Page 29 - the NOISE August 2014

The Plugz, Bob Dylan, & David Letterman INTERNET ARCHIVES
BY TONY BALLZ
out: Dylan would perform three songs, but absolutely no interviews would be given. Bob had been dodging the press for years and there was no way he would subject him- self to any moronic questions from some idiot talk show host, no matter how popu- lar he was with college kids. A date was set: Thursday, March 22, 1984.
Dylan liked to keep his backing groups on their toes. The boys asked what songs they were going to do and Dylan gave the im- pression he would decide when he got there. They asked how they should dress and Bob replied: “Punky but cute. And don’t smile!”
Bob and band arrived at 30 Rockefeller Plaza a few hours before the taping to sound- check and rehearse. After setting up, they launched into“Treat Her Right,”a 1965 hit for blue-eyed soulster Roy Head. They then did an unfamiliar tune of Dylan’s called “I Once KnewAMan.”Theyendedwithastrongrun- through of “License To Kill” off Infidels.
The rehearsal over, Dylan informed the band which songs he wanted to perform for the show: one they had just practiced, one they had been honing for some time, and one they barely remembered, which would be played first. During Letterman’s intro, Bob chops impatiently at his Strat, nearly drown- ing out the host.
The group opens with Sonny Boy Wil- liamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talking,” perhaps a sardonic comment on Bob’s no-interviews stance. They tear through the blues number at a fast “Highway 61” clip, ragged but right- on and loud. Dylan wanders off his mark while Holiday plays a screechy slide solo.
They finish to thunderous applause and cheers. Letterman approaches with hand outstretched: “You gentlemen sound terrific! Very nice. Very impressive.” An unsmiling Dylan gives him a wet-fish handshake. Let- terman asks: “Mr. Dylan and the band ... you will be back? Perhaps two more songs?”
Bob freezes, lost for words. He points at the host’s upraised fingers, nods his head and manages an “OK” off mic. The audience titters as Dave babbles at the camera. Dylan turns away scowling. One song and already Letterman has violated the agreement.
After a commercial break, they return. Dave asks the name of the next tune and Dylan mumbles: “License To Kill.” It’s not as good as the rehearsal, but swings nonethe- less. The band settles into a groove as Bob takes a harmonica solo. Again, the song’s end is met by cheers and applause.
Any Dylan fans searching for transcen- dence found it in the evening’s third and final selection.
“Jokerman” was the lead-off track from In- fidels. The lyrics were his strongest in years, and Bob turned in a fine melodic vocal per- formance on the LP. The instrumental back- ing coasted along on Sly and Robbie’s subtle reggae riddim, while Mark Knopfler comple- mented Bob’s voice with liquid guitar runs. It was a very tasteful way to kick off Dylan’s lat- est comeback album.
The version of “Jokerman” performed by Bob Dylan and his band of LA punks on Late Night was not tasteful, nor was it ragged. It was some of the most dirty and convincing rock and roll he would produce during the
1980s.
The group had polished this one until it
shone like a jewel. Marsico thuds his bass coolly, Quintana pounds his tom-toms, Holi- day strums his Keith Richards open-tuned thumbpick chords with headband flying, while Dylan stamps his foot, squats like Chuck Berry, punches the air on the chorus, and spits a venom absent from the studio cut all over lyrics both personal:
Shedding off
One more layer of skin Keeping one step ahead of The persecutor within
and accusatory:
You go to Sodom and Gomorrah But what do you care
Ain’t nobody there
Would want to marry your SIS-TAH!
This was the snide & nasty Dylan of old, the Dylan who took great delight at the irri- tating effect his untrained nasal voice had on people, the Dylan of Don’t Look Back, Eat The Document, “Like A Rolling Stone,” “Positively 4th Street,” “Maggie’s Farm,” “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,”
“Masters Of War,” “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues,” & the hillbilly yodels on his first album. This was the Dylan who built up a catalog
of protest folk classics then abandoned that crowd for rock and roll then abandoned that for country then told everyone to go to hell with Self Portrait then did next to nothing for four years then came back with the most dev- astating confessional love songs anybody had ever heard and then, seeing as how there were still plenty of people to piss off, insisted on re- cording and performing only Jesus music.
This was the Dylan who perversely bucked prevailing trends, who honestly did not care about hit singles, record sales, concert atten- dance, his fanbase, or his image. This was Dylan the punk, before punk had a name. Without him, The Plugz might never have existed.
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