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"Dylanwalk": A walking tour of the locations of a proof sheet of 31 photographs taken of Bob Dylan and four close friends by photographer Jim Marshall as they walk through Greenwich Village in the fall of 1963. The proof sheet can be found in Jim Marshall's book "PROOF." This is the cover of PROOF, the photography book by Jim Marshall, one of the rock's most famous photographers. The cover shows four frames from a proof sheet Marshall took of Bob Dylan and some friends on a fall morning in 1963. 
Marshall was on the music scene from the beginning of the sixties and photographed hundreds of music greats throughout his celebrated career. Many of these shots have become icons of the folk and rock eras and feature performers like The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, the Allman Brothers (the cover of At Fillmore East), and Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival. The book Proof features 60 proof sheets from his photo sessions, with the proof sheet is on the left page and the "hero" shot, the one that was chosen for the publication, opposite, on the right. Here's a photo of Jim Marshall by Henry Diltz. 
(Photo (c) Henry Diltz) One of Jim Marshall's most iconic shots is of just-becoming-famous Bob Dylan rolling a tire down a Greenwich Village sidewalk. It was before Dylan's fame, before Starbucks on every corner, before paparazzi on motorcycles following rock stars. It's a picture of the relative innocence of the pre-Beatles 60's, tinged now with our awareness of the fame and fortune to come for the young folksinger from Hibbing, Minnesota, in his third year in New York City, as well all the future turmoil of the 60's yet to come. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) For now let's just look at the proof sheets. In a minute I will tell you who all the people in the photos are. First: One of the most famous proof sheets in rock and roll. 
(Photos (c) Jim Marshall) The photo of a carefree, pre-jaded Dylan, kicking a tire along a Greenwich Village street, is one of the most famous Dylan photos and is reproduced on countless fan sites. 
(Photos (c) Jim Marshall) This is the same proof sheet - I enlarged to 800 pixels wide, so it's a little blurry. If you want to see it in better focus, you have to buy the book. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) This is the same proof sheet, but in this version, to make it easier to see, I rotated some of the frames 90-degrees so everyone is vertical, not sideways, and I lightened up some of the really dark shots. I also rearranged the last three photos (of Dylan's head against the sky) so the negative numbers are in numerical order (you can read the numbers from the negatives in Jim Marshall's book with a magnifying glass.) Frame number 28 is twisted to make the inner picture vertical. For a long time I couldn't figure out what it was, but as we shall see, it's Bob and Suze walking past a baby in a baby carriage. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) There are 31 shots on the proof sheet, but to give you a quick overview, the following five pictures show up most often on the web and in books. But first, here's the cast, from LEFT to RIGHT: In this picture Dylan and the gang walking down Hudson street between West 10th Street and Christopher Street around 9:00 am on a fall morning. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Further down Hudson, the group takes a left onto Grove Street with St. Luke's Church on Hudson Street in the background. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) In this oft-reproduced shot, Dylan, Suze Rotolo, and Dave Van Ronk are in front of the wooden house at the northeast corner of Grove and Bedford Streets. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) And here, Dylan and Susie, perhaps thinking about where they should all go for breakfast, are in front of the laundry at the northwest corner of Morton and 7th Avenue South, with Bleecker Street a block away behind Suze's head. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's a map of where this morning walk all takes place. It's in the far western part of Greenwich Village. According to Jim Marshall, who also lived in the Village, he took the photos at about 9:00 in the morning as they all walked to get to breakfast while he was on assignment to take photos of Dylan for The Saturday Evening Post. Some of the breakfast shots, from another roll, will follow. The entire walk can be done in about 15 minutes, unless you stop for selfies. ( To start: Take the 1 train to Sheridan Square and then walk two blocks west along Christopher to Hudson, then one block north to West 10th Street.) 
The 31 different photographs are taken at about 11 different spots along the route, so this is how I divided them up as I took the pictures for the entry. (Perhaps you could do it on Bloomsday, if you can't make it to Dublin that day to do Leopold Bloom's route; and call it Dylansday.) 
(Photos (c) Jim Marshall) 
In this map, I put the highlights of the walks. I also added the Jones Street location of the covershoot of Freewheelin' as photographed by Don Hunstein that you might also want to visit. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) So our "Dylanwalk" begins just about two blocks south of the famous White Horse Tavern on Hudson and 12th street. Dylan used to come here to hear the Clancy Brothers and it is also where one night Dylan Thomas went on a drinking binge, became ill, and died a few nights later in the Chelsea Hotel (where Dylan later lived) about a mile away on 23rd Street. 
Specifically, our walk begins here in front of the West Village Post Office (at 527 Hudson Street between 10th Street and Charles Street). 
Here's the first shot from the proof sheet. Karen is blowing smoke out of her mouth, like the big Camel sign that used to be in Times Square. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's how I matched up the location. The fences above the basement stores matched... 
...as did the air vent for the oil tank. 
Here's another view... 
...and now with Dylan and the breakfast club walking into frame. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) The group continues down the block (this is grainy because it's a huge blow-up from the proof sheet). 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) They would be in front of this restaurant in that photo. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) They continue down Hudson, coming to what is now the Cowgirl Hall of Fame restaurant on the northwest corner of Hudson and West 10th Street. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Bob has a laff, which Suze shares. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's that from further back. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) They now cross West 10th Street. 
This is a picture of Hudson, looking north to the intersection of West 10th. 
This is where Dylan finds the now famous tire. (sorry, tire buffs, I don't know the brand.) This shot is not on the proofsheet, though the other tire photos to come are. Jim Marshall probably took this with a second camera. THAT proofsheet has not surfaced, though some photos from it have (we will see them later.) That Gulf Station behind Dylan is the one which was filmed for the intro of the tv show Taxi. It's been replaced by a condo building. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's Bob and the tire. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) This is the more famous shot of Bob and the tire. The cars on the back right are going west along Christopher Street. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Using a blow up of this photo (and with a little effort), I could make out the street number, 502 Hudson, right behind Bob's head, giving me the intersection. (502 Hudson is now a bagel shop.) 
Here's an early evening panorama of where the tire shot was. 
And here it is with the photo PopSpotted. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) And again, this time from further back. Notice how the stone blocks of the sidewalk are the same. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) While we are here, I will put in another one, this time less wide angle and more transparent. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) The tire having served its purpose, it is left behind for the neighborhood youths, and the gang continues south. (How about the fins on that car!) 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's where they were in that shot; on Hudson, just north of Christopher. 
And here that is, with the group superimposed. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) This is a panorama from across the street. They would be behind the black car in the middle of the picture, heading to the left. 
The group crosses Christopher Street, seen in the middle of the picture...and Suze and Bob get a close up next to the wall of St. Luke's Church. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's where they would be from their point-of-view. 
The group continues down Hudson. 
Then takes a left onto Grove Street. 
Here's Grove Street from Hudson. They continue their walk on the right hand side.... 
...past these stoops. 
Here they come now! 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) It's a very picturesque part of the Village. 
And fun to walk through any time of year. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) So, they continue east on Grove.... 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) ...until they come to a small fence between two buildings. 
This is the entranceway to Grove Court, a picturesque private courtyard formed by the strange shape of the streets of the Village. 
Here they are arriving at the gate. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's what they would have seen, looking in. 
And an even closer view. The entranceways to two of the buildings are mirror reflections of each other. A New York real estate agent would say, "It's to die for!" 
Here's Bob and Suze checking it out. 
(Inset photos (c) Jim Marshall) The group now walks East, towards the intersection of Bedford Street and Grove. 
They cross the street and walk toward an old, 3-story wooden building on the northeast corner. 
Once there, they turn and walk south. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's where they are: the northeast corner of Bedford and Grove. 
They cross the street.. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) And PopSpotted, it all looks a little something like this. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's a panorama of the intersection. They are about to walk south on Bedford now, past the restaurant ("The Little Owl") with the blue awning. 
Fans of the TV show Friends may recognize this building - 90 Bedford Street - where Monica and Rachel lived across the hall from Joey and Chandler on a floor upstairs from the fictional "Central Perk" coffee shop on the ground floor. (Ross lived across the street at 17 Grove and Phoebe a few blocks away at 5 Morton Street.)(source: Greenwich Village Historical Society) 
The gang continues south down Bedford... 
...They cross the intersection of Bedford and Barrow.... 
....and when they get to the intersection of Bedford and Commerce, where Jim Marshall gets down low.... 
...in order to shoot the group from below. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's a nicely-framed shot from that intersection.... 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) ...and the others from the proofsheet. 
(Inset photos (c) Jim Marshall) This is a panorama of that intersection. Our travelers are on the right. We are looking north, up Bedford from Commerce. We seem to have momentarily lost Teri and Karen, but Teri's arm shows up in a later photo, so maybe they were walking up front with Jim Marshall. Coincidentally, Dave Van Ronk's album cover for his album "Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters," was shot about 50 feet behind the person on the left in blue. There are photos of it in PopSpot #34 which is about Dave Van Ronk. 
So they continue walking south on Bedford. The arrow points to a stoop they will encounter. 
Here it is. 
As they reach this stoop, which has changed in the 50 years since the photos were taken, they step aside as a baby buggy is pushed past them. Can you see Bob and Suze? (I'll tell you where they are two frames below this.) 
Here's the stoop before it was changed. It's a photo from the New York Public Library digital archives. 
Here, I've pictured Bob and Suze's legs. It took me a long time to figure out this picture, because of how the stoop has changed. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's the whole scene in a modern day tableau. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) This is a panorama of Bedford Street where it meets Morton Street. I have indicated the stoop they just passed. They continue walking south down Bedford, hit the intersection, then turn and walk northeast on Morton. 
After they turn on Morton, they end up right here. That's Seventh Avenue South right in front of them. 
Here's Bob and Suze now. Nice cobblestone streets. Fun fact: back in the 1800's, New York shipped a lot of goods to England, but England didn't have that much to ship back. So, to weigh down the bottom of the ships so they wouldn't sway, they filled the bottom with cobblestones (It becomes known as "ballast"). And that's how many New York streets got cobbled. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) And here's that scene PopSpotted. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) In this panorama, Dylan and Suze would be right in front of the green awning. To the right, we are looking up 7th Avenue South. 
They then started walking up Seventh Avenue South, by this time in a java fix. 
Here's Bob and Dave looking for a sign reading "COFFEE." 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's where they were. That's Morton Street in the background. 
...And a PopSpotted version of that. 
(Inset photo (c) Jim Marshall) Jim then took some solo pictures of Bob to vary the roll and give the editors something to choose from. 
(Photos (c) Jim Marshall) It might have looked something like this in color. 
(Inset photos (c) Jim Marshall) In this next shot, they have arrived at the rustic, brick-walled cafe, filled their cups up, and Bob lights up for smoke. That's Dave's arm on the right. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) I can't find any old picture of Greenwich Village coffee shops top match this photo, so if your an old Villager and know it, please write in with the name of this cafe. (I'm pretty sure it is't Chumleys, if that's your guess.) 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Dylan is now taken with a new object... 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) ...It's a black cat with a white nose. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Bob shares it with Suze. This is a shot not on the roll of the Dylanwalk. This shot, and the next three may have come from the camera that took the vertical picture of Bob rolling the tire. Time will tell. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) Here's the first of those three pictures. Looks like Bob is happy with the way the day is going. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) In the second photo, Bob Looks like he's outside. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) And in the last, he's a little more serious -- or looking for the cat. That's all folks! Thanks for visiting. 
(Photo (c) Jim Marshall) ADDENDUM - 1 This 11-minute video takes you along the entire route of the Dylanwalk, from the perspective of Dylan and his friends. In the future I will add frames from the Dylanwalk showing depicting where each shot was taken, though you can probably tell, because in several of those places I sometimes linger, or turn the camera around. ADDENDUM - 2 Here's another photo taken at the end of the walk, probably along 7th Avenue South. 
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