45 Years Ago: Bob Dylan Finds Band in Somers Point
Dylan and the Hawks in 1966
It’s become something of a legend here at the Jersey Shore.
Bob Dylan, just after going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, decided to take a full electric band out on the road and tour the globe.
Where did he find his band?
Right here in Atlantic County, New Jersey at the former Tony Mart nightclub in Somers Point.
You see, in the summer of 1965, a band called Levon & the Hawks was booked at the rock club through the summer. However, Dylan heard about this rugged rockabilly band (possibly in person as the legend has it) and, as the story goes, called the Tony Mart club one night in August to ask the band if they’d like to go on the road with him.
Rock history was made with the phone call and music changed forever thanks to Levon & the Hawks agreeing to leave their Somers Point gig to join up with Dylan.
The Hawks eventually became The Band and Dylan would never look back again.
Read the award-winning story here, written five years ago for the 40th anniversary of this historic summer.
It still amazes me how rock ‘n’ roll was changed forever (on different occasions) on Bay Avenue in Somers Point.
