From LA Times
The manuscript shows, in Dylan’s hand, the lines of the song’s famous refrain “How does it feel/To be on your own/ No direction home/Like a complete unknown” as well as phrases he ulimately rejected including “Al Capone,” “ain’t quite real” and “dry vermouth, you’ll tell the truth.”
The identity of the rich person who has a lot of money was not revealed. You know what? Whatever. I have a better story. The Val Kilmer story. Did you know Bob Dylan is a huge Tombstone fan? Listen to the entire story here or read the transcript after the jump.
VK: Can I tell a Bob Dylan story?
AL: I’d love to hear a Bob Dylan story.
VK: So Bob Dylan loves “Tombstone,” It turns out. I found out he was in New York so I called my friend and I said you know, I’d love to meet him, is there any chance and he says, “I don’t know, I’ll find out.” And the next call I got I thought was going to be my friend, but it wasn’t, it was Bob.
I was real excited, like a crazy fan, like a child; it was so great. Basically it was like nothing. It was like we were old friends, it was like “you want to come over?” and he was like, “yeah.” So, hangs up the phone, I was newly married and we had a baby and I went in and said “I think Bob Dylan’s coming over … I’m not sure, it could be a hoax … ”
He shows up and sits down and he wants to talk about “Tombstone,” but I just can’t, you know, nor can I talk about any of his stuff. Eventually he says, ‘ain’t you going to say anything about that movie?’ and I said, “do some ‘Blowing in the Wind’ and I’ll … ”
That’s what I said to him, basically I said no. I get like that sometimes. So I turned him down and, I thought, no one turns this guy down. Anyway, I felt like an idiot afterwards, well, yeah I could have said a few lines. They’re fun lines too, like people still ask me to say lines and now I’ll tell any schmo in the airport, I’ll say “I’m your huckleberry,” but I wouldn’t say it to Bob Dylan!
I felt so bad about it. I was like how could I make it up to him? So what I did was, I recorded “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” but as Doc Holiday and I put in all of the big lines from the movie into the song and made him a little tape.
Told in an interview with KCRW‘s Anne Litt.
