The Lint Screen

Tag: Bob Dylan

  • Exclusive Dylan Interview

    The masterful wordsmitty sits and speaks his piece with The Lint Screen.
    The masterful wordsmitty sits and opens up to The Lint Screen like a California poppy on a sunny day.

    It’s been a good year for singer/songwriter/author Bob Dylan. He recently was selected to receive the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, and back in May, he found his lucky guitar pick he lost in 1965. 51-years later–– Hello, it was in the pocket of his Levi’s!

    2016’s been a very good year indeed!

    We invited Mr. Dylan to The Lint Screen offices for an exclusive interview, and he arrived with a fresh-baked homemade cinnamon bundt cake and a box of Starbucks Verona Blend. Was the mysterious recluse ready to become a ‘cluse?’ He lit a Marlboro red, tossed the pack on the table, plopped into a beanbag chair, and we got right into it.

    TLS: So, Bob, what kind of tires do you prefer?
    BD: No one’s ever asked me that before.
    TLS: We dig deeper than most.
    BD: Guess I’m a Goodyear guy.
    TLS: Nice. Well, thanks for coming by, and thanks for the coffee and cake. Delicious!
    BD: That’s it? No questions about my Nobel Prize? My songs? My life?
    TLS: No. We’re good.
    BD: You don’t want to ask about my writing?
    TLS: Hmmm. When it comes to writing, do you prefer blue or black ink?
    BD: Blue.
    TLS: Good. Thanks.
    BD: No, wait. Black. I meant black––
    TLS: I think we’re done here, Bob Dylan.
    BD: You journalists are tough.

    With that, the big shot left our offices. Bob, if you’re reading this, come back and get your bundt cake pan–– you’ll want it for touring. And congratulations again on finding that lucky pick.

  • Another Dylan Notebook Found

    Portrait of the artist as a two-wheeled young man.
    Portrait of the artist as a two-wheeled young man.

    Dylanistas have rejoiced at the recent news that notebooks of Bob’s working lyrics from his “Blood on The Tracks” days have been discovered and archived in Oklahoma at a cost of an estimated $15-$20 million.

    Not bad for a dude from Hibbing, MN.

    Now, another Dylan notebook has been found in Woodstock, New York, where the master lived following his motorcycle accident in the summer of 1966.

    “This notebook is an incredible discovery,” Dr. Kerry Hubabbabba told The Lint Screen. “It shows Dylan at his most vulnerable–– the reluctant voice of a generation who has both metaphorically and literally crashed on the road. While it may not be some of his best work, it is some of his most curious and thought-provoking. On its pages, we witness an artist obviously in search of something. What exactly? Your guess is as good as mine, maybe better because I have pretty low self-esteem since my divorce.”

    Here are some excerpts from the “accidental Dylan” notebook:

    ROAD BURNED
    “there’s nothing here
    I ain’t seen before
    cuz nothing matters anymore
    I think I’ll go and try to get some sleep
    god, my leg burns like hell”

    THE CHASE
    “don’t tell you don’t think that
    things couldn’t be better
    we had our time
    chasing the big and little hands
    round the numbers
    they went round an round
    wish I had some more pain pills so I could get some damn sleep”

    THE DOCTOR
    “he comes in
    an checks me out
    says I’m doin well
    well that I doubt
    feel like hell
    write me some scripts now
    you damn white coat bastard you
    so pain pill’s will release me
    from something or other
    some word that may or may not rhyme”

    NO SLEEP
    “four twenty-two A.M.
    the clock announces
    my eyelids are flappin
    mouth’s yawnin exhausted
    no coal in the engine
    but still I can’t stop
    wish had more pills
    pills I could pop
    crap–– think I mighta busted my shoulder too!”

    I HATE MOTORCYCLES
    “two wheels
    tryin to kill
    never gonna saddle
    feel your thrills
    pills are kickin in
    pretty unicorns fly
    got dragon airlift
    take you up in the sky
    rainbows and magic will be something nice to have
    wonder if there’s any roast beef left
    could use a sandwich
    I’m starved dammit
    hope Sara got something at the store
    are we out of mayo?
    I wonder”

    For the time being, Dylan’s “Accidental Notebook” is being housed Earl’s Ace Hardware in Woodstock, by the cash register.

  • What A Life

    Look at the top selling non-fiction hardcover books: George W’s memoirs of why he did what he did, the autobiography of Mark Twain, Sarah Palin’s Palinographic view of the world, Glenn Beck’s ranting and a little something called Life by some guy named Keith Richards (and his pal, James Fox).

    I just finished Life, and if you have a passing interest in sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, music, celebrity, adventure, philosophy, history, travel or just cooking tips for bangers and mash, you’ll want to give these 500-plus pages a go.

    Keith is half of the Glimmer Twins, Jagger/Richards, the songwriting backbone of the Rolling Stones. He’s also the guy who has more lives than a dozen cats. And sounded a lot better doing it.

    It’s a fascinating read of how young white English lads long to be black American bluesmen and how clever management and masterful media manipulation catapults them to fame and fortune. There’s the inevitable bouts with sex, jealousy, cheating on friends, and addiction to drugs, and how all these things conspire to take a man and his band to the brink. Most deadly of all, however, it’s the tale of how egos blossom and explode, choking the friendships of the past and almost laying waste to all in its path.

    It’s all there, in surprising digestible prose.

    Of course, this is only Keith’s side of the story, with lots of corroborating witnesses, and it will be interesting to see if Mick Jagger has any published rebuttal. For even a casual fan of rock, you’ll love the ride and marvel at the intricacies of a musician’s mind. Much like Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume 1, it’s fascinating and enlightening to see what sponges these musical geniuses are. How they expose themselves to all forms of music and artistic expression, then create their own voices from the stew of all they’ve absorbed.

    I’ve always been a Stones fan, and have been fortunate enough to have seen them a half dozen times, from their glory days in the 70’s, the inflatable theatrics days of the 80’s and 90’s, all the way through the stripped down brilliance of the A Bigger Bang tour in the 21st century. Throughout it all, there’s always been Keith Richards laying down some of the most iconic rock riffs with cool ease and a cigarette dropping from his lips. While some guitarists work hard to show you how incredibly difficult it is to play, Keith simply plays with poetic, idle ease. Life gives you a terrific peek behind what makes him tick and how he keeps on ticking.

    Read it.