A Conversation WIth Jakob Dylan
The hassle of reaching the big time on your own merits, not because of your name.
THE MORNING CALL | Nov. 15, 1997
Imagine one of your parents being in the rock ‘n’ roll business and that he or she has not only hit it big, but is considered a visionary and an icon.
Now imagine you want to follow in the family business. It should be a cakewalk, right? Not necessarily, even if your dad is Bob Dylan.
Imagine the expectations. Imagine the comparisons, not to mention the endless questions.
“It’s not a big issue, really,” says Jakob Dylan, lead singer for The Wallflowers, who will perform with The Jayhawks and Maypole Tuesday night in Muhlenberg College’s Memorial Hall, Allentown. “It’s a little bothersome, but for the most part, (people) are just curious. After five times a day it (the question) gets tiring.”
The youngest of Dylan’s five children didn’t come by success overnight.
After a 1992 self-titled debut disc of rootsy rock sold poorly, The Wallflowers were without a record deal. But after reshuffling the lineup and securing a deal with Interscope Records, the band recorded “Bringing Down The Horse,” which was released last year. While the song “6th Avenue Heartache” got its share of airplay, it was “One Headlight” that propelled The Wallflowers over the top. To date, “Bringing Down The Horse,” which is No. 56 after 70 weeks on the Billboard pop album chart (it had been as high as No. 4), has racked up more than 3 million in sales.
Despite the public’s cool reception to The Wallflowers’ debut, Interscope, home of Death Row rappers and Nine Inch Nails, didn’t really push the band in one direction or the other as recording began for “Bringing Down The Horse.”
“They trusted me and the group to do what we wanted to do,” says Dylan. Credit can also go to producer T-Bone Burnett for giving the album a slimmer, more focused sound than that of the group’s debut disc.
If you think you’re tired of hearing “One Headlight,” imagine how Dylan feels singing it every night. “I think about it five minutes before going on stage,” he says over the telephone from his home in Los Angeles. “I think, ‘How am I going to do it again?’ But when I see people’s reaction, it gives it new life every night.”
Really? If that answer sounds a little too pat, it is.
“OK, ‘The song’s a pain in the ass’ is what I meant to say. You’re a prisoner of one song your whole career. You have to sing it every night or people will be disappointed.”
But would Dylan have chosen this one as a single?
“Yeah. When we finished the album, it was one of my favorites.”
The Wallflowers’ first album, “Bringing Down The Horse.”
Born in New York, Dylan moved to California with his mother when he was 3. His musical influences won’t surprise anyone who grew up in the late 1970s and early ’80s. “The Clash got me started, along with Elvis Costello and The Jam.”
After high school, Dylan briefly attended Parsons School of Design in New York City. But soon he realized where his heart was and returned to Los Angeles in 1989 and put together a band called The Apples, which eventually became The Wallflowers. If you think they played in some fabulous club, guess again. They played the Kibitz Room in Canter’s deli to an elderly clientele.
It was three years before the band was signed by Virgin Records to record a debut disc. “I never had any doubt as to what I wanted to do,” says Dylan. “But I still had second thoughts.”
Mostly a collection of songs written by Dylan when he was between 18 and 20, “The Wallflowers” was critically well-received but sold only 40,000 copies. “Well, I’m real proud of the first album, because it was a certain type of record I was trying to make. It’s pretty much the snapshot of a 22-year-old,” says Dylan.
On that first album, with its live sound and little overdubbing, Dylan melted into the band. He never invoked the family name and was a reluctant interview.
On the road, The Wallflowers were opening for 10,000 Maniacs, Chris Isaak, Cracker and the Spin Doctors. But when the touring ended, so did The Wallflowers’ contract with Virgin. Soon the band was back in Los Angeles, playing at places like The Viper Room.
No one was knocking on Dylan’s door with recording deal offers, but the success of Dylan’s friends Counting Crows and a new batch of songs soon had the A&R; guys lining up. After eight months in the wilderness, The Wallflowers, with Dylan and keyboard player Rami Jaffee among the original remaining members, went label shopping. “We chose Interscope on a hunch. They were underdogs and they had no groups like us.”
Dylan reflected on what lies ahead. He had just listened to some music that morning: the new Radiohead album, plus vintage material from country swing legend Lefty Frizell, country rock pioneer Gram Parsons and singer-songwriter Tom Waits. “I’m writing the next record right now. We’ll be touring for another six weeks and then we’ll rest. Then we’ll record. But I don’t know when yet.”
Even if the comparisons to Bruce Springsteen or Tom Petty don’t rankle — “Everyone gets pigeonholed. They’re good company” — having the title of one his father’s songs above a story about The Wallflowers does. “What amazes me is when it happens, editors think they’re the only ones who’ve done it.”
Asked to supply a headline based on a Bob Dylan song title for this interview, Dylan suggests: “How about ‘Likely To Go His Way.’ “
Too late. The New York Times already used it.