Bonus Track: John Doe on Talking Fishing with Bob Dylan

"Like, this is perfect. I don’t have to say John Wesley Harding changed my life."

John Doe (with Lee Ranaldo) at the “Going Electric” concert. Courtesy American Song Archives

Remember last summer? It feels like a decade ago. To refresh your memory: The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa held a big tribute concert at the historic Cain’s Ballroom, honoring the 60th anniversary of Dylan “going electric.” Thanks to the generosity of bandleader Lee Ranaldo and Dylan Center head Steve Jenkins, I was able to hang out backstage all day and interview every participating musician.

I ran the main piece a few days later with a sentence or two from everyone, but so much from my conversations got left on the cutting room floor. So I began running Bonus Track Q&As with longer excerpts for paid subscribers. I ran Ranaldo and Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley, Wilco’s Nels Cline, Dean & Britta, and Emma Swift. Then the fall got busy—a new tour, a new Bootleg Series, etc—and I never got to the second half. With Dylan off the road now, I’ll belatedly share the remaining Bonus Tracks this month.

First up, my short couch chat with the great John Doe of X. Still to come: Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco), Joy Harjo, Doug Keith, Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain), and Robyn Hitchcock.

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All of these casual Bonus Track conversations backstage at the Bob Dylan Center’s “Going Electric” shows are archived here—and here’s the main piece I did from the shows

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How did you pick these two songs to cover? [Doe did “To Ramona” solo acoustic, and then “Maggie’s Farm” with the band]

I have an older brother, he had some Dylan records. He had Blonde on Blonde and stuff like that. “To Ramona,” it wasn’t the record that I first discovered, but it’s just such a sad, beautiful love song. And I can do that. [laughs] It’s got a really haunting melody. Good words.

That’s one side of Bob Dylan. Then the other side, “Maggie’s Farm,” you have to work hard to fuck that up. It’s just fun if you approach it the way that it was written. When it succeeds, you’re having a good time.

Are you and the guys trying to do that one more or less like the original?

A little bit more like the record, yeah, but we’re just having fun with it. Any time I sing “she’s 68 but she says she’s 54,” I always gotta laugh at that, ‘cause it’s so absurd. I’m not gonna sing it like Bob. I mean, that’s just dumb.

Here are John Doe’s “To Ramona” and “Maggie’s Farm” at the Going Electric show:

I’ve talked to several people who have been disappointed that “Pressing On” does not fit into the timeline tonight. Everyone loves your cover on the I’m Not There soundtrack.

You can thank Joe Henry for that. He produced [the soundtrack] and he called me up and said, “Would you do this?” I sort of remembered it. I remember those records, Slow Train and Saved. But it fit.

It was a real thrill to do that at the MusiCares benefit when they were honoring Bob Dylan. There were a lot of A-list people there like Bruce Springsteen and Sheryl Crow and Neil Young—and then there was me.

Do you know why you got asked to do MusiCares?

Because I’ve met Bob a few times and he’s always been nice to me. I’m glad for that.

When did you meet Bob?