Shortly after returning from his '66 European tour, he crashed his motorcycle and cracked several vertebrae in his neck, nearly paralyzing himself. He became involved with the local folk scene, and under the pressure of mutual friends, began to spend more time with Dylan, who was splitting his time between NYC and Nashville.ĭylan was at the time having trouble with both his career and personal life. Desperate for independence, he lied about his age and moved to Greenwich Village, New York City, where he rented a long-term room at the Washington Square Hotel and supported himself by running sound for local bars and clubs. Then 16, he was already out-earning his peers by playing gigs with his band Thark, and he had put most of that money into savings. Later the next year, Halford dropped out of school. In it, Halford is reimagined as "Frankie Lee", a young troubled gambler lured by a friend and enabler "Judas Priest" (representing Dylan) into a church ("paradise", with " a woman's face" in every stained glass window) where he is left to go mad before dying of thirst. At the suggestion of the bartender, Dylan gave Halford $30 American and sent him to the Liverpool YMCA, 12 minutes away by foot.ĭylan regretted the incident his song The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, which was recorded and released before the two saw each other again, is believed by many to chronicle the episode, although Dylan has never stated so. At this point, the trains had stopped running and Halford had no way to get home. After the show, Halford and Dylan talked at the bar for hours before Dylan decided to go back to his hotel with a couple of groupies. Travel to this show was considerably more difficult for the 14-year-old Halford, who went by himself. Halford attended Dylan's Liverpool concert two days later. The conversation went on so long that Halford's friends left without him and he didn't return home until the next morning. Dylan reportedly was impressed with Halford's voice, clearly audible singing clear harmonies from the front row, and struck up a conversation with him after the show. Halford and Dylan first met on May 12th, 1966, at Dylan's concert at the Odeon theatre in Birmingham, England. Rob Halford, A THREE AND A HALF OCTAVE VOCAL RANGE TO SING WITH, 1992 I used to protect him from the rougher convicts, and in exchange he would bugger me good and hard." I could have spent my life with him but he was married to some slag. Who did you think it was about?" I stonewalled. "I wrote it for an old cell-mate, David Harris." "Oh", I said, "you must mean Diamonds & Rust. " Living After Midnight? We always sing that one." "You gonna sing that song about robin's eggs and diamonds?" Bob had asked me. In his autobiography, Halford recounts the following conversation with Dylan, in which he proposes an alternative theory. Lastly, the subject is labeled "good with words, and at keeping things vague", which fits with Dylan's reputation for never actually writing songs about things. The subject is harshly critical of Halford's poetry, which fits the common description of Dylan as "a hypercritical narcissist" by other folk singers. The song speaks of a "vagabond" who "burst on the scene, already a legend", a clear reference to Dylan. A memory in the song takes place in winter at a " crummy hotel" overlooking Washington Square in Greenwich Village, New York City, which corresponds to a time and a place where Halford and Dylan spent a lot of time together. The lyrics cite "eyes bluer than robins' eggs" and describes the subject as "unwashed", both of which certainly match Dylan physically. At the time, Halford was an aspiring singer trying to find his voice, while Dylan, already a popular folk singer, had just released his eighth studio album and was going through a quarter-life crisis.Īlthough Dylan is never explicitly mentioned in the lyrics, a number of clues suggest that the song is about him. The memories have been affected by the passage of time those of happy moments have grown dim, while the painful ones are now recalled with bright sentimentality.ĭylan (left) and Halford (right) were close friends in the late sixties. In the song, Halford recounts an unexpected phone call from a former friend that brings back a rush of memories. Now you're telling me you're not nostalgicĪnd if you're offering me diamonds and rustĭon't want no more Diamonds! Diamonds and Ruu-u-u-ust.ĭiamonds & Rust is a 1977 song written and performed by Rob Halford of Judas Priest, which is often said to describe his relationship with Bob Dylan ten years prior, a claim that Halford has both affirmed and denied on separate occasions. We both could have died then and theeee-e-e-eeere Now you're smiling out the window of that crummy hotel Now I see you standing with leaves falling all around Well, you burst on the scene, already a legend Ten years ago I bought you some cufflinks
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |