My Greenwich Village : Dave, Bob and Me

My Greenwich Village : Dave, Bob and MeTerri Thal was very much a part of the folk music world in 1960s Greenwich Village, New York. Few people know that she was 21 year old Bob Dylan's first manager prior to his contract with Albert Grossman and Columbia Records. She also managed musician Dave Van Ronk (who later became her husband), and others to include the Roche sisters, Paul Geremia and The Holy Modal Rounders. She booked performances at coffee houses, clubs and basket houses. In fall

Terri Thal was very much a part of the folk music world in 1960s Greenwich Village, New York. Few people know that she was 21-year-old Bob Dylan's first manager prior to his contract with Albert Grossman and Columbia Records. She also managed musician Dave Van Ronk (who later became her husband), and others to include the Roche sisters, Paul Geremia and The Holy Modal Rounders. She booked performances at coffee houses, clubs and basket houses. In fall 1961, she recorded a set Bob did at the Gaslight. This audition tape she took to clubs and concert producers, trying to get him gigs - the original she still owns! When Dave Van Ronk first saw young Bob performing in a club in Greenwich Village he said 'I just heard this kid who's a fucking genius. You've got to hear him.' Within a few days Terri heard him play and agreed with Dave. Bob Dylan asked Terri, 'Would you get me gigs?' Terri Thal has two passions: folk music and social justice. This is a personal story of the world of folk music in 1960s New York written by a Jewish woman from Brooklyn who, although not a musician, was an intrinsic part of this scene. Terri describes Greenwich Village as a community that was supportive, musically exciting and one in which people had fun. She had many friends in Greenwich Village including Suze Rotolo and a number of seminal 1960s folk musicians. Terri tells us what it was like to hang out in the Village coffee houses and basket houses, to host folk singers like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs who hung out at her apartment, and to be a manager. We hear her view and involvement of the 1960s socialist organizations, and how she later merged her professional work in not- for-profit agencies.