the Gooding Tapes
George Rothe
A couple of collector friends have suggested that I post the following
letter. It's a letter I wrote to Clinton Heylin following a comment he
made re: the existence of any more "Gooding Tapes" of the young Bob.
Anyway the letter is factual and gives some info to tapes yet to be
circulated.
Here we go:
January 19, 1992
Dear Clinton Heylin:
I just finished reading ISIS #40 which included your article, "A
Rain Unravelled Rant", about uncirculated tapes. What caught my
attention was your skepticism as to the existence of the Gooding
'Gerde's Folk City' tape. For what it's worth, the tape does
exist. Here's my story:
In the early spring of 1979 I was working for a book publisher in
New York City (who, incidentally rejected two of Pickering's
manuscripts. But that's another story!). One of my coworkers was
attending an exhibition for an artist friend and was introduced to
Cynthia Gooding, also a friend of the artist. Through conversation
she mentioned her involvement with Dylan in his early days. My
coworker brought me into the conversation as 'a Dylanologist' he
knew. (I shudder at the term) Ms. Gooding was intrigued. She had
always wanted to meet 'one of those.' I called her the next week
and she invited me to her upper east side apartment. She told me
she had a few things of Dylan that I might enjoy listening to. I
remember thinking it would be very unlikely she had anything new,
but I took along a few blank cassettes and a portable cassette
player just in case. I also took the latest Sandy Gant discography
for her to review.
Well, I got to the apartment and 'dumbstruck' is the only way to
describe what I saw. Cynthia Gooding is a tall woman, easily six
feet tall, good looking with a good figure and greying hair. She
had a small bookshelf unit filled with reel-to-reel tapes. The
spines of the tape boxes read like a who's who of Bleeker Street.
Names like Ochs, Paxton, Van Ronk, and of course Dylan stood lined
up together. I gave her the discography. She gave me a bottle of
red wine to open. After glancing at the first few pages, she said,
"You're missing so much from the early days." She then pulled the
first Dylan box from the shelf. She started to play it on her Sony
reel-to-reel and realized it was all backwards. She said something
about "not having played the tapes for years and years", and that
this particular tape was recorded for broadcast on a show she used
to do for WBAI in the early 60's. I rewound the tape so it would
play properly. By the opening bars I knew I had never heard this
song before. I asked her if she would allow me to make a copy of
the tape. She hesitated and told me of the bad experience her
friends (the McKenzies) had had with a Dylan biographer (Scaduto)
and that she would only allow me to copy the tapes if "Bobby or his
office said it was alright." I knew my chances were less than slim
so I didn't pursue the topic. Instead I took out a pad of paper, a
sharp pencil, sat forward, balanced my glass and listened closely
for the next hour or so. This is what I heard:
GERDE'S FOLK CITY
RANGER'S COMMAND
SAN FRANCISCO BAY BLUES (with JACK ELLIOTT)
THE GREAT DIVIDE
SEE THAT MY GRAVE IS KEPT CLEAN
BRAZO'S RIVER
(talk about the New York Times review 9/61)
DINK'S SONG
('short story')
HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE
PRETTY BOY FLOYD (with JIM KWESKIN)
LITTLE GIRL (BLACK GIRL) (with JIM KWESKIN) (fragment)
SALLY GAL
(The double spaces denote each side of tape.)
I suppose the talk about the Times review is what dates this tape.
I was amazed at the quality of the sound. The tape of Ranger's
Command, now in circulation, is so muddled and a far cry from the
quality I heard that night. I don't remember what the 'short
story' was...though at the time I swore I would never forget!
We went to dinner at a coffee shop across the street from her
apartment. I treated her to a cheeseburger deluxe. All through
the meal she asked me what she should do with the tapes. Having no
expertise at negotiating I thought it safer to stay away from the
subject. I also thought that Sandy Gant would be much more
effective at procuring this find. I got the impression she wanted
me to make a 'bid' on the tapes. My bank account was emptier than
my head.
We returned to her apartment, opened a second bottle of red wine,
sat down and listened:
GOODING APARTMENT
BALLAD OF DONALD WHITE
(talk about Gibson guitar)
WITCHITA
ACNE, A TEENAGER IN LOVE (duet with someone else)
ROCKS AND GRAVEL
LONG TIME MAN (fragment)
Ms. Gooding did not remember who was singing on the duet. I was a
little disappointed at the quality of the apartment tape. While it
was clear, it bore no comparison to the Folk City performances we
heard earlier. She told me of how Dylan sang the songs from the
apartment tape to her young daughter and he would frequently sing
to her when he visited.
Cynthia Gooding next told me of an interview she did with Dylan in
Minneapolis. She believes it to be the first interview anyone did
with him. There was a tape of the interview which disappeared, and
she was quite sure she knew who had it. She didn't let me in on
the mystery person. She just wanted to know if I had heard of its
whereabouts.
She played two more tapes:
GERDE'S FOLK CITY: BROTHER JOHN SELLER'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
(long introduction and HAIR STORY)
TALKIN' BEAR MOUNTAIN BEAR PICNIC BLUES (verbatim)
SONG TO WOODY
All I remember from the Hair Story was a line about letting your
hair grow long so it doesn't clutter up your brain!
IZZY YOUNG'S FOLKLORE CENTER PARTY
FIXIN' TO DIE (with DAVE VAN RONK and JOHN GIBSON (?))
My original notes have John GiBBon...but I guess Gibson makes more
sense. For me that was a crowning end to the evening. To hear
Dylan and Van Ronk perform that piece together! Again, the sound
on these last two tapes was excellent and I assume they were made
for broadcast purposes.
Did I say 'end to the evening'? Well, Cynthia Gooding now wanted
me to listen to some tapes of the music she collected. How could
I refuse? For the next half hour I got my fair share of
'flamenco'! She tried to get me to appreciate the 'sensuality' of
the music. It was very strange. I was actually listening to
bootleg tapes of slamming heels in Spain!
I finally left, catching the last bus back to the Bronx. I told my
wife all about the evening in quick disjointed sentences while I
dialed Sandy Gant's home. I woke him up with a flurry of
expletives like 'oh shit' and 'you wouldn't believe'. I gave Gant
her number and he began the pursuit. He tried, he failed. He was
upset by his failure and didn't want to discuss it. That's where
I left it all until the mention of the tapes in 'Stolen Moments.'
(I sent a copy of the song list to John Bauldie when I began my
subscription to the Telegraph several years ago, asking if the
tapes had ever been circulated. Was it this list which prompted
the entries in "Stolen Moments"?)
You know, thirteen years later, and a little more common sense
under my brow, I sometimes wonder if I misunderstood the whole
evening. Was Cynthia Gooding waiting for me to make a bid? And if
so, was it a monetary one? There was the alcohol, the coy requests
for advice, and there was the wild sensual rhythm of flamenco! At
one point during the evening she left the room for more than a few
minutes and I played with the idea of stealing the tapes. I could
have easily moved other tapes into the Dylan boxes and hoped it
would be 'years and years' before she had the opportunity to play
the tapes again. But I didn't and I didn't and I most certainly
didn't! When I left that night the last thing I saw was Cynthia
Gooding opening a third bottle of red wine.
There you have it. I haven't thought about that evening in so much
detail since it happened. I hope I have convinced you that the
tapes do truly exist. I also hope you get them into circulation so
we all can enjoy them and that I can enjoy them for a second time.
Sincerely,
George Rothe
3045 Gomer Street
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
U.S.A.
BTW: "Stolen Moments" remains the greatest reference book in my
Dylan library. It is truly indispensable. Thank you.