Suze Rotolo has died. For fans of early Bob Dylan, she is the very cute young woman on the cover of The Freewheeling Bob Dylan, pictured above. This is the girl Bob Dylan was dating before Joan Baez, and the inspiration behind some of his earlier, more aching love and loss songs, including "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" and "Boots of Spanish Leather."
While many attribute Dylan's political awakening to Joan Baez's influence, they are often mistakenly transposing the influence of Ms. Rotolo, the daughter of Communists and a committed civil rights supporter in her own right. The article linked below notes several facts of which I was unaware: (1) that Dylan was cheating on her with Joan Baez, and (2) that she had an illegal abortion of Dylan's unborn child after they broke up. Heavy.
The New York Times obit is here.
I'm sorry that my presence on this site of late has been to act as a pallbearer for dead icons. I promise this will change soon. Big post about the history of U.S. musical diplomacy in the Middle East to come.
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