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Motorcycle Nightmare

In mid ’66, after Dylan had released two of the greatest albums ever to be recorded, (Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde) he was working harder than he ever had, (or would) again. Apart from a tour of the US and Europe, to which Grossman, his then manger was trying to add as many as 60 extra gigs, his book, Tarantula was over due and his contract with CBS was ending. This workload coupled with massive drug and alcohol intake was leaving its’ mark on Dylan’s physical and mental health. A mark that didn’t go unnoticed. The poet Allen Ginsberg would refer to him as a “methedrine clown” during this period. Bobs’ excuse was, “ It takes a lot a medicine to keep up this pace”, adding, “A concert tour like this has almost killed me”.

Dylan had to slow down or he’d break down. As it happens, his decision was made for him. The story goes that on 29th June 1966 whilst joyriding in Woodstock, the rear wheel of his Triumph 500 locked, throwing him to the ground. The result is clouded in more myth than any other part of Dylan’s life. Reports range from cuts and bruises, to broken vertebrae, to disfigurement. Some even said he had gone the way of James Dean and been killed. Surely securing legendry status.

Although the full details may never be known, the most realistic report is that he was treated for concussion in nearby Middletown Hospital, and put in a neck brace for a couple of weeks.

The first interview after the crash was by Michael Iachetta from The New York Daily News, (published 8th May ’67). After being cornered on his own door step, Dylan confessed, “What I’ve been doin’ is mostly seein’ only a few close friends. Readin’ little ‘bout the outside world, porin’ over books you never heard of, thinkin’ about where I’m goin’ an’ why am I runnin’ and what am I talkin’”.

Although there was no obvious sign of injury, Bob was bearded, with a bandana on his head and collar up possibly to hide any scars. His speech had also noticeably slowed down.

After this mysterious bike crash, Bob cut himself off totally from the outside world, and hid away in Woodstock’s wilderness. He set about starting a family with Sara Lowdnes, having Jesse, (born in ’66), Anna (’67), Samuel (’68), and Jakob (’71), all born within five years.

These years were a time of physical and spiritual rest. Bob took up painting, with his portraits appearing on Self Portrait and Planet Waves, as well as The Band’s Music From Big Pink. However, Dylan didn’t go soft during this slow period. He was tending to business deals, reading the latest draft of Tarantula, and editing the footage that was to become Eat The Document. The crash it seemed not only allowed him to take a step back and look at his situation, but also to concentrate on thing that had previously been on the ‘back burner’.

Dylan’s back up band on his tour had been The Hawks, soon to change their name to The Band. They were a Canadian based R&B band consisting of Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, vocals), Garth Hudson (organ and sax), Rick Danko (bass, vocals), and Levon Helm (drums, vocals). The five members of the band also set up camp in Woodstock in a house that gave it’s name to one of their albums, Big Pink.

The Band spent the early part of ’67 jamming in Dylan’s basement. They put down over 100 tracks, recorded on a basic reel-to-reel player. These tracks were not all raucous, rock ‘n’ roll songs as you would expect from the members background. The majority were, in fact more folksy/ country numbers. Many of the songs recorded were covers of songs by artists such as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams.

Although the output was released 8 years later, some of the songs were heard by the public prior to this, in the form of cover versions. Artists such as The Byrds (You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere), Manfred Man (Quinn The Eskimo) and Peter, Paul and Mary, (Too Much Of Nothing) raided this collection.

Dylan’s next two releases, John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, continued this country feel. The latter includes a Dylan Cash duet in fact. Dylan then moved away from this sound. However, the 1975 release of the Woodstock songs as The Basement Tapes gave the public a glimpse of what Bob had been doing whilst ‘recuperating’ and the effect of the mysterious crash.