Down a dirt drive near the ocean in Malibu, Calif., through a gate hidden in a fence and past hundreds of pecking chickens, TIME Correspondent Denise Worrell found a small cabin some distance from a large main house hidden in the twilight. By the scuttering glow of a single lantern near the cabin fireplace, Bob Dylan, drawing occasionally on a Kool, talked easily with her on a variety of subjects.
On Biograph. It wasn't my idea to put the record out. I haven't sat down and listened to it. Even when I make a record, I listen to it once or twice before it's out, and then once it's out, I don't really listen to it anymore. I didn't really take a hand in this because my enthusiasm for making records might not be what it was 20 years ago, I don't know.
This five-record set could have been all unreleased songs. If it was worth my while, I could put together a ten-record set of unreleased songs, songs that have never gotten out and songs that have been bootlegged. Bootlegging is a big business. It's like the dope business. It's supposed to be illegal, but a lot of people make their livelihood off it.
On making records. Years ago, I didn't spend much time recording. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to do it right and fast then because of the confinement of the studio. But nobody else works that way. Now people's ears have become accustomed to hearing every space filled up, and they're throwing everything in. More is there to make you think less. I'm trying to find a balance. You know the old Sun Records, the way they would sound with just the upright bass and guitar and snare drum? That's the sound I love the best. My sound is basically backbeat and Stratocaster guitar or an old Martin guitar. Playing with a synthesizer is not really as much fun as playing with an instrument. I guess those machines are for people who are more inclined to be visionaries, who imagine something and work it out. As opposed to people who carry it around with them. That's what I do.
On writing. I go through different periods when I'll write a bunch of things, then go through long spells where I don't really write anything. I just jot down little phrases and things I overhear, people talking to me, stuff like that. Usually when I have some kind of deadline pressure, I'll get prolific. When I do work, I work for long periods of time, then I lay back for a minute. I'll work for, like, 24 or 30 hours, 14 hours at a time, then readjust after that. Then I do it again four or five days later. Sometimes I'll be able to hear the melody and everything right in my head, sometimes I'll play on the guitar or piano or something, and some kind of thing will come. Other times I'll just go into the studio and play riffs with other people and then later on listen to the tapes and see what that wants to be. I don't know. My songs are not for me to understand. I don't make that a part of it. While I'm doing them I have an understanding of them, but that's all.