Dylan’s First Recorded Concert: Rare Photographs 19-Year-Old Bob Dylan Performing in Connecticut in 1961

Imagine stumbling upon a 19-year-old Bob Dylan, without knowing who he was. Imagine hearing him perform, unannounced, for a few dozen like-minded friends, most of whom had never seen him or in many cases even heard his name.

It happened in Branford, Conn. of all places on May 6, 1961, at the Indian Neck Folk Festival. Dylan’s historic appearance at the Indian Neck Folk Festival was one of the earliest recordings ever made of him — and he wasn’t even on the announced bill. Nearly six decades later, long after most of the world forgot it ever happened, multiple people posted recordings of it on YouTube and it all came rushing back.

Bob Dylan played a three-song set — three Woody Guthrie songs, no less — at an after-party at the ramshackle old Montowese House hotel in the Indian Neck section, the day after the “official” concert at Woolsey Hall in New Haven.

The announced lineup included Judy Collins, Jim Kweskin, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Carolyn Hester, Sandy Bull, Rodger Sprung, Lionel Kilberg, The Greenbriar Boys, Ted Alevizos, Robin Roberts, The Gardners, Molly Scott, Harry and Jeannie West, Fiddler Beers and Evlyn, Sonia Saveg, The Grey Sky Boys, Cynthia Gooding, Borden Snow, Lori Holland, Angus Godwin, Annie Bird, Ric Von Schmidt “and others.”

Those others included Dylan and Traum.

Bob Dylan, then 19, performing at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival in Branford. The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian, a then-27-year-old Cambridge, Mass.

Bob Dylan, then 19, center, jams with Mark Spoelstra, right, and Bob Neuwirth, lower left, at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival on May 6, 1961. The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian.

Bob Dylan sings with Mark Spoelstra at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival on May 6, 1961.

Bob Dylan sings with Mark Spoelstra at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival on May 6, 1961. The photo was taken by Joe Alper.

Judy Collins, then five days past her 22nd birthday, at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival in Branford on May 6, 1961.The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian.

The Rev. Gary Davis at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival in Branford on May 6, 1961. The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian.

Bob Dylan, upper left-center, mingling in the crowd at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival in Branford. The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian.

Bob Dylan, second from right, mingling in the crowd at the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival in Branford. The photo was taken by Stephen H. Fenerjian.

Photograph courtesy of Joe Alper.

Photograph courtesy of Joe Alper.

A flier from the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival, which took place on May 5-6, 1961.

A vintage photograph of the old Montowese House hotel in Branford, CT, site of the 1961 Indian Neck Folk Festival, where Bob Dylan played one of his first recorded shows, a three-song set on May 6, 1961.