|
This is the full version only available in part
elsewhere.
Q Is
the story in this book true (Stolen Moments p156 - June 30, 1975) about
your first encounter with Bob Dylan? If it is true, did you have to
cancel the previous engagement with somebody else?
A Yes,
a condensed version but, yes.
Q You
were walking along the street in New York City where did you intend
going?
A I
was going directly across the street and would probably have been out of
his sight in 30 seconds.
Q You
had your previous engagement which you had to cancel?
A Yes,
I did. It wasn’t so important compared with this, which I know
absolutely. Destiny cut me off!
Q What
did you do before you met Bob Dylan?
A Oh,
you know, erm… I was trying experiments with the violin. To make a new
statement and do something original. I was experimenting with a little
jazz, little rock a little Latin music. It didn’t find a really good
fit yet. So then it found a really great fit with Bob Dylan. In a very
huge and significant way that affected rock history for good as I was
the first women he ever hired in the band. It established a woman in a
band and a woman on a unique instrument he never had before and almost
nobody had used before in a rock setting.
Q Did
you have a formal training on violin?
A Absolutely.
Started orchestra and private lessons when I was five years old and I
studied all of the classics.
Q Who
is your favourite composer?
A I
love Debussy because it’s very dreamy and it’s not about flash. He’s
like a painter in music. He paints amazing imaginary places and I try to
that with my own original music.
Q One
of the things that make the Desire album great is your violin. Do you
agree?
A It’s
on every track!
Q Desire
appears to be the least professional album as the rhythm is not accurate
throughout.
A He
wanted it that way. He had Eric Clapton and Kokomo on the album but he
didn’t use any of the tracks. He kept Howie Wyeth on drums and that
was his deliberate choice. Also if you made a mistake he went "too
bad you don’t do it again". He didn’t want perfection, he
wanted spontaneous play.
Q This
is the session sheet of the Desire album and this must be the first
night of the recording.
A It
ended up being an outtake, and extra track. It came out many years
later. Yeah, Rita Mae didn’t end up on the original album but I
remember playing on that.
Q This
was the b-side of a single.
A Yes,
that’s correct. Again all very spontaneous these recordings some had
two or three takes tops and one take was One More Cup Of Coffee For The
Road (sic).
Q Is
it true? According to this you tried One More Cup Of Coffee on this
night in one take. You did it again July 30th and this made it onto the
Desire album but the first session you did one take.
A Yes.
Q In
the session you did Romance In Durango with Eric Clapton. You did six
takes and the second is the album version. Is that one better than the
others?
A I
think that Bob was looking for something that was very unpredictable.
Even though he had somebody as incredible as Eric Clapton on the record
that he made a decision later not to put it out. I think that it was to
do with making a new statement for him. He had more unknown players and
more spontaneity. As Bob Dylan he did need to add a big name to his
ablum. You know, he didn’t consult me as to why he made that choice.
But that’s my assumption, he wanted what we brought because it was
quite fresh and very unpremeditated. We learned right in the studio, we
did not learn weeks ahead of time with charts and tapes, we learned
right there and then you played immediately.
Q Do
you have any song that you think could have been done better if Bob had
allowed one more take?
A Yes,
I do Sara, for one. I made a mistake in Sara but he would not let me
re-do it. It was like "oh, please", "no"!
Q Did
Sara Like the song?
A Yes,
she did.
Q Do
you remember the song called Money Blues?
A I
was not on Money Blues. I know of it but I did not play on it.
Q Are
these session sheets correct?
A Yes.
Q I
talked to Fred Tacket and he said that the session sheets weren’t
correct because the sheets were written after the session.
A I
think that Columbia’s producer would have something to do with the
accuracy of the sheets. I mentioned one song I thought that I could do
better on but there were so many others that I was very happy with. They
stand the test of time. Like Hurricane, Mozambique and Isis.
Q You
were one of the first to join the Rolling Thunder Revue. How did Bob get
so many people together?
A Well
I didn’t know his process. I know how I was found but I didn’t know
if he previously knew Howie or Rob Stoner, T-Bone Burnette. I think he
must have known of some of these people. I don’t think everybody’s
was as amazing a story as mine. Really out of the blue and meeting him
like that. Probably he was introduced to them or heard them at a bar or
recommended.
Q Is
it true that T-Bone Burnette was into fundamentalist Christianity in the
Rolling Thunder era?
A He
didn’t make it obvious to me, no he never pushed that onto me.
Q The
Rolling Thunder tour is reminiscent of the Joe Cocker and Leon Russell,
Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour.
A Yes,
much. Just a wild collection of people. Like Mick Ronson, how does he
fit into this. Why so many guitars on stage? I don’t know!
Q Did
you listen to the Rolling Thunder Revue album released in 2002?
A Yes,
it is wonderful. I was so happy that it finally came out as a live
concert as they were very special. I bet there was a lot of careful
selections. There were so many versions to chose from. I don’t know
how the version of Isis was picked but I’m sure it was a long process.
Q Do
you have any tapes of the tour?
A On
me here? No, I don’t usually carry it around.
Q Which
show was the most memorable for you?
A I
think my first show, Plymouth. It was really amazing and many others but
Plymouth was being my first introduction and it was a big test a trial
by fire and a great success.
Q Is
it true that you only played Like A Rolling Stone once at Niagra Falls
15 November 1975?
A To
my knowledge I think I did. I don’t know why I didn’t play it again
but he made up different sets every night. Usually I played on the same
songs. But I also played on some other songs like Just Like A Woman and
Tangled Up In Blue.
Q One
of the greatest mysteries of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour is Salt Lake
City, 25 May 1976 the last show of the tour. We don’t know exactly
what you played. All we know is this track listing. (Stolen Moments
p178)
A Four
and a half hours!
Q Is
it true?
A I
know they were very long, very long. One concert was in some kind of big
hall with a tin roof. It sounded like thunder! I don’t know of any
more songs. I can’t go back and remember what we played that night. I
would have had to take lots of notes and keep them, which I didn’t do.
But this makes sense, Black Diamond Bay!
Q You
did it?
A I
don’t think I did. But Romance in Durango…
Q What
about Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts, did you do it?
A No,
I wasn’t on that.
Q Did
you feel that there was any difference between the 1975 and 1976 Rolling
Thunder tours?
A Yes,
it is hard to put into words. I think that the band chemistry changed
which shifted the atmosphere.
Q There
was some criticism of playing big venues.
A Bob
could have just played big venues but he did play many small ones too.
If he hadn’t played big venues many people wouldn’t have seen the
shows, so I think that it was a compromise. Classic old small theatres
like Cambridge, Massachusetts and then inter mixed with the big house.
But he loved the small too. I doubt that his record company would like
him doing only small halls!
Q Now
many people think that Rolling Thunder was one of the best tours. Is it
correct that many of the places weren’t sold out?
A I
wasn’t aware of that. Only one place I really remembered wasn’t but
that was because it rained all day. But to me I saw solid walls of
people when I looked out. I feel that it was sold out everywhere. He
was at the apex of his career and that was the thing to see.
Q Do
you still keep in touch with anybody from the Rolling Thunder Band?
A Once
in a while I see Bob. Over the years I’ve seen him many places.
Minneapolis, where he came from, his home town. Many friends of his from
childhood became friends of mine. I sometimes do a small concert in
Minneapolis with the old friends and he would come and quietly sit in the
audience to see his old friends play.
Q When
did you last meet him?
A I
last saw him at the last concert in Los Angeles, very briefly. There
were so many people there so many stars so there was no time to sit and
talk.
Q Was
it last year?
A Yes,
four or five months ago.
Q What
have you been doing since the Rolling Thunder Revue tour?
A I’ve
done many solo albums and continue to do so. They are in many different
styles World Music and Celtic.
Q You
have done Disco music?
A No,
on my very first record my producer pushed me into doing a song like
that and I hate the song. I don’t like the record now! He took
advantage of me and I have learned from that. I now know who that artist
is!
Q How
did you join the Rituals?
A Some
were on one of my albums and we all became friends and they came to
my house and we did music together and still do.
Q I
heard that you had cancer but you look very healthy now. Are you fully
recovered?
A Yes,
I am fine now.
Q During
the Rolling Thunder Revue tour you had great makeup on your face and Bob
painted his face white, why not black?
A As
I recall it was me who started this. It wasn’t theatrical it was an
inner thing. It wasn’t staged it was spontaneous and I never repeated
I only did it once and never again. I think Bob was very struck by me
doing this. I think that the white that he picked had something to do
with seeing the mask. This is the mask but see the symbols behind the
mask. I loved that!
Q Did
you receive a phone call from Bob Dylan when he was preparing the
Rolling Thunder album?
A Yes,
I did.
Q Did
you have any input on the album?
A No.
He did call me at home to tell me to show up at Columbia as "in two
days from now we are starting the record". It was a great, great
personal call.
Q One
disappointing aspect of the album is that it doesn’t include When I
Paint My Masterpiece. Do you know why?
A I
don’t know why he didn’t choose that for the record as he played it
many, many times on tour.
Q Could
it be because the versions were thought to be sloppy?
A I
don’t know.
Q Did
they record the whole show or just the Bob parts?
A Probably
only Bob’s, as they weren’t all signed to Columbia records.
Q It
would be great to hear a whole show.
A I
have some bootleg cassettes from that period but they aren’t very good
quality and I have some interviews too.
Q Did
Richie Havens have a solo part?
A I
think that he just visited I don’t recall him playing a solo
part. Many people joined us for Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,
Arlo Guthrie was one. It was THE tour everybody wanted to come
on. We have many visitors including Mohammed Ali at Madison
Square Garden.
Restless Farewell for now.
Mike and John
|
|
 |
|
