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An incredible encounter with Bob Dylan, really

My family and I stopped at the Ariston Cafe in Litchfield, Il, during our drive up to Peoria the day before the concert. It's a cool historic diner located on route 66 full of neon lights and great food. They gave us a bunch of complimentary goodies I'm guessing for no other reason than we have cute kids. I thought J.D. might like one of the route 66 postcards so I picked one to give to him.

The morning of the concert we noticed two conspicuous buses parked across the parking lot and I noticed a man, who clearly looked like a musician (cool glasses and a fedora), walk from the buses to the side entrance of the hotel. I eventually made it over to their lobby and saw the guy sitting at a table reading the paper. I almost chickened out and left without saying anything, but, before hitting the doors outside, got a surge of courage and made a 180 and approached the stranger. I asked him if he was with the tour buses and he said (slightly stunned), "yeah, uh-huh." We chatted for a second and I asked him which band he was with. He gave me look that said, "I wish I could tell you, but I can't," I caught the vibe and dropped the topic. I told him this was my 3rd Dylan show and he hoped I enjoyed it. As it turns out, J.D. put together it was Stu Kimball that I had unknowingly met (I'm not quite the super fan J.D. is, so please forgive my not recognizing Stu right off the bat). We went over a little later to get him to sign our post cards but he was gone (arggggg!).

The day progressed and we saw a couple other band members from a distance walking from the hotel to the bus, but still no Bob. We then went to the riverfront in Peoria for a few hours and, upon our return back to the hotel, my wife and I saw a very hobo-ish figure with sweats and a hat on walking from the hotel to the bus. I freaked and grabbed J.D. who was already in our room. We scoped the site until the figure came out. We barely got a glimpse of him as he went back into the hotel. J.D. and I debated the possibility of it being Bob. The figure then became know as the "Hoodie Weirdo." It was from quite a distance and his clothes were really baggie, but, man, his posture and gait sure seemed to fit the bill. After a few minutes we headed back into our room and I took a nap until it was time to leave.

At around 4:30ish we gathered our stuff and headed out for an evening of music and fun. As we approached our fish doctor friend's car I asked J.D. if he had the tickets. He said "oh s***, man, no I'll be right back" and headed back to the room. Me and the fish doc hopped in the car. I was looking her direction and she was looking my direction, which gave her a view of the buses. She noticed the "hoodie weirdo" we had been discussing earlier, and before she could finish telling me what she was seeing, I was out of the car making a B-line for the buses. I didn't really expect it to be Bob, but hey, maybe it was another band member. I wanted to catch the person before they disappeared back onto the bus so my pace was fast. As I approached the buses I could see the figure's reflection on the further bus and it was getting closer to me. I slowed my stride but my heart started to really pound and out from in between the vehicles a little man appeared. My eyes and brain scoured his facial features, much like the Terminator as he searches for a positive ID on John Conner, and within milliseconds I recognize him as Bob Dylan, holy s***!!! BOB DYLAN!!! Pure instinct kicked in and I managed to stay relaxed (I'm a nurse, so I'm used to breaking the ice with sick grumpy people, not that Bob was sick or grumpy, just that breaking the ice comes naturally to me now -- actually I think I've always been good at striking conversations with strangers, but anyway) as I shouted "We were just hopping in the car to head to your show, Bob!" He looked over at me a little startled and said "what." I repeated and by that time I was to him. We greeted and shook hand (he has a very distinct hand shake). He asked me more questions than I asked him -- my name, occupation, where I worked, lived and so on. He seemed really curious and had a groovy way of putting things. Its true that his stare is piercing, even through his sunglasses. I told him about J.D. and what a big fan he is; and that I'd like them to meet. Bob said that would be great, but I was terrified that J.D. would take too long doing whatever he was doing (I had forgotten by that point -- just hurry up J.D., dammit, its Bob Dylan!) and Bob would have to go. I felt like every second with him was a privilege. Finally after a few minutes -- that felt like an hour -- J.D. showed up. Haha, finally! Bob would definitely be roped by J.D. long enough for me to get those cool postcards!! Bob said again as I left to get them that he wasn't going anywhere, but I wasn't about to risk it -- would you? I scurried into the hotel, struggling to fit the damn key card into the damn slot reader to unlock the damn door because I started shaking so much. I rallied the families, "HE'S OUT THERE! . . ." it was hard to bring words to my mouth at this point, " . . .WE'RE TALKING TO HIM!" The girls, "who?" Me, ". . . BOB DYLAN!!!!" The girls "WHAT! REALLY!!" and so on. I managed to grab the postcards and booked it back to the action (it didn't occur to me that our families were allowed to meet him until I was about to leave with the cards. I told my wife to grab the kids, barefoot and all, and lets go). Bob made good on his promise to give us personalized autographs and seemed tickled the whole time. While I was gone J.D., the fish doctor and Bob had an interesting conversation about the fish doctor's job. Here is that conversation from J.D.'s recollection:

Another kind of funny part. My friend, who is not really a Dylan fan at all but just tolerates the rest of us, was kind of just standing off to the side with he look of a patient, bemused mother while we were talking to Bob. She's a scientist/professor of fisheries. Finally when my other friend goes inside the hotel to get these cool Route 66 postcards Bob agreed to sign for us, I took that moment to introduce her to Bob. He'd asked all of us what we did for a living, so when I introduced her, I said this is my friend So-and-so. She's a fish doctor(which is what we all say to tease her). Bob goes, A fish doctor! Really. Like you treat fish when they're sick?

My friend laughs and shakes his hand. She goes, Not exactly. I'm a university professor. I study fish.

Then, just to keep teasing her, I say, ask her how she has to squeeze the fish to help them breed.

Bob looks at her and starts laughing. He goes, I have never heard of a thing such as that. That's the weirdest thing I ever heard of yet.

My friend goes, and you thought your job was weird.

He's still kind of laughing and he goes, Yeah, right? That's wild.

Seriously, I can't believe we had that conversation with Bob Dylan. Perfect.

Then, once I return with the postcards I ask him the only music related question of the whole conversation:

Me: Ok ok so here's a song question. I'm from Carbondale and I know there are a couple of other Carbondales. S-so here is what us Carbondalians want to know -- In Duquesne Whistle you mention Carbondale. Is it the one in Illinois?

Bob: <winking a little> Uh-huh. It sure is.

Me: Are you gonna play that one tonight?

Bob: We just might.

Me: This is my third time seeing you. Once at Sauget, Il and once in Carbondale. You probably don't remember that one, it was a few years ago.

Bob: I think I do remember Carbondale. We did hang out there a couple of times a while back.

His bodyguard looked like he could have smashed us with one of the buses, but he waved once he knew Bob was ok. One other thing that really impressed me was Bob's humbleness, whether intentional or natural, he said 2-3 times that he hoped we would like the performance. He'd say, "I'll do my best." It was nice to hear. In fact, he shouted it when we honked and waved as we headed to the show. It was as perfect of an experience as one could hope for. I got 1 on 1 time with Bob, J.D. got 1 on 1 time and our families met him too. My daughters were too shy to approach him, so they clung to mommy and flirted with their eyes. My wife gave an ecstatic, "Hi Bob," and gave a huge half circle wave. Simply blessed.

3 members like this

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 28, 2014 at 8:05pm: From what I've heard, Dylan is a good judge of character. He could tell you were genuine. He may have been intrigued that you were shooting film. Your family was there. Maybe you reminded Dylan of the simpler times of days past, when photographers treated artists with respect and autographs weren't collected just to be sold.

Whatever the reason, it sounds like you, J.D. and Dylan connected in a way that was enjoyable and meaningful to all of you.

I don't recall hearing of situations where Dylan was nasty to people. He just rarely gives them what they want...and people tend to want a lot from celebrities. You, your family and J.D. shined through...and perhaps being in Indiana, not Chicago or New York, made things more relaxing for him, too.

Whatever it was that made the stars align that night, your story is one I'll never forget.

Comment by Mike Chervinko on March 1, 2014 at 3:46am: Well said. Thanks.

Comment by Patrick Batson on March 25, 2014 at 5:55am: That's so great, Mike! What a blast.

Comment by David K on April 7, 2014 at 1:08pm: Well that autograph is real..so I beleie your story and its too long to make up.. what strikes me is Dylan asking questions...he usually isnt talking ..Ive met him four times...two of those were one on one..he remembers faces..he didnt sign for me..he didnt sign for my friend..he DID stop to hear out pitch...we traveled far...we lovce him..we respect him...he just wanted to go bike riding and relax.. when he came back fro mthe bike ride..he stopped to gather laudry and my friend said can we get a group photo..he laughed "OH NO":..i said..would you take this rare kennedy LP from 1962 and he said " cant take stuff thanks" but he wouldnt sign....

Comment by David K on April 7, 2014 at 1:23pm: PS..This was at one of the few Hotels he actually stays at..the same Hotel they did tthe 6O minutes interview with Ed Bradley....the 6O minute one was done a year after I met him at that hotel. I took a photo of his girlfriend and Dylan holding his laudry..just an in the momentphoto...I bet I am the only one who has a photo of her with him..its not for sale.. but its also proof I met him.

Comment by Mike Chervinko on April 7, 2014 at 5:57pm: Thanks for sharing your experiences with Bob, David K. My buddy, JD, who is a Dylan mega fan said it was a top shelf encounter. The story is real, and not embellished at all. We were all so thrilled to meet him, and for him to be so receptive toward us, that we all went into a sort of hyper-metabolic state and took in every aspect of the experience that we could. We relived the experience in our minds for days following the encounter. We also wrote down everything we could remember while it was still fresh in our minds. The only photo I got was of one of his tour buses. A photo of him would have been great, but I'm much happier with the autograph.

Comment by David K on April 7, 2014 at 6:36pm: I think he signed for you because you identified yourself as something OTHER than a fan ,a collector, a dealer, a photographer, the media.... something totally unthreatening...and as already mentioned..I agree that he KNOWS if you are lying or putting him on..he can see into your soul..directly...he came up to my face eye to eye..my friend thoguht he was going to hit me..but he spoke to me..gave me some Wisdom... he will not travel like other celebs.. escalade, entourage, limo, expensive clothes, expensive needs...NONE of that. Did you meet his DOGS? I did..one of them is names LADY. My friend could have taken pictures head on..but he saw Dylans face..and knew it would be wrong to shoot a photo if he didnt want it. On a second ecounter...he looked me right in the eye..shook his head up and down to acknowledge me.. So he remembers.... I remember asking Tom Petty..who likes me...about something Bob said to me..and Pettys response "Bob said that to you..then it must be true..you cant argue with him" lol

Comment by Mike Chervinko on April 8, 2014 at 5:11am: Yeah, from the perspective of an outsider looking in we were just a couple of guys bullshitting about nothing of any consequence. It wasn't until way later in the conversation that I asked him about a song -- and a new song at that. I think that thrilled him. He got a little twinkle in his eye, and got kind of jacked up, when he gave me his responses regarding Duquense Whistle I think JD did start to get a little too excited towards the end of our chat, though. A few things he started saying to Bob made Bob make a funny face. I was worried JD was getting too fan boyish on Bob. It thankfully ended on as good a note as it started.

Comment by Mike Chervinko on April 8, 2014 at 5:17am: Also, Bob allowed me to dictate what he wrote on the autograph. He did put RN on my name to help distinguish it from the zillions of other Mikes in the world. If we would have had a harmonica, or a really rare lp, he would have signed those. He said he'd sign whatever we wanted. The postcards were the most Dylan-esque things we had on hand. Maybe a crappy CD cover, but I like the postcards better.

Comment by David K on April 8, 2014 at 9:33pm: Signing whatever you wanted...pretty amazing concept... should have asked for an inscription...he asked CHUMLEE if he wanted an inscription and CHUM said "sign it to CHUMLEE" LOL whihc make Rick livid...."its signed to CHUMLEE I cant sell it" CHUM "Well maybe there's another CHUMLEE out there LOL.. I AGREE on the NEW SONG..he is SAD about the old songs..most of them..for several reasons..he cant write them as he did.in his estimationthe old ones..they mean less to him now..he doesnt "look back" and he wants to be appreciated for his recent material... I am actually going to bring a copy of the World Gone Wrong Songbook if I get another chance..

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An incredible encounter with Bob Dylan, really

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