Memories of Tangier, Bob Dylan and Greenwich Village

View from the window, Tangier, Matisse, 1911

The view through my windows has been pretty grim, for weeks . . ..and weeks . . . and weeks. But that is so often the case in England. And it probably explains why a wall in one of the rooms of my house is home to a collection of Matisse prints, all of paintings from his time in Morocco - like the one above and the one below, which is one of my favourite paintings. However bleak it is here in England, I have only to look at the Matisse wall to remember what a sun-drenched city by the sea looks like. The original hangs in the Hermitage in St Petersburg and must bring some welcome sunlight into those long, harsh Russian winters. I saw that original at the memorable Henri Matisse 1904-1917 exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1993; it is quite breathtakingly beautiful and mesmerised my companion and me. We found it very hard to drag ourselves away.

The casbah gate, Matisse, 1912

But back in gloomy old Devon . . .a visit to my dear friend, M, of Random Distractions to meet her gorgeous new grand-daughter, Millie, brightened up yet another damp, grey and miserable Saturday but torrential rain set in again (boring) as the Edinburgh Boy and I drove home. Once all the dogs were walked, nothing for it but to hunker down with some books, music and today's papers. But at least there is a treat in today's Guardian review section for Bob Dylan fans among us: an interview with Suze Rotolo. Suze was just 17 when she first met Dylan; 45 years ago, they were the golden couple of Greenwich Village. She was the young woman with long dark hair, who appeared on the front of Dylan's Freewheelin' album, and now, at 64 and an artist, has just published her memoirs of those Greenwich Village days, A Freewheelin' Time.

An excellent interview, as usual, by Richard Williams, which will keep me going until the book arrives (as it will, ASAP). And, yes, I read it while listening to this album. What else? Here's a taste:

And for an hour or so, I forgot that it was raining.

Comments

[Barbara]

Thank you for that link. What must it be like to be made an icon by an enduring album cover? Great album!
Did you hear any of the Radio 4 series 'You probably think this song is about you'? Very interesting, but no Suze. The songs mentioned in that article are among my very favourites, but there are so many.

[60 Going On 16]

I only managed to hear one of those programmes, Barbara, but Suze would definitely have been an ideal subject!

[Janet]

The Matisse paintings are powerful even in this distanced on screen form. Must be stunning face to face!

I'm not the original Dylan fan in this family but living surrounded by vinyl, CD and iTune collections I've absorbed enough to want to read the interview so thanks for drawing attention.

[Mike Crompton]

A Freewheelin Time, the book by Suze Rotolo is an excellent read and extremely accessible. If you want to get into the spirit of understanding life around Dylan and his colleagues during the early 1960's this book will get you there. Excellent. She should now write another one because there is obviously a lot more in her head.