some great ROCKIN' automotive-themed concert posters, unearthed in February

(above) MODEST MOUSE, by Daniel Danger

(above) BAMBI MOLESTERS (tour poster) by Igor Hofbauer (Club Mocvara, Croatia)

(above) RADIO BIRDMAN by Lil' Tuffy

(above) JUCIFER by Mike Hrabovsky

(above) QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE by Dan McAdam (Crosshair Studios)

(above) QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE by Greg Reinel (Stainboy Studios)

(above) VAN HALEN by Greg Reinel (Stainboy Studios)

(above) FU MANCHU by Mike Martin (Enginehouse 13 Studios)

(above) SWEARING AT MOTORISTS by Lucy and Dave (Dave Bailey - UK)

(above) KILLERS by Rhys Cooper, Australia
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I always have the great pleasure on this blog to present rock concert posters with rich automotive themes, created by artists in the US as well as from overseas. These are whatever caught my eye over the past thirty days or so, and I'll endeavor to keep this monthly theme going over the full year. Some are current pieces, some have simply been unearthed.

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Note that Greg Reinel, also known as Stainboy (see two of his latest posters above), has released his first book--VICIOUS INTENT: THE ROCK 'N' ROLL ART AND EXPLOITATION OF STAINBOY REINEL.The publisher is Dark Horse, and the official release date was February 20. Congrats Greg!! I'll have more to say about this outstanding and long-awaited book from one of the great rock (and automotive) illustrators in an upcoming blog.

To see more poster art from these excellent artists, go to www.gigposters.com and click on 'designers' or 'bands.' This also will lead you to their individual websites. Enjoy!

a really ROCKIN' Grateful Dead concert at Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ, 4 years after Watkins Glen

(above) 107,000 paying customers brought this prized ticket to the show

(no freebee entries that day, unlike Watkins Glen four years before) (above and two below) the boyz (and one lady) from Marin County, CA visit New Joisey;

note the Cyclops skull backdrop, referencing Terrapin Station, their new album
photos copyright Bryce Westover

(above) likely a bootleg tee, but a fond souvenir of one of the greatest Dead shows

(above and below) most agree, Garcia was on fire that day;

if you were suitably tweaked, you could see smoke rising from his Travis Bean guitar

(above) the Dead, during the recording of Terrapin Station, Spring, 1977

(above) a rare record store promo mobile for Terrapin Station

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Raceway Park, one of drag racing's premier East Coast facilities, opened in July, 1965, located between the towns of Old Bridge (in Middlesex County) and Englishtown (across the border in Monmouth County). Today the track is known as Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. It was conceived by brothers Vincent Napp and Louis Napp (along with Vincent's sons, Vincent Jr. and Richard) to introduce major league drag racing to the New York Metropolitan area (New York City itself being only fifty miles away).

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The proposed site was a 308-acre farm on Pension Road, in the middle of what would become rapidly expanding central New Jersey, not far from coastal cities like Asbury Park (Monmouth County being Bruce Springsteen country; the Boss went to high school in Freehold, maybe 20 minutes away from Englishtown, so a lot of racing in the streets took place in those parts).

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Long days of earthmoving in early 1965 created a level racing surface then 60 feet wide and 4,150 feet long, followed by the first permanent grandstands, staging areas, the timing tower, and race fan amenities. Opening day was hot and humid, typical for mid-summer New Jersey, but the race fans' joy was evident. Only a few years later, in 1968, NHRA held its Springnationals at Raceway Park, followed by the first of many Summernationals beginning in 1971. Crowds of more than 85,000 consistently jammed the facility for the biggest events, and in 1996 a second drag strip was added.

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Even the New York Times acknowledged that Raceway Park was THE place for drag race car lovers from all over the Northeast. And legions of fans all could sing the radio refrain that always ended in . . . RACEWAY PARK!! BE THERE!!!.

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When the facility opened, a local newspaper said its "isolated location, bordered by acres and acres of untouched woodland makes it ideal for the noise-making business of the science of speed." But by the 1970s the vaunted isolation was rapidly receding, and within 20 years more than 25,000 people lived within three miles of the track. While a 1971 state noise ordinance exempted automobile racing, ten years later an appeals court slapped strict decibel limits on the track, and the issue of noise vs. homeowners (and tax revenues vs. peace and quiet) has been a bitter matter ever since.

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So it was no surprise that when concert promoter John Scher decided to hold a major rock concert adjacent to the track on September 3, 1977 that more fur would fly as well. (editor's note: to my knowledge, it was the only such music event that ever took place at Raceway Park. But it was a memorable one, especially for the fans of the good ol' Grateful Dead).

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Throughout 1976 and early 1977, the Dead were engaged in recording a monumental exercise that became the song (and album) Terrapin Station. It was produced by Keith Olsen, only the second time in the band's recording history that an outside producer had been engaged. Among all its ambitious intentions, orchestration (horn parts and string parts) was employed both to the delight and consternation of the fans, known worldwide as the Dead Heads. (editors note: when the song was played live, there was no backing orchestra). A spring, 1977 tour that heralded Terrapin Station was well received.

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But the Dead were unable to tour during the period when the album was actually released (late July, 1977), because of injuries sustained by drummer Mickey Hart in an automobile accident. So lead guitarist Jerry Garcia played shows with the JGB (Jerry Garcia Band) in Northern California and on the East Coast while Hart recuperated. But then, in early September, the Dead returned to New Jersey to play their biggest outdoor gig since Watkins Glen (see previous blog).

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This Jersey show would take place in a field next to Raceway Park, with the New Riders of the Purple Sage opening, followed by the Marshall Tucker Band. The event drew 107,000 paying customers (although some believe the actual attendance was 150,000+), and was broadcast live on the New York City radio giant WNEW-FM. Furthermore, as many critics since have noted, "for a change, the group played sensationally before the huge crowd." This opinion was based on the fact that the Dead themselves hated their performance at Woodstock in 1969 (and refused to let their music be part of the record or film) and were not exactly thrilled by what was recorded at Watkins Glen. However, the Dead did play, happily, at the Scher-promoted Roosevelt Stadium on several occasions, just outside Jersey City.

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"We--the Dead and my production company--had outgrown Roosevelt Stadium," remembered promoter John Scher of Monarch Entertainment ("the Bill Graham Presents of the East Coast").

"We always thought the Dead could draw 100,000 people on their own, which was pretty much an unprecedented thing at the time, for anybody. But, being the Dead, they wanted to do it on their own terms. And neither Woodstock nor Watkins Glen was entirely on their terms."

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"Of course," continued Scher, "The people in the closest town (Englishtown) freaked out when they heard about this show. It was your classic hippie-versus-the-straight-community conflict. We were in court virtually every day, the townspeople trying to enjoin us. Ultimately we prevailed, and the interesting thing was, one of the neighboring towns defied a court order and essentially closed down one of their main thoroughfares by ripping up the street. All that did was create even more hassle, when people attempted to park their cars before hiking miles to the show."

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To keep gate crashers at bay (remember Woodstock and Watkins Glen, where hundreds of thousands of fans pushed their way over temporary and insubstantial fences, creating essentially free concerts), Scher's employees created an impenetrable ring of trans-ocean shipping containers (what you see carried by semi-trucks), two high, around the full perimeter of the field. It was a forbidding sight but it worked. An enormous "cyclops" stage backdrop was unveiled when the Dead came on, signalling that a treat was to take place . . . one of the first major renditions of Terrapin Station, as what turned out to be an unusual "third set" encore.

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RACEWAY PARK or ENGLISHTOWN (depending on who remembers the event) was a one-day production with virtually no camping and little hassle, and it went altogether smoothly even while the day was hot and humid, water and food basically ran out, much of the psychedelicized crowd was sunburnt to a crisp, and roads, driveways, and every available parking space for miles around were stacked with cars and Dead Heads. But the essential point was: the Dead's music was great, absolutely first-rate, spot-on, tight, and memorable . . . highlights being "Mississippi Half Step," "Eyes of the World," "Not Fade Away," "Truckin'" (which had not been played in several years), and of course "Terrapin Station." Everyone who was there said Jerry Garcia, the band's key element, was in outrageously good form. A CD later was issued of the Dead's sets: DICK'S PICKS VOLUME 15, which today is regarded as one of the very best in the long series.

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That fall, the Dead toured extensively, hitting seven western states along with cities in the Midwest and along the East Coast. Most of the concerts were up to the high level that marked the spring leg and Englishtown. As author Blair Jackson later noted, "They played the University of Oklahoma during homecoming week, drawing just about every hippie from within 200 miles of Norman, as well as thousands of curious students made aware of the Dead's reputation as a supreme party band."

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As with Watkins Glen, there are literally hundreds of reminiscences concerning that day from fans, available to read on the Dead's website. But there's one I found at http://www.tuckerhead.com/englishtown_review.htm that in many ways sums up the experience, this from Kenneth A. Kaufman:

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"RACEWAY PARK, ENGLISHTOWN, NJ, 9/3/77. In the summer of 1977, I was a young and budding Dead Head, just licensed to drive, spending much of the summer cruising around and altering my consciousness. Scarcely months before, I'd attended my first rock concert.

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"[Around that time], I was seriously wearing a groove in more than one Dead album. So when the man on the radio announced a Dead show with the New Riders and Marshall Tucker at a place somewhere in New Jersey that I only knew of from countless number of drag racing radio ads [that were in constant rotation], well, you can bet I was quite interested in going.

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"I don't know if I needed or actually got permission from my mother to go to this thing, but one way or another, I got a ticket--general admission, all the tickets were--and eventually so did my friend Scott, the fellow who has the distinction of first turning me on to the Dead. My mom let me take her '73 Duster, a tank compared to my regular wheels (a piece-of-crap Vega that ate a can of oil a day and later died ignominiously on I-95). This provided for smooth travel. We were so sophisticated, we even brought a little portable tape recorder with a lousy copy of a Passaic, NJ Dead show that was on the radio a few months before.

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"The Raceway Park show was set to start at 1:30 pm. We hit the road pretty early in the morning. This was a good thing, for there was just one little road running the last five miles into basically rural New Jersey where the concert would be. When we got close-in, like maybe 3 miles away, we couldn't go faster than an idle (glad I was driving Mom's automatic!), due to the throngs who were walking down the middle of every street. Eventually we, and countless others, simply pulled off the side of the road, parked as best we could, and joined the parade.

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"We found the gates, getting us onto an enormous field ringed by shipping containers and dotted by a dozen speaker towers. We managed to get within a hundred years of the stage. We were literally in the middle of a sea of heads stretching off a quarter-mile in each direction. I was getting a glimmer of what Woodstock must have been like.

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"The highlight of the show had to have been the three-song medley that made up the last 45 minutes of the second set. It started with a long, smooth, mellow "He's Gone" that led into a jam that gradually picked up in pace and intensity, ultimately giving birth to a smoking "Not Fade Away." Great jams throughout the song, but it will be long remembered for the end of the first verse when Donna Godchaux put together her last ounces of energy and sent forth her most famous primal scream. Out of tune, of course, but intense.

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"After NFA, there was a momentary pause, then a fanfare on drums, then . . . "Truckin'" No big deal nowadays, but this was the band's first since the 1975 hiatus. There was such excitement in the air, the crowd absolutely rocked. And then they encored with "Terrapin."

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"On our way out, we encountered a Dead Head in search of a ride to Paramus, up in Bergen County. Given our present enhanced state, we had no objection to going an extra 20 miles up the Parkway. He quickly fell asleep in the back seat. Somewhere along the highway he woke up; our little tape recorder was belting out "What's Become of the Baby." Our poor passenger seemed about to freak out when the knowledge hit him. He sighed, "Oh, Aoxomoxoa" (meaning, he remembered the Dead's third album), and was all right from there on in.

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"This was a huge day in all respects. The show had made an enormous splash in the local media, complete with helicopter shots on the evening news. Our parents were amazed. For at least this teenager, it was a major rite of passage. There was a certain new-found independence, an unshackling with respect to taking long journeys (for one thing), that was effected that day. For years afterwards, articles and photos from the great New York tabloids, the Daily News and the Post, proudly were pinned to the wall of my bedroom. I'd myself go on to attend, subsequently, over 50 Dead shows."

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According to the Dead's publicist, Dennis McNally, Jerry Garcia conceived the idea for the song "Terrapin Station" while driving across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge connecting Marin County and the East Bay, north and east of San Francisco. Songwriter Robert Hunter said of "Terrapin" that he wrote Part One at a single sitting in an unfurnished house with a picture window overlooking San Francisco Bay during a flamboyant lightning storm. Hunter later told McNally, "I typed the first thing that came into my mind at the top of the page, the title: Terrapin Station."

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Continued Hunter, "On the same day, driving on the East Shore freeway near Berkeley, Garcia was struck by a singular inspiration. He turned his car around and hurried home to Marin to set down some music that popped into his head, demanding immediate attention. When we met the next day, I showed him the words and he said, 'I've got the music.' The words and music dovetailed perfectly, and Terrapin (the album's second side) edged into this dimension."

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Here are a few links to read more Dead Head stories about the Dead at Englishtown and how the journey to and from the site was once again one of cars and music intertwined.

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http://financialrocknroll.blogspot.com/2007/01/englishtown-77-vignette-from-our-santa.html

(a great reminiscence, first crossing the George Washington Bridge, en route)

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http://www.dead.net/venue/raceway-park

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http://www.dead.net/show/september-3-1977

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http://www.musicbox-online.com/gd-dp15.html

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http://www.neofill.com/Reviews/ItemId/B00005V8PO/ReviewPage/2

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http://www.photog.com/gdead/70s/englishtown77.html

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http://deadnews.blogspot.com/2005/08/star-ledger-remembers-jerry.html

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http://www.setlists.net/?show_id=1027

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http://www.amazon.com/Dicks-Picks-Vol-15-Englishtown/dp/B00005V8PO

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http://vermontreview.tripod.com/CD%20Reviews/gd99.htm

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and, my final word about this is . . . it was held on my 26th birthday! Six summers later, my GRATEFUL DEAD BOOK OF THE DEAD HEADS (co-authored with my photographer brother Jonas and our book designer friend Cynthia Basset) would be graced by Jerry Garcia's foreword, and go on to stay in print for 24 years afterwards.

a ROCKIN' look back at what was then said to be the largest rock-and-cars gathering

(above) from the NY Daily News
(above) the Grateful Dead hitch a ride to Watkins Glen for their two-set soundcheck,'
photo by Suki Coughlin, courtesy Eileen Law, Grateful Dead Productions
photo copyright Suki Coughlin
(above) the Dead, the next day, for two even longer sets

(above) 150,000 tickets were sold @ $10 each

but and add'l 450,000 people got in for free

(above) wire stories and photos were printed everywhere;

this in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

(above) more from the NY Daily News

(above and several below) photog Grant Gouldon's photos, recently unearthed

(above) "by the time we got to Woodstock" . . . oops, I mean The Glen

this time "we were more than half a million strong"

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One of my dearest friends in rock & roll is Eileen Law, the "head Dead Head," who has organized and protected the Grateful Dead's legendary archives over many decades for, initially, Grateful Dead Productions, and now for both Rhino and maybe a repository at one of the University of California libraries.

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Eileen recently turned me on to Suki Coughlin's marvelous photo of Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Bobby Weir 'hitching a ride' to their now-legendary two-set soundcheck at Watkins Glen racecourse on July 27, 1973 (the actual concert took place the next day). Suki remembers suddenly seeing the band passing by in a car, as everyone else at that moment was trudging their way thru. Seeing them, she shouted, "Remember Bickershaw!" and the band turned to her and laughed--and Suki clicked the shutter. History!

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Suki herself is a legendary photographer, who made her home and studio for years in New London, NH, and who captured the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Fords, the late Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, Jack Nicklaus, Meryl Streep, and hundreds of other notables. I'm guessing Suki was herself at the Bickershaw event the year before, in England, or else she wouldn't have spontaneously chosen that shout-out.

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Seeing that shot again reminded me that Watkins Glen was an even bigger Woodstock, with even more cars lining the roads for dozens and dozens of miles, also up in New York State. However, unlike Woodstock with its dozens of bands and place in history as the first such mega-concert-event, Watkins Glen featured only the Dead, the Band, and the Allman Brothers.

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With an estimated 600,000 in attendance (150,000 paid), it was likely the largest concert up to that time, but this number has since been superseded.

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Even though it took place at the spaceous Watkins Glen Prix Raceway site (at the southern tip of Seneca Lake in New York State's Finger Lakes region), most of the audience could barely (if at all) see the stage. But huge electronically-staged amplifiers and speaker platforms created by promoter Bill Graham's FM Productions allowed everyone at least to hear the show--and very clearly, happily so.

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On the day of the show, the Dead performed first, playing two long sets. The Band followed with one 2-hour set, interrupted halfway thru by a drenching thunderstorm reminiscent of the last day at Woodstock. Then the Allman Brothers performed for three hours and an hourlong encore jam ensued with many of the three bands' musicians.

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The Dead's music was not as memorable as that which they would play four years later at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ (see next blog), and some feel the Allman Brothers really stole the show at Watkins Glen. For most in attendance, it was horribly hot and humid, and like Woodstock there were barely enough porta-potties, drinking water, and food. The traffic jams both to and from were horrendous, and there was much bizarre abandonment over a 50-mile radius. And, unlike Woodstock, despite the historic size of the event, no official recording or movie was officially released, as the bands themselves had concerns about the quality of the capture.

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A thorough, although a bit sardonic, write-up occurs in Robert Santelli's book AQUARIUS RISING: THE CONCERT FESTIVAL YEARS (Delta Books, NY, 1980). Santelli also covers the Cal Jams at California Motor Speedway in 1974 and 1978. You can read portions of his analysis at http://www.superseventies.com/watkinsglen.html.

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Many accounts of Watkins Glen note that the promoters, even with the memory of Woodstock's problems clear in their minds, failed to anticipate the transportation problems inherent in promoting such large-scape events. Although both concerts were 'out in the country,' the traffic both times caused a huge local disturbance, as well as jam-ups on the freeways leading in. There were even post-Monterey Pop and post-Woodstock ordances passed to control such enormous gatherings. Even so, there was very little law enforcement could do except try and turn back portions of the crowds, to little avail, as most simply found other directions. And the media took huge delight in issuing hundreds of photos of rock fans and their (abandoned) and (immovable) cars, vans, trucks, and buses.

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In the great tradition of the Grateful Dead's fanbase, the Dead Heads, there are wonderful memories of hitching rides and finding unusual transport provided at the Dead's semi-official site http://www.dead.net/venue/grand-prix-racecourse and http://www.dead-net/show/july-27-1973

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Recently many from-the-audience and out-on-the-road photos taken by Grant Gouldon appeared at http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantdabassman/sets/72157603224730871/

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Watkins Glen International was itself long known around the world as home of the United States Grand Prix (Formula One) which it hosted for 20 consecutive years (1961 - 1980). It also hosted famous Can-Am, Trans-Am, SCCA, IROC, and IRL races, and more recently has been the site of one of the only two roadcourses run by NASCAR. Watkins Glen (apparently) also was the first major post-WW 2 site for American roadracing, with its first Grand Prix held in 1948 on a 6.6-mile course over local roads.

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Other large concerts not held at racecourses have included Rod Stewart at Copacabana Beach in Rio (3. 5 million, 1994); Garth Brooks in Central Park in New York City (750,000 people, 1997); the US Festival in Devore, CA (670,000 people, 1983); the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK (500,000+ people in 1970); and Simon & Garfunkle, again in Central Park (nearly 500,000 people in 1981).

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Here's one example of a Dead Head memory of Watkins Glen:

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"Riveaux" wrote: "We met in Ithaca and drove over in a couple of cars on Friday night / early Saturday morning. The road was gridlocked from miles away, so we [parked somewhere] and headed in on foot, finally reaching the fences at sunup. The fences were all down so we didn't need to show our tickets, and proceeded to carefully walk over thousands of sleeping people to get a spot down front, where we plopped down and slowly spread our group's radius out into our own self-defined space. As the sun came up and the crowd came to life, it was pretty crazy--some of the hippiest people I've ever seen. We all did our gelatinous medium (windowpane) and flowed with the morning and people and sights and rain and mud. The Dead, The Band, and the Allman Brothers put on an incredible show, each giving it their own energy. We danced and gyrated and laughed and played on many different levels until after midnight when the Allmans finished up. Then we hiked back to the main road and got split up. I thumbed my way to town and happily ran into our group of trekkers at a diner. Feeling absolutely spent and still wired, we ate, buzzed, and for many hours afterwards still could not really believe what we'd just been through."

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For those who were not there, this was the Dead's two-set soundcheck the day before, bookended by Chuck Berry classics:

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The Promised Land

Sugaree

Mexicali Blues

Bird Song

Big River

Tennessee Jed

--break--

Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

Me and My Uncle

jam into Wharf Rat

Around and Around

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For sure, you had to have been there . . . and in the great rock & roll tradition, at least a million now claim to have.

still ROCKIN' with Dylan_Dept. of Further Discovery, and remembering another pivotal shout-out

(above) on the UK tour in '66, location unknown, Dylan and limo a-waiting

(photo copyright Barry Feinstein)
(above) putting up with typical British weather
(photo copyright Barry Feinstein)
(above and below) EVIDENCE: Kevin Sauntrey WAS onstage (see people in chairs).
Sauntrey claims HE was the bloke who shouted to Dylan "Play it (expletive) LOUD"
just before the band launched into a rip-roarin' "Like a Rolling Stone."
(photographer likely Paul Kelly)

(above) finally, altho lo-res, the full, wide shot of Dylan at the Aust Ferry terminal

(photo copyright Barry Feinstein)

(above) another view of the Aust moment, rarely shown, of Dylan looking across the tidal flat

(photo copyright Barry Feinstein)

(above) Dylan and Richard Manuel of The Hawks listen to the

just-released BLONDE ON BLONDE album in a UK hotel room

(photo copyright Barry Feinstein)

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OK, so I'm still not done navigating through the UK leg of Bob Dylan's '66 world tour. That's because I was still unsure of the claim made by Kevin Sauntrey that he was seated onstage and was the guy who shouted "Play it (expletive) LOUD!" to Dylan and his bandmates in the momentary pause following the "Judas" shout and Dylan's peeved response, just following "Ballad of a Thin Man," and before "Like a Rolling Stone" concluded the pivotal May 17 concert in Manchester.

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Last night I was able to unearth photos, possibly taken by Paul Kelly, that clearly show audience members seated onstage. Furthermore, the booklet which accompanies the (sic) "Royal Albert Hall" concert CD (#4 in the official Bootleg Series issued by Columbia), states that "these photos show faces peering intently from a few feet behind the drum kit--literally surrounding the band."

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So I can sleep now. Still, unfortunately the marvelous live clip of the concert-closing "Like a Rolling Stone," surely that of the Manchester gig (which I showed you two blogs ago) just doesn't show the audience onstage, and that certainly had me puzzled.

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Other observations:

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Nice to see additional Barry Feinstein photos of Dylan with cars. This is a rock and car blog, y'know. Also, to finally unearth (in lo-res) the fullest, widest shot of the Aust Ferry Terminal moment.

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I also commend you to these:

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http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/66-jan.htm the February, 1966 Playboy Mag interview wlth Dylan

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Two books: C.P. Lee's LIKE THE NIGHT: BOB DYLAN AND THE ROAD TO THE MANCHESTER FREE TRADE HALL (Helter Skelter Publishing, London, 1998) and John Bauldie's THE GHOST OF ELECTRICITY (1989), both great accounts of the '66 World Tour. An in-depth review of these books is at http://www.taxhelp.com/lee.html

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Drummer Mickey Jones also filmed the '66 tour, and has much to say at http://theband.hiof.no/articles/MickeyJonesBandBite6.html about his conviction that a roadie (and not Kevin Sauntrey) yelled "Play it (expletive) LOUD!" Hey, you can fight it out, boys.

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A fascinating interview with the lad, Kevin Butler, who most certainly yelled "Judas!" can be found at http://www.sonicyouth.com/dotsonics/lee/misc/dylan.html

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Finally (whew), let me wax nostalgic for a shouted moment that personally affected me. You can hear it on the Rolling Stones' GET YOUR YA YA'S OUT live album (1969). There's a similar moment between songs when you hear, "Paint it black, you devils!" and that says everything there is to say about rock & roll to me. I've even shouted it at Springsteen, at Graham Parker, at John Fogerty, at the Grateful Dead, The Who, (and of course the Stones themselves) when I was extremely moved to do so. There is no higher compliment, unless it's "Judas!"

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And I would say to Dylan too . . . Paint it black, you devil. Which of course he did, that night in Manchester, caught forever, for the ages. So it's over and out on this particular subject. . . for now.

while on the subject of Dylan, here's a report on a very ROCKIN' photo

(above) Dylan's second album, released in 1963
(above) the Roy Schatt photo from 1954, which Dylan remembered
copyright Roy Schatt

(above and two below) more from the 1954 Roy Schatt photoshoots

all the James Dean photos copyright Roy Schatt

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During the 1963 photoshoot for the cover of Bob Dylan's second album, THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN, Dylan reportedly wanted to re-create Roy Schatt's 1954 photo of James Dean walking down the middle of West 68th St. in New York City, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. Note the wind blowing Dean's clothes against him, his attention seemingly elsewhere.

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It's one of the most reproduced pictures of James Dean, but I should add, also very much copyrighted by the photographer, who eventually won a major lawsuit for infringement (against the James Dean Foundation, which licensed it for use on refrigerator magnets, posters, and calendars without proper permission).

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Dylan was 21 at the time. The girl in the photo is Suze Rotolo (apparently now a teaching artist at the NYC Parsons School of Design), who was Dylan's girlfriend at the time. Rotolo is said to have inspired the songs "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Boots of Spanish Leather."

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The FREEWHEELIN' photo was taken in February by Don Hunstein. Dylan lived a short ways away from the photo-site, at 161 West 4th St.. The specific location is Jones Street, a one-block side street connecting West 4th St. and Bleeker St. in Greenwich Village.

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Schatt died in 2002, aged 92. Educated in New York, he started as an illustrator for government agencies in the 1930s, under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. But he sooned turned photography from a hobby into a new career. He also studied acting and directed shows during World War II while with the US Army's special forces in India.

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He returned to photography in New York after the war, and director Lee Strasberg allowed him to shoot performers at the Actors Studio. Schatt's sessions with James Dean in 1954 led him to become Dean's tutor in photography. Schatt's most famous picture of the actor is shown above, hands grasping his torn sweater.

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Schatt's photo of Dean holding his "Rollie" camera was taken one day when Dean, fellow actor Martin Landau, and Schatt were walking near The Dakota apartment building (where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived), when suddenly Dean leaped over a railing and positioned himself to take unusual photos of his friends.

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"I knew James Dean as a friend and as a student," Schatt was quoted. "He was a disrupter of norms, a bender of rules, a disquieter of calm." Sounds like the same description could have been made of Dylan.

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Recorded July 9, 1962 - April 24, 1963, FREEWHEELIN' (released May 27, 1963) reached number 22 on the US album charts, eventually going platinum. In the UK it reached number one in 1965. Likely its success was due to its inclusion of "Blowin' in the Wind," one of Dylan's most recognized, most honored songs worldwide, first brought to great success by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

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For us car buffs, the album also included "Down the Highway."

a few more ROCKIN' ruminations on Bob Dylan

(above) Dylan in his Escalade, driving across the burning desert,

possibly more relevant than shilling for Victoria's Secret
(above) just like us, he passes trucks; homage to Duel?

(above) statements in the sands

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While on the subject (see previous two blogs) of Dylan's '66 world tour, and conjoined with this blog's general theme of rock and cars, I should point out that one of the songs he frequently played on that tour was "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat," from his 1966 album BLONDE ON BLONDE. It features a surreal, playful lyric over an electric blues structure.

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The song melodically and lyrically resembles Lightnin' Hopkins' "Automotibile Blues," with Dylan's opening line of "Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," echoing Hopkins' "I saw you riding 'round in your brand new automobile," and the repeated line of " . . . brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat," melodically descending in the same manner of the Hopkins refrain " . . . in your brand new automobile."

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"I saw you riding 'round in your brand new automobile.

Yes I saw you ridin' around, babe, in your brand new automobile.

You was sitting there happy

With you handsome driver at the wheel

In your brand new automobile."

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"Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat.

Yes, I see you got your bgrand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, you must tell me baby

How your head feels under somethin' like that

Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat."

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The Dylan reference to "the garage door" in the final verse may also be an allusion to the automobile of Hopkins' song. The connection between the two songs is probably intended, Dylan being an early musicologist, as he sourced folk and blues to help him create his own lyrical and musical style.

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"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was finally recorded to Dylan's satisfaction in Nashville during the early hours of March 10, 1966. He had tried unsuccessfully to put down its tracks as early as January, 1966. It had been included in some of his live concerts with the Robbie Robertson-led Hawks in late 1965, and was one of the first compositions attempted by Dylan & the Hawks when they first began recording together in January. The final version that went to wax features only Robertson (from the Hawks) but Dylan himself plays lead guitar on the song's opening 12 bars.

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The song has been widely thought to be inspired by both Jackie Kennedy and Edie Sedgwick (an actress/model long associated with artist Andy Warhol). Sedgwick is also suspected as being an inspiration for other Dylan songs of the time, even "Like a Rolling Stone" from HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED.

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Folk-roots historian Matthew Zuckerman also sees a parallel between Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (1965) and Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" (1957).

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Writes Zuckerman at http://expectingrain.com/dok/div/influences.html, "By 1965 Dylan had absorbed an enormous amount of traditional and quasi-traditional material, but it's from this time that we see him start to incorporate the influence of more contemporary works. Chuck Berry, with good reason, has been called the "first poet of rock & roll," and his "Too Much Monkey Business" is a perfect example of his mastery of colloquial American English. Dylan takes Berry's rapid-fire approach to the language and ups the stakes:"

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"Workin' in the fillin' station

Too many tasks

Wipe the windows, check the tires

Check the oil, dollar gas."

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"Ah get born, keep warm,

Short pants, romance, learn to dance,

Get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success.

Please her, please him, buy gifts

Don't steal, don't lift

Twenty years of schoolin'

And they put you on the day shift."

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As another critic points out at http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/bob_dylan/special_features/27

"The world should not have been so surprised when Dylan went electric, for long before he fell under Woody Guthrie's spell and became a folk singer, he had been in various high school rock bands with names such as Elston Gunn & His Rock Boppers, playing Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and Chuck Berry covers. In fact, "'Subterranean Homesick Blues" is an extraordinary three-way amalgam of Jack Kerouac, the Guthrie/Seeger song "Taking it Easy" ('mom was in the kitchen preparing to eat/sis was in the pantry looking for some yeast') and the riffed-up rock of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business.""

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Well, with all THAT noted, let's also make mention of musicologist and record collector Dylan's recent work at being an XM Satellite Radio DJ. His XM Radio stint, which began on May 3, 2006, subsequently coincided with him starring in a multi-platform marketing campaign for the '08 Cadillac Escalade, beginning with two television ads that also highlighted XM as a standard feature on the (now-hybrid-optioned) Escalade. Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" (offering an eclectic mix of music 'from his own library' based around a weekly theme") premiered October 24, 2007. That first episode may have been devoted to the "Cadillac" theme. Other themes subsequently addressed by Dylan on his show included "weather," "dance", "police," and "whiskey."

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But, once on XM, at one point, Dylan wryly observed, "We always aspire to be the Cadillac of radio shows."

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Putting this all in some context, in 2000, Sting appeared in a Jaguar commercial also set in the desert, featuring scenes from his "Desert Rose" video. Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" was one of the most memorable songs ever licensed to Chevrolet. The Who's "Happy Jack" was used by Hummer, and Cadillac also got Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

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Ryan Schinman of Platinum Rye Entertainment, a music and celebrity licensing company that helped to broker Chevy's endorsement deal with John Mellencamp, said there was "a bit of disconnect" when Dylan peddled Victoria's Secret, but that the singer-songwrited jibed well with an iconic brand like Cadillac. Bruce Springsteen, who has never licensed his music or endorsed a product (but--editor's note here--almost exclusively has driven GM and Chevy product), is "the quintessential holdout," Schinman told the New York Times.

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FYI, the music in the Dylan's Escalade commercial is not Dylan's, but is by a band with an unfortunate association for the Escalade, with its 12 m.p.g. city rating (at least up until its recent hybrid reincarnation). That song, "Held," is by the group Smog.

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But again, let's quote Dylan. "Nothing goes better with a Cadillac than a long ride to nowhere."

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On Thursday, July 27, 2006, Dylan let loose with his first car-themed show on XM (the 12th episode in the series). Here's the report from http://rightwingbob.com/weblog/archives/525 :

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""Cars are cars," Paul Simon once said, repeatedly, in his song of the same name, but it wasn't enough to get him included in Bob Dylan's car-themed radio show on XM.

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"""Today we're gonna talk," Dylan intoned, "about the endless gray ribbons of asphalt that criss-cross this country. We're talkin' about where the rubber meets the road, on steel. We're gonna climb aboard the four-wheeled horseless carriage, because today's theme is 'cars, automobiles, coupes, racecars, the pick-up, the van, jalopies, jeeps, junkers, the station wagon, the roadster, the hatchback, the convertible, hard-tops, classics, Pontiacs, Cadillacs, Buicks, low-riders, SUV's, and other assorted behicles.' So strap yourself in, put the pedal to the medal, and listen."

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"First up, Dylan played "what some people call the first rock & roll song," Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88." Dylan informed everyone that though the side is credited to Brenston and his Delta Cats, "it is, in reality, Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Not that Brenston is a fictional character, he's just singing and playing sax."

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"In advance of playing Springsteen's "Cadillac Ranch," Dylan had a brief verbal interlude from none other than one of the creators of the real Cadillac Ranch just outside Amarillo, Texas--the artist Hudson Marquez.

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"Then, Dylan opined about Memphis Minnie. ""Me and My Chauffeur Blues," one of the great blues songs of all time, one of the great car songs of all time, one of the great chauffeur songs of all time, was sung by one of the great old ladies of all time. Memphis Minnie knows all about chauffeurs. Her real name was Lizzie Douglas. She was born in 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana, and began playing guitar in her late twenties. She performed with her husband, Kansas Joe McCoy, but really she was more than any man's equal."

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""They say a good husband should be deaf and a good wife blind," Dylan continued. "Well, I don't think either one of them people were either of those. "What I must buy him is a brand new V-8, a brand new V-8 Ford, and he won't need no passengers--I will be his load." That's "Me and My Chauffeur Blues, by Memphis Minnie, on Theme Time Radio Hour.""

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"In response to an e-mail from "Chuck Lorre," Dylan then told the story of how Clyde Barrow (of the duo Bonnie and Clyde) wrote a letter to Henry Ford complimenting him on the "fine car" he had in the Ford V-8. Dylan segued from that to the Dixie Hummingbirds, by saying, "Perhaps he and Bonnie wouldn't have gotten into that much trouble, if, instead of a Ford, they'd ridden in a 'Christian Automobile'""

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"When Bob began introducting the "lovely and spectacular" Joni Mitchell, I guess many people, like me, were expecting to get hit with a "Big Yellow Taxi," a song which Dylan himself sang on his eponymous LP of cover songs from 1973. Instead, we heard the multi-layered "Car on a Hill" from her album COURT AND SPARK. Afterwards, Dylan said, "Joni and I go back a long ways. Not all the way, but purty far. I been in a car with Joni. Joni was driving a Lincoln. Excellent driver--I felt safe.""

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"Then it was, "We're gonna pause here for a word from our sponsor. Pete Epstein Pontiac." So, we heard Frank Sinatra singing the praises of Peter Epstein's Pontiac dealership, to the tune of "Ol' McDonald" (a tune he also attacks very effectively on the album SINATRA'S SWINGIN' SESSION). Dylan offered no explanation, just, "Now that's a good one, hmmm." If you speculated that people have speculated that Frank only did the jingle as a favor to someone who made an offer that just couldn't be refused, then, well, I guess you'd be in good company. In addition to Sinatra's track, the car-themed show also had a number of amusing old-time car-related jingles spliced in.

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"Of Prince, Dylan said, " . . . just like Judy Garland, he's from Minnesota too," in a reference back to the line he used about Judy in an earlier themed show, "Weather." Also, said Dylan, "(Prince) is from the same area of the state I'm from, so we have plenty in common." His outro was, "That was the Purple One, with more than enough gas," eliciting chuckles from someone in the same room where Dylan was recording the show.

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"Last song was Chuck Berry's "No Money Down," and Dylan had fun egging on Chuck over the intro. Afterwards, this comment: "Interesting to note, Chuck told me his first musical appearances were in his high school, of all places, like many of us get started. Chuck's music always has that hidden thing about it, y'know where the cause is always hidden but the effect is known. "No Money Down." Chuck Berry. Always one jump ahead.""

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"Dylan signed off by admonishing everyone to "drive so your license expires before you do.""

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PLAYLIST OF SONGS:

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Jackie Brenston, "Rocket 88"

Bruce Springsteen, "Cadillac Ranch"

Billy "the Kid" Emerson, "Every Woman I Know"

Memphis Minnie, "Me and My Chauffeur Blues"

George Clinton and Parliament, "My Automobile"

The Dixie Hummingbirds, "Christian's Automobile"

Joni Mitchell "Car on a Hill"

Sonny Boy Williamson II, "Pontiac Blues"

Jimmy Carroll, "Big Green Car"

Richard Berry, "Get Out of the Car"

David Lindley, "Mercury Blues"

Smiley Lewis, "Too Many Drivers"

Prince, "Little Red Corvette"

Chuck Berry, "No Money Down"

(outro) Spike Jones, "Frantic Freeway"

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Now, in truth, he might have also included a self-composed track, "New Morning."

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"Can't you hear that motor turnin'?

Automobile comin' into style.

Comin' down the road for a country mile or two

So happy just to see you smile

Underneath the sky of blue

On this new morning, new morning

On this new morning with you."

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A few sources for further investigation:

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http://www.motortrend.com/features/newswire/91/31962/

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http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/10/bob_dylan_is_the-sellouttiest.html

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http://www.dreamtimepodcast.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

("Commentary on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour")

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http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=61681

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http://music.guardian.co.uk/folk/story/0,,2181541,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=39

("As a show of photos inspired by Bob Dylan opens, Bill Drummond, co-founder of the KLF, recalls the happy day when he finally threw a Dylan cassette out of his car window")

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http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/bob_dylan/special_features/27

("Tracks that Inspired Bob Dylan")

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http://www.notdarkyet.org/tt-cars.html

("the lyrics to "Christian's Automobile," by The Dixie Hummingbirds)