From: keg117@hearst.cac.psu.edu (keg117)
Date: 7 Feb 1995 17:45:22 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Village Voice mar 25, '65
Someone asked me to post this entire piece from the Village Voice, March 25, 1965. Reported by Jack Goddard. Again, the Qs are questions by not one, but many reporters. I'm assuming this not is the entire piece, but I can't be sure (it's from the Shelton book, not directly from Village Voice.)

"Dylan had consented to answer all those deep, meaningful, searching questions he's been bombarded with for years. The following took place between Dylan and the large numbers of mewsmen on hand:

Q: Who did you write songs like before [Woody Guthrie]?

A: Ever hear of Gege Vincent? Buddy Holly?

Q: Then you had a rock and roll band in high school?

A: I had a banana band in high school.

Q: So then you heard of Guthrie and he changed your life?

A: Then I heard of Josh White...

Q: Then you heard of Guthrie...

A: The I heard about those riots in San Francisco...

Q: The HUAC riots?

A: An' I missed out on meeting James Dean so I decided to meet Woody
Guthrie.

Q: Was he your greatest influence?

A: ...for a spell the idea of him affected me quite much.

Q: What about Brecht? Read much of him?

A: No. But I've read him.

Q: Rimbaud?

A: I've read his little tiny book, 'Evil Flowers.'

Q: You're thinking of Baudelaire.

A: Yes. I've read his tiny little book, too.

Q: How about Hank Williams? Do you consider him an influence?

A: Hey, look, I consider Hank Williams, Captain Marvel, Marlon
Brando, The Tennessee Stud, Clark Kent, Walter Cronkite, and J. Carroll Naish all influences...

Q: Tell us about your movie.

A: It's gonna be in black and white.

Q: Will it be in the Andy Warhol style?

A: Who's Andy Warhol? Listen, my movie will be ...in the style of
early Puerto Rican films.

Q: Who's writing it?

A: Allen Ginsberg. I'm going to rewrite it.

Q: Who will you play in the film?

A: The Hero.

Q: Who is that going to be?

A: My mother...

Q: Bob, do you have any philosophy about life and death? About
death?

A: How do I know, I haven't died yet. Hey you're insulting me all to
shit...

Q: What goes on between you and Joan Baez that doesn't meet the eye?

A: She's my fortune teller.

Q: Bobby, we know you changed your name. Come on now, what's your
real name?

A: Philip Ochs. I'm gonna change it back again when I see it pays.

Q: Bob, what about the situation of American poets. Kenneth Rexroth
has estimated that since 1900 about 30 American poets have committed suicide.

A: 30 poets! What about American housewives, mailmen, street
cleaners, miners? Jesus Christ, what's so special about 30 people that are called poets? I've known some very good people that have committed suicide. One didn't do nothing but work in a gas station all his life. Nobody referred to him as a poet, but if you're gonna call people like Robert Frost a poet, then I got to say this gas station boy was a poet, too.

Q: Bob, we understand you're writing a book.

A: Yeah, it's a funny book. I think it's coming out by Spring.

Q: What's it about?

A: Angels.

Q: ...don't you have any important philosophy for the world?

A: I don't drink hard liquor, if that's what you mean.

Q: No. The world in general. You and the world?

A: Are you kidding? The world don't need me. Christ, I'm only five
feet ten. The world could get along fine without me. Don'tcha know, everybody dies. It doesn't matter how important you think you are. Look at Shakespeare, Napoleon. Edgar Allan Poe, for that matter. They're all dead right?

Q: Well, Bob, in your opinion, then is there one man who can save
the world?

A: Al Aronowitz."

That's it, hope you enjoyed it.

krista         


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