Albert Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk-rock music, including Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Band, Odetta, and Gordon Lightfoot. (More from Wikipedia)
As the months dragged on in the recording sessions for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, producer John Hammond might have begun feeling a little out of his depth – no doubt he knew that he had the goods this time. He was also having power struggles with Albert Grossman, who became Bob Dylan’s manager on August 20, 1962. Additionally, Bob Dylan first started making recordings with a backing band in October 1962.
At any rate, another producer was brought in to help out – an unlikely though inspired choice as it turned out. As described in Wikipedia: “Because of [Albert] Grossman’s hostility to [John] Hammond, Columbia paired Dylan with a young, African-American jazz producer, Tom Wilson. Wilson recalled: ‘I didn’t even particularly like folk music. I’d been recording Sun Ra and [John] Coltrane. . . . I thought folk music was for the dumb guys. [Dylan] played like the dumb guys, but then these words came out. I was flabbergasted.’”
(June 2013/2)
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On the other hand, Bob Dylan’s next album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was a big hit, and largely because Peter, Paul and Mary had a #2 hit with “Blowin’ in the Wind” that was released just three weeks after Freewheelin’ – Albert Grossman, who was managing both Dylan and PP&M in that time period, brought them the song, and they immediately recorded and released it.
(March 2015)
