Arrives in New York and visits Woody Guthrie

He arrived in the middle of a hard winter and found his way to Greenwich Village, where he played for tips at the Cafe Wha? and other clubs and slept on friends' couches. Guthrie, his idol, was by then too ill to perform, living in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey. Dylan visited him there, played him songs and also called on him at the home of friends who hosted Guthrie on Sundays. Out of those visits came "Song to Woody", one of the first strong songs he wrote, a tribute that later appeared on his debut album. The encounters gave the newcomer a direct link to the folk tradition he admired, and within months he had become a familiar figure on the Village scene, learning from older singers such as Dave Van Ronk.