.A.,..4. "THE WEIGHT" (J. R. Roboritc") MUSIC FROM THE RIG PINK come over and together they would work out tunes "He called me and told me what he wanted and came ranging from folk songs to spontaneous creations. down and recorded it in three sessions. Bob chose the

The group have been togetheralmost nine years Calle, Mus;cmusicians, who were the same as on Blonde On and once backed a singer called Rompin' Ronnie ASCAP-4:41 Blonde, Charlie McCoy and Ken But trey. Besides Hawkins. They were known as The Hawks. The 2269 being a poet, Dylan is so incredibly funny -and he's 1 6/144.21) name of the band wasn't picked up or thought up PaNk...e so goddam nice. With other people I don't know or meant to be anysort of status name because JOHN it what he's like. He knows exactly what he wants and they worked with Dylan. People just called them he gets it. He came in with John Wesley Harding The Band. "You know, for one thing there aren't planned and look what he brought around." many bands around Woodstock, and friends and JAIME bOUSH POelpSON SICK Amongthe otherart ists that Bob has produced on DANKO. RICHARDNAHUM neighbours just call us The Band and that's the way we HUDSON. LIVON HIM record are Leonard Cohen, Earl Hatt and Lester Scruggs, thinkof ourselves." Marty Robbins and Simon & Garfunkel.TheCashAt The Band are much travelled and all of them have long Folsom Prison album is one of t he best live albums produced musical backgrounds of rock, country and folk. Says drummer fora long time and Bob himself isvery happy about the way it Helm, "We had never heard of Bob Dylan, but he had heard of us." The turned out. "When I tookover recordinglohnny he told me hewanted to boys, havingquit working with Rompin' Ronnie after several years, were do it. I picked up the phone and arranged with the warden to record in the working at a coastal resort, Summer's Point, New Jersey, in 1965 when prison. Everybody flipped over the album. We did have an announcer, but Dylan phoned. "He said, 'You wanna play the Hollywood Bowl?" recalls I told Johnny, 'Just go out and say who you are', so he went out and said, Helm. "So we asked him who else was on the show. 'Just us,' he said." 'Hello, I'm JohnnyCash.' I turned on the tape and let the bitch roll." On the Big Pink album there is certainlya Dylanesque feel about the Of Johnny Cash, Bob says: "What Cash does, he does. He's a power now, music, and it has been said that Dylan himself is heard on the harmonica. but I think he's going to be a world power in the business." "There is music from Bob's house and there is music from our house. The Does Bob think that country music is really becoming big? "Certainly. two houses sure are different," points out Robbie, once described by All of a sudden it's world music. It's big in countries like Japan -they've Dylan as "the only mathematical guitargenius I've ever run into who had Japanese singers on Grand OleOpry. After Flatt and Struggs played at does not offend my intestinal nervousnesswith his rearguard sound". theAvalon Ballroom in San Francisco, the hippieswere coming up and Besides the two tracks on the single, other songs on the album include touching Scruggs and saying, 'You're for real.' The kids hadn't heard of "This Wheel's On Fire", a slightly faster version than the Julie Driscoll/ Flatt and Scruggs." Brian Auger hit, and credited to Dylan and Danko, "Tears Of Rage", Bob has been recording Leonard Cohen recently in Nashville. "He's a credited to Dylan and Manuel, and an old country number, "Long Black beautiful guy," says Bob. "He blew his mind in Nashville. We have a smash Veil", plus someoriginalsongs from Robertson and Manuel. single anda big album coming up. I nevitablyThe Band will be identified strongly with Dylan, but although "He hasn't recorded any of the poetryyet, but I'd like him to. He'll influence is there, they stand pretty firmlyon their own 10 feet. probably be doinga couple of things that are country. Hewas so relaxed, he didn't know what he was making." Working with such remarkable people is an exciting and rewarding MELODY MAKER NOVEMBER 9 experience for Bob Johnston and he says, "I've worked with such a lot of ElOB DYLA N'S John Wesley Harding album was probably the schmucky little groups, but working with Dylan, Cash, Simon & most eagerly awaited record of the year. "The album came Garfunkel and Robbins is working with talent. as a complete surprise," says Bob Johnston, who produced it. "With me, if I've got a crap artist, I just cover him up with music and turn The stocky, neatly bearded Johnston, in London last week to record out a commercial single. But artists like Cash, Dylan and Cohen, I let Johnny Cash at the London Palladium, also produced Cash'sAt Folsom them do their thing -I'm along for the ride. The thing is. I'm working with Prison album. legends and I feel I'm part of what is goingon." Alan Walsh

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