Bob Dylan's Blues: Ashen-faced singer's synagogue trip after death of his soulmate
Bob Dylan has been spotted on a mission of mercy – visiting a local synagogue.
The 69-year-old music legend had presumably gone to say prayers for his lost ‘soulmate’ and ex-girlfriend Suze Rotolo, who died at the end of last month.
An ashen-faced Dylan cut a frail figure as he was dropped off with his head buried inside a baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt.
He was greeted at the Los Angeles synagogue by a young woman before going inside carrying a black leather jacket underneath his arm as the sun shone.
An onlooker said: ‘He looked pretty beaten down and depressed. He went in a back door and stayed inside for over an hour before being picked up again by his driver.’
It is not known how often Dylan visits the synagogue and until now his chosen religion has been a long-standing mystery.
However he may well have just been saying a prayer for Miss Rotolo - his inspiration and young sweetheart who appeared with him arm in arm on the iconic cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
The pair began dating in 1961 when Miss Rotolo was just 17 years old. They split after three years but remained close friends until she died of lung cancer in New York on February 25.
Dylan, who turns 70 in May, has been exceptionally undecided about religion during his life and on the rare occasion that he has spoken about his faith he has been quite cryptic.
From being born Jewish as Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota he famously became a born-again Christian in the late 1970s.
His conversion to Christianity was very public when he released three Christian influenced gospel music albums – ‘Slow Train Coming’ in 1979, ‘Saved’ in 1980 and ‘Shot of Love’ in 1981.
He has admitted struggling with his faith in the past telling Rolling Stone magazine in the 1980s: ‘I've never said I'm born again. That's just a media term. I don't think I've been an agnostic.
'I've always thought there's a superior power, that this is not the real world and that there's a world to come.’
When asked if he belonged to any church or synagogue in the same interview, he replied: ‘Not really. Uh, the Church of the Poison Mind.’
However since then he has been reported to attend Jewish religion events including the bar mitzvahs of his sons.
These exclusive pictures are the first conclusive pieces of evidence that the folk music icon has come back to Judaism after the loss of his beloved ex-girlfriend.
Dylan fiercely guards his privacy and goes out of his way to avoid being photographed except when he is performing in concert.
He lives a nomadic existence on his sprawling ramshackle farmhouse which overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.
He stays at the cliff-top compound while taking breaks in his busy tour schedule.
His estate now stretches five acres as he has bought up many of the houses surrounding it since he moved there in the 1970s.
On it he is known to spend his time doing carpentry and occasionally walking his pet dogs.
Speaking exclusively his elderly neighbour Caroline Maclay, who has lived next door since Dylan moved in, described how rarely she has seen him.
‘We talked to him once when he was driving his truck years ago but he’s gone a great deal of the time. When he is here he’s quite private. He has 24/7 security guards.
‘You never see him. Whereas Martin Sheen is very visible in the community and we used to see Dick Van Dyke all the time in the neighbourhood - I never see Bob Dylan.’
Another elderly neighbour Audrey Burright ,who has lived opposite Dylan for more than three decades, said: ‘I met him 30 years ago, he used to come to the PTA meetings at the local school.
'He’s a very very nice person. He would take his kids to school. I never see him anymore. That was a long time ago. He’s become much less visible as he’s got older. He loves his privacy.’
Dylan’s property lies on one of the most expensive portions of real estate in California and is on the cusp of local beauty spot Point Dune - which has spectacular views out on to the Ocean.
He has a number of staff who go about their day feeding the horses and chickens and going in and out for supplies. His estate manager lives in one of the several buildings on the property.
From the outside several rusty old green storage units are visible in Dylan’s yard as well a decades old wreck of a Chevy, and other assorted rusty old car parts.
Another neighbour Valerie Sklarevsky - who is actually friends with Dylan and was a 1960s activist herself - also told of Dylan’s desire for privacy.
Valerie, who eccentrically lives in a bright yellow and red gypsy wagon behind Dylan’s estate, said: ‘He is a friend of mine. He’s a sweet guy. I met him in 1980, I wrote him a letter and he came over and talked to me, we became friends and he even wrote a song about me on his Infidels album in 1983.
‘He is a very private person. He is a nice and kind neighbour.’
Allen Weiss, who lives next door to Valerie's wagon, added: ‘He’s very , very shy to the point if she (Valerie) was talking to him and someone else walked in he would turn around and look away.’
Despite his reclusiveness Dylan seems to still have an insatiable appetite for the road and performing for his millions of fans across the world.
He is due back on tour on his ‘Neverending tour’ on April 3 – beginning in Taipei, Taiwan.
He then tours China, Australia, New Zealand through the rest of the month before another break until June when he heads to Ireland, England, Italy, Germany and Denmark.
The 69-year-old music legend had presumably gone to say prayers for his lost ‘soulmate’ and ex-girlfriend Suze Rotolo, who died at the end of last month.
An ashen-faced Dylan cut a frail figure as he was dropped off with his head buried inside a baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt.
Forlorn: A grim-faced Bob Dylan enters a Los Angeles synagogue where it is though he was going to say prayers for his late soulmate Suze Rotolo
An onlooker said: ‘He looked pretty beaten down and depressed. He went in a back door and stayed inside for over an hour before being picked up again by his driver.’
It is not known how often Dylan visits the synagogue and until now his chosen religion has been a long-standing mystery.
However he may well have just been saying a prayer for Miss Rotolo - his inspiration and young sweetheart who appeared with him arm in arm on the iconic cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
Casual: The singer, who turns 70 next month, was spotted after venturing out from his sprawling Malibu compound for an extremely rare public outing
Dylan, who turns 70 in May, has been exceptionally undecided about religion during his life and on the rare occasion that he has spoken about his faith he has been quite cryptic.
From being born Jewish as Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota he famously became a born-again Christian in the late 1970s.
Ambiguous: Dylan converted to Christianity in the Seventies, but it now appears he is returning to his Jewish roots to seek comfort
He has admitted struggling with his faith in the past telling Rolling Stone magazine in the 1980s: ‘I've never said I'm born again. That's just a media term. I don't think I've been an agnostic.
'I've always thought there's a superior power, that this is not the real world and that there's a world to come.’
When asked if he belonged to any church or synagogue in the same interview, he replied: ‘Not really. Uh, the Church of the Poison Mind.’
Memories: Dylan pictured with his young sweetheart Suze in 1970. She died last month of lung cancer
These exclusive pictures are the first conclusive pieces of evidence that the folk music icon has come back to Judaism after the loss of his beloved ex-girlfriend.
Dylan fiercely guards his privacy and goes out of his way to avoid being photographed except when he is performing in concert.
He lives a nomadic existence on his sprawling ramshackle farmhouse which overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.
He stays at the cliff-top compound while taking breaks in his busy tour schedule.
His estate now stretches five acres as he has bought up many of the houses surrounding it since he moved there in the 1970s.
On it he is known to spend his time doing carpentry and occasionally walking his pet dogs.
Speaking exclusively his elderly neighbour Caroline Maclay, who has lived next door since Dylan moved in, described how rarely she has seen him.
‘We talked to him once when he was driving his truck years ago but he’s gone a great deal of the time. When he is here he’s quite private. He has 24/7 security guards.
‘You never see him. Whereas Martin Sheen is very visible in the community and we used to see Dick Van Dyke all the time in the neighbourhood - I never see Bob Dylan.’
Another elderly neighbour Audrey Burright ,who has lived opposite Dylan for more than three decades, said: ‘I met him 30 years ago, he used to come to the PTA meetings at the local school.
Inspiration: She appeared with him arm in arm on the iconic cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Dylan’s property lies on one of the most expensive portions of real estate in California and is on the cusp of local beauty spot Point Dune - which has spectacular views out on to the Ocean.
He has a number of staff who go about their day feeding the horses and chickens and going in and out for supplies. His estate manager lives in one of the several buildings on the property.
From the outside several rusty old green storage units are visible in Dylan’s yard as well a decades old wreck of a Chevy, and other assorted rusty old car parts.
Another neighbour Valerie Sklarevsky - who is actually friends with Dylan and was a 1960s activist herself - also told of Dylan’s desire for privacy.
Rare pubic outing: He was greeted at the synagogue by a young woman before going inside
‘He is a very private person. He is a nice and kind neighbour.’
Allen Weiss, who lives next door to Valerie's wagon, added: ‘He’s very , very shy to the point if she (Valerie) was talking to him and someone else walked in he would turn around and look away.’
Despite his reclusiveness Dylan seems to still have an insatiable appetite for the road and performing for his millions of fans across the world.
He is due back on tour on his ‘Neverending tour’ on April 3 – beginning in Taipei, Taiwan.
He then tours China, Australia, New Zealand through the rest of the month before another break until June when he heads to Ireland, England, Italy, Germany and Denmark.
Comments
Post a Comment