Thursday 6 November 2014

'He was cool'

So said Garth Hudson (of The Band) on the radio this morning. He was being interviewed about the legendary Basement Tapes made by Bob Dylan and the (soon to be) Band in New York in 1967 and now being reissued yet again in even more comprehensive form. Who was cool? Why, Dylan was. Garth had been asked how Dylan was at the time of the recordings, 'He was cool,' said Garth. This was clearly not enough for the interviewer, who pressed on, determined to find out more - he was off his face, he was whacked, he was a mumbling wreck of a man, something like that. At length Garth Hudson elaborated. 'There were no indications,' he declared,'that I can recall, that he was not cool.' Brilliant.
I remember Kinky Friedman once being interviewed about Dylan, with whom he had just been touring (in the late 90s maybe?). 'Mr Dylan,' he opined, 'is somewhat past his sell-by date, but he has his moments of lucidity.'

2 comments:

  1. Actually The Kinkster's time with Dylan dates from the mid 1970's when the Rolling Thunder Revue got rolling - and there were so many 'hangers-on' that I remember Kinky calling the whole enterprise a 'psychedelic carnival' - I'm sure it was.
    The line I remember from him, at around that time was 'You sound like you are wearing a hat'

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  2. Thanks MM - you're quite right of course, tho their paths have crossed since. In fact check this out -

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHE_Q1v42c

    Neither man's finest hour, but what a great song - and a great introduction!

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