Alan J. Weberman (born May 26, 1945), better known as A.J. Weberman, is an American writer, political gadfly, and self-styled founder of the fields of garbology and Dylanology. He is best known for his controversial personal confrontations with the musician Bob Dylan and for his 30-year involvement with the Yippies, a counterculture network. May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (140th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gadfly is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant. ... Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and poet whose enduring contributions to American song are comparable, in fame and influence, to those of Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams. ... The Youth International Party (whose adherents were known as Yippies, a variant on Hippies) was a highly theatrical political party established in the United States in 1967. ...

Dylanologist

Weberman's 2005 work on Dylan

A.J. Weberman early took a great and abiding — perhaps obsessive — interest in the life and works of Bob Dylan, leaving college to focus on creating a word concordance of Dylan's lyrics. Although a strong advocate of Dylan's importance as an artist, he is less supportive of Dylan the man, holding him to be an apostate to "the movement" for failing to speak out against the Vietnam War, and maintaining that he is a longtime heroin addict. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x873, 147 KB) Summary This is a book cover. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x873, 147 KB) Summary This is a book cover. ... for other uses, see concordance. ... Apostasy (Greek απο, apo, away, apart, στασις, stasis, standing) is the formal renunciation of ones religion. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Commanders Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 1,250,000+ US dead: 58,226 US...

Weberman's literary analysis of Dylan's work, which he has termed "Dylanology", is centered around the concept that, to Dylan, many words have lesser-used meanings differing, sometimes greatly, from their common definitions. "Rain", for instance, often means "destruction" in a Dylan song, as it does, conventionally, in poetry and fiction.

The example below, based on a passage from Weberman's 2005 work Dylan to English Dictionary discussing two lines of the Dylan song A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, shows this approach. Note, for instance, the illustration of Weberman's contention that the word "alley" in Dylan's lyrics is often specifically a reference to Tin Pan Alley (and thus to commercial, non-artistic music): A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 somewhere in Bleecker Street, New York. ... Tin Pan Alley was the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States of America in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. ...

This reading of "alley" as meaning "Tin Pan Alley" is based on Weberman's analysis of his extensive database showing every use of "alley" in Dylan's lyrics, as well as many of his writings, interviews, and comments, and the context in which the word is used. Similar analysis gives the meanings shown for "clown", "died", and so forth.

Although this cryptoanalytical approach is not too different from what is used by some academics in studying modern poetry, Weberman tends to focus on euphemisms for, and allusive references to, common everyday experience and objects rather than on meanings associated with the unconscious mind, mythic symbols, and the like. Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, hidden, and analýein, to loosen or to untie) is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information without access to the secret information which is normally required to do so. ...

Weberman's application of cryptoanalysis to Dylan's lyrics has yet to win accolades from scholars of popular culture, yet he has focused on Dylan's work as have few others, and offers analyses of Dylan lyrics that, while sometimes outré, are certainly the product of painstaking thought and cannot be dismissed out of hand. In addition, his extensive concordances and word lists have been found useful by some students of Dylan's work.

Public controversies

Weberman first came to public notoriety in the late 1960's with his controversial research method of examining and interpreting the contents of Dylan's household garbage cans (ash bins).

This activity raised the question of legality, but it was concluded that household trash placed on a public way has been effectively abandoned as property and is, legally, fair game.

Legal or no, Dylan and his friends found this methodology, along with what they regarded as Weberman's haruspice-like tortured reading of meaning into discarded household items, to be an annoying and alarming invasion of privacy.

But even more than his garbage-sifting, it was Weberman's public hectoring of Dylan and his recruiting of like-minded individuals (styled the Dylan Liberation Front) to picket Dylan at home, that made Weberman such an annoying figure, both to Dylan — who physically assaulted Weberman at one point^[1] — and to some of Dylan's fans.

(Although his tactics were extreme, it should be noted that Weberman was not entirely alone in holding that Dylan, in turning from political protest songs to more personal material, had abandoned or even betrayed the late-1960s political movement seeking to end the Vietnam War, advance the cause of racial minorities, and change other aspects of American politics.) A protest song is often a kind of folk music, but in recent times protest songs come from all genres of music, including punk rock and hip hop. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Commanders Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 1,250,000+ US dead: 58,226 US...

Other pursuits

Weberman later applied his unusual research methods to Richard Nixon, Norman Mailer, and other celebrities, coining the term "garbology" to describe his methods and writing the book My Life in Garbology. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Norman Mailer, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American writer and, along with Truman Capote, is considered an innovator of the nonfictional novel. ...

Weberman, in a manifestation of his leftist politics, also attempted to expand his "Dylan Liberation Front" into a "Rock Liberation Front", intended to pressure pop musicians into greater political activity. John Lennon was briefly associated with this effort.^[2] More recently Weberman has worked closely with the Jewish Defense Organization in opposing Nazis, the KKK, Lyndon LaRouche and far-left anti-Zionist activists.[3] John Winston Lennon (later John Ono Lennon) (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) was best known as a singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist for the British rock band The Beatles. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ...

Weberman has also studied the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Weberman's book on the subject, Coup D’Etat In America, postulates the assassination as part of a coup d'etat led by rogue CIA agents angered by Kennedy's failure to remove Fidel Castro from power. The book includes transparent overlays, as in an anatomy textbook, so that the reader can compare the faces of the tramps briefly arrested in Dallas with photos of E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. Weberman's assertion that Hunt was involved in this action led Hunt to initiate a lawsuit, later dropped. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (pron. ... Image:Ehowardhunt. ... Frank Anthony Sturgis , born as Frank Angelo Fiorini, (December 9, 1924 - December 4, 1993) was one of the Watergate burglars. ...

Weberman, an LSD and marijuana advocate, was arrested for marijuana dealing in 2000. He pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges and served some time in jail, where he worked on the Dylan to English Dictionary.

In 2005, Weberman and other well-known Yippies, including Dana Beal and Pie Man (Aron Kay), joined forces to turn the long-time Yippie headquarters at 9 Bleecker Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side into a counterculture museum. As of 2006, renovation of the building has been partially completed, and a charter from the New York State Board of Regents is expected shortly. Weberman, who is a member of the Yippie Museum's board of trustees, announced in early 2006 that the museum would house an Institute for the Study of Advanced Political Protest. (See [4].) Dana marches at the head of the Million Marijuana March in 1994, NYC Dana Beal is a long-time NYC-based activist who created the Rock Against Racism concerts and organizes the Million Marijuana March on the first Saturday of May every year in New York City. ...

Quotes

• "One night I went over D[ylan]'s garbage... there were five tooth brushes of various sizes and an unused tube of toothpaste wrapped in a plastic bag. 'Tooth' means 'enforcement', as to put teeth in a law' in D[ylan]'s symbology....but at first I thought it meant electric guitar" — A.J. Weberman^[5]

• "Weberman discovered, albeit in an odd and interesting way, an axiom at the core of archeology; there is a comprehensible relationship between human behavior and the objects they made, used, and discarded... Weberman’s term garbology, after all, is not that inaccurate in describing what it is archeologists do." — Kenneth Feder^[6]

• "[I]t's too bad it's just my songs, 'cause I don't know if there's enough material in my songs to sustain someone who is really out to do a big job. You understand what I mean? I mean a fellow like [Weberman] would be better off writing about Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky or Freud... doing a really big analysis of somebody who has countless volumes of writings. But here's me, just a few records out. Somebody devoting so much time to those records when there's such a wealth of material that hasn't even been heard or read; that escapes me." -- Bob Dylan ^[7]

Reference material

Publications

• Weberman, A.J. Dylanology (1969, Whitepress, 25 pages)
• Weberman, A.J. Concordance to the songs, poetry, and assorted writings of Bob Dylan (New York, 1971, private printing, ISBN B00072TJ6C)
• Dylan, Bob, and A.J. Weberman (introduction). Poem to Joanie (London, 1971, Aloes, Limited edition of 300)
• Weberman, A.J. Keep the Fuck Outta My Goddam Garbage (date unknown, privately printed, 22 pages)
• Weberman, Alan J. and Michael Canfield. Coup D’Etat In America: The CIA and the Assassination of JFK (1975, The Third Press; 1992, Quick American Publishing ISBN 0932551106)
• Weberman, A.J. My Life in Garbology (1980, Stonehill Press, ISBN 0883730960; 1981, Farrar Straus & Giroux)
• Weberman, A.J. Dylan to English Dictionary (New York, 2005, Yippie Museum Press, ISBN 1419613383)
• Weberman, A.J. Article (title unknown) in On The Tracks issue 5. Published by Rolling Tomes

Notes

1. ^  Jacobson, Mark. "Tangled Up In Bob", in Rolling Stone magazine #RS 866, April 12, 2001; photograph here
2. ^ Weberman's entry in the Bob Dylan Who's Who
3. ^  Eisen, Jonathan, editor. Twenty Minute Fandangos and Forever Changes (New York, Random House, 1971, ISBN 0394471636), chapter "Dylan's Garbage's Greatest Hits", page 179
4. ^  Feder, Kenneth. Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology (USA, 2004, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195159195)
5. ^  Quoted by Weberman here, from source given as "Rolling Stone Magazine" with no further publication data.

April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

References

• Roberts, John. A.J. Weberman: Dylanologist (1995, private printing)
• Roberts, John. "Dear Landlord: The A.J. Weberman Story" in The Telegraph 51 Telegraph 78-91 (periodical), Spring 1995

The Weberman tapes

One of many bootleg versions of the Weberman tapes

• Classic Interviews, Vol. 2: The Weberman Tapes (UK: Chromedreams. USA: United States Dist Media, Catalog #541, released May 31, 2005.)

Recordings of telephone conversations between Weberman and Dylan, New York City, January 6 and January 9, 1971. Originally released as Bob Dylan vs. A.J. Weberman on Folkways Records, Catlog #FB 5322, 1977, quickly deleted for legal considerations, but circulated in various bootleg pressings. Original Folkways recording also contains an otherwise unreleased version of David Peel's "The Ballad of A.J. Weberman".

• An excerpt from a transcript of the above
• Full transcripts:

• East Village Other (periodical), January 19, 1971
• Authors or editors unknown. The Fiddler Now Upspoke Volume 1 (Desolation Row Promotions, other publishing data unknown)

Image File history File links Aj_weberman_album. ... Image File history File links Aj_weberman_album. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Look up bootleg in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

Other recordings of interest

• David Peel and the Lower East Side. "The Ballad of A.J. Weberman", on Santa Claus - Rooftop Junkie (1975, Orange Records. Rereleased in box set David Peel, Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw — the Apple and Orange Recordings, 2005, Orange Records)
• Weberman recordings, private collection, cataloged here:

• Bob Fass Show With A.J. Weberman & Ellen Sanders, WBAI Radio, New York, 1968 (155 minutes)
• Bob Fass Show, WBAI Radio, New York (Studio discussion with Bob Fasse, Allen J. Weberman & Ellen Zander) (Part 1) 1970
• Bob Fass Show, WBAI Radio, New York (Studio discussion with Bob Fasse, Allen J. Weberman & Ellen Zander) (Part 2) 1970
• Bob Fass Show WBAI Radio New York (Studio Discussion With Bob Fasse, Allen J. Weberman & Ellen Zander) (Part 3) 1970
• Alex Bennett Show, WPLJ Radio, With A.J. Weberman & Anthony Scaduto, 1974 (46 Minutes)
• John Roberts, telephone interview with A.J. Weberman for The Telegraph, (July 20, 1994) (12 Minutes)
• A.J. Weberman, WFM Radio, New Jersey (18 Minutes) (no date given)
• The Larry King Show with A.J. Weberman, Garbologist (no date given)

• Weberman appears in the film Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974 - Through the Camera of Barry Feinstein directed by Barry Feinstein, Joel Gilbert, and D.A. Pennebaker (DVD released March 8, 2005 by Music Video Distributors and/or Highway 61 Entertainment)

David Peel is a New York City-based musician who first achieved prominence in the late 1960s. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... March 8 poster from Portugal March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Weberman's Dylan-to-English database
• Weberman's Dylan to English Dictionary site
• Weberman discusses Dylan to English Dictionary
• Review of Dylan to English Dictionary
• Weberman's assertion that Dylan is ill with AIDS
• Weberman's Garbology site
• Weberman's pro-LSD site
• Weberman's Kennedy assassination site