Like a Rolling Stone...Bob Dylan.
Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.
Dylan was in Long Branch, about a two-hour drive south of New York City, on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood.
A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday.
“I don’t think she was familiar with his entire body of work,” Woolley said.
The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses.
The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name. According to Woolley, the following exchange ensued:
“What is your name, sir?” the officer asked.
“Bob Dylan,” Dylan said.
“OK, what are you doing here?” the officer asked.
“I’m on tour,” the singer replied.
A second officer, also in his 20s, responded to assist the first officer. He, too, apparently was unfamiliar with Dylan, Woolley said.
The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” said that he didn’t have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night’s show.
The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.
The officers thanked him for his cooperation.AP
40 years ago, it was Day 2 of Woodstock. I was still in my sunburn - couldn't get dressed phase and after the moon landing in July, I can't say that I gave it much thought. I don't anybody did - in hindsight is where its history began. There was no coverage on MSNBC or You Tube. Not tweets or updates. New York was a world away and it never, ever crossed my mind to go but after, when the Stories started pouring in -who wished they hadn't been there. It was the start of Something Big in music and I think, changed the world. Woodstock has become bigger in hindsight - can't imagine anyone knowing that 40 years later, it would still be remembered. Bob Dylam - not so much. The times, they are a changing...
