Al Aronowitz

Alfred Gilbert Aronowitz (May 20, 1928 – August 1, 2005) was an American rock journalist best known for introducing Bob Dylan to the Beatles in 1964.

Early life and education Aronowitz was born in Bordentown, New Jersey, south-east of Trenton and earned a degree in journalism from Rutgers University in 1950. He was the son of an Orthodox Jewish butcher.

Career He worked for various New Jersey newspapers in the 1950s before moving to the New York Post where, in 1959, he wrote a 12-part series on the Beat Generation, in the process becoming friends with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. In the early 1960s, Aronowitz wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. While covering the Beatles, he introduced them to Bob Dylan in a New York City hotel room on August 28, 1964.

Aronowitz was the original manager of The Velvet Underground, getting the band their first gig in the auditorium of the high school in Summit, New Jersey next to Berkeley Heights. The Velvet Underground stole Aronowitz's tape recorder and dumped him as manager weeks later when they met the artist Andy Warhol. Beginning in the late 1960s, Aronowitz wrote the Pop Scene column for the New York Post; he was fired in 1972 for conflict of interest because he managed bands. Their daughter, Brett, is a graphic designer, writer and illustrator.

Aronowitz died of cancer in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on August 1, 2005, at the age of 77.