Suzi Ronson Recalls Traveling with Mick Ronson on the Rolling Thunder Revue

"Bob whips out his guitar, and he plays the whole of the Desire album"

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Photo via Goldmine

In 1975, Bob Dylan hired Mick Ronson to play lead guitar for the Rolling Thunder Revue, which kicked off on today’s date in 1975. Ronson had recently come off an iconic tour with David Bowie promoting Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and brought over some of that glam-rock energy to what was otherwise a fairly folky outfit. When I talked to bandleader Rob Stoner about the “army of guitar players” onstage during Rolling Thunder, he said of Mick:

He definitely had the most chops there of anybody. Maybe Mansfield, technically, was his match, but Mick being a star guitar player already, he really knew how to sell a guitar part. He had that whole English guitar hero look going on, right out of Spinal Tap. He was the real deal.

Sadly, Mick Ronson passed away in 1993, only 46 years old. But his wife Suzi—who Mick met where she was the only working woman in Bowie’s touring party, the stylist who came up his iconic Ziggy hairdo—recently wrote a book. It’s called Me and Mr. Jones: My Life with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars.

Suzi and Mick. Photo courtesy Suzi Ronson.

I didn’t call her up to talk Bowie though. I called her up to talk Dylan. She and Mick were already dating during the Rolling Thunder tour, and in fact she travelled along with the tour during the 1976 half.

Below, she tells her story of being on the road with Rolling Thunder and offers her insights into what Mick brought to the music.

Ronson and Bowie on the Spiders from Mars tour, 1973. Mick Rock photo via Snap Galleries.

Just to put us in context here, am I right that the Spiders from Mars had ended a little over a year before Rolling Thunder?

Spiders ended in July '73, and then this first thing was in autumn of 1975. In between that, Mick had done two solo records and had been working with Mott The Hoople. That was a tragic mistake. Mind you, I suppose it might have been fortuitous, because Mick and Ian [Hunter], they had a fabulous band, they'd done a great album [1975’s Ian Hunter]. But it went kaput.

Mick and I went down to New York. We had a Cadillac DeVille. We stuck all our stuff into this old boat and drove down. Tony [Defries, Mick’s manager] said we could live in the offices. People were everywhere with tin cans and fires in them, dragging greasy rags across our windows, begging for money, and who would dare even open the damn window? It was terrifying.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Ian called us and said, “Hey, Bob Dylan is in town. I'm coming in.” We met Ian down at The Other End. He was sitting at the bar having a drink. It was empty, in the afternoon. Down the street, here comes Bob Dylan with his guitar and two or three friends. They come in and sit at the table next to us. He whips out his guitar, and he plays the whole of the Desire album.

Now, I'd never heard Bob Dylan before. Mick and I were rockers, so we weren't really Bob Dylan fans. After that, we were though. Just seeing him just do it by himself. No glam, no glitter.

So I can picture it, is he on stage? At the table? Who's he playing for?

He's sitting at the table, playing for the two or three friends he's with. Bob Neuwirth was one; I don't remember the other two. There was me, Mick, and Ian sitting next to them. We couldn't believe our eyes or ears.

Does Ian know Bob at this point? I know you and Mick don't.

No, he doesn't know him, but he's always been a massive fan of his. Ian was very much influenced by Bob Dylan. Mick and I would go, “Bloody Bob Dylan, here we go again.” Mick never liked him that much. He used to say that Bob Dylan sounds like Yogi Bear. After he saw him that afternoon, it was a different kettle of fish.

My God, he's so good. His charisma, overpowering. We heard the whole of the Desire album. It was very moving.

So Bob sits there, plays songs from Desire. You, Mick, and Ian sitting at an adjacent table. What happens next?

Next, of course, everybody on the street is looking in the windows. You can see people nudging each other and running off down the street.

The word has gotten out?

The word has gotten out. Bob and his friends leave the table and go towards the back of the club. I said to Mick and Ian, “Come on, come on, let's move on back.” We moved back and sat next to them again. I mean, I was with the great Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter. I had no compunction about sitting there.

The club is full in a second. Now this poor band scheduled to play that night walk in. They look around and they can't believe how many people are there. There's a little spring in their step. They think they've got a big audience. Then suddenly, they catch sight of Bob Dylan, and they all deflate. They realize that people aren't there to see them; they're there to see Bob. You can see almost fear coming over their faces, because now not only are they playing to Bob's audience, they've got to play in front of Bob Dylan.

Anyway, Bobby Neuwirth— what a character, what a great bloke he was, he was really the catalyst as spinning this whole thing together—he gets up to go talk to the owner, Paul Colby. I get up to walk by and have a listen. Bobby's saying to him, “Come on, Paul, we want to play tonight.” [Paul says,] “I've already got a band. I've paid them.” “We'll play for drinks." That was a mistake.

After this poor band ended up getting off, Bobby set up with some friends of his. I think Rob Stoner was there, Howie Wyeth maybe. As I'd gone past, Bobby was looking at me. I'm a flirt; he's a flirt. We get to chatting. I lay on the English accent thick as butter. Why not?

He says to me, “What are you doing down there?” I said, “I'm with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson.” “Who?” “Mick Ronson, used to play with David Bowie in the Spiders from Mars. Ian Hunter, he's a big star. He's got ‘All the Way from Memphis,’ ‘All the Young Dudes’.” He began to remember who it was.

Someone gets up and does a song. Bobby says, “Bottle of tequila to the stage, please.” This bottle of tequila comes around. He starts drinking the tequila, passes it to the band, and then sends it out to the audience. [laughs] “Another bottle of tequila to the stage please.” By now everyone's had a few swigs of this tequila, my husband included.

Neuwirth says, “Is there a spider in the house?” Someone says, “A spider?” “A spider from Mars?” Ian and I are going, “Go on Mick, get up there.” He doesn't want to. “No, I haven't got my guitar.” Neuwirth comes over and says, “Are you coming?” Mick says, “Uh…” Anyway, he gets up and what he brings to it, it's magic. Bobby's songs are simple for the most part but Mick plays lines over them and people start cheering.

Bob Dylan is still in the audience at this point?

He's in the audience, along with, I think, Allen Ginsberg and a lot of other people that I don't know.

Well, Mick had too much to drink, as he does. He gets thrown out. He comes back in, nostrils flaring, and he gets another drink. Then he gets thrown out again. He says to the bouncer, who's about 6 foot 3 and really built, “If you throw me out one more fookin’ time, I'm coming in through that fookin’ window.”

As he's saying this, I'm saying to Ian, “Oh my God, what are we going to do?” Ian says, “Don't worry, this usually passes.” You know, he's been on the road with him.

Out walked Bob Neuwirth and Bob Dylan. They stand there staring at Mick shouting the odds at this bouncer. Bob Neuwirth says, “What are you doing?” “He won't let me come back in.” “Come with us.” So it's Bob and Bob and most of the band and half the audience all walking down Bleecker Street. It's got to be 1:00, 2:00 in the morning. Suddenly we turn left, go down some steps. There's one of Bob's guys on the door. We walk into this underground bar.

The guy there is just trying to close up; he's going, “Oh no.” Then he sees who it is, of course. Rushes to get drinks and the like. Mick's talking to Rob Stoner. I'm just keeping myself out of the way, sitting at the bar. I see Bob Dylan and Bob Neuwirth go over and talk to Mick. They're all laughing. He comes over and says, “They've just asked me to go on the road with them.”

That whole week [at The Other End] was incredible. Patti Smith came down, Bette Midler, Roger McGuinn.

Do you remember anything about Patti Smith? I'm a big Patti Smith fan.

She came in and sang a Rolling Stones song. But she didn't sing it; she just shouted it. You couldn't stop looking at her. Short hair sticking out a little bit. A black man's tuxedo jacket, black skinny pants and boots. She looked like a bloke, and I instantly wanted to look like her. I knew, that day, glam was really done. I wish she'd come on the tour.

Some amazing people came in. I realized after, it was more like an audition for the Rolling Thunder Revue than anything else. Mick was there the first night and he just stayed there. He brought his guitar and was up on the stage every night.

These people didn't live lives like me. I used to get up in the morning and go to bed at night. These people got up at lunchtime and didn't go to bed until the following morning. We used to go around to Larry Poons’, the fabulous artist. He had this amazing loft with green-as-grass carpet, a basketball net at the other end that his girlfriend was playing hoops in, and 40 cats. We used to go there every single night. After the Other End had finished, we'd go there and they'd keep on playing, and then we'd go home about 8:00 in the morning and sleep all day.