A. J. Weberman

Alan Jules Weberman (born May 26, 1945), better known as A. J. Weberman, is an American writer, political activist/gadfly, and popularizer of the terms 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 movement of the 1960s.^[1] He was also an activist in the Jewish Defense Organization, said by the Anti-Defamation League^[2] to be a militant Revisionist Zionist organization regarded as a branch of Kahanism, but which professes to be a Jabotinskyite organization.^[3]

Public controversies

Weberman's 2005 work on Dylan

A.J. Weberman has written on the life and works of Bob Dylan, leaving college to focus on creating what he calls 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.

Weberman's literary analysis of Dylan's work, which he has termed "Dylanology," is centered around Weberman's assertion that, to Dylan, many words have lesser-used meanings differing, sometimes greatly, from their common definitions. According to Weberman, "Rain", for instance, often means "hatred" in a Dylan song. Dylan wrote, "Father of love / Father of rain" in a song where opposites are contrasted.

Rolling Stone magazine has called Weberman "the king of all Dylan nuts."^[4] They report an incident where Dylan, annoyed by Weberman and his associates who were constantly digging through his garbage, assaulted Weberman outside Dylan's apartment. In a different article, Rolling Stone reports that Weberman, "a man that terrorized Bob Dylan during the '60s," had now "returned to hassle his son," Jakob Dylan. Weberman claimed that the younger Dylan was a heroin addict.^[5]

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. Cultural anthropology anthropologists such as Dr. William A. Rathje of the University of Arizona conduct expeditions analyzing garbage to understand culture.^[6][7]

Weberman attempted to expand his "Dylan Liberation Front" into a "Rock Liberation Front", intended to pressure pop musicians into greater political activity.

Weberman, along with the Jewish Defense Organization, and JDO chief Mordechai Levy, were successfully sued for libel to the tune of $850,000^[8] by Steven Paul Rombom, a PI arrested for impersonating an FBI Agent.^[9]

Weberman has also studied the 1963 assassination of US President John F. Kennedy and was employed by the late Congressman Henry Gonzalez of Texas and Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]} 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 Howard Hunt, Frank Sturgis (a contract agent) and David Christ, Head of the TSD of the CIA, 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. Before his death in 2005, Hunt told his son that he had been involved in the JFK assassination.^{[citation needed]} 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 has been granted. Weberman, who is a member of the Yippie Museum's board of trustees, announced in early 2006, in a typical display of Yippie spoofery, that the museum would house an Institute for the Study of Advanced Political Protest.^[10] By 2011, the Museum is fully operational and features a regular schedule of musical entertainment in its coffee shop. Website: http://yippiemuseum.org/

A film about Weberman, entitled The Ballad of AJ Weberman^[11] won the Raindance Award at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).^[12] He also did research for a book by Peter Lance^[13] on an al-Qaeda triple agent who penetrated the FBI and CIA. In 2008 The Yippie Museum Press published HOMOTHUG, an unauthorized biography of Rudy Giuliani that was later pulled off the market by Amazon and is only available used or from A.J. Weberman directly.^[14]

Reference material

Publications

• Weberman, A.J. (1969). Dylanology. Whitepress. p. 25 pages. 
• Weberman, A.J. (1971). Concordance to the songs, poetry, and assorted writings of Bob Dylan. New York: Private printing. ASIN B00072TJ6C. 
• Dylan, Bob, and A.J. Weberman (introduction) (1971). Poem to Joanie (Limited edition of 300 ed.). London: Aloes. 
• Weberman, A.J. (unknown). Keep the Fuck Outta My Goddam Garbage. Privately printed. p. 22 pages. 
• Weberman, Alan J. and Michael Canfield (1992) [1975]. Coup D’Etat In America: The CIA and the Assassination of JFK. Quick American Publishing [originally by The Third Press]. ISBN 978-0-932551-10-8. 
• Weberman, A.J. (1980). My Life in Garbology. Stonehill Press. ISBN 978-0-88373-096-6. 
• Weberman, A.J. (2005). Dylan to English Dictionary. New York: Yippie Museum Press. ISBN 978-1-4196-1338-8. 
• Weberman, A.J.. "Article (title unknown)". On The Tracks, issue 5. Rolling Tomes. http://www.b-dylan.com/pages/backissues.shtml. 
• Weberman, A.J. (2009). RightWing Bob: What the Liberal Media Doesn't Want You To Know About Bob Dylan. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4392-5615-2. 
• Weberman, A. J. Homothug: The Secret Life of Rudy Giuliani (New York: Yippie Museum Press)

Notes

1. ^ "Officially founded by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin in January 1968, the Youth International Party, or Yippies, were a countercultural group that briefly gained fame as a part of American activism. The group’s trademark was their theatrical style; the Yippies parlayed anti-authoritative dissent and subversion into surrealism, spontaneity, mischief, and performance." Independent Lens http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chicago10/yippies.html
2. ^ Anti-Defamation League Report, Extremism in the Name of Religion: The Violent Record of the Kahane Movement and its Offshoots, 1995
3. ^ Jewish Defense Organization: Death To Nazi Scum
4. ^ "Rock and Roll Daily", Rolling Stone, June 11, 2007
5. ^ "Man no fan of Dylan family," Rolling Stone, July 4, 1997
6. ^ Severo, Richard (October 5, 1989). "Mining Trash Heap for Answers to Riddles". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/05/nyregion/mining-trash-heap-for-answers-to-riddles.html. 
7. ^ "Garbology": as defined by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary online:

   the study of modern culture through the analysis of what is thrown away as garbage [1]

8. ^ The Hunting of Steven J. Hatfill
9. ^ Krebs, Brian (July 25, 2006). "Agents Arrest Background Specialist at Hackers Forum". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072401196.html. Retrieved April 23, 2010. 
10. ^ Museum will have Abbie’s trash, Rubin’s road kill
11. ^ The Ballad of A J Weberman Documentary
12. ^ The Ballad Of AJ Weberman - - 2006 The Raindance Award | The British Independent Film Awards
13. ^ http://peterlance.com
14. ^ Amazon.com: HOMOTHUG: The Secret Life of Rudy Guiliani (9781419689390): Alan J. Weberman, Yippie Museum Research Team : Books: Reviews, Prices & more

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

• Classic Interviews, Vol. 2: The Weberman Tapes (UK: Chromedreams. US: 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, Catalog #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)

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. Re-released in box set David Peel, Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw — the Apple and Orange Recordings, 2005, Orange Records)
• Weberman recordings, private collection, catalogued here^{[dead link]}:

• 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 Fass, Allen J. Weberman & Ellen Zander) (Part 1) 1970
• Bob Fass Show, WBAI Radio, New York (Studio discussion with Bob Fass, Allen J. Weberman & Ellen Zander) (Part 2) 1970
• Bob Fass Show WBAI Radio New York (Studio Discussion With Bob Fass, 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, WFMU 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)

External links

• Feature Length documentary about A.J.Weberman
• Weberman's Dylanology site
• Weberman discusses Dylan to English Dictionary
• Review of Dylan to English Dictionary
• Review of Dylan to English Dictionary
• Bob Dylan, America's Greatest Anti-Communist poet
• Weberman's RightWing Bob Website
• Weberman's Steve Rombom site
• Weberman's turn a pot high into an LSD highsite
• Weberman's Kennedy assassination site
• New Yippie Cafe and Museum Web Site
• Weberman's Major Nidal Malick Hasan Book

Persondata
Name	Weberman, A. J.
Alternative names	Weberman, Alan
Short description	Dylanologist, Garbologist
Date of birth	May 26, 1945
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death