Bob Dylan’s uncomfortable first meeting with a naked but legendary director: “He was in a tub”
The impact of Bob Dylan is something that can never really be understated. When The Beatles arrived in America in 1964, they completely dominated the musical sphere, to the point that any budding artist only ever wanted to play in a band and only ever listened to bands. The fact that they were knocked from the top of the charts by Bob Dylan, who was famously a solo act with a much more stripped-back sound, should highlight just how well-received his music was.
E Street guitarist Steve Van Zandt remembers the period well. He was just coming to grips with music and its potential hold as The Beatles and Bob Dylan rose to fame. “The floodgates opened until the summer of ’65,” he said. “When the Americans took the charts back with the folk rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan.”
This whole period for music ushered in a new kind of superstar. The closest thing that the world had seen to this level of stardom previously was Elvis Presley, who reached a level of global notoriety so high that the music industry didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Instead of focusing on music, his manager put him in films, believing rock ‘n’ roll to be just a fad that wouldn’t last.
By the time The Beatles and Bob Dylan were gaining fame, record labels had more of an understanding of how to deal with the superstar levels that artists could reach. However, this desire to continue to cast famous musicians in films persisted, as the adoration that fans had for their favourite artists meant that studios could almost guarantee a return on investment as there was already an audience waiting at the gates to go see the film.
Because of this, Bob Dylan ended up starring in some movies, but one of his first days on set for a film where he played a small role and provided the soundtrack proved to be a battle of wits disguised in a naked and awkward encounter. When Dylan first went on set for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid to meet director Sam Peckinpah, the folk musician got a bit more than he bargained for.
“Peckinpah was in a hacienda outside Durango, Mexico,” recalled the film historian Peter Biskind. “It was a hot day, and he was in a tub, naked, holding forth before hangers-on when Dylan arrived. Actress Katy Jurado was pouring drinks.”
The encounter from that point on became even more awkward, as Peckinpah proceeded to pronounce Dylan’s name wrong and ask him to perform songs on the set in front of everyone as if he were some kind of performing monkey. Naturally, that isn’t how Dylan performed, so he refused, but Peckinpah continued to pressure him into playing a song. It led to an awkward stand-off, all of which took place while the director was naked.
To many, this may seem like a moment of ignorance and flamboyance; however, the film’s editor, Roger Spottiswoode, as well as having one of the funniest and appropriate names in Hollywood, noted what was really going on. The director was aware that someone more famous than him was on set, and by acting in such a way, he was almost standing his ground as the boss.
“Dylan doesn’t want it, he’s standing by the bath, looking at Sam’s dick floating in the water,” Spottiswoode conclusively revealed. “Sam’s smiling, drinking, and seems completely at home, and we’re all watching… It seems like he just doesn’t know any better, but Sam knew a lot. There was someone on his turf, a bigger name. It was the best theatre in the world.”
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