Feb 11, 2025 – Ann is in OurLittleCorner today

Early Ann; Early Dylan

It wasn’t really surprising. After all, I like to arrive so early at dinner parties that Andy and I have to drive around the block about 4 times before the car’s clock indicates we can now comfortably knock on the hosts’ door. But it was a little shocking to see the photo our son took – of the empty Santa Rosa Summerfield Theater – empty, that is, except for me – and my very white hair. But we were 1/2 hour early for the showing of A Complete Unknown, the Academy-award nominated film that follows Bob Dylan after his arrival in NYC in 1961 – at the age of 19. We were 1/2 hour early because I wanted to be sure we got good seats. I’d also purchased our tickets online (for $5 total more) so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line! 🙂

You can rest easy knowing that even though the film had been showing at the Summerfield for several weeks, there were still about 30 folks who eventually joined us in the theater. And, yes, the 3 of us (our visiting-New Yorker son, Travis, and Andy and I) all loved the film.

I’ve always thought of myself as a huge Dylan fan, but after seeing A Complete Unknown, I went through the list of the 50+ albums that Dylan has released, and I realized that I quit listening to him about 1965 with the release of Highway 61 Revisited. If you know Dylan – or if you’ve seen the film, you’ll understand the 1965 shift in his music that made me less of a Dylan enthusiast.

The Gotham Center for New York City History has an article which describes the 20 music clubs in a 5-block Greenwich Village span and the noteworthy folk-singer “wannabes” who arrived around 1960:”Tom Paxton from Oklahoma, Len Chandler and Phil Ochs from Ohio, Carolyn Hester from Texas, Patrick Sky from Georgia, Mark Spoelstra from California, Judy Collins and Judy Roderick from Colorado, and Ian and Sylvia Tyson from Canada. In the smaller rooms, troubadours made little money, and talent agents rarely scouted them. But they saw the holes in the wall as starting points for the big time of the Gaslight and Gerde’s Folk City.”

And, yes, Dylan played at both Gaslight and Gerde’s, debuting at Gerde’s as an opener for John Lee Hooker in April of 1961. The owner of Gaslight recalled the night of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) “we closed early and sat around the big table. Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Tom Paxton, and Luke Faust. We said it was all over, the end of the world. Everybody just played music for themselves, with no audience.”

Even scrimping and stressed young musicians have to eat, and Dylan’s 4th St apartment (seen above) was very near the “the hip bagel” cafe, the first NYC restaurant featuring bagels (before that you went to a bakery to fill up on them). The owner, Shelly Fireman, recalls how his place was “frequented by Barbra Streisand, Lenny Bruce, Benny Goodman, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Shel Silverstein, Andy Warhol, Rothko, the Mama’s and the Papa’s and the group Peter, Paul, and Mary.” OMG…we loved them all.

If you’re planning a visit to NYC in 2025 and want to try out the city’s bagels, the NYTimes has a recent article with recommendations (and it’s had 1500 comments!). Personally, I’d go to Russ & Daughters – the original one at 179 E Houston St. But prices have gone up. :). Put aside about $18 for today’s bagel sandwiches.

Not surprisingly, I’ve got a recipe for either EARLY or late in your day! It’s an open-faced bagel sandwich. Knowing how many of you are Trader Joe’s enthusiasts, I was hoping that their bagels and their smoked salmon were going to be rated among the best among the grocery store bagels. But not so. A 2023 article in Bon Appetit picks Whole Food’s “365 Plain Bagels” as the best supermarket bagels – and labels TJ’s as “abysmal.” But if WF’s isn’t your spot, you might try Thomas bagels, which came in 2nd.

If you’re going for smoked salmon instead of lox (lox is cured in brine and not smoked), America’s Test Kitchen likes Kirkland smoked salmon from Costco and, if pricier works for you, Spence & Co. Traditional Scottish-Style Smoked Salmon. It’s about $12 for 4 oz, or enough for 2 servings and is fairly widely available.