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Bob Dylan: The Playboy Interviews (Singles Classic)
In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the last half century.To celebrate the Interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have culled 50 of its most (in)famous Interviews and will publish them over the course of 50 weekdays (from September 4, 2012 to November 12, 2012) via Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform. Here are the interviews with the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from the March 1966 and March 1978 issues.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
53 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 21, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 5, 2019
Two interviews, one from 1966 and one from 1978.
Sixty-six sounds more promising, right? Dylan was absolutely in his prime in that year.
Unfortunately, the first interview is ninety percent 'put on,' with Net Hentoff, of all people, playing Zeppo to Dylan's Groucho:
(This is one of the better exchanges)
The 1978 interview is about twice as long, and Dylan is less of a jester, although he still does his best not to be nailed down.
Renaldo & Clara sounds atrocious, btw.
Worthwhile, but somewhat disappointing.
Sixty-six sounds more promising, right? Dylan was absolutely in his prime in that year.
Unfortunately, the first interview is ninety percent 'put on,' with Net Hentoff, of all people, playing Zeppo to Dylan's Groucho:
... Sure, you can go around trying to bring up people who are lesser than you, but then don’t forget, you’re messing around with gravity. I don’t fight gravity. I do believe in equality, but I also believe in distance.
Playboy: Do you mean people keeping their racial distance?
Dylan: I believe in people keeping everything they’ve got.
Playboy: Some people might feel that you’re trying to cop out of fighting for the things you believe in.
Dylan: Those would be people who think I have some sort of responsibility toward them. They probably want me to help them make friends. I don’t know. They probably either want to set me in their house and have me come out every hour and tell them what time it is, or else they just want to stick me in between the mattress. How could they possibly understand what I believe in?
Playboy: Well, what do you believe in?
Dylan: I already told you.
(This is one of the better exchanges)
The 1978 interview is about twice as long, and Dylan is less of a jester, although he still does his best not to be nailed down.
... Take Shane, for example. That moved me. On the Waterfront moved me. So when I go to see a film, I expect to be moved. I don’t want to go see a movie just to kill time, or to have it just show me something I’m not aware of. I want to be moved, because that’s what art is supposed to do, according to all the great theologians. Art is supposed to take you out of your chair. It’s supposed to move you from one space to another. Renaldo & Clara is not meant to put a strain on you. It’s a movie to be enjoyed as a movie. I know nothing about film, I’m not a film maker. On the other hand, I do consider myself a film maker because I made this film: So I don’t know…. If it doesn’t move you, then it’s a grand, grand failure.
Renaldo & Clara sounds atrocious, btw.
Worthwhile, but somewhat disappointing.
April 22, 2018
“PLAYBOY: Mistake or not, what made you decide to go the rock-'n'-roll route?
DYLAN: Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I wind up in Phoenix. I get a job as a Chinaman. I start working in a dime store, and move in with a 13-year-old girl. Then this big Mexican lady from Philadelphia comes in and burns the house down. I go down to Dallas. I get a job as a "before" in a Charles Atlas "before and after" ad. I move in with a delivery boy who can cook fantastic chili and hot dogs. Then this 13-year-old girl from Phoenix comes and burns the house down. The delivery boy - he ain't so mild: He gives her the knife, and the next thing I know I'm in Omaha. It's so cold there, by this time I'm robbing my own bicycles and frying my own fish. I stumble onto some luck and get a job as a carburetor out at the hot-rod races every Thursday night. I move in with a high school teacher who also does a little plumbing on the side, who ain't much to look at, but who's built a special kind of refrigerator that can turn newspaper into lettuce. Everything's going good until that delivery boy shows up and tries to knife me. Needless to say, he burned the house down, and I hit the road. The first guy that picked me up asked me if I wanted to be a star. What could I say?
PLAYBOY: And that's how you became a rock-'n'-roll singer?
DYLAN: No, that's how I got tuberculosis."
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I've read the 66' interview many times and it's never enough. a look into Dylan's mind in one of his most wild and fascinating times. his answers are so creative, almost like a song, or perhaps even a verse of 'Tarantula'. I actually wonder how much of that interview was spontaneous, since some of those answers are so literally smart.
the 78' interview was also interesting and a nice peek into another part of his career, just after his film, and after the great albums 'Blood On The Tracks' and 'Desire'.
considering how much garbage Dylan had to take from journalists over the years, I consider both of those interviews very respectful and one of rock'n'roll best interviews moments. it's a music-journalism classic.
DYLAN: Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I wind up in Phoenix. I get a job as a Chinaman. I start working in a dime store, and move in with a 13-year-old girl. Then this big Mexican lady from Philadelphia comes in and burns the house down. I go down to Dallas. I get a job as a "before" in a Charles Atlas "before and after" ad. I move in with a delivery boy who can cook fantastic chili and hot dogs. Then this 13-year-old girl from Phoenix comes and burns the house down. The delivery boy - he ain't so mild: He gives her the knife, and the next thing I know I'm in Omaha. It's so cold there, by this time I'm robbing my own bicycles and frying my own fish. I stumble onto some luck and get a job as a carburetor out at the hot-rod races every Thursday night. I move in with a high school teacher who also does a little plumbing on the side, who ain't much to look at, but who's built a special kind of refrigerator that can turn newspaper into lettuce. Everything's going good until that delivery boy shows up and tries to knife me. Needless to say, he burned the house down, and I hit the road. The first guy that picked me up asked me if I wanted to be a star. What could I say?
PLAYBOY: And that's how you became a rock-'n'-roll singer?
DYLAN: No, that's how I got tuberculosis."
-
I've read the 66' interview many times and it's never enough. a look into Dylan's mind in one of his most wild and fascinating times. his answers are so creative, almost like a song, or perhaps even a verse of 'Tarantula'. I actually wonder how much of that interview was spontaneous, since some of those answers are so literally smart.
the 78' interview was also interesting and a nice peek into another part of his career, just after his film, and after the great albums 'Blood On The Tracks' and 'Desire'.
considering how much garbage Dylan had to take from journalists over the years, I consider both of those interviews very respectful and one of rock'n'roll best interviews moments. it's a music-journalism classic.
January 2, 2021
If you're looking for answers or insight . . . why? It's Dylan! These interviews are full of nonsequiturs and nonsense. The one from 1966 reads like beatnik poetry at times. He's evasive with his answers and rambles on with a stream of consciousness rant that feels impossible to have been made up on the spot. But then again, you realize . . . it's Dylan.
I enjoyed them for what they were--historical record. It's a peek into his mind at a couple of formative and transitional points in his life. It was interesting to look ahead from the 1966 interview and know where he was going, where he couldn't imagine himself going. Similarly, the 1978 interview has some questions of faith and religion, and Dylan has no idea the journey he's about to embark on (although there are hints).
I'm a fan, but I think more established fans would enjoy this more. Put some Dylan on in the background while you're listening and enjoy the ride . . . er . . . read.
No . . . it's a ride.
I enjoyed them for what they were--historical record. It's a peek into his mind at a couple of formative and transitional points in his life. It was interesting to look ahead from the 1966 interview and know where he was going, where he couldn't imagine himself going. Similarly, the 1978 interview has some questions of faith and religion, and Dylan has no idea the journey he's about to embark on (although there are hints).
I'm a fan, but I think more established fans would enjoy this more. Put some Dylan on in the background while you're listening and enjoy the ride . . . er . . . read.
No . . . it's a ride.
February 16, 2016
"I read it for the interviews...."
A collection of two Bob Dylan interviews from Playboy Magazine, one from its March 1966 edition, the other from March 1978.
Dylan has a reputation for not really liking interviews and evading answers and the 1966 interview was a masterpiece in that category. He probably didn't reveal a single genuine piece of information and instead often went into surreal pieces of monologue that had me literally laughing with delight. (Can't remember the last time I snorted with laughter reading a book.)
The later interview is more settled and does help you understand more of Dylan, the man, the musician, the artist. But fear not: He will still masterfully try and evade at least some of the questions.
A collection of two Bob Dylan interviews from Playboy Magazine, one from its March 1966 edition, the other from March 1978.
Dylan has a reputation for not really liking interviews and evading answers and the 1966 interview was a masterpiece in that category. He probably didn't reveal a single genuine piece of information and instead often went into surreal pieces of monologue that had me literally laughing with delight. (Can't remember the last time I snorted with laughter reading a book.)
The later interview is more settled and does help you understand more of Dylan, the man, the musician, the artist. But fear not: He will still masterfully try and evade at least some of the questions.
January 5, 2014
A couple of really interesting full-length interviews from Dylan, the first in 66, the second in 78. Worth a look.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews