Dave Stewart was playing Dylan songs as a teen. Now he's made an album of them
He's also well-regarded for his production and writing with Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Jon Bon Jovi and Ringo Starr, and for crafting the music for Broadway's 'Ghost the Musical' and 'The Time Traveller's Wife.'
But Stewart's 40-year friendship and collaborative relationship with Bob Dylan is a revelation for most.
Then again, this is the guy who, at 72, cheerfully reminds you that he's 'always working on about five different things at once. If you've got the greatest job in the world, why stop? It's not like I'm going to retire from having a good time.'
Stewart's affection for Dylan's lauded catalog is etched in his new 'Dave Does Dylan' album. Originally released in April exclusively for Record Store Day, the 14 tracks blend well-worn classics ('Lay, Lady, Lay,' 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door') with deep cuts ('To Ramona,' an album track on 1964's 'Another Side of Bob Dylan').
The Stewart-Dylan connection is perhaps deepest on 'Emotionally Yours,' a 1985 cut from Dylan's 'Empire Burlesque' album featuring a video shot by Stewart as Dylan wandered Camden High Street in North London.
The charmingly chatty Stewart spoke last spring, and hadn't yet seen 'A Complete Unknown,' the fictionalized take on a portion of Dylan's career. But he shares plenty about his time with the bard.
More: Lady Gaga thrills at theatrical Mayhem Ball tour kickoff: Review
Question: You've known Dylan since 1985, so is this an album you've wanted to do for a long time, but your schedule interfered?
Dave Stewart: Over the last year for fun I was putting my iPhone on a stick and singing a Dylan song (for social media). People were saying how much they loved them, so after doing about 24 videos, I thought, "Why not just do 14 songs that are exactly what you see on Instagram?" The iPhone was filming it and the mic was picking up what I was singing. I didn't think I was making an album, but I was!
You mention that Dylan's lyrics and melodies have kept you company through the best and worst of times. How did you determine which songs fall in those categories?
I could have made another album with all of the songs I left off. I was making it more for the people buying the vinyl album and how the songs flowed. When I was 15 I'd get into a folk club and sing "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and it would shock people because it was 1960s England and they were singing coal miner songs. Then I'd buy Dylan albums and lay on the floor stoned, listening to all four sides of "Blonde on Blonde."
And then years later you heard from the man himself.
I got a real shock in 1980something when the phone rang in the studio and the receptionist said, "Bob Dylan is on the phone." The minute he started speaking I knew it was real because it was impossible to imitate that voice. From then on we became friends.
The back cover of your album is a photo of you shooting Dylan for the 'Emotionally Yours' video. It seems as if you have an easy rapport with the notoriously shy guy.
When I'm with him, we just talk like two people talking. Bob talked in a '60 Minutes' interview that he knew something was different about him when he was a kid and then he realized it was a special thing. I know what he means when people ask me, "How did you write this or that song?" It's not that you don't want to explain, it's just some kind of feeling, and I understand that.
More: Robert Plant announces fall 2025 US tour with Saving Grace: Cities, dates, tickets
Back to your previous life, do you think you and Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox will ever do anything together again?
We haven't toured since 1999, and we were offered touring. Annie says she can do some songs for other people (she performed for Joni Mitchell and Elton John at their respective Gershwin Prize for Popular Song concerts) but doesn't want to tour. Basically she's like, Eurythmics was then. But the songs live on, so I like playing Eurythmics songs. I think Annie is happy doing her own thing.
But you, of course, are always working on something.
I'm not a person who wants to control stuff. I like to relinquish control and let stuff happen. That could be chaotic to the people living it, but it's a fun thing that happens. When I look back at my life with things like the Traveling Wilburys recording in my back garden (Stewart lent George Harrison his California home and the supergroup with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Harrison was formed around his kitchen table), you have to let things just happen. It's a way of allowing your mind to actually be open to endless possibilities and not go bonkers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
From Mop To Musical: Lorin Latarro Finds The Heart In ‘Joy'
Betsy Wolfe plays the title role in the new musical Joy Lorin Latarro was on her way to the first rehearsal for the musical Joy when her seven-year-old daughter came down with a fever. Between arranging babysitters and calling the doctor, she was also preparing to direct the show and bring a musical to life. For Latarro, that kind of whirlwind morning felt uncannily like the opening scene of the show—Joy Mangano trying to get her family out the door before heading off to make her dreams take flight. 'All the mothers in our rehearsal room would laugh at how familiar the choreographed chaos is,' says Latarro. 'It's a chaotic but also deeply satisfying.' Lorin Latarro That mix of chaos and purpose drew Latarro to Joy, A True New Musical. The story centers on the real-life inventor and entrepreneur whose unstoppable tenacity transformed her life—and the lives of those around her. After reading Mangano's book and speaking with her on the phone, Latarro was deeply moved by the story of the single mother and inventor who turned a mop into a multimillion-dollar empire. Directing the show now playing at the Laura Pels Theater wasn't just about telling the story of a woman who created a self-wringing mop. It was about showing the strength it takes to build something from nothing—especially when no one believes in you at first. Latarro, who began her career as a Broadway dancer in 14 shows and ultimately became a director/choreographer, was drawn to the honesty of the story. She found inspiration from the complicated family dynamics, the financial pressures, the vulnerability and resilience it takes to keep going. Betsy Wolfe in the title role leads the talented cast which includes Jill Abramovitz, Honor Blue Savage, Adam Grupper, Brandon Espinoza, Paul Whitty, Charl Brown, Jaygee Macapugay, and Gabriela Carrillo. Joy is a story about believing in yourself, even when the odds say otherwise. Also, Latarro hopes that audiences see Joy and feel empowered to take charge of their lives. 'My hope is audiences walk out of the theater and finally listen to their inner voice and begin a new project, idea, or business,' she says. 'Or they push forward through whatever obstacles are currently in their way toward their goal, whether that goal is personal or business related.' Jeryl Brunner: Can you share more about how you got inspired to direct Joy? Lorin Latarro: I met with Ken Davenport, who is a prolific producer and one of the writers of Joy, along with AnnMarie Milazzo. I also read Joy's book, then spoke to Joy on the phone and fell head over heels in love with her determination, grit, kindness, and exuberance. Brunner: Joy is about much more than inventing a mop. It explores family, ambition, and perseverance. How did you build that journey onstage?Latarro: Joy's onstage family is imperfect, as is every family, in their own way. Joy manages to love them and keep them together, even through the messiness of their mistakes and shortcomings. Through Joy's determination, she shifts a generationally learned behavior for her daughter, which is not an easy thing to What was one of the messiest or most magical rehearsal moments you will never forget?Latarro: We all wanted to pour liquid onstage so the audience could see the mops actually work. It's notoriously difficult onstage to deal with watery substances because actors can slip, and it's messy to clean up. We tried many different substances for the various things that we spill onstage, including orange slushies, motor oil, and chocolate syrup. We ended up with an oobleck-type substance. After much messy trial and error, we were all happy we found a solution! Brunner: You are a choreographer and a director. How does each skill fulfill you?Latarro: Choreographing is more surgical. When choreographing, you live inside bars of music, and no matter the libretto, you can structure a song and dance number well. Each song is almost its own little musical with its own beginning, middle, and end. Alternatively, directing is like shooting an arrow through Jell-O. You can be fully prepared and have all these ideas walking in the room, but it all changes based on writers, actors, and collaborators, and 'what works' as you read down a scene. Directing feels more irised out than choreography, and a more holistic experience of the show and its dramaturgical needs. Directing is deeply satisfying in a new way. Communication is key so everyone is stylistically creating the same show. Brunner: How did you know that Betsy Wolfe was your Joy?Latarro: Betsy and I had the pleasure of working together on Waitress. I am a big fan. She's incredibly smart and has genius comic timing. Betsy is also a great leader in the room who works hard and always has a smile on her face. She loves the work. Her vocal chops are truly astonishing too! Brunner: You have directed revivals, brand-new musicals, and now a show based on a living inventor. What tells you a project is worth the time and energy?Latarro: If I am moved by a story, I want to work on it. I don't want to get pigeonholed doing the same thing over and over. It was one of the reasons I wanted to collaborate with choreographer Josh Bergasse on Joy. I wanted to focus completely on directing and feel the collaborative experience from another point of view. Also, I like all kinds of styles of musical theater. Sometimes I spend time inside dark shows like Tommy or Assassins, sometimes comedies like Heart of Rock and Roll, and sometimes I love finding new ways into revivals like Into the Woods. At the end of the day, I believe great theater makes people feel big feelings. I look for shows that have a lot of heart and soul. Theatre can change minds and open hearts. Brunner: When you begin dreaming up a scene, what is your starting point?Latarro: I always start by reading the script and lyrics without listening to the songs. I don't want to be seduced by the music before I experience the story. Then once I understand the story, I go back and reread the script with the interpolated song demos. Then I listen to the music over and over again. Brunner: What kind of creative environment do you try to cultivate?Latarro: I love the art of collaboration. It excites me endlessly. I like being in a room with people who also love the work. I am into the 'yes and' mentality. Someone has an idea, and we work on it until it grows and grows. I work hard because if I'm going to be away from my family, then I'm going to make it count. From left: Jill Abramovitz, Honor Blue Savage, Brandon Espinoza, Jaygee Macapugay, Brandon Espinoza, ... More and Adam Grupper
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Stranger Things: First Shadow' stars focus on humanity amid horror
NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Burke Swanson and Alison Jaye say they focused on the humanity even more than the horror when playing teen versions of Hopper and Joyce in Broadway's blockbuster Stranger Things prequel, The First Shadow. Penned by Kate Trefry and directed by Stephen Daldry, the supernatural stage play takes place in the 1950s, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., and offers origins stories for the beloved grown-ups -- and terrifying uber-villain Vecna/Henry Creel -- from the 1980s-set Netflix TV show. "Within the spooky, sci-fi nature of it all, there are real humans trying to figure themselves out and figure out what their community's like," Swanson told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. Even before Henry (Louis McCartney) arrives and unwittingly turns the town upside-down, Hopper and his classmates Bob Newby (Patrick Scott McDermott) and his adopted sister Patty (Gabrielle Nevaeh) are dealing with parent-related tension and trauma. "What was so special to me is that it wasn't shying away from those stories," Swanson said. "It's a big thing that we're doing here. There's a lot to tell and it almost doesn't fit within one show, but there's a willingness to explore not only the father-kid relationships, but the mother-kid relationships and how each different dynamic is processed." Patty's outsider status leads her into danger because the only person she feels connected to is Henry. "Patty has really been pushed to the side, not only within the community, but also within her family," Swanson said. "Bob did not support Patty in a way that she needed and she comes into her own as this really incredible, strong female lead," he added. "He gets this really powerful moment just to acknowledge, 'I messed up and i want to do better.' And I think those moments -- even within the sort of 'Mind Flayer' of it all -- are the things that really push us forward through that story." As for Hopper, he is leaning into his "bad-boy mentality" when the audience first meets him, but he matures a bit throughout the play as he tries to help his friends and neighbors, Swanson noted. "In classic Hopper fashion, he's got a really sentimental heart," Swanson added. "What continues to be learned in this show is the power of community and the power of friendship and Hopper believes that he will be better off alone. His relationship with his father is not good. There's no communication there and I think what we see is the glimpse of the hope of who Hopper can become when he chooses community." Just as the Netflix series is famous for tapping into the nostalgia of the 1980s, the stage production perfectly re-imagines Middle America in the 1950s. "It's been a blast getting to dive into the music, into the aesthetics and costumes. We really got to emphasize the color, the dynamic of that time period, visually," Swanson said. "What's really, really fascinating about the '50s -- and this has been touched on by many different art forms -- is what happens when that facade begins to crack because the sleepy little town of Hawkins, Indiana seems to have begun to experience some very spooky things much earlier than we thought." Hopper may be decades away from becoming the sheriff who will date single mom Joyce, but the two do know each other quite well at this point, even if they don't travel in the same social circles until they team up to solve the mystery surrounding Henry. While Hopper is a loner, teen Joyce is a bubbly theater kid obsessed with directing the school play. "With this version of Joyce, there is a real questioning and push and pull of, 'Is this the life I'm going to choose? Or am I going to be able to get out of here and escape and become something bigger than this town?'" Jaye said. The actress loves that -- even though the play has spectacular special effects -- the characters live in a low-tech era guided by their instincts and moral compasses as opposed to cell phones or computers. "These kids don't have that. All they're leaning on is each other. If we're talking about the trio of Bob, Joyce and Jim [Hopper], we wake up every day and just knock on each other's doors and continue investigating, just like we kind of see [kid characters do] on the TV show," Jaye said. "There's that buoyancy and that fervor, that rigor to: 'We've got to dig. We've got to solve this problem.' They put all that energy on each other, instead of on technology, and connect that way, which is, I feel like, a big difference between what we're living in now." Although many fans of the Netflix series have been rooting for grownup Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) to hook up for years, others cheered when Joyce finally seemed to have a brief but stable romance with nice-guy Bob (Sean Astin) before he was attacked by Demodogs while protecting Joyce and her sons. Teen Bob is shy, earnest and clearly in love with Joyce. "When I watch the series, that was immediately one of my favorite characters who, unfortunately, didn't last that long. But he provides such a grounded sense of being," Jaye said about Bob. "They are so different, but, yet, it is the softness of Bob that softens Joyce. I feel like we do get to see that and celebrate that in the early moments of the show together." Jaye said she has been overwhelmed by support from fans who get a kick out of learning more about their favorite TV character by watching the play. "People of all ages have been like: 'Oh, my gosh! Of course, Joyce is a theater kid! How did I not put that together?' There's no nod to that in the series at all, but Kate created this back story for her," Jaye explained. "There's a nerdy tenderness and, also, a major headstrong authority to her that somehow makes it all make sense to me perfectly."
UPI
7 hours ago
- UPI
'Stranger Things: First Shadow' stars focus on humanity amid horror
1 of 3 | The stars of Broadway's "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" pose on the red carpet near Times Square on April 22. Left to right, Juan Carlos, playing Bob Newby, Alison Jaye, playing Joyce Maldonado, Burke Swanson, playing James Hopper, Jr., Louis McCartney, playing Henry Creel, and Gabrielle Neveah Green, playing Patty Newby. File Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI | License Photo NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Burke Swanson and Alison Jaye say they focused on the humanity even more than the horror when playing teen versions of Hopper and Joyce in Broadway's blockbuster Stranger Things prequel, The First Shadow. Penned by Kate Trefry and directed by Stephen Daldry, the supernatural stage play takes place in the 1950s, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., and offers origins stories for the beloved grown-ups -- and terrifying uber-villain Vecna/Henry Creel -- from the 1980s-set Netflix TV show. "Within the spooky, sci-fi nature of it all, there are real humans trying to figure themselves out and figure out what their community's like," Swanson told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. Even before Henry (Louis McCartney) arrives and unwittingly turns the town upside-down, Hopper and his classmates Bob Newby (Patrick Scott McDermott) and his adopted sister Patty (Gabrielle Nevaeh) are dealing with parent-related tension and trauma. "What was so special to me is that it wasn't shying away from those stories," Swanson said. "It's a big thing that we're doing here. There's a lot to tell and it almost doesn't fit within one show, but there's a willingness to explore not only the father-kid relationships, but the mother-kid relationships and how each different dynamic is processed." Patty's outsider status leads her into danger because the only person she feels connected to is Henry. "Patty has really been pushed to the side, not only within the community, but also within her family," Swanson said. "Bob did not support Patty in a way that she needed and she comes into her own as this really incredible, strong female lead," he added. "He gets this really powerful moment just to acknowledge, 'I messed up and i want to do better.' And I think those moments -- even within the sort of 'Mind Flayer' of it all -- are the things that really push us forward through that story." As for Hopper, he is leaning into his "bad-boy mentality" when the audience first meets him, but he matures a bit throughout the play as he tries to help his friends and neighbors, Swanson noted. "In classic Hopper fashion, he's got a really sentimental heart," Swanson added. "What continues to be learned in this show is the power of community and the power of friendship and Hopper believes that he will be better off alone. His relationship with his father is not good. There's no communication there and I think what we see is the glimpse of the hope of who Hopper can become when he chooses community." Just as the Netflix series is famous for tapping into the nostalgia of the 1980s, the stage production perfectly re-imagines Middle America in the 1950s. "It's been a blast getting to dive into the music, into the aesthetics and costumes. We really got to emphasize the color, the dynamic of that time period, visually," Swanson said. "What's really, really fascinating about the '50s -- and this has been touched on by many different art forms -- is what happens when that facade begins to crack because the sleepy little town of Hawkins, Indiana seems to have begun to experience some very spooky things much earlier than we thought." Hopper may be decades away from becoming the sheriff who will date single mom Joyce, but the two do know each other quite well at this point, even if they don't travel in the same social circles until they team up to solve the mystery surrounding Henry. While Hopper is a loner, teen Joyce is a bubbly theater kid obsessed with directing the school play. "With this version of Joyce, there is a real questioning and push and pull of, 'Is this the life I'm going to choose? Or am I going to be able to get out of here and escape and become something bigger than this town?'" Jaye said. The actress loves that -- even though the play has spectacular special effects -- the characters live in a low-tech era guided by their instincts and moral compasses as opposed to cell phones or computers. "These kids don't have that. All they're leaning on is each other. If we're talking about the trio of Bob, Joyce and Jim [Hopper], we wake up every day and just knock on each other's doors and continue investigating, just like we kind of see [kid characters do] on the TV show," Jaye said. "There's that buoyancy and that fervor, that rigor to: 'We've got to dig. We've got to solve this problem.' They put all that energy on each other, instead of on technology, and connect that way, which is, I feel like, a big difference between what we're living in now." Although many fans of the Netflix series have been rooting for grownup Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) to hook up for years, others cheered when Joyce finally seemed to have a brief but stable romance with nice-guy Bob (Sean Astin) before he was attacked by Demodogs while protecting Joyce and her sons. Teen Bob is shy, earnest and clearly in love with Joyce. "When I watch the series, that was immediately one of my favorite characters who, unfortunately, didn't last that long. But he provides such a grounded sense of being," Jaye said about Bob. "They are so different, but, yet, it is the softness of Bob that softens Joyce. I feel like we do get to see that and celebrate that in the early moments of the show together." Jaye said she has been overwhelmed by support from fans who get a kick out of learning more about their favorite TV character by watching the play. "People of all ages have been like: 'Oh, my gosh! Of course, Joyce is a theater kid! How did I not put that together?' There's no nod to that in the series at all, but Kate created this back story for her," Jaye explained. "There's a nerdy tenderness and, also, a major headstrong authority to her that somehow makes it all make sense to me perfectly."
