1965: Mr. Zimmerman, my friends and me in Santa Monica

Dylan blows out a melody on the harmonica.

Note: this is a post from 2011.

Bob Dylan recently turned 70. The singer was just 24 when I first saw him in concert on Dec. 19, 1965. He performed some solo acoustic songs followed by a raucous rock set at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, Calif.  As one of my first live concerts, the show's high points remain etched in memory.

I've been an incurable ticket stub-saver forever, and still have the tiny blue paper remnant reminding me that the Dylan show was on a Sunday evening, and that  I bought two main floor seats in section F, row 21. The tickets were $2.75 each. The other one was for my date, Deanna Anderson, a fun-loving blonde.

We were double-dating with my buddy Steve Rink and his girlfriend -- all of us seniors at South High in Torrance. We drove from there to the show in Steve's lime-green '57 Chevy wagon.

I had started playing Dylan songs on guitar a couple of years earlier, switching from the piano after dropping classical and pop lessons in my sophomore year. Maybe that's why Mom wasn't a big Dylan fan back then.

Judging by the noisy full house at the Santa Monica Civic, though, lots of people loved his music. Some didn't, as Dylan was transitioning from a folk singer into a rock and roll performer. The folk purists felt Dylan left them behind . . .  sold out for the big bucks of the rock world. Seems absurd now; not then though.

You didn't need a weatherman to tell it was the "new" Dylan when he ambled from the darkened stage into the spotlight. The reed-thin Dylan had exchanged his folk singer work clothes for a high-collar mod zigzag-patterned suit and Beatle boots. However, for the opening set, it was just Bob, his trademark harmonica rack and acoustic guitar.

Mr. Tambourine Man. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright. Gates of Eden. She Belongs to Me. I loved those songs . . . and Dylan's crafty wordplay. Even today, all the words seem to pour out automatically when I sing the old Dylan songs.

After intermission, Dylan came out with a Fender Stratocaster guitar and a red-hot group of rock musicians, including guitarist Robbie Robertson and others who would soon become known as The Band. A bunch of hecklers were giving Dylan the business, and the audience howled in laughter when he told one particularly loud and annoying guy " there's a phone call for you in the lobby."

After that, he played Positively Fourth Street, Ballad of a Thin Man, Like a Rolling Stone and more.

I've seen Dylan shows over the years, but like so many other things, the first one was the best.