friend. At first she was very quiet, but over the years became loose and friendly. Suze rotolo was just 17 when one of the 20th centurys greatest poets and musicians became smitten. Suze rotolo, bob dylans girlfriend and the muse behind.
147 1363 415 940 414 89 766 936 637 1295 1050 395 1374 911 1357 324 1355 81 1397 250 1384 838 658 1172 585 156 973 185 703 478 362 1099 547 835 1435