Jeff Bridges on the brilliance of Bob Dylan’s guitar playing
The man behind some of the most well-loved folk and protest songs of all time, Bob Dylan, is widely considered one of the greatest songwriters ever. He influences the greats just as much as he inspires budding guitarists, still accruing admirers and acclaim over six decades into his career. Among those admirers is actor Jeff Bridges.
Bridges may be most well-known for his portrayal of The Dude in The Big Lebowski, but his creative output is not limited to his on-screen endeavours. As he proved in 2009’s Crazy Heart, Bridges also has a love and talent for music. He plays off-screen, too, and even set up a record label called Ramp Records with Michael McDonald.
His own taste in music spans the weird stylings of Tom Waits and the sounds of his musical collaborators, but, like most, he also harbours a deep admiration for Dylan’s songwriting prowess. Speaking about his admiration for Dylan in Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members, Bridges recalled going down “the Bob Dylan Google hole”.
On one of those occasions, Bridges stumbled across a particularly special version of Dylan playing ‘You Belong To Me’, which featured on the soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. Though Dylan is more often praised for his songwriting prowess, Bridges found that this recording really allowed his guitar skill to shine.
“I came across that version of ‘You Belong To Me’, just him playing the guitar,” he remembered, “He’s such a wonderful guitar player. People don’t know that about him.” Bridges would go on to learn to play the tune himself, inspired by his “wonderful” playing.
When Bridges worked with Dylan on 2003’s Masked and Anonymous, he was able to witness the folk legend’s guitar skills first-hand. “I remember walking by his trailer in that movie and he was sitting out, smoking a cigar, picking on the guitar, man. Just his approach and his freedom of chords was just beautiful,” he recalled.
One day, Dylan expanded his guitar playing from his own trailer into Bridges, knocking on the actor’s door, guitar in hand, to request a jam. Obviously, Bridges obliged. Most could only hope for the honour of witnessing Dylan’s talent in person, never mind receiving the opportunity to jam with him, but Bridges’ Google holes had turned to trailer-side personal concerts.
It’s easy to imagine the two creative giants playing together, relishing in one another’s talent. Listen to Dylan playing ‘You Belong To Me’ below.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.