1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,280 Speaker 1: Blood on the Tracks is the production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis. Bob Dylan was a musical genius 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: and one of the greatest songwriters of all time. He 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: didn't follow leaders. He chased that thin, wild mercury sound. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: He never looked back. Even as the times changed, and 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: as the times changed, Bob Dylan changed. He tried on 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: and discarded identities like they were mass He transformed. He 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: transfigured in somewhere along the way, the Bob Dylan that 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: you thought you knew died. This is his story. Is 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: this recording? Okay? This is Dr Ed Taylor. It's Friday, 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: July six. I'm at my home in Middletown, New York. 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: I have an unexpected patient here in my house. Robert 13 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: Allen Zimmerman, a k a. Bob Dylan. He was involved 14 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: in a motorcycle crash about an hour north to hear 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: up in Woodstock. He was brought here to me. I'm 16 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: not entirely sure why, but I assume he wants to 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: keep a low profile. He is suffering multiple injuries, although 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: as of yet I have been unable to ascertain exact details. 19 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: There is little bruising and there appears to be no 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: broken bones, but the patient is alarmed and erratic and dead. 21 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: He did that cat, that song and dance man that 22 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: judas the voice of a generation, whatever the hell that means. 23 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: The man named Bob Dylan. He died on a road 24 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: in Woodstock earlier today. The history books will tell you otherwise. 25 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: But believe me. Believe me when I say that he 26 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: died that day. He went over the handlebars of his motorcycle. 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: The sun is still burning in his eyes, and his 28 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: head hit the pavement back dead. I know because I 29 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,559 Speaker 1: was there. I saw it all happen, Because it happened 30 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: to me. I needed it. I needed it to get free, 31 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: free from the pressure, free from being Bob Dylan. But 32 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: death is not the end, you know. The funny thing 33 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: about life is it's not about finding yourself. People always say, 34 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: go and find yourself. No, it's about inventing yourself. That's 35 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: what life is. When you create, you're in control, you 36 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: hold the cards, you write the narrative, and when you create, 37 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: you can also kill. With every death comes rebirth, transfiguration 38 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: as I like to call it, as with every journey. 39 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,679 Speaker 1: Though there's a lot of pain, you can't travel through 40 00:02:50,720 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: life without leaving a little blood on the tracks. Yeah, 41 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: chapter one, Bob Dylan is Judas. It was the sun, Yeah, 42 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: that was it. The sun caught my eyes and then 43 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: I don't know the bike just I couldn't see anything. 44 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: I guess we should start at the start. Every end 45 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: has a has a start, right, even death. Well, the 46 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: end of Bob Dylan, you knew, began on July Newport 47 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: Folk Festival. I was king of the world. Then, well 48 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: somebody's world, I suppose, but everything was about to unravel. 49 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: I remember sitting backstage with my manager, Albert Grossman and 50 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: Alan Lomax. Do you know him? They call him an 51 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: ethno musicologist. That's a job. Apparently. Joining us was the 52 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: folk singer Pete Seeger. Pete and I went way back. 53 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: He helped me get noticed by Columbia Records, the record 54 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: company I had a contract with. I had a smoke 55 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: with each drag. It felt like everything was starting to 56 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: speed up. The whole day had been a drag. We 57 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: were due to play on Sunday night, but before we 58 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: had to do what they call a contemporary Songs workshop, 59 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: that sort of thing that sucks the life out of 60 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: previously living art. I sped through some of my songs 61 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: with my guitar, and we were due to cut the 62 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: song Tombstone Blues and Studio next week, so I gave 63 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: that a run out alongside a couple of earlier tunes. 64 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: I was happy enough until Paul Butterfield's Electric blues bands 65 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: took the stage right after me. My friend Mike Bloomfield 66 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: played guitar with them, and so I stayed to watch. 67 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: If I hadn't done that, well, maybe none of this 68 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: would have happened. Maybe I wouldn't even be talking to 69 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: you about this right now. I know because I was there. Anyway, 70 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: someone had to introduce the acts onto the stage. That's 71 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: the tradition. Right well before Paul Butterfield's band appeared, Lomax 72 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: had to introduced them. Now. I liked Lomax. I had 73 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: spent many nights at his apartment meeting all kinds of 74 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: folk music people that I would never have come in 75 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: contact with otherwise the history books will tell you otherwise. 76 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: He also introduced me to sus in New York. She 77 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: was the one on the cover of the Free Wheeling album. 78 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: But that day Lomax, being part of that folk set, 79 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: sneered at this electric band coming on with a little 80 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: curld smile on his face. He said something like, now 81 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: you're going to hear a group of young boys blah 82 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: blah blah with electric instruments blah blah blah. Let's see 83 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: if they can play this hardware at all. It was 84 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: so pompous man, so repressed. Fuck him for being disparaging. 85 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: Everything doesn't have to be the way it was, the 86 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: way we always have done it. Life is about inviting yourself. 87 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: That's what life is. I thought my annoyance would pass, 88 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 1: but by the time the first notes from the Butterfield 89 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: Band rang out, I was still pissed. I wasn't alone. 90 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: Just when I thought my anger was going to boil over, 91 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: I saw Albert march up to Lomax and shove him 92 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: with both hands. Do you write the narrative? Lomax fell 93 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: to the floor, and Albert, who wasn't a small guy 94 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: by the way, everyone called him the bear for crying 95 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: out loud, he threw himself on top of Lomax. Lomax 96 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: managed to get a punch in right on Albert's neck. 97 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: Albert was about to smack him right back, but somebody 98 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: pulled him apart. I didn't throw a punch that afternoon, 99 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: Unlike Albert, but I made up my mind to throw 100 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: one later and when I was due to perform. As 101 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: always alone with an acoustic guitar, but now I wanted 102 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: everyone to drown in the sound of a band, a 103 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: fucking rock and roll band. I put Albert on a 104 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,119 Speaker 1: mission go round up members of Paul Butterfield's band and 105 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: some other guys at the festival who weren't too snooty. 106 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: I went back to my dressing room and changed straight away. 107 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: I wore all black, black jeans, black Chelsea boots. I 108 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: felt like a million bucks. I also threw on a 109 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: black leather jacket to a race. All doubt I was 110 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: a rock star. It's about inventing yourself. Why did I 111 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: wear black? I thought I was going to a funeral, man, 112 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: It turns out I was early. At the sound check, 113 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: I was still pissed. We rattled through some Oregan riffs 114 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: and two songs with the full band, but we didn't 115 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: need to. This show wasn't about rehearsal. It was the 116 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: culmination of what I'd been feeling about this whole stuff 117 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: He's seen over the last few months. Eight o'clock sharp, 118 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: we were due to go on I stood at the 119 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: side of the stage and saw seventeen thousand people waiting 120 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: that happened. I grabbed my sixty Fender stratocaster and didn't 121 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: even reply to Albert when he asked if I was okay. 122 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: Peter Yarrow from the group Peter Paula Mary. He introduced 123 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: me in the band onto the stage. He said, ladies 124 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: and gentlemen, the person that's going to come up now 125 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: as a limited amount of time, limited amount of time. 126 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: Never has a truer sentence been uttered. We strode on 127 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,079 Speaker 1: and I shouted, let's go. I needed it to get free. 128 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: We launched into Maggie's farm and the sound of the 129 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: band was like a Tommy gun, like we were spraying 130 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: the audience with bullets from the speakers. He did. I 131 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: watched lights flash brightly from camera bulbs and the sea 132 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: of heads. The noise was so loud it was chaotic. 133 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: All my anger from earlier pulsed through my fingers. As 134 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: I beat the stratocaster into shape, flash more camera bulbs. 135 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: The huge floodlights blurred into spots in my eyes as 136 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: I hit the strings harder. With each downstrum of the guitar, 137 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: you hold the cards. I could already hear a din 138 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: from the crowd. I always told reporters that I couldn't 139 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: hear anybody booing over the loud music. But I did 140 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: hear it, and it did bother me. I was just 141 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: using what the politicians would call plausible deniability. The way 142 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: I was telling it was a good story, and why 143 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: let the truth get in the way of a good story. 144 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: Those vultures would probably thank me for a quote like 145 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: that if sells them more papers. The folk purists, meanwhile, 146 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 1: they hated us seventeen thousand Alan Lomax's The strings on 147 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: the strato caster took more of a pounding as finally 148 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: the camera flashes stopped, and then so did we. I 149 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: remember blurting out thank you very much as the booze 150 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: rained down. They hung there in the air like invisible violence. 151 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: Sure there were a couple of cheers sprinkled in there, 152 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: but it was mainly booze. We reloaded and gave it 153 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 1: to them again like a rolling stone. Was next. How 154 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: does it feel? At that moment, I knew the answer 155 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: to the question that song was asking. I know because 156 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: I was there. It was an act of defiance and 157 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: it felt good. But It also felt kind of lonely 158 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: in the moment, even though I was surrounded by other musicians. 159 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: I can't say why. We were halfway through, like a 160 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: rolling stone. When Pete Seeger appeared at the side of 161 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: the stage. He was outing that it was too loud, 162 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: that no one could hear the words good. I saw 163 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: something in his hand, caught by the flash of the cameras. 164 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: But death is not the end. It was an ax. 165 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:15,959 Speaker 1: For a split second, I thought he was gonna come 166 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: for me. With it comes rebirth. He was screaming, screaming 167 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: about cutting the power. He drew the axe above his head, 168 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: demanding that we stopped or he'd strike the p a cable. 169 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: Suddenly Albert appeared and wrestled the ax from him, both 170 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: of them falling to the ground and ruining a stack 171 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: of perfectly good guitars in the process. Acoustic guitars. How appropriate, 172 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: It was a destructive end to a destructive set because 173 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: it happened to me. I mean, was there an ax 174 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: there that day? No? But it makes for a better story. Okay, 175 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: don't forget. Life is about inventing yourself. That's what life 176 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: is her. I was on a jet back to New York, 177 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,599 Speaker 1: staring at my strats, sitting on the seat opposite me. 178 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: I just couldn't bear to hold it anymore. If I 179 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: held it, I could feel the booze from the crowd 180 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: resonating from inside the guitar's body. That reaction was worse 181 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: than I ever thought it could be. I kept telling myself, 182 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: this is just one show, this is just one show. 183 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 1: But what happened that night under flashes from the cameras 184 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: and the Tommy gun fire of the music, it would 185 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: open up Pandora's box for me, one I could never close. 186 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: It was an oily patch on the road. That was it. 187 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: That's the thing that caused it. I saw it, and 188 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: right away I knew it was going to cause the 189 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: bike to flip. I tried to avoid it, but it 190 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: was it was too big. The Newport gigs set the 191 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: tone for the next three sixty five days of my life. 192 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: Back in New York, I was cutting what would become 193 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: the Highway sixty one Revisited album. I began recording that 194 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: song positively Fourth Street, about all those purists who complained 195 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: about that electric stuff, the same ones who would call 196 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: me a judas. When I returned to England, in the 197 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: following spring. A lot of nerve those people. And when 198 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: you create everything that had recently happened to me I 199 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: put into that song. I couldn't get it down quick enough. 200 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: I was still writing the thing as we recorded it. 201 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: Hunched a were a huge amp in Columbia Studio A 202 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:07,319 Speaker 1: scribbling down these words. My hand was possessed. It was 203 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: so last minute. The band had to wait till I 204 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: was done the narrative. I've written some vicious songs in 205 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: my time and regret them. I still WinCE over a 206 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: tune called Ballad and playing d childish dig at a 207 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: former love of mine. But this time it felt healing, 208 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: kind of cathartic. I guess I was getting lost in 209 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: the bitterness. And when you create, you can also kill. Fittingly, 210 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: this mood was the backdrop to my first meeting with 211 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: Andy Warhol. I knew who he was. Of course, you 212 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: couldn't be in New York and not know of the 213 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: great Andy Warhol. He was a king, No, not a king, 214 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: he was more of a dictator, our very own Napoleon. 215 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: Andy apparently liked my stuff, which meant I was famous, 216 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: and he wanted to be with me because I was famous. 217 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: Mr Knnis Soup was just desperate to get me to 218 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: his what was it called his factory. Dy a girl 219 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: whom we both knew, invited me up. The place was 220 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: something else. Man aluminum foil all over the walls, cameras everywhere, 221 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: strange people everywhere. It was like a spaceship had landed 222 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 1: on street. Andy himself looked like a ghost. I mean 223 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: a fashionable ghost, sure, but still a ghost. He wanted 224 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: me in front of his camera for a screen test, 225 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: as he called it. He liked to make these kinds 226 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: of movies. All it was was me in front of 227 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: a camera for I don't know three minutes. I just 228 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: had to stand there while they filmed me right up close. 229 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: He just kept saying to me, be natural, be you. 230 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: The camera's not here. I know because I was there. 231 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: He kept calling me a beautiful thing, the voice of 232 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: a generation. When it was done, I joked about my payment. 233 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: I muttered something like, well, if this is art, then 234 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: pay the artist. Can of Soup didn't really see the joke, 235 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: so he actually offered me payment in the form of 236 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: one of his Elvis pictures. It was a seven foot 237 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: tall silk screen of Elvis from one of his movies 238 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: slinging a gun cowboy style double Elvis. He called it man. 239 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: I loved Elvis, and while I wasn't particularly moved by 240 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: this picture, I accepted it, and he asked if I 241 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: would like it packaged up and sent over to my house. 242 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: I said I'd just take it now, So me and 243 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: my friend Bobby Knewarth tied it to my old station 244 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: wagon and drove it all the way home. I needed 245 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: it to get free. The fashionable ghost was apparently horrified. 246 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: I do have one regret, though, for a start I 247 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: had nowhere to put the damn thing. It sat in 248 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: the closet in my house forever. Eventually Albert took a 249 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: liking to it and offered to take it off my hands. 250 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: We broke it a deal. I'd swapped the Andy original 251 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: for Albert Grossman's sofa. Done. The joke was on me, 252 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: though Albert's wife would sell the picture for over seven 253 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars in the eighties. The sofa barely lasted 254 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: a year after the factory, we were back on tour. 255 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: We were always on tour. I was exhausted. I had 256 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: always had an intense type of fame from the press, 257 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: from fans, but after Newport it got worse. People always 258 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: say go and find yourself. I was expected to have 259 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: answers on every political problem of the day, just because 260 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: I'd written songs that pointed some fingers. I was also 261 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,879 Speaker 1: expected to speak for an entire generation just because what 262 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: I had a stage. I learned just how bad things 263 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: had gotten. When we got to Denmark, I wanted to 264 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: see Cronberg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet is 265 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: one of my favorite pieces. I even named my giant 266 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: poodle after it. Quite the accolade for Bill. I'm sure 267 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: the castle is grand and opulent. Who dominates the landscape. 268 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: I was staring at it when Albert told me that 269 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: folk singer and poet Richard Farina had been fatally killed 270 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: in a motorcycle accident. I had known Richard well. He 271 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: was a big part of the Greenwich village scene. He 272 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: had also married Joan by as his sister Mimi. Apparently 273 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: it was Mimi's twenty first birthday and they were having 274 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: a party. Richard saw a guest with a motorcycle and 275 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: he asked for a ride. At an s turn, the 276 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: driver lost control, motorcycle tipped over on the right side 277 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: of the road, came back to the other side and 278 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: tore through a barbed wire fence into a field. He 279 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: went over the handlebars of his motorcycle. The driver survived, 280 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: but Farina dead instantly. Transfiguration, as I like to call it. 281 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: I felt like death was everywhere in my life at 282 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: that point. Geno Foreman an activist again, part of the 283 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: Greenwich Village scene. He died around that time drugs. Of course, 284 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,159 Speaker 1: on tour. He'd asked me for money. I wasn't in 285 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 1: a good mood and told him to funk off. I 286 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: never saw him again. Bablo Clayton, a folk singer and 287 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: friend of mine, died in April nineteen sixty six. He 288 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: got into a bathtub and pulled an electric heating and 289 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: after himself. I kept thinking about Richard though. That was 290 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: the one that got me. Of course I was sad, 291 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: real sad about it. But there was something else there, 292 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: another feeling jealousy. He was free. We'll be right back 293 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 1: after this word word. It was the brakes, the damn 294 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: breaks on that old bike. It was a Triumph Tiger. 295 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: Sometimes they get a problem with the brakes. Apparently they 296 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: just locked up. I remember that gray day clouds everywhere. 297 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: I wanted to get home quick, but I never made it. 298 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: After that tour had finished, I returned home to High 299 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: LOHI the first house I ever boughtve dollars for eleven rooms. 300 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: It stood in the woodstock trees. It was a place 301 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: where I could go and finally get away from all 302 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: the bullshit. But I never seemed to spend any significant 303 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: time there. I needed it to get free. When I 304 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: walked in the front door, I caught my face in 305 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: the rectangular mirror we had up in the hallway. It 306 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: was pinched and paper white. My eyes were dark and vacant. 307 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: I drew my hands up to prod the bags under 308 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,439 Speaker 1: my eyes and saw that my fingers were nicotine stained 309 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: and my fingernails were blackened. God, I've gone full Warhol. 310 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 1: My wife Sarah was on the back porch with our 311 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,360 Speaker 1: son Jesse and Maria, Sarah's daughter from her first marriage, 312 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:47,119 Speaker 1: who I had already began adoption proceedings for The porch 313 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: overlooked a parade of American elms, which crowded the back 314 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: of the house. Time felt different here, like I was 315 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: seeing everything through a new set of glasses. Pressure pure. 316 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: Jesse was only four months old at the time. He 317 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: was sitting in his high chair, a milk bottle full 318 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: in front of him, with his pacifier in his hand. 319 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: Maria was on her tricycle. I stared at them both. 320 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: I was struck by how content they were. The simplicity 321 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: of it marveled me. Their whole world was on this porch. 322 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: Everything they needed was here, everything they could ever want. 323 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: That's what life is. Our old phone rang from the hallway. 324 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,680 Speaker 1: It brought me back to reality. It was Albert informing 325 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: me that I'd be back on the road for a 326 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: six day tour in August. It was already the end 327 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: of May, and dance Man two months, two lousy months off? 328 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: Is that all I had? Then? What? Back to playing 329 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: the part of Judas? They loved, calling me Judas in 330 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: England Man. They booed me and ship talked me and 331 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: said that I had turned my back on all of them. 332 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: It got so add that leave on our Drummer went 333 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: back to the States. He couldn't handle it anymore. I 334 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: wasn't sure I could either, To be honest, finding yourself. 335 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: Albert didn't stop there, though, He sternly reminded me that 336 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: we had to finish a tour film we've been making 337 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: for the ABC television network. It was titled Eat the Document. 338 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: The last thing I wanted to do was watch the 339 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: last tour I've been on. I was there, man, and 340 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: it had nearly broken me. I didn't need to see 341 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: it again from multiple camera angles. Before our call ended, 342 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 1: he said that Columbia was playing hardball about a negotiated 343 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: contract for our terms to be met. They wanted a 344 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 1: new album quick, Oh is that all a new record? 345 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: The last one, a double album, I might remind you, 346 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: was being written while we were recording it when I 347 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: was running on fumes, and now they wanted another one. 348 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: I made a joke about possibly calling it Judas Returns. 349 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: Albert didn't laugh. For the next week, I tried to 350 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 1: avoid any thoughts of film edits and new tour dates. 351 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: Every day I would play with Jesse and walk Maria 352 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: to school. I started to fantasize that this was my 353 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: life forever, even though I knew I'd be on stage 354 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: soon enough. It's funny people dream of being a rock star, 355 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: but at this time I had started to dream of 356 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: white picket fences and household chores. The funny thing about 357 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: life is one day, we had to go to Albert's 358 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: house in Bearsville to pick up my motorcycle and a 359 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: j S five hundred that previously belonged to Rambling Jack Elliott. 360 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: Jack had run her into the ground and she was 361 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: barely functioning, but I love the ride. Sarah and I 362 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 1: left Albert's house. She was in the station wagon we 363 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: had acquired to fit our new Woodstock lifestyle and I 364 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: rode out up front on the bike. I was cruising 365 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,919 Speaker 1: pretty fast at the top of a hill near Woodstock, 366 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 1: very close to Woodstock. It was a little foggy, kind 367 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: of moist in the air. As I came down the slope, 368 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: I don't know the bike. I lost control. He went 369 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: over the handlebars of his motorcycle. I skidded for a 370 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: few feet, still trying to steer. I went left, then right. 371 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: The bike was now diagonal across the road, steam billowing 372 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: from the tires. The sun is still burning in his eyes. 373 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: I managed to get it straight, but I hit something 374 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: and instantly I was pushed up. I vaulted over the front. 375 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: My knee clipped the bike's front light. As I did, 376 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: I seemed to stay in the air forever. I just 377 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: hung there the bike below me. Trees either side the road. 378 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: Out ahead, there was a strange quiet. The bike must 379 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: have made a racket, but I didn't hear it. It 380 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: was almost serene in that moment. I thought of Richard Farina. 381 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: I thought of the barbed wire fence, and then then 382 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:18,399 Speaker 1: I just thought of Jesse and Maria and Sarah. I 383 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: hit the ground with a cold, hard thud, and all 384 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: I could taste was grit. It was all in my mouth, 385 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: grit and blood. I was on my back, spread out, 386 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: looking up at the sky. Then everything went black. Bob 387 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: Dillon died that day. Who came back? It's hard to say. 388 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: I took time off. No film, no new album, no 389 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: fucking tour man. I wouldn't play another show for almost 390 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: eight years. I tried to write, but it wasn't the 391 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,360 Speaker 1: same him as it was before. Things I've done unconsciously 392 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: before we're now having to be done consciously. Songwriting didn't 393 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: flow in the way it used to. Even though that 394 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: concerned me a bit, it was also a blessing. I 395 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: got out of the rat race. I found contentment. I 396 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: guess you could say that it came at the perfect time. 397 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: I couldn't have planned it. Better myself. For the first 398 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: time in years, I had a purpose that wasn't shrouded 399 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: and blame expectation or questions. All I wanted to do 400 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: was be a father and a husband. I carried on 401 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: my daily routine of playing with Jesse and taking Maria 402 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: to school. That's what life is. In fact, one day 403 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: after dropping her off, I spoke to our neighbor and 404 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: artist named Bruce Dorfman. Sarah had got me some oil 405 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: paint for my twenty seven birthday, and I wanted to 406 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: know how to use them. I figured, if I don't 407 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: want to write songs, and I'd paint. I even had 408 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: fantasies of becoming a painter, like a proper painter, not 409 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: just printing cans of soup. Bruce introduced me to the 410 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 1: work of Mark Chagal, and that was it. I was off. 411 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 1: I painted day and night. When the kids were in 412 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: school or down for a nap or eating. I was 413 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:26,000 Speaker 1: painting with or without Bruce. I took to it straight away. 414 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: I was still writing songs, but the songs took a 415 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: back seat for the moment as I lost myself in 416 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,400 Speaker 1: paints and canvases. Every day comes rebirth. That's the funny 417 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: thing about inspiration, though, especially with songwriting, it comes and goes. 418 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: You don't choose when it appears. It can reappear without 419 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: you even noticing. One day, Bruce was in my studio 420 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: and I had just finished the piece which he was admiring. 421 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: The imagery was sparse, apocalyptic, surreal. I was inspired by it. 422 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: Bruce asked me what it was called. I told him 423 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: All along the watch Tower. On August two, two, Don 424 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: Peterson sat in her New Jersey kitchen waiting for her 425 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: phone call. She anxiously spun her wedding ring round and 426 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: round on the bottom of her finger. She'd been spinning 427 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 1: the ring and waiting for the call for over half 428 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: an hour. She thought about what had happened to her 429 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: only two months ago, and how it had led to 430 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: this moment, a moment that change her life forever. On 431 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: a quiet Tuesday evening, she had been watching a documentary 432 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: on Bob Dylan. Suddenly her stomach did a somersault as 433 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: she watched perform with Electric Venom all those years ago 434 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: at the Newport Folk Festival. She fixated on the guitar. 435 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: She knew that guitar. She stared at the screen, the 436 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: black and white image from nearly forty years earlier flashing 437 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: before her eyes, and she could hardly believe it. The 438 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: guitar Bob Dylan had played on that faithful night at 439 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: Newport was identical to the one that currently sat in 440 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: her attic. It was a guitar that had been given 441 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: to her more than a decade ago by her father, 442 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: Victor Quinto. Victor was a private jet pilot who often 443 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: worked for rock and roll stars, farrying them around on tour. 444 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: After flying a visibly shaken Bob Dylan home to New 445 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: York on July, he noticed Bob and left his Electric 446 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: Vendor stratocaster with its sunburst finish, on one of the 447 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: plane seats. Despite contacting Dylan's people, Victor ended up taking 448 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: the strap back home, which is where it came to 449 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: stay for decades. Don knew if the guitar was the 450 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: one Dylan had left on her father's plane, that it 451 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 1: was a piece of rock history, and perhaps a priceless 452 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 1: piece of rock history. Her phone finally rang out. She 453 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: drew a deep breath and answered it quickly, and the 454 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: person on the other end was Agnes Davidson from the 455 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: PBS television show History detectives. Agnes informed Don that after 456 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: a lot of research and tests, they had determined that 457 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: her Fender Stratocaster with a sunburst finish was, in fact 458 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: the very guitar Bob Dylan had played at the Newport 459 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: Folk Festival in or at least the chances were high 460 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: around Don stood holding the phone and the receiver now 461 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: shaking in her hand. Tears made her vision blur as 462 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: she thanked Agnes for the update and they discussed possible 463 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: filming dates. The Stratocaster would go on to sell for 464 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: nine hundred and sixty five thousand dollars at auction, the 465 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: most expensive guitar to ever hit the auction block. Around 466 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty miles away, Bob Dylan sat backstage 467 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: in his trailer at the Newport Folk Festival. It was 468 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: the first time he had played the festival in thirty 469 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: seven years, and the man he was looking at in 470 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: the mirror was unrecognizable. His hair was long and straightened, 471 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: the brown color deep and rich. His face was decorated 472 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: with a medium length beard, gray tips in the middle, 473 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: and both the hair and the beard were fake, and 474 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: the glue that was used to attach the beard was 475 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: uncomfortable and irritating, so we rubbed it with his fingertips 476 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: before brushing the wig hair into a slight parting. He 477 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: finished the look by placing a pure white stetson on 478 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: the top of his head, smiling to himself as he did. 479 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: His thoughts then turned to Alan Lomax, who died some 480 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: two weeks ago. Dylan felt like Alan, while maybe not 481 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: in person, would be somewhere in the crowd that day, 482 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: looking on, perhaps approving of the whole thing. And there 483 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: was a knock at his trailer door. It was the 484 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: third time the event organizers had asked him if he 485 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: was ready. He was now ten minutes over his call time, 486 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: and the spaghetti western music that usually accompanied his arrival 487 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 1: on stage had already played through twice. Dylan reassured them 488 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 1: he was coming before taking one last look in the mirror, 489 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: and then he opened the door of his trailer and 490 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: made his way down the tiny metal steps, where a 491 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: golf buggy greeted him. It was the one thousand, four 492 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,600 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty second show of Bob Dylan's famous never 493 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:51,239 Speaker 1: ending tour, and while the press, critics, and fans had 494 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: made a big deal of his return to Newport. To Dylan, 495 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: it felt no different than any other gig, and there 496 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,040 Speaker 1: was a brief moment that changed all that, though. It 497 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 1: happened when the band launched into the set seventeenth song 498 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: Like a Rolling Stone. As he sang the song's chorus, 499 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 1: Dylan's mind drifted back to that day in nine. He 500 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,399 Speaker 1: recalled that different man, that man he no longer knew, 501 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: that man who was no longer alive, That man was 502 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,960 Speaker 1: living in a sped up world all alone. He thought 503 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,879 Speaker 1: about how everything from that moment in sixty five had 504 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: led to this. He thought about how you make yourself 505 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,640 Speaker 1: in this life, and about how he transformed himself with music, 506 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 1: about how he presented a different man to the world 507 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,359 Speaker 1: through his art. He thought about all the water under 508 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: the bridge between those two new Ports shows, all the 509 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: time that had elapsed, all the lives he had lived, 510 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,800 Speaker 1: and all the things that had happened. Events from the 511 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 1: past three decades came and went in his mind as 512 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,320 Speaker 1: he played that day, crazy moments like God appearing in 513 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: a hotel room, or the time he spent in Nashville, 514 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,200 Speaker 1: the madness of the Rolling Thunder review tour in a 515 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,360 Speaker 1: Bloody Murder, which he himself became embroiled in and he 516 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: thought about how when he lived so many lives, you 517 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:23,840 Speaker 1: can't help get Blood on the Tracks. Blood on the 518 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: Tracks produced by Double Elvis in partnership with I Heart Radio. 519 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: It's hosted an executive produced by me Jake Brennan, also 520 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: executive produced by Brady savy Zeth Lundy is lead editor 521 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,400 Speaker 1: and producer. This episode was written by Ben Burrow, Story 522 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: and copy editing by Pat Healey. Mixing and sound designed 523 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: by Colin Fleming. Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spreaker. 524 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: This episode featured Chris Anzeloni is Bob Dylan. Sources for 525 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: this episode are available at double Elvis dot com and 526 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: the Blood in the Tracks series page. 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