The hygienic reason Joni Mitchell hated performing with Bob Dylan: “Right in my face”
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan have both amassed reputations for their uncompromising nature. In every walk of their life, whether professional or personal, the two singer-songwriters have never sold out on their artistic intentions or risked upsetting anybody with their opinion. Unsurprisingly, a bonfire arises when you combine these two firestarters in a confined environment, such as a lengthy tour.
They are masters of their craft who respect each other from a songwriting perspective. Nevertheless, the relationship between Mitchell and Dylan is complicated. Due to the clear comparisons in their origin stories, they will always be likened, even though they are vastly different acts. Notably, they both left home for Greenwich Village with the same dream, tapping into a thriving alternative music scene and sharing the stage on plentiful occasions. However, they were never close on a personal level, and Mitchell has never shied away from making that fact well-known.
The two folk icons followed a similar trajectory to superstardom, and for decades, it seemed as though they were solid friends. In fact, Mitchell even joined Dylan for a lengthy period on his famed ‘Rolling Thunder Revue’ tour in the 1970s, a string of dates in which they would duet together on several occasions. To people observing from the outside, it looked like everything was a world of counterculture bliss, but audiences only saw the idyllic image presented on stage.
Mitchell’s initial positive words only enhanced this belief. In 1979, years after the tour concluded, she was full of praise for her contemporary. In an interview, she openly discussed their “series of brief encounters”. While she admitted they endured some “tests” over the years, the singer claimed that she “always had affection for him”.
In 1994, the pair performed several concerts together in Japan, strengthening public perception of their friendship. Reflecting years after the run of shows, Mitchell was less than complimentary about sharing a microphone with Dylan, citing his alleged poor oral hygiene as an issue in what felt like a low blow at the time of release. This sordid detail came to light in Brian Hinton’s biography Both Sides Now, in which Mitchell recalled: “On the third night they stuck Bob at the mic with me and he never brushes his teeth, so his breath was like right in my face.”
While her complaint seems unnecessary, Dylan’s former staff member, Victor Maymudes, supported it, once saying: “He’s a very rude, obnoxious guy. He doesn’t take his clothes off when he goes to sleep and the guy doesn’t clean his teeth. Horrible breath.”
When Mitchell spoke to the LA Times in 2010, she reacted furiously when the interviewer compared her to Dylan, angrily responding: “We are like night and day, [Dylan] and I. Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.” Furthermore, in 2013, Mitchell fired shots once more, this time while in discussion with CBC. She brutally commented, “Musically, Dylan’s not very gifted; he’s borrowed his voice from old hillbillies. He’s got a lot of borrowed things. He’s not a great guitar player. He’s invented a character to deliver his songs, it’s a mask of sorts”.
In truth, it’s challenging to decipher the specific moment that sparked the animosity between the two, and whether the hostility even flows both ways. Regarding their artistry, Mitchell is correct in highlighting their differences, but there’s no denying he’s a gifted singer-songwriter who changed music forever. However, Mitchell has often made statements in the heat of the moment and isn’t intentionally packed with malice. Perhaps – quite rightly – she believes her work deserves to be lauded to the same degree as Dylan’s in what is a reflection of the male-dominated music industry. They both are singer-songwriters who exist in their respective leagues, and the endless comparisons are likely tiresome for Mitchell. Yet, telling the world about Dylan’s alleged poor dental hygiene still feels unsavoury.
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