FLAGGIN DOWN THE DOUBLE Es : Plugz Bassist Talks Backing Bob Dylan in Raucous Letterman Performance

 By sheer coincidence (I don’t think . . . . . synchronicity) after posting the links yesterday to the newly spruced vids of Bobbie playing an early Letterman, Flaggin Down The Double Es maestro Ray Padgett posted an interview with the bass player Tony Marsico and a truly astonishingly fascinating read it is too . . . . . . . 

Plugz Tony Marsico Talks Backing Bob Dylan 

Months of rehearsals led to one of the most unusual, and memorable, performances of Dylan's career

Ray says:

On today’s date in 1984, Bob Dylan gave one of the most memorable performances of his career. He appeared on David Letterman’s fairly-new late night TV show backed by a fairly-new band: The Plugz. It would be the only time he’d play with this young Latino punk group – publicly, at least. They had been quietly rehearsing for months at Dylan’s Malibu house. All for three songs on national TV: the Sonny Boy Williamson blues tune “Don’t Start Me Talkin’” (the only time Bob’s ever played that one) followed by two cuts from his recently-released Infidels: “License to Kill” and “Jokerman.”

It’s about as direct an intersection as Bob ever had with punk rock. The sound was raw and ragged, in contrast to the far slicker Infidels. Very ragged, in the case of “Jokerman,” which featured an unplanned instrumental interlude while Bob fumbled around finding the right harmonica.

To this day, this Letterman appearance is remembered by fans as a classic. One performance from the show, “License to Kill,” was included on the recent Springtime in New York box set. There’s also a little Plugz display at the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa. An impressive legacy for just three songs.

The band technically comprised just two of The Plugz – bassist Tony Marsico and drummer Charlie Quintana – alongside their friend JJ Holiday on guitar. I called Marsico up last week to find out how it all went down. . . . . . . . . 

 

Backstage at Letterman, L-R: Tony Marsico, Bob Dylan, Charlie Quintana, JJ Holiday

One of Tony’s cheat sheet from the Malibu rehearsals. Look at all the songs – originals and covers – they rehearsed. Many of the covers Bob’s never played live (“My Guy?” “Back in My Arms Again”?? “Gimme Some Lovin’”???) apparently Bobby loved playing Gimme Some Lovin’!

Enjoy - I surely did!

Bob Dylan's punk/garage versions with the Plugz - Letterman 1984 [upgraded] Don’t Start Me Talking, Jokerman, License to Kill + Rehearsal tapes

"Don’t Start Me Talking"

                          sometimes ‘mercurial’ doesn’t even quite cut it . . . . . . . . . . !?

How did this even HAPPEN?

DREAM TWISTER!

Youtube poster Peter Stoner Brown Archive notes:

With Dylan, all dressed in black, were three unknown 20-somethings and they were killing it. Guitarist J.J. Holiday, drummer Charlie Quintana, and bassist Tony Marsico — the latter two of whom were members of the L.A. punk band the Plugz — backed Dylan on three songs that night, a fierce “Jokerman” and a perfectly raucous “License to Kill,” both from Dylan’s then-new semi-return-to-form album Infidels, and a swaggering cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talking.” For 12 minutes or so, the musicians proved that Bob Dylan could be jolted out of the perfunctory performances he’d been accustomed to giving then and suggested a future beyond the living relic circuit.

License to Kill

Letterman rehearsals !!

22 March 1984. Band: Bob Dylan, J.J. Holiday, Tony Marsico, and Charlie Quintana. Setlist: I Once Knew A Man Jokerman License to Kill Treat Her Right My Guy