Forever Young

article and illustration by Lou Davenport

I’ve been wanting to write about Bob Dylan since the first of this year.  Dylan turned 80 on May 14th and I’ve been listening to him since I was fifteen years old.  But, after reading at least eight different books about him through the years, I thought I’d skip all the information that everybody probably knows and tell things that you might not know.  Since he’s been performing since the early 60’s, there’s not enough room to list all I know about his career in one column.

There’s so much that has been written both, factual and fictional, I thought I’d tell about some of the things I’ve learned about him that I know to be true.  

To date, Dylan has written over 500 songs and those songs have been recorded by over 2,000 other singers.  He has sold millions of albums.

In 1970, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University.  In 1988, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He has won numerous Grammys and in 2001, an Oscar and Golden Globe award for Best Song, “Most of the Time,” for the movie, “Wonder Boys,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Toby McGuire.  In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for a civilian. And in 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Dylan first decided to go “electric” at the Newport Jazz Festival and he was booed.  His performance only lasted 15 minutes before he and his band left the stage.  Later, he would unite with former Hawks member, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Richard Manual, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko who would later be known as “The Band.”

Aside from all that, Dylan is an incredible visual artist.  When he first moved to New York, his first girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, noticed he “doodled” on napkins and paper a lot so she started taking him to art museums.  He was drawn to the work of the artists of that time like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.  From that spark, Dylan began to draw and then paint, especially when he is on tour.  Through his travels, he has painted old motels, signs and landscapes that capture the time as well.  Many of the places he’s painted, he used a camera to capture the moment.  But, his paintings are as timeless as the subjects he paints and he keeps getting better.

Another interesting and creative side to Dylan is that he collects “junk” and turns it into beautiful works of art.  He learned to weld, so, he lays out the objects until he gets the design right and then welds them all together.  Some are gates, some are tables, some mirrors, some are banisters while others are just beautiful works that can hang on walls.  He has a studio in Malibu that he’s named “Black Buffalo Ironworks.”  He goes looking for junk wherever he tours.

Which brings me to a very interesting story that my friend, Doyle Jeter told me.  In fact, Doyle is who told me about Dylan’s paintings and his welded sculptures!  I knew that Doyle had actually  met Bob Dylan and that he had been to Enoch’s, Doyle’s bar and pub, but I didn’t know the entire story.

Doyle is good friends with Dylan’s bass player, Tony Garnier.  When Dylan was scheduled to play at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, the power went out and wouldn’t be fixed for several days.  Tony called Doyle to ask if there was any place in Monroe that they could play that was close-by. Doyle suggested the Jack Howard Auditorium and got Tony the number.  Bob also asked Tony to see if there were any interesting places or sights they could go see before the concert. The concert was immediately booked and Bob and the band came over to Monroe. Doyle made a list with a map of things Dylan could do while he was here. The band and Dylan booked rooms at the old Howard Johnson motel that was near the Civic Center.  After they checked in, Doyle actually took the list and map and handed it to Dylan.  Doyle said Dylan was on the second floor, walked out on the balcony and reached down and got the list from Doyle.

The band and Doyle went out to eat at Ma and Pa’s, a restaurant that was in West Monroe.  Dylan rented a car and he and two “wardrobe mistresses” went to all the places around here that Doyle had suggested.  Dylan actually walked around what is now Antique Alley into some of the shops and ended up buying a few things at the Army/Navy Surplus store.  When Dylan was checking out, an older lady who was an employee said, “Do you know who you look like?” and Dylan replied, “Oh, yeah, I get that a lot!”

Later that day, Dylan did show up at Enoch’s but Doyle had put on the marquee outside “Post Party After Dylan Concert.”  Doyle had planned a private party and only invited a few friends that he knew were going to the concert and would like to meet Bob Dylan.  But, because Doyle had used his name, Dylan got angry and left.  He was angry that Doyle had used his name!  Needless to say, Mr. Dylan did not show up at the after party but the band did and partied until 5 a.m!  Dylan left the Jack Howard Theatre on his motorcycle with his tour bus following him down I-20 to Vicksburg where they turned down Hwy 61 S. to New Orleans where they’d be playing their next date.  The band followed the next day on the other two tour buses.

Doyle had another meeting with Dylan in New Orleans.  Doyle, Yvette and a few friends had gone down for the concert and knew that Dylan and the band were staying at a small hotel, The Toulouse.  They were out front and Doyle said security was tight.  But, out walked Dylan and when he say Doyle he stopped long enough to shake hands.  But, when Yvette saw him, she was star struck ( I would have been, too) and threw her arms around him and hugged him!  Doyle said you could see Dylan recoil because he doesn’t like anybody touching him.  But, he was nice and went quickly on his way.

The third time Doyle met him was after a concert and his daughter, Molly went along.  This time they had back stage passes and when they went back stage Dylan was in a room by himself.  The band that included G.E. Smith  was in another room.  The band was friendly and conversation fun but, Molly got up and went out in the hall.  At some point the door was locked from the outside and they couldn’t get out!  After several tense minutes, the door opened and there stood Molly.  When asked what was going on she said she had just been talking with Bob!  After the concert, they were invited to Mulatte’s to a private gathering and Dylan was there along with his son, Jakob.  Once again, Dylan shook Doyle’s hand and was very polite.  Doyle talked Molly into taking one of Enoch’s cards over to Dylan to see if he would  autograph it.  He did!  The card now hangs on the wall at the pub.

One other thing that Dylan has invested in is a distillery in Nashville.  You can tour the distillery that makes “Heaven’s Gate” bourbon, whiskey and rye whiskey.  The labels on each bottle feature three of the many metal gates Dylan has made. 

I asked some of my Facebook friends had they ever seen Bob Dylan in concert.  Many have, although I have never gotten to!  Robert Riddle has seen him four times, Joan Taylor has seen twice and one of those times, Dylan kept the lights on the audience, not himself!  She said her son was named Dylan! Josh Madden has seen Dylan three times, one of those being at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport and he described the set to look like an old Hollywood movie set.  Bob Eisenstadt saw Dylan when “The Band” was backing him in 1975, as did Paul Abraham.  My cousin, Loretta saw Dylan in Jackson and said he never communicated with his audience, just walked out, sang and left.  Leslie Booher says when she and her husband, David, saw him in St. Louis, his voice was very weak.  Jackie Mullin saw him at the Saenger in New Orleans, and said he was great!  One of my students, Ashley Nugent saw him in Lafayette and became a huge fan! My own son, Adam saw him at Jazzfest several years ago and Chelsey, Adam’s fiance’ said her parents went to see him in Jackson several years ago and he sounded horrible.  They were so disappointed and many people walked out. Sandra Gay Smith saw him in Lafayette.  The record holder who has seen Dylan six times is Joey Mickel!

Dylan seems to be a mercurial, moody, private, and rude man but at times he can be polite, kind and generous.  He’s been singing, writing, and touring for over forty years and that is not an easy thing for anyone to do. He’s a legend, but, he’s managed to stay  “forever young.”

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this column, especially Doyle Jeter, my friend and owner of Enoch’s Pub