aj in ingenue national lampoon.etc

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HE M G Z I N E FOR TO

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PRETTY

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LOOKING

PARTYFASHIONS

How DoYour FriendsFit Into



Meet a rock revolutionary-the world s only ylanologist

I t s practically deserted on thecorner of Bleeker and Bowery in theEast Village in New York City .Abandoned cars, stripped of their

chrome and wheels , line the street.Alcoholics wander on to the block togrub cigarettes and nickels fromoccasional passersby. It's notthe kind of neighborhood for anafternoon stroll in the sunshine.

But A. J . Weberman, free spirit,rock revolutionary and historian,sits in his second-story loft,

blissfully unaware of the squalor inthe street below. He 's preoccupiedwith the notion that it 's his duty tobring rock singers to social consciousness . Revolution through rock

drafts of letters to JohnnyCash and cancelled checksand other items that he consideredevidence Dylan was going commer

cial, that, worse, he was swappinghis halo of hair for a hard hat.

l Weberman-Dylan storyreally began back n 1962 when A.J .became a Dylan fanatic. Somebodytold him there was a singer aroundwho looked a little bit like him

(Dylan does -a little), andWeberman was hooked.I turned on to him immediately

when I realized that his politics andmine were similar. I became the

gifts from SubterraneanBlues Love Minus Zero an

Rolling Stone . . . Then he'And fools and jewels and

diamonds and lollypops anof glad tiding just don't dofor the soul '- n o that's notit 's from a letter Dylan wrotBroadside Magazine.

I decided that Dylan waon a level with Blake andShakespeare. To figure outcats, people use concordan

alphabetical indexes of theprinciple words of their wostarted a concordance forEventually I fed all of his pand his letters plus his nov



and that he owned several high-risebuildings. What are you doing for

the people? Weberman asked thenext time he was caught rifling

Dylan's garbage on MacDougalstreet. You've got ten milliondollars , and you 're sitting on it.

I'm g ivin' it to kibbutzes in Israeland Far Rockaway, Dylan told him .

A.J . threw a block party for Dylanon his thirtieth birthday . It madeDylan 's add ress public and forcedhim to mov e . The object of the

party, A.J. claims , was to bringDylan b a ck in t o the activis t fold.What it chiefly accomplished was tomake A. J . Weberman a celebrity.Suddenly the media-square as

by

WHOIS

A J WEBERMANA N DWHY

ISH E

·SAYING

ALiJTHQSE



r

c~~ '

~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ~Dear Sha-Na-Na:

My name is Cynthia Goodbead. Iam fourteen years old and I have neverhad an orgasm. I have had crabs, however, and believe me they are no substitute M y best friend, Suzy Starfucker, who has met you (she v ras tripping backstage at the Fillmore and mistook you· all for a box of Tampax)Suzy, anyway, tells me that you knowall kinds of secret sectual things, likeWhat Ramalamdingdong Really Means

a n d how to do it I f this is the case,won't you please get in touch with me?I 've tried just about everything else,and a little extra grease might be justthe ingredient I need.

I i:ecently returned from Paris, whereorgasms are out of season and thepeople speak French. The first thing Idid when I got back to N.Y. was I wentto see Bob Dylan, because Suzy saysh i D l d b

hlm what made him think he knew somuch and all, and he told me that he'dfigured out all the Hidden Meanings ofDylan's lyrics Well I asked him togive me an example and he said, HI'llbet you didn't know that Dylan hasjoined the Playboy Club."

11 Are you sure about that?" asked I."WoUld i lie to you?" replied he."Now why would he go and do a

thing like that?" wondered I."It 's all right there in the lyrics,"

said he."Well why, then?" demanded I .

To Be Alone with Hugh, of course."Well, it sounded logical. And Web-

bermann went on to explain how joiningthe Playboy Club had been Dylan's lifelong closet .ambition, o r- in Dylan'svery O\vn words-" All I really wannado is baby be friends with Hugh.'' Well,it really blew my mind. And then Webb t d \Vll l i

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p e~ mort et devra re s ter UD mois au Jit a pr e s avoir connuu ne br eve pCriode d'amnesie et de paral ys ie .Pour tous se s fa ns, c'est le cataclys me fin a l, le drame d'unnouveau James D ean . E n ga rd a nt le silence penda nt quinzemois , D yla n p er pet ue le m yth e. II se donne aussi le temp sde reflcc h ir, de rctrouve r un equilibr e ph ys ique e t mental.Se s musicien s s ' insta lle nt pr es de chez Jui, a Woodstock : ii

jo u era avec eux. pendant toute sa conva lescence .

Une per iode s 'ac heve . L a folle sara bande est terminee , Jesla mpi o ns so nt ctci nt s , o n range Jes po t s de creme et Jess oie s. D ylan ne peut guere aller plu s loin qu'en reniant sajcunesse , co mm e Elvis ou Frank Sinatra, vieux croonersvieil l issa nt s sous le s moking a paillettes . Tente par Jest riomp hes de casi no , on peut craindre pour ui cette hor-ri ble fin : ii ecrit Lay Lady Lay, il chante Blue Moon,s 'atta ch a nt a scduir e ces mem es s udi s tes qu'il co uvrait d'in-ju res t roi s a ns a up arava n t. Phanta sm es re angoi sses s 'erivolent : « Je ne m'expo se plus clans mes chansons, dit-il alor s.J e Jes c han te , un point c' est tout. Je fabriqu e me s c hanso nsco mm c n 'im portc qu e l prod uit \..Jllaoufacture, pour n'im-porte qui . . » II est pa sse de I'aut re cote du spectacle etsa musique s' en re ssent.En octobrc 1967 ii cnregistre John Wesley Hard ing a Na shvi lle, accom pag nc pa r tr o is mu sicien s. D ylan tourne le do sa l'ele c lron iq ue et aux progres les plus r ecent s du rock.Au moment meme ou Jes Beatle s earegistrent SergentPepper , il rc tro uve la si mplicit e du style co untry et de)' ins trumentation aco ust ique. Jl re stc a Woodstock a v e · safemme el sei. trois enf a n ts, co ntinue a improviser a ve.: sesmus ic iens qui se no mm enl desormais Th e Band . C a lme,d ctendu . il ec r it des cha n sons heureuses e t £rivoles . A la

fin d e 19 68 il retou rn c a Nashvi lle ct enr eg istre Na s h villeSk" li ne . il n' av ait p repar e que quatre chansons, mai sJohna \ ~ h vient un jour lu i re ndre visite au s tudio . ll scha nt cn t cnsc m h lc < Girl from the No rth Co untr y » Dylanc o o ~ e 4uc lqucs c ha nsons pendant la nuit qu'il s chante-ron t en d uo G ro'>sman n·ai me pas les nouveaux a lbum s :



14

LESP UBELLE SDEL VERI T

Entr e D y lan e t We h er man

la gu er r e la plus ordu1 ie1 ·e a d u r c pr es d un an .Une tr eve r e ce nt e e t pre cai r e est inte rv e nue au debut d e l arm ee .

V oi c i l hi s toire e piqu e d e ce combat houffon .

Le coin des ¢ arti stes > deGreenwich Vi llage, c'es t l e nvers de New York, un assemblage boiteux de petites m a i

so ns de brique d 'u n ro uge crasse ux. Une

sortc Je Coron am eJiore, Un pe u plusriche. Dans une ville qu i se deco mp ose ,on ne ramasse pas les or d ures a l au be.Une chance , pour le petit bonhom merondou illard qui fouine sans la mo indreretenue clans une poube lle bien ga rn iede Mac Douga l street. Alan Jules Weberman, dylanolo giste distingue , remue ,cherche , renine , secoue a pleine mains ,hu rle parfoi s : « Ouawww Une merdede chieo Une immonde merde de

chien:

La voie qui mene a Sa in t Dy -lan est jonche e de bicn grossi e res realile smai s les poubelle s, cntrc une bol te cventree ct une g oda ssc sa ns se mcll c, laissentechapper quelque s pe rles . Un brouillonde lettre de J ohnny Ca sh - le chanle ur

a nalyse de la degenerescence de D ylan,son «c u rr ent bag>. Un enor me accordeon me ca nographique vient a l'appuide ses the ses. Toute l'a:uvre de Dylan yest passee au crible imp lacable de l or-

dinateur IBM . Le grand flash Jui estveau ors d'u n tr ip : la face ca c hee dela poesie de Dy lan , obsc ure e t esoterique, lui apparut da n s to ute sa sp lendeuret es contrese ns se mblai ent coller. JI

fa llait tout trad uire, expr imer l a pen seedu maltre en term es clairs, montrer sondesengagement progressif.Trois cents heure s de ba nd es magnetiq ues rec up erees ita et la , mille pagestapees a la machine , deux a ns de tra

vail : « ra in>

(la pluie) devient¢

viote.nce " • et ¢ pi ck i> (ramasse r) devient¢ ti rer >, ¢ stra nger > (l et ra n ge r) n e stautre que le revo lu tio nn aire, etc. Lascience se devant d'etre au serv ice de'ac tion, la Dy lanol og ie conduit Web er

etait dej a rentre dans saLa po rte close mene to ut naWe be r man a 'a nalyse des dco n tact intirne possible avecLes p remieres poubelles sont r

la so urce se tarit rapide mel'apprend et se mefie . Un jonifeste pour l a nni versa ire decents freaks, tro is arresta tiontre fois, We be r man mene saD ylanologie a l'Alteraate Untrava ux pratiques : une fouilbelle publique, observer c laductio n de qua lit e de DyH ighway 61 revis ited .. :.co m menc e a s 'ene rver . Web

conte : c J en avais vraiment ple jour ou j'ai rencontre Dton ne de m r ~ Jes flies, etn a lla it plus du tout. J ai eclasse hebdomadaire s ur Ddecide : ce so ir on se lance



lui so rtait de la tete : ii y avail del'O.K . Corral da n s 'air . Je murmurai :c Oh ma Dylar.0logie, nc m 'abandonnepa s • tout en m 'avan9ant vers D ., aqui je trou va i 'air batard d 'un etudiantdu Talmud miitinc de Pop star. Je prises dcvant : Comment 9a va mec ? >

Arrcle le magneto • , fit-il en guised e reponse . J"arretai le magnet o qucj'avais a la main ct ii ajouta : Pourquoi t' am e ncs to us ces types autour dec he z moi " » - « On e tait parti pourde s t ravaux pratiques, je Jui r cp o ncls,m ai s c' e st 11deve nu unc m anifes ta tioncontre toi. el co ntre tout ce que tu repr esente s > - « Viens Alan , qu 'i l fai l, onva ca u ser u n m om e nt. > II me sai s it parle bras avcc une vigueur q u i ne laissailguere le choi x. J e c riai : ; Re lax , m ec ,9a fair, m aJ P as de v iolenc e • - Al , qu'il dit, jc ne t'ai do n e jamai spa r lc de mon ka ra t e ? • ( .. ). D ylan~ · a s s it sur cs marc hes d ' un petit immcuble a qu e lqu e s ce nt a inc s d e m e tres de lae l la co n ve rsat io n sc pour s ut t . JI me dehite to ut cs ses 1mb ecillite s du genre :c La guerre d u V iet-nam n 'e s t qu 'unK ar m a, I O U ~le m o ndc a tort », CIC.JI n 'a imait pas les Panlhere s Noire s, acau se de Jeur attitude s ur le Mo yenOrient : c L petit I srael contre to us

ces .. > Je dus lu i expliquer que to utle m onde avail le dr o it de v ivre . esjuifs, Jes arabe s. m ais au ss i Jes rcfug i6 pales1iniens. C'cst a lo r s qu ·u •I deme s clcves s' e st pointe , mais je 11 i aidi t de se tirer , qu 'o n n 'ava it p a , d e

J' c n ctais p as su r, m ec, la G e n era lMo t ors a bien e ssaye d' e lim ioe r N ad e r .E n tout ca s, t 'as intfr et a le fa ire d isc retemen t . . ,,C'est alors qu c je de m a rr ai , ba la n 9ant aD . un grand di scours su r l ' imp er ia l ism e,Jc ra cis m e ct le sex ism e (i i n'av a it p as'a ir d' ecoutcr) , e t pu is je Jui a i signif ie

que Nash vil l e S kyli ne fn isait c hier , c tq ue Self P o rtra it c 'e t a it d u vol. Lesgens l' ont ach e tc s u r son no m e t n 'ontjamais pu l' ec o ut cr. Au cu n de ce s d euxa lbums ne tradui sa it vr a im e nt la re a li t eo bj ective . D y lan rcpon di tr a nq uillemcnt :- Sa n s e u x, je n 'aura1s pas i a it N e w

om i nR. c t d 'a illcu r s, jc commence j u ~e

a m 'y rc fro u vc r en mus14u c . . Dis <lone,Al , tu prentl s tics am phcs '

- N o n m ec. s i j' a i tant d'cncrgic c 'cstqu c jc me b ranch e a fon d s ur la vie,JE VIS , MF C

- Pourqu o i s' o h sl111er su r le <,1_uotid 'ena lo r ~ que ..- Et tu croi s q u "il faut q1,1e JC m'in tcrro ge sur lcs m a r ticn s. npn ?

Tu es s (1r qu o i. Al ?

Le join t ct la ca f c inc. c t o i '

Ri c n .B,11:;)tin

J e tlo is nean m o ins a d m ct t r c q ue j'ai to u

jour s vu D y lan41

vc l d

ilf r i~

A llcz,sa lu t Al. q u 'i l fail . h n se ve,rra bi e o to t. ,,Je Jui t e nd" k po ing f ·r m e ct ii se ti ( a .Quam.I j ' a rma i ch e1 m o i, j pl a n a isd 'c m o t 1on . J c pa 1la1s avcc H ar vey . up o tc avoca t , q 11a nd l e t ~ l ep h o 1 1e so n na.

l'immeuble.- Ouais, dis done mec, je vaisun peu de ta politique , une pogenocide. Quand je vendais mopirate de Taran111/a da n s la rueme di sa ient , d'apre s · ce qu';Ide to i , que tu soutenais laViet -nam. 11 y avait notammentte r view dans Sing Ow ..- J'ai fai s cette interview poufreaks me foutent la paix unetoutes . Quand j'habitais Woody avail toutes les cinq minutesqui sonnait a la portc . La cedehors de tout controle , je npe nse un seul instant que 9a iraJa. et J 'AlME PAS <;;A Partva is. rncme d a n s lcs bled s Jecul cs, ii y a toujours un gfreaks qui vient me coller au

- Achete-toi une perruque- Pourquoi tu m 'e n achetes Al ?( . .) Pendant toute la converste lephone n 'a pas arrcte de so oqu 'un entra pour donner a D .de fan accompagnee d 'un rpoem es . II parcourut la Jettte n dit le bouquin. Re g a rdect dis moi s cc que L'en pcnsesj 'aura is du publier un livre de

y a d e ux ans . . •Bof. .. et toi, qu 'c s t-ce quede ce 4ue je Cais?- Tu y crois. dit-ilEt moi : Da n s unc autre epora is pcut -e tr e ctutlic le Talmud.



meurent.- Allon s, tu ne vas pas me direc ro i s en Dieu ?- Evidemment que j y cr.ois .- Tu ne tr o u ves pa s qu e c 'e sdictoire avec ce que lu di sai schanson With G od i11 ur S

cro) ai s en Dieu a l epoque ?- Oui .. probabl e m e nt.

- Et s i tu te se rvai s de te s cinqd e dollar s pour aider Jes ge ns ?- J en a i pas tant.- T u pa r les ii y a e u de s fun 'es qu 'un sale multimillionaireleur s tu te pr o clamai s d e ja mien 1965 .. et le s concerts gratuitspa s to o genre , e n p lu s, tu fai s ds on s apolitiquc s co mme Nash vilne, de la guimauve . T u t 'e s cc he veux , tu ne joue s qu 'a vec decien s de rock qui se foutcnt cmenl d e la politique , tu pu es .e t moi. o n va en p a rler . On aproj e ts qui vont le peter la te teQ uclquc s jo ur s a pr c s, D y lan md e nou veau. 11 sa va il bi e n q upo nd r-c u n a rticle u p a rl ir de nve rsa tio ns cl <ra n ·ava it p as ' a ip la ire . D es qu e le te lephone S

~ on ne r jt: 111e Lle m e rd a i s up e r vbranch e r 1110 11 m ag ne lo : ce tt em o in s. i i nc m e prcndrail pa s~ c I I ins is la po ur que .ie lui liscii u t e le ph o ne. ce qu e je fi s. IIhi e n sur . ma i s n 'ap p o rl a que d estio ns d e de tail. Pu i s ii m e de m a- i ~ do n e , Al. l e s en l ra inr egi s tr e r tout 9a he in ?



mois, Bob Jc vcux de 'a c tion, et toutde sui te. Tu comprcnds, tu fais la loida n s le rock. Co nd u is- toi en h o rnme , iiy en a des tds tl'autre s q ui se co nduironten hommcs .. A propo s, co mment veuxtu qu c je fini sse l'a rticlc ?- J' e n sa is rien, c 'es l ton article, no n ?- O .K . rncc . . tout ce que je t'ai lutout a l'hcur c, c 'ctait vrai, non ?- i=n gros, ou i , m a is pas v raiment.. .j"ai dit quelque chose d 'a pprochant ,m ais tu le dcformcs en l'utili san t , tu cites ho r s du co n te xt e , comme Look a-

gazi11e- Aaaah, tu n 'as pa s le courage de ccq u e tu dis, mec- Et puis quoi encore ?- Tu ne defends meme pas te s pro-prc s ch a nso ns, c'cst clair .- Me e, je c ro is que je vais ecrire unarticle sur to i. o u mieux, je va is ecrire

un e chan so n sur toi .- Bo nn e idce, era me fera de la publicil e.- Ou a is. d 'a ille ur s. c'es t la se ule ra i so npo ur laq ucll c jc ne l'e crir a i pa s , maisc 'es t un ho n s uj e t pour une chanson.

Commen t tu vas l 'appeler ?- Le pore.- Alor s, je s ui s un pore, c 'e s t era quetu veux dire ?- · Ouai s. exac te m e nl.

- Putain d e merde que je s uis un pore ,m ecSihem cnl , mec.C' e s t plut o t loi. le poreEt to n magneto. ii court toujours?Ou a is me c

nerable et ri9icu le , mec . y a trop degen s malheureux a cause de toi et dece que t' e s devenu. Je re-ecoute souventtes chansons, el c' e st vraiment deprimant.- Ouais , ma i s je le s ai rendu s p lu s he uheux que malheureux. Leur p laisir vaullargement leur tr i s tes se ( ..) Tout ce qu e ·je sa is, tu voi s, si j'etai s un petit me c , jeveillerai a changer de trottoir quand jete croise . Tu portes deja un petit badge,la , juste a u-des sus du creur, on devraitplutot t 'accrocher unc grande pancartedans le do s.- <;a te va bi e n de dire era LID ty p equi a ecrit des chan so ns co mme toi etqui vi t co mme tu vis- Oui mec, et qui do n e a ecrit dem e illeure s chansons que moi? D e sno m sc Voyon s .. Creedence Clearwater? »- D e la m e rde.- Go rdon Lightfoot n 'est pas ma dutout.- Ouais , p as m a .- ecrit de bans t ru e s, de s chan son sasscz choucttes. Et un autre typ e qui apa s m a d ' im ag ination . attend , commed an s Tarantula .. ah oui, Barb a ra Keefe ..

Hum . .John Lenn o n '

En progres.

Georg e Harri so n ?Mmmm .. mouai s.J im M c G uinn ?QuoiPro co Harum . e t le p ar o lier , Keith

Reid ?

League, organisation s ionisil est le se ul a touch e r . de

quante cent imes par alburi1collectif Be ngla De sh, etc.Et 'i n ev itable affrontementjour ou A .J . c faisait upour un photographe dePr ess . Alor s qu'il avail lSarah D y lan o b s er v a i ~duge derriere ses jalousies.plu s, elle descend dans lle photograph e ct prend ama n , le chiffonnier de la T~ Laisse tout c;a, sa le paracouches a la main , A.J. Jperbc « Mcrdc, tu jettetru es int e r essa nt s, lai sse -mpr e ndre. Je fais du rec ya vant dans la journee ,c tai t sorti acheter un coctrouve mole s te par un sin

D yla n qui n' a ime pa s qu'ii sa femme , e tait passc ate . e n lui sa utant s ur le doD e puis or s , s ur le frontgression des forces revolutiaveree remarqua ble. Fin slan ecri t une chanson em a r t de George Ja ckso nfreaks de fri sso nncr d'emoia retrouvc Allen G in sbergplus OU moins avec lui. To

ve nt un pocm e sur la conbl ic ai ne de Sa n Dieg o oupie s. zi ppi es et autrc s frevies le 12 ju illet pou r s'oppe lec t ion d e Nixon.c A ller a San Dieg o pou s



2. lfash

Collector s ViewofBobDglanBy Eleanor Moore

The pop scene has produced any , number o f reaks, but

A.J. Webberman deserves more than just a place in thePantheon. He's the High priest o f pop. Like all truereligionists his lifes tyle is humble. And approaching his .Bleecker Street loft su ounded by decrepjt warehouses andfalling down apartments, I had second thoughts. Access tothe holy temple is made only i f A.J. deigns to look downfrom his street-front window and hears you calling out onthe street below. He come down and unlock the door andlead you up two very unstable flights o f stairs, pa st thecommunal toilets, up to a lacquered green door embossed

with gold letterings: A.J.

Dylan ArchivesA portal to a bette r world? A distinct relief rom the darkstale hallway.

S

Do you see yourself as a new kind of pop personalityof Boswelli;m figure who interprets and chronicles astar s life and work? pop parasite , so to speak? Obyou feel what you re doing is valid .

A.J.: Yes. I don t see myself as a parasite.Charlie: Well , that s facile.A.J .: The parasites in the rock business are the

promoters and the entrepreneurs, the middle men who rdon t do any creative work themselves , but ju st kindweasle their way into a position where they can getbread out of the whole deal. Because, I work very hawhat I do. I think I spend more time in t erp retin g Dypoetry than he spends writing it.

In a sense, though, I am ripping Dylan off for his fI m using Dylan s name and reputation in order to geaccess to the media. But I feel that what I have to sahundred times more important than what Dylan ha s

Charlie: Why?A.J.: ecause all Dylan says in his lyrics is heroinbeautiful. He sings the praise of heroin in his lyrics .Charlie: But that s only your interpretation .



,6it's about heroin. I'm not the only one who understandsthese songs - there are many other artists who understandthem, too. And they write songs in this secret language,putting him down for being a junkie.

Charlie: Who?A.J.: Oh , James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel,

Steppenwolf , Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater,they all use the same symbols as Dylan and put him down .It's there clear as day, once you know the secret language.Once you know French or Spanish, the min ute you knowthe language, understand the symbols and how they'reused, you start to listen to rock and see what it's all about.

Dylan is the founder of rock poetry, and there are many,many , many other Dylanologists, but they are all into themusic thing. I'm the only one who talks about it in literalterms. They ll write songs and sing about it , but I talkabout it in literal terms.

Charlie: Why does it have to be this conscious?A.J.: t has to be this conscious because there 's-so much

infor mation tP.at 's transmitted.Charlie: What kin d of feedback have you gotten?A.J.: John Lennon's mentioned my name. I interpreted

his lyrics and Lennon mentioned my name. In Give Peace AChance he says "Everybo dy's talking about Webberman."Paul Seaver wrote a song to me called Jasper in theMinors." Jasper told the miners , Dylan told his critics notto dig too deep, cause they might find something he'drather keep asleep ."

Charlie: I meant Dylan - what kind of feedback haveyou gotten?

A.J .: I've talked to Dylan . I think just the fact that he's

over to the Cafe Gaslight. We happened to be walking Dylan ' s house , and we saw Dylan 's garbage lyingoutside there .

Charlie: How'd you know it was his?A.J.: Well, we figured it was in front of his house , a

we looked through it, and sure enough , there was letterwritten to Bob Dylan. So I said, wow, I've got a greatto find out about Bob Dylan and study him: I'll go thrhis garbage. So after that , we went through the garbageevery night. I heard fr om a friend of Dylan , that prettysoon Dylan became aware that somebody was goingthro ugh his garbage , dealing hi s garbage Somebody sa

It's Webberman." And he said, The thought crossedmind. Let's call the police on him.

And they said, No , that's just what Webberman wanHe wants you to call the pigs in so he can have a wholecause: Dylan has Webberman arrested and he can get iestablishment press , and have a whole human interestas a guy who studies another cat's poetry for years andwhat does the cat do - has him arrested for going throhis garbage."

So Dylan decides against that. But he wants to mak



really starting to become sick and tired of Dylan'sreactionary politics. And they started to give me someexposure as a way of getting back at Dylan, and breakingthe Dylan myth.

Oh , and in the garbage article, I also included thingsfrom this letter I had from a friend of Dylan's wife to a

fri end in England which managed to come into mypo ssess ion. It had Dylan and his wife fighting it out, and allthis gossip. In my garbage art icle there was a ha t chet job onDylan - I wasn't really trying to be objective, I was justpicking out all the bad things about Dylan. I admit it.Because the cat wasn't singing about life anymo re in hislyri cs. On t ~literal leve l , it 's all these love songs andsinging the praises of monogamy.

Charlie : When you say reactionary ·politics, I assumewhat you mean is absense of any previous substance. But

isn't that Dylan ' s choice?A.J.: Right , absense of any substance. No , whensomebody has access to the mass media the way Dylandoes , it 's their duty to talk about what's happenin g. f youwalk d own the street and see a littl e child beingmachinegunned by somebody dressed in a uniform , andyou ju st walk on by and never say anything about it for therest of your life, you're as guilty as the guy who's doing themachinegunning.

Charlie: If that's the way you feel about it. But his

choice is passivity.A.J : No, it 's his duty to talk about it. He can do hi s

thing , but I can do my thing , to o . All these thing I've saidabout him, I've said many times and he' s never sued me .

Charlie: But callin g attention to you would give you

'

Scudutto's ju st an idiot. He can't study Dylan 's poor anythi ng like that. He has no idea of what he 's sayand he let Dylan censor the book, and he doesn't havmuch political consciousness and doesn't really knowwhat's happening . But he did do a good job of researit , talking to his friends, spe nt some time and some m

doing it, so I re spect him for that. Toby Thompson ,other hand , made one trip to Hibbing and wrote a b oabout it.

Charlie: Two .A.J.: Pure exploitation. It ' s unfortunate that the

will se ll .Charlie : But anyone who envelops himself in this

secrecy lays himself open to what Thompson is doingfor that matter , what you are doing .

A.J . : But I do n ' t look at Toby Thompson as a

Dylanologist.Charlie: n opportunist?A.J.: Yeah . But my book will be out soon, in boo

edition. t should tell you what Dylan is saying in hispoetry.

Charlie: What 's going to happen to Dylan?



·

ZOOT MAGAZINE - 2 & H o l d i n g / a werepuke p u b l i c a t i o n

T h i s i s t h e s p e c i a l ZOOT d r y - r u n , composed o f a bunch

o f s t u f f f rom ZOOT 1 , some o f i t mimeo 'd and some o f

i t o f f s e t f rom o r i g i n a l m a n u s c r i p t s . I t goes someth ing

l i k e t h i s •

4 by Jon E i s e n , , . , , , , , , p . 3

Leopa rds Rose by George Pau l C s i c s e r y • • • • • • p . 4

A , J , Weberman I n t e r v i e w e d by Ko I .a .nkes ter • • p . 5

I ' m A Whip F r e a k by Ed S a n d e r s • • • • • • • • • • • • • p . 9

The R e s t o f You Men Come With Me by J o n E i s e n •• p . 10

The NHRP S t o r y by J o n Tiven • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . p . 1 4

Oute r Pumice by R. M e l t z e r p , 17

G u i t a r Moll P o e s i e s by Kathy D o r r i t i e • • • • • p . 18



BY

HIS DUTCH COLL ::AGUE

I knew A l a n 1Teberman f o r a b o u t a y e a r - - - v i a l e t t e r sand exchan r ; i ng o f t a p e s - - - b e f o r e I f i n a l l y met him i n J u n1970 , a t h i s D y l a n A r c h i v e s . I n Hollc .nd I was doinr ; t h esame th ine ; A l a n d i d i n New Yorl<-- -wr i t i n g a r t i c l e s a b o u tDylan , t ry i ;1g t o i n t o r p r e t h i s songs and p o e t r y ; o n l y A l aa r t i c l e s were more a r t i c u l a t e and no d o u b t more c o r r e c t tmine ( f o r one r e a s o n b e c a u s e he had an a w f u l l o t o f t a p e s ,a r t i c l e s , i n t e r v i e w s , e t ce te r2 , , t h a t I d i d n o t have anda l s o b e c a u s e i t i s p r e t t y h a r d f o r a non-Amer i can , whod o e s n ' t even s p e a k Enc ; l i sh afl a n a t i v e l a n g u a g e , t o u n d e r st h e American s o c i e t y t h a t Dylan was s i n g i n g a b o u t f o r y e a

I s t a y e d a t t h e Dylan A r c h i v e s f o r a b o u t two weeks b eh i t c h - h i k i n e ; G,000 m i l e s a c r o s s t h e c o u n t r y i n s i x weeks .f i r s t p a r t o f t h e i n t e i · v i e w t o o k p l a c e on t he evenine ; b e fI l e f t , t h e s e c o n d p a r t a f tP. r I had r e t u r n e d , T h i s i n t e r v i en e e d l e s s t o s a y, i s t h e l o n g e s t and mos t c o m p r e h e n s i b l e A



b e c a u s e he c a n ' t f i n d a n i r o n i c mean ing , imp ly ing a t b e s tt h a t t h e y ' r e n o n s e n s e p o e t r y, which i s a n o t h e r example o fsomeone t r y i n g t o a n a l y s e and n o t f i n d i n g a n y t h i n g , n o tb e c a u s e i t was n o t t h e r e b u t s i m p l y b e c a u s e t h e y were n o tp r e p a r e d t o a p p l y t h e a n a l y t i c a l method t o D y l a n ' s p o e t r yo r t o o t h e r roc l r p o e t s ' l y r i c s , A p r e r e q u i s i t e t o a p p l y i n gt h e a n a l y t i c a l method , wh ich r e l i e s h e a v i l y on r e c u r r e n tsymbol i sm, i s Jmowing t h e soniss by h e a r t , You have t o lmoa l l t h e songs by h e a r t so t h a t when you come a c r o s s asymbol i n one c o n t e x t - - - l a d y f o r i n s t a n c e - - - y o u c a n th inbacJ.: w i t h o u t h a v i n g t o go throu13h h u n d r e d s o f pages o fp o e t r y, and s a y The LADIES t r e a t me l d n d l y , , , I n t h e eml o t where t h e LADIES p l a y . . . Or e l s e you have t o do wha tI ' m d o i n g , which i s a i s r e a t e r h a s s l e t h a n memor i z ing t h ep o e t r y : I am f e e d i n g a l l t h e l'rord.s i n t o a compu te r, anclchecJ;:ing t h e c o n c o r d a n c e s i n t h e v a r i o u s t r e n d s and p a i r i nwords , s o r t o f , I ' m h a v i n g t h e compu te r do i t b e c a u s e i t s

i m p o s s i b l e t o memorize Ta r a n t u l a , which i s a b o u t e i g h t ypages of p o e t r y.

So one r e a s o n t h a t t h e y d i d n o t do i t was b e c a u s e o f td i f f i c u l t y i n v o l v e d . A n o t h e r t h i n g i s t h a t i f t h e y had t hmuch i m a g i n a t i o n t h e y g e n e r a l l y would become r o c k s i n g e r s

and w r i t e r s , n o t j u s t c r i t i c s , and i t s l i l r e rocl-;: p o e t r yseems t o be y e a r s and y e a r s a h e a d o f r o c k c r i t i c i s m . I amt r y i n g t o b r i d g e t h a t gap . So I ' m r e a l l y dol'm on p e o p l eP a u l ~ I i l l i a m sDylan once t o l d P a u l U i l l i a m s t h a t t h e r e a



MORE WEBERM N • • •

a t t almost completely sub jec t ive ly. There i s ano the rp o s s i b i l i t y - - - t h a t rock c r i t i c i s m i s cor rup t , t h a t thesoc ie ty i s such t h a t t t r i e s to read out any kind ofc r e a t i v i t y t h a t the i nd iv idua l may have in school , andt u rn him o ff to l i t e r a t u r e and t u rn him off to poe t ry.

y making him read a l l of t h i s i r r e l e v a n t s h i t l i k eA Tale o f Two Ci t i e s and a l l t h i s s h i t t ha t was goingon in the e ighteenth century, which has very l i t t l e

re levance to our l i v e s in t echnologica l soc ie ty, so insome ways the t a l e n t s o f c rea t ive people a re d e f i n i t e l ya t a premium. Rock c r i t i c i s m i s such t h a t these peoplewho do have t h i s modicum of t a l e n t d o n ' t r e a l l y pushmuch f u r t h e r, because they know they can get by on whatthey have, so they a r e corrupt i n a sense . I th ink a l o tof rock c r i t i c s a r e cor rup t . Although the rock c r i t i c sd o n t tune i n to the s e c r e t language, the Dylan-secre tlanguage, many rock wri t e r s d id , they spent t h e i r t ime,

memorizing a l l the Dylan songs, and got very much i n tothem on a very s i g n i f i c a n t l e v e l . They l earned Dylan ' ss e c r e t language to communicate with Dylan in t h a t l anguage. So I 'm no t the only one in the world who can doI t s o ~ nto anyone As long as you know the method you

• MikeJahn



Jahn

S )UIDS )ff ~ ~ S V I T ~ Sfrom Special Features-syndicate division ofThe NewYork Tunes

FOR RELEASE: Dec.11-12, 1971

The Underqround Rock Writer :The Press Pa r ty i s His Dish

By MIKE JAHN

With 'photo o f w r i tA . J . Weberman

Rick i s an underground press w r i t e r , and l i k e so many underground

w r i t e r s , he i s broke and hungry. He spent a l l day sewing p l a s t i c bag

h i s c lo thes , and now i s h i t t i n g t he b u f f e t t a b l e very hard .

A f t e r t h r e e years of f r ee - l anc ing reviews ($15 each) fo r an unde

paper he has become an exper t a t more than rock He i s a l so exper t

.



Jahn/Rock Wri te r- -2

fo lded the p l a t e in h a l f and s tuck i t in h i s s h i r t .

Stea l i ng from the b u f f e t t a b l e has become so much a p a r t o f th in

t h a t when one wr i t e r, A.J.Weberman--who went through the garbage o f Dand other c e l e b r i t i e s and landed a f ron t -cover a r t i c l e in Esquire (Oc

fo r i t - -was asked whether he minded having h i s p ic tu re taken a t a pre

pa r ty, he immediately grabbed a gouda cheese and began i n se r t i ng i t i

s h i r t .

To Introduce an Unknown

According t o Pat Luce , New York press agent fo r A M Records, t h e

average p re s s pa r t y cos t s about $1,200. "' 'hat buys an open ba r and a

t a b l e , which usual ly i s f r u i t , cheese, po t a to and macaroni sa lads and

c u t s . S t u f f l i k e t h a t . I l i k e t o have them ca t e r ed , though, which c

. .



J ah h/Rock Wri te r- -3

meat and cheese,which i s e a s i e r and l e s s me ssy t o s t e a l than o rgan ic

t a b l e s tew.

I l ean toward co ld c u t s and fowl , Rick sa id , but f r u i t and c

can be accommodated. Las t summer a l l t h e companies were i n t o f r u i t ,

my p r i z e was a smal l watermelon I pu t t i n a bowling bag I saved

t he days I was growing up in Brooklyn. I a lways knew I would have a

t h a t . He d e c r i e s t h e t r end toward s loppy foods l i k e f r u i t s a lads a

wi th beans and r i s e .

I ru ined one o f my b e s t p a i r s o f j e ans wi th a t a co l a s t wee k / '

0

(c) 1971 Mike Jahn

(Readers may wri t e Mik e Jahn i n ca re o f t h i s newspaper. )

rI/ } n ~~ r pI 2 e . f

IW ~ V o r m s - (As t h e p r i c e o f g o l d r i s e s my h i f . .c ~ n e e o r e c e i v i n g ' t h a



r · lo-w f . . ; ; ; :(As t h e p r i c e o f g o l d r i s e s

g o l d c o i n goes downmy hc n e e o r e c e i v i n g

. You w o r m . ~t h a

I••-. \:Off the recof\d

~ Jon Marlow'e

Crit ic 's t}ook ,\ .

is b o o t l e g ~ r j p

in to Bob Dy.tan

~ 7 1"l 1 con ess to'·possessing numerous Dylan bootlegs,- ' ~ one in \Vhich somebody hid a tape recorder

under a sofa \Vhi e Dylan sat and sang acoustic Iversions of.some of his High\vay 61 Revisited

songs. · '.. I

But Cable, as well-3ls many other rock critics

Although bootleg albu1ns and/or tapes are in"violation of: the Jaw, Bruce Springsteen used toac'tually. tell" b6otleggers Roll your tapes at Imany of h i ~ concerts. That 's V.'hy it \Vas a littlesurprising (not to n1ention rather depressing) fthat Springsteen recently sued a group_ of Cali- Ifornia bootleggers and \Von . . . to the tune of j$20 million. '· I

· ~ > ; - [ - and music Overs, feels bootleg records are·justj .._ Once upon a time we had sunk so \o\v that ( fied:

1• ·- ,

.,.\Ve looked to A.J. \ V e ~ e r m a nto pi_ck.thro_ugh . ~ _ ~ ' ~ : ; . r ' : _ , ·•r can't\really·get \vorked up about losses J~ B o bDylan's garbage to get a ne\v 1ns1ght into :_

1. -l:-;::i- --: _. ·, i suffered by official record companies through· the man. · = f ~ < r: bootlegging.r-· Cable \vrites. because people~ That alone says a great ~ . . . · ~ ~. .._ . \Vho buy bootleg records of a particular artist in·.deal about A.J., Dyl.an . . . and *". · -; . ? .:JA . t~ f l ~ . A f f . - - variably a l r e ~ d yown all that a_rtist's official rec·

,.._:us. Granted, the times have : ~ · · . . , : ; , ~ '& ords. In any;'case, \Vith D y l ~ n1t co.uld be argued;changed. -Today you may not 1

, d' that a .record company \Vh1ch onuts 'I Shall Be:like the fact that Bob Dylan • ? ~ y l a _ ns unreleased r e c o r tngs re - Released' an 1d 'lvlighty Quinn' from 'The Base-,._has turned to Jesus. l 'ou may vealing ment Tapes' ,deserves anything it gets.7have hated his last two slight-· . I Ironical\)•,' although_ bootlegging has been:1y religious LPs: "Slo\V Train No\v Or Have You Ever Been?, St. Valentine's \ v i t h us sinCe the '40s, i t wasn' t until a Dylan:coming and Saved. Heck, Day ';1assacre," Now Your Mouth Cries \Volf," bootleg The'.Great White Wonder Album was...you may no longer care (if IViorlowe "J:fold The Fort For \Vhat It's Worth, Valenti· released in the late '60s (and sold hundreds of_:you ever did) wh_at's in his nO Type Tangos, Tapes From Sherry's Attic, thousands off copies) that bootlegging became a~ t r a s hbaskets. But there's no denying_ Bob Dylan Seventy Dollar Robbery, "See1ns Like A massive and ,lucrative business. In recent years,:has been one of the most influential musical Freezeout, Life Sentence and Let P.1e Die In bootlegging ,has come under serious legislation

.•forces of lhe last t\VO decades. M> Footsteps. and Ja\v enforce1nent. A recent check revealed

... Pop music critic Paul Cable feels the same ··1 :'It's almost in1p6ssible to belie\•e, if it \Veren't that not onel IV1iami record store carried above·way. In the introduction to his \Vonderful $5.95 sci \vell documented by Cable, thal there are the-counter (.the operative \Vord here is 'above·Schirmer book Bob Dylan: i ; is U n r e l e a ~ e . dRec- more than 100 bootleg Dylan albums and tapes. the-co11nler"JOylan bootleg . . . or any otherordings, ·Cable \Vrites: _ Ap.d as Cable says, n1any contain vintage Zim- bootleg. for that matter.

It _ c o ~ l ?be a r ~ u ~ dthat, as thcr,e ari: .so m,erman songs - " C ~ u r c hWith i ' ~ oUpstairs, , \Vharevef our feelin s on buotle recordsmany s 1 ~ n ~ f 1 ~ a n t0 ~ 1 s s 1 o n sfrom D ~ a ns .off1c1a I 'm Not There, Sign Of The Cr:oss," Get and ta es C a ~ l e ' s"Bob 13 Ian: His U ~ r e l e a s e dalbun1s, it is 11:nposs1ble to look at his musical de· Your Rocks Off ~ t h a tmost of us have n e ~ ' e rRecord)ng's" makes for inrorrnative and intr i ·velopment \VIthout recourse to the unreleased h.eard Bob Dylan sing. If vie had heard songs hke . , ct' d 't 't help but niake vou

·work. Thus this book is intended to be of interest Shu'rch \Vith No Upstairs and Sign Of The ghu1nhg.1eaf ing -1

3 ~ 1 can Pl s C ble doe-s .1· k I ' t e 1 o any nv1a party. u , a nnot only to collectors, but to anyone ac no\V · Cross, Dvlan's recent Jesus foray mav not have

1ct·

1d tape in terms of lvr

~ e d g i n gthe n1assive influence Dylan has asserted come as sUch a shock. .. ? ~ Y a1 ~ ~ a u ; se ~ ~ ~ . r ~ i ~ ~c ~ ~ t i c sal\vays fall i f i L ~

·over the last 15 years. Cable not only lists all the b o o t l e ~LPs and ~ ~ ~ e nit cor:fes to D ~ l a n ,b.ut also dissects the, And so, for the next J 97 pages, Cable takes tap;s and what Dylan songs they contain, he also rnelodv chord changes and the general rnusi- j:us on an amazing journey through each and rev1ev:s the performances and th: s ~ n g s ,hov.' cianshiP involved . . . and he really kno\VS what ,.every bootleg tape and/or LP that has eve.r been aqd· \Vhere the bo?lleg was obta1nea and the he's talking about. .· issued on Bob Dvlan. It goes fro111 the sublime - oyerall sound quality (some of then1 are \·ery , 1: The Great \Vhfte \Vonder LP - to the r id ic u- p 6o r) . In the end, Cable acco1nplishes just \ hat he 1

l ou s - a ji ng le sung by Dylan into his te e- It should also be stated here that bootleg rec· set out to dolBy exposing us to this astoundingphone-ansv..'ering n1achine. ords are illegal. They are 1nade \Vithout the per· output of b o ~ t l e gproduct he really does give us i

· Along the \vay \ e are introduced to such farmer's kno\v\edge, at concerts, off live radio or a ne\\' insight into Dylan. And to think he didn't

= : : : : · ~ :~ ~ : : 1 ~ _v : ~ : ,' A r e : : V b r o a : : : : : . by any o : ~ : : a : : : : . : : _h a ~ et ~ .si:t t\ough ~ o b ~ : : . : : : : . : : :

VVedneSday, March 25 . 198 1 • The Mia

\ .,, '

Let:)OscarMa

YG>ua Winne}m.Miim1Hew

A<3DEMYA ~ ] ~

CONrE.l1

Predict .i,tie Oscar winners and you cwin a CRUISE FOR TWO aboard CostT/S )]Jt1i\'1Jf$\,or DINNER FOR TWSheraton Bal\ Harbour {if used prior toyou will also iee the revue C'est Si BoADMISSION fOR TWO to a Wometco,Cinema, AMQ, Loew's or Plitt Theatre.

I1. Check one Dq.x in each of the eight Academcategories below. (Note; Only this entry form

; · : : : : : · : ~ :1 : ' : , ~ ~ ' .:,:::o :: o

aj in ingenue national lampoon.etc

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