07/28/2023
Our State magazine is featuring artists from NC (Ben E. King, Henderson; Stand by Me), as well as those who visited NC in their early days. One story is about Bob Dylan...score another one for Lilian Sandburg!! đ
Knock-Knock-Knockinâ on Sandburgâs Door
Flat Rock
Bob Dylan and some friends were driving a new Ford station wagon through the winding mountain roads around Flat Rock in early 1964, looking for one of the singerâs heroes. They were more than 600 miles from New York Cityâs Greenwich Village and not sure exactly where they were going, according to Dylan biographer Anthony Scaduto. It was February, and the trees were still bare. Dylan, 22, hopped out at a gas station and addressed a lanky man in overalls.
âWhereâs Carl Sandburgâs place? You know, the poet.â
âYou mean Sandburg the goat farmer?â
Sandburgâs wife, Lilian âPaulaâ Sandburg, had made her own mark as an award-winning goat farmer.
âNo, I mean Sandburg the poet,â Dylan said.
âDonât know about no poet. Thereâs a Sandburg has a goat farm. Wrote a book on Lincoln. Little guy. Littler than you, even. If thatâs the one, take the road two miles up there, turn left after the little bridge, canât miss it if youâre sober.â
Dylan had not yet gone full-on electric rock ânâ roll, but the young folk singer had already established himself as the voice of his generation with songs like âBlowinâ in the Wind.â He and his friends had headed south just days before The Beatles landed in Dylanâs adopted hometown of New York for their historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Dylan had a show to play at Emory University in Atlanta, but he made a detour through the Blue Ridge Mountains. He found Sandburg at the poetâs white house on a hill called Connemara, established and originally named Rock Hill by the first treasurer of the Confederate States of America. Sandburg and his acolyte had a friendly 10-minute chat, although the singerâs friends said that he seemed miffed that the venerated poet didnât recognize him. Dylan left Sandburg with a copy of his latest album, The Times They Are A-Changinâ.
