Is Dylan rude and arrogant? Watch this performance by Glenn Berger and the great Mary Lee Kortes (singing excerpts from the album, including a stirring performance of “Idiot Wind”) from the NY STUDIO CATS REUNION SHOW at The Cutting Room on September 29, 2016, about what it was like to work with Dylan on his history-making album, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, for an answer to this question.
Here’s a fun interview with the great Frank MacKay on Breaking It Down from May 18, 2016 on Glenn Berger’s book, Never Say No to a Rock Star: In the Studio with Dylan, Jagger, Sinatra and More.
Listen to Tom Dunne of Ireland’s NewsTalk Radio interview Glenn Berger on his book, “Never Say No to a Rock Star” here.
It’s 1974, NYC. The coolest glam band in the world, The New York Dolls, are cutting their second album, Too Much, Too Soon, and I’m assistant engineer on the session. Read about their outfits, volume, chaos, and debauchery as they work on “Stranded in the Jungle” with producer Shadow Morton and engineer DIxon Van Winkle. Guest appearance by the Harlots of 42nd Street.
Order my memoir of my 1970s days in the New York recording world, working with the greatest artists of our age including Dylan, Jagger, Sinatra, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Judy Collins, Bette Midler, Bob Fosse and many others, under the tutelage of world-class producer/engineer Phil Ramone.
The weirdest album I ever worked on was of a tuba quartet. Here’s the amazing story of how this strange gig got me on stage at Carnegie Hall.
On occasion, I worked on a record where the folks making it were nice and somewhat sane. Sometimes, these records were beautiful, and the people who made it were excellent at what they did. One such album was Tiger in the Rain by Michael Franks, produced and arranged by John Simon.
On October 24th, 2014, 35 years after the original release of his masterwork, All That Jazz, a dream of Bob Fosse’s, and mine, finally came true. On that night, I had the opportunity to share my story of craziness, catastrophe, and this long-delayed triumph with an audience at the Jacob Burns Theater. It was a night that I will never forget
Read a first hand account by the only person alive (including Bob Dylan himself!) who witnessed the entire New York recording sessions for Blood on the Tracks.
Winner of the Nicholas Schaffner award for Music in Literature, read my memoir of my 70s New York daze in the music biz, “Never Say No to a Rock Star,” with never before told stories of Dylan, Jagger, Sinatra, Paul Simon, Bob Fosse, Judy Collins, Bette Midler, James Brown and more.
It’s true that guys need male mentors who can shepherd them into the advancing stages of life. But I’ve lately come to realize how some of the most important mentoring relationships I have had in my life have been with women. Read about two of my greatest mentors, Judy Collins and Susan Hamilton.
Read about my ill-fated 1975 date with The Divine Miss M, Bette Midler; how I was punished by the legendary producer, Phil Ramone; and the name that Steely Dan gave me as the final humiliating blow.