Bob Neuwirth, a number one determine within the people motion of the ’60s who collaborated with the likes of Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, died final night time. He was 82.
The information was confirmed by Neuwirth’s accomplice, Paula Batson.
“On Wednesday night in Santa Monica, Bob Neuwirth’s huge coronary heart gave out,” Neuwirth’s household advised Rolling Stone in a press release. “Bob was an artist all through each cell of his physique and he liked to encourage others to make artwork themselves. He was a painter, songwriter, producer and recording artist whose physique of labor is liked and revered. For over 60 years, Bob was on the epicenter of cultural moments from Woodstock, to Paris, Don’t Look Again to Monterey Pop, Rolling Thunder to Nashville and Havana. He was a beneficiant instigator who typically produced and made issues occur anonymously. The artwork is what mattered to him, not the credit score. He was an artist, a mentor and a supporter to many. He will likely be missed by all who love him.”
Neuwirth, who was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1939, was launched to Dylan within the early ’60s people scene of Cambridge, Mass. The pair grew to become buddies, and Neuwirth went on to take part in D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary, Do not Look Again, which centered on Dylan’s 1965 live performance tour of the U.Okay. Neuwirth continued to work in and round Dylan’s world. He assisted Dylan in assembling the backing band for 1975’s Rolling Thunder Revue; he additionally appeared in Dylan’s semi-fictional movie culled from the tour, Renaldo and Clara. That is additionally the decrease half of Neuwirth’s physique seen on the quilt of 1965’s Freeway 61 Revisited.
In the summertime of 1969, Neuwirth befriended one other New York Metropolis mainstay: Patti Smith, who was nonetheless a number of years away from her debut. She later recalled their first assembly within the foyer of the Chelsea Lodge. “He stated, ‘Come right here, what do you’ve in that pocket book?’ I stated, ‘Nothing,’ and I used to be actually performing robust, however I used to be immediately and completely in love,” Smith stated in Clinton Heylin’s 2005 e book From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock. “Bobby seemed in my e book and requested me who wrote that stuff and I advised him I did. … I feel he instantly acknowledged one thing in me that I did not even acknowledge in myself, and he took me beneath his wing.”
In 1970, an impromptu jam led Neuwirth, Joplin and poet Michael McClure to jot down “Mercedes Benz.” Neuwirth additionally launched Joplin to Kris Kristofferson, whose music “Me and Bobby McGee” would change into the late singer’s greatest hit. Each songs have been included on Joplin’s posthumously launched No. 1 album Pearl.
Neuwirth additionally launched 5 solo albums and collaborated with John Cale on his 1994 LP Final Day on Earth.
“Every part is a matter of alternative,” Neuwirth stated in a 2016 interview with The Paris Review. “What’s out there is what occurs. No matter artwork provides can be found is what the undertaking turns into. When work are drying or I’m taking a break within the studio, there’s at all times a guitar mendacity round.”
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