The first time I saw Rick Danko

The first time I saw Rick Danko was in 1965 in Newark, New Jersey.

Peter Stone Brown on hearing of the death of Rick Danko.

The first time I saw Rick Danko was in 1965 in Newark, New Jersey. He was a member of The Hawks and was backing up Bob Dylan.  It was my fourth Bob Dylan show and my second electric Dylan show.  Somehow I had a front row center seat I’d bought at the theater that afternoon.  I really didn’t know who the Hawks were.  I didn’t know who Rick Danko was.  They weren’t introduced and there was no program book.  I found out a few days later when I saw the program from the show the night before in New York at Carnegie Hall, and I realized that most of those guys (not Danko) were on this John Hammond album I had.  I remember there were guards at either side of the stage and this band didn’t look at all like Dylan.  They were all wearing suits and had really short hair.  There was like a wall of Fender showman amps running across the stage and it was loud.  I remember Danko and Robertson were moving like mad and every time there was a solo…