I have to say, the questions that these journalists are asking Bob, in comparison with the questions that today's journalists ask artists (singers, directors, whatever), are unbelievably insightful.
chris zanotti That's questionable. And even so, compare the questions asked to artists on social networks these days to these kind of questions --the latter are just more meaningful and give you more insight, as opposed to, say, "Who are you dating and why?"
God is Bob Dylan beautiful. He is the whole beautiful creative genius package. And wonderful to look at. Gorgeous man. One of those rare human beings. Someone who happens once in a lifetime probably never to be seen again in another human being. I am so blessed that I have lived while he has been creating music.
It's funny that when asked which commercial interest he would sell out to he said "ladies garments". A few years back he was either in or one of his songs was in a commercial for Victoria's secret and I believe that's one of the few if not only time he's allowed his music to be used like that. I guess he wasn't kidding about everything in this interview after all.
Given that he later worked with Augie Meyers later on "Time Out Of Mind" and "Love And Theft" interesting that he was into the Sir Douglas Quintet this early (3:24). Also good to see the goofy guy who glared at Dylan and asked him about the "meaning" of a photo relaxed enough later to laugh at Dylan's joke (0:28).
He’s so beautiful and very clever. Remarkably composed for someone so young. Around that time I also thought post offices important. Used to get up every day and as soon as I could I’d go next door to see Annie and Herbie an old Presbyterian couple who lived there who had no children. I’d get there when Annie had set out Herbie’s breakfast and I’d watch him and he’d give me the fat from the bacon on his plate. They had a curly haired little dog called Peggy. At one point I’d asked Annie if she would be my other mother. And she very much was. More of a mother in my memory at that time than my real one. She loved to see me and gave me chocolate sandwiches in Veda bread which is entirely wild. Kinda thing that Van with his sweet tooth was probably brought up on. He writes about gravy rings (donuts), wagon wheels (big round chocolate cake biscuits), barnbrack (bread with fruit in it), snowballs (coconut covered chocolate marshmallowy sugary cakes), etc. Anyways, she and my mother taught me how to knit. The first thing I wanted to knit was a coat for Peggy. I remember one day though her and my mother talking about me and the knitting and her telling my mother that I had got upset because I couldn’t figure out how to knit a hole for Peggy’s tail. They seemed to find this amusing. I had no idea why as I thought it was a very thorny problem. She also taught me how to crochet. Herbie then would take me to visit other relatives of theirs in the town. A couple called James and Rachel who had come back from Canada and who also had no children. To get to their house Herbie had to drive his Morris minor down Rainey Street where the main post office was and then later I remember Herbie telling my mother that I made him bless himself going past the post office as I thought every big building was a chapel. As he was not Catholic, he found this new learning doubly confusing. Eventually they inherited a house and loads of money from an old uncle of Annie’s called Bill who I’d also met as I’d been to his fancy house when he was alive. He made clocks and in the house there were clocks made from just about anything and everything. They moved to the fancy part of town when I was about 10 and then Herbie died within a few months. They’d not had enough time to ask Old Bill’s housekeeper to find somewhere else to live. She was a Catholic who ran his home and lived in. Commonplace then. Called Mary. So Annie and Mary then lived there together until Annie met some other old git who was called William Faulkner who apparently wouldn’t let her spend her money and they sold the house and moved away to Cookstown to a tiny council house. I met him and he was horrible and he clearly didn’t like it that she knew or cared for any Catholics. I met her again when I called when I was about 22 and the last time I called I was about 26. William had died by then and she was still living at home but quite frail. She died on 5/5 1990 I think. She’s buried with Herbie not William thank fuck. In the Presbyterian graveyard in the centre of town. I go there sometimes. I was crying there just a couple of weeks before my real mother died. When I last saw her she asked me if I remembered asking her to be my other mother. I said I did. She then took me into the spare bedroom in her bungalow and showed me an array of little presents I’d brought back from my family holidays for her which she’d kept. Just about three four years ago I went to the central records office for Northern Ireland to see a copy of her will. I wanted to be mentioned there. I didn’t want anything I just thought she might’ve mentioned me. I wondered what had happened to all the little souvenirs from Donegal. But I wasn’t mentioned there. She’d left her things to a couple of male nephews I think. Am sure they threw the Irish Donegal stuff in the bin. Her cousin Rachel died on 6/3/69. Rachel had given me when she was alive a beautiful miniature cup and saucer which she’d brought back from Canada which I always kept and took with me when I moved to England. Over the years people would buy me other little cups and saucers cos they knew I liked them. I asked my mum when I was young why neither Rachel and James or Annie and Herbie had any children. My mum said ah all those Presbyterians are too closely married, all related. When I heard she had died a few months after it had happened I was furious with my own mother. I said why didn’t you let me know as I would have come back for the funeral.. My mum claimed she hadn’t heard at the time. I did understand that the different religions tended to look out for news of deaths within their own communities but I also knew that my parents got about half a dozen newspapers a day as my dad was a journalist and they got Unionist as well as Nationalist papers as well as mainstream Irish and British papers. Thinking about it now my mum was probably very tied up with her own mother Annie also, at the time. Her mother also died 1990. October I think. And my mum had told me not to bother coming back from England for her funeral. So actually my mum and I both lost mothers called Annie that year. Strange.
The transcript is on Bob Dylan The Essential Interviews edited by Jonathan Cott from Rolling Stone. I had just read it and wanted to see his expressions along with some of the coments.
I was told that somebody asked Joan Baez if Dylan was coming to the demonstration. She answered, "Dylan never comes to the demonstration." That is my problem with Dylan That was a very glib answer about the draft.
I love the "If you were going to sell out to a commercial interest which one would you do?", "Ladies garments" part, cause fast forward a couple decades and he does a commercial for Victorias secret
I agree. I honestly 100% believe that he is probably the greatest male lyricist of the late 20th century and I'd say Stevie Nicks is up there as the greatest female one.
Do you know what she was asking? It seems not. Phil Ochs was a folk purist of the first order. His lyrics and music were formed by the generations before him and his intention was to keep folk as it was (in other words, let it stagnate), and when Dylan had the artistic integrity to be himself, in other words to let his impulses lead his music to wherever they would, Ochs pompously declared that Dylan's life was in danger - a way to keep himself a helmsman of the Ship of Folk. A wanker.
Gotta go sort my car. It’s in a car park down the hill. Gotta pay for parking. Rainy here. Hope to see the castle in next day or so. We were talking of ghosts and Andrew the owner here said their bridal suite is haunted, that some couple claimed a ghost sat in the corner watching them at it. He said you didn’t stop. Apparently it didn’t bother them. The well known ghost Victor Voyeur. Ffs. X 💕 ❤️ Love ya. X
Think he was stoned here, however, these people have this expectation as most typical reporters/general public people have that he should be someone he's not. He answered the questions the best he could. "And I see through your eyes, and I see through your brain, like I see through the water that runs down my drain." Couldn't agree more..
He was too cynical for protests. He shared the same frustrations everyone else in his generation did, but I don't think he had the hope or faith in being able to change anything to do that.
Pretty comment sure that is true, but he certainly can handle a conference he is very funny but also serious when need be. I love the relaxed way he talks with the young lady at the end best.
Someone took a photo of him showed him it there and then, and as if to say he looks terrible he said good god I must leave right away.. sense of humour
He was born tired. You can see it in his eyes between his answers. Always thinking of lyrics. Lines. To keep awake as he half-listens to these peoples' tiresome, uninteresting questions.
One thing about Bob he suffered for a couple of years with narcolepsy and insomnia so he always was working on manipulating many things,like a juggling on a high wire on a unicycle. Just a song and dance man.
Some are okay for 1965. For example Allan Ginsberg was there, one of the most progressive poets of the 20th century. He's the one who in the first part said, "Do you think you'll get hung as a thief?" (an allusion to the fact that many people were on the bandwagon, accusing Dylan of plagiarising). Some of the others were pretty cool for those days too. I was 15 then and way out there. I didn't expect those older than me to be good at it. The girl who asks about things not turning out is a fraud.
I saw dillon at Masey hall in torono can. He was in one of his religios periods....new born, I think? A women ran down to the stage to give him a lovely red rose...he declined. She looked hurt and shamed. This is one of the many mean things he's done. All musicians are asked off the wall questions, so what!
I really enjoy these dylan interviews. Must have caught him on a good day because he did have the tendency to be very arrogant and abrasive during interviews at this time. Plus you can tell he wasn't loaded up on amphetamine here, which people around him could tell you themselves, could get pretty mean and nasty while on them.
“I know you hate labels but could you label yourself?” The press are full of such morons, if I get asked a bunch of repetitive meaningless, thoughtless questions/ the wrong questions, I’d find it annoying too. Love Dylan’s responses 😹
