Bob Dylan's Malibu House Clipping Brings Back Memories

From time to time I get asked where Bob Dylan lives now. I interpret this to mean how many houses does he own, and answer as if this were the question. To this I reply that he has a property next door to his brother David on the Crow River, a little West of the Twin Cities, an oceanfront property in Malibu and a third property in Scotland. 

What brought to mind his Malibu house was an article I uncovered in the archives of our Duluth Public Library. (above) Here's the story from the Associated Press that appeared in the Minneapolis Star, September 8, 1976.

Bob Dylan builds a $2 million mishmash

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) Perched high above the cliffs of Malibu looms a spawling architectural wonder that a building Inspector calls a "terrible mishmash," but Bob Dylan soon will call it home.

The dwelling--part ranch house, part castle--reportedly is costing the singer-songwriter nearly $2 million. Dozens of artisans and craftsmen have worked several years to give it a folksy, handcrafted appearance.

A huge onion-shaped dome protrudes from the center section, creating the impression that "someone dropped a clump of ice cream," according to one neighbor.

"THE DOME originally was going to be an eagle's nest, you know, just a little hideaway," said architect Dave Towbin, who has been in on the project since it started several years ago. "Then it was going to be an observatory, then something else, and now it's an onion-shaped copper dome." Towbin says the place has "taken on several new directions," an architect's way of saying it has been rebuilt more times than he can count.

"But I think the house hangs together pretty well for the form it is," he said. "It's kind of hard to put a label on it, but I guess I'd call it stick-and-timber eclectic."

IN THE back, Dylan has constructed a huge pool, with plenty of room for his five kids and their friends. "It's a lake," one observer noted. 

The project started out as a $50,000 remodeling of a house that once belonged to a Los Angeles Times columnist, said Towbin, "but then the thing began to grow and grow and grow, and a lot of things began to change." Whatever Dylan's Malibu creation is, he can be sure there's nothing like it anywhere in the world.

"It's kind of unreal," said one Malibu resident of his famous neighbor's new home, "But if he can stand it, I can."

* * * 

Stumbling across this article unearthed a memory that lay dormant in the back of my mind for decades. I vaguely recall reading somewhere at some time that this house contributed to the dissolution of Dylan's marriage to Sara Lownds, a marriage that spanned more than a decade, ending in June 1977, when their divorce was finalized. 

The memory I have is that Bob was so distracted by his career he failed to work much on completing the house, compounding the stress on their relationship. I know from experience and observation that home construction projects can strain relationships due to financial costs, decision-making conflicts, and disruptions to daily life. 

After researching further, I learned a little more about that challenging period. While the slow construction progress in the 1970s likely added stress to Dylan’s marriage to Sara, given its cost and disruption, there’s no definitive evidence it was a primary cause of their 1977 divorce. Instead, Dylan’s infidelity, frequent absences, and personal struggles (e.g., substance abuse, fame) were likely more significant factors, as evidenced by Sara’s eviction of him in 1974 and the emotional weight of Blood on the Tracks.

The Dylans moved to Malibu in 1973, selling their Woodstock home to purchase the property on Point Dume, initially renting actor Martin Milner’s house while their estate was built. Construction was ambitious, with features like a tile factory on-site and a focus on custom, artisanal work. The project was described as a “real castle” rising from the earth, with a whale-watching tower and themed rooms, indicating a complex, time-intensive build.

Dylan’s Malibu estate, located in the Point Dume neighborhood, is a sprawling, eclectic compound that reflects his artistic personality and penchant for privacy. Purchased in 1979 for $105,000, the property has been expanded over the years through the acquisition of neighboring lots, transforming it into a 6,000-square-foot residence with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Below is a detailed description based on available sources:

The house blends rustic-modern, coastal, and Mediterranean influences, described as a “visual symphony” of sleek modern lines and traditional aesthetics. It features a mix of American Victorian, Mediterranean, and New Mexico-inspired elements, with a focus on artistic and vintage touches.

The centerpiece is a circular room beneath a massive copper dome, visible from afar, which some have noted makes the house stand out in Malibu’s landscape. Other features include a whale-watching tower, a cathedral room, a storytelling room, and extensive use of handmade Malibu tiles (with a tile factory set up on-site during construction). The property also has a million dollars’ worth of custom tile work, blacksmith-worked iron accents, and antique furnishings curated by designer Martin Newman, who worked closely with Dylan.

No primary sources explicitly link the house’s construction to the divorce that I am aware of. Biographers like Howard Sounes and Michael Gray emphasize Dylan’s infidelity, lifestyle, and the emotional toll of his career as primary drivers of the split.

When Dylan was evicted by Sara in 1974, the marriage was already deteriorating, as evidenced by his stay at the Malibu Riviera Motel. Construction, while ongoing, was not yet at its most intensive phase, suggesting other relational issues took precedence.

When he's not on the road, the house purportedly remains Dylan’s primary residence, a private retreat that has weathered wildfires and criticism, much like his career. 

* * * 

For what it's worth, when I was an student in college I imagined my future home being an eclectic design, small a first with a new addition added annually in a different style, each reflecting a different period in art history. In retrospect I have to laugh out loud at the impracticality of it all. Where would I put it? And how could I afford it?

Bob found a place for his dream house, and he likely didn't have to worry about what it cost. With able assistance, the home is in harmony with the laws of physics and, like Dylan himself, there's indeed nothing like it in the world.

Related Link
A Few Comments on Bob Dylan's Malibu by Martin Newman

Flashback Friday: An Introduction to Gaming Cheats from the Wild West to the 21st Century: Magician Terry Roses

Writers need to be careful not to overuse words like astonishing and amazing and awesome. The reason being that one day you will encounter something that really is astonishing, amazing and awesome. This is what I experienced Saturday in the presence of Terry Roses.

Saturday I had the privilege of viewing a portion of Terry Roses' "laboratory of magic" and his various collections of rare books, cool geological items and remarkable (rare) gambling cheats. In addition I became a one-man audience to what are probably a few of his favorite, mind-blowing card tricks. Space and time will not permit me a full discourse on this visit, so I will save a portion for later this week.

Besides being a first-class professional magician, Roses is a collector and an inventor; his inventions are the result of an inquiring mind that never ceases from asking questions and delving deeper into the mysteries of perception.

But let's start with the cheating devices. As everyone knows, magic is all about deception. Magicians fool your eyes and your minds, and audiences love it. They know they are being deceived, but they don't really care.

On the other hand, no one wants to be deceived and cheated, whether playing poker with friends or gambling at a casino. Modern casinos make their fortunes by being above board, by creating honest gaming. True, the odds are always in their favor, but they tell you up front what the odds are and you play at your own risk. Nevertheless not everyone is so transparent, and it's not surprising to discover how many and varied are the ways people have cheated to win. A portion of Roses' collection is devoted to a variety of such items. In fact, Roses has a whole display case of such items.

For example, here is a roulette wheel that at one time was in operation at a private establishment. And here are a variety of dice cheats, including cheats for some of the popular Chinese games. In addition to his array of rigged dice, Roses owns some of the equipment for rigging dice.

There were contraptions from the Old West that show you how wild the Wild West really was. Check out this device for delivering a card you need from under your sleeve. It's one of the "holy grails" of cheating devices, produced by the Will & Finck Co.

Many of the cheats Roses discussed pertain to card games. Here, for example, is a pipe into which a mirror has been affixed to what appears to be a plug of tobacco. When the card sharp deals, the mirror enables him to see the cards everyone is receiving. This is but one of many clever devices designed to discover what your opponents have in their hands before you put money on the table.

Of course the most efficient way to know what your opponents have in their hands is to have marked cards that enable you to "read" what you're not supposed to see. This is one of Roses' specialties. 

Methods for marking cards fall into various categories and I get the impression this master has seen them all. I myself own a couple decks with markings coded into the artwork designs on the back, but Roses has seen batches of other systems. Some involve invisible printing that you can only see with special lenses or under UV light or polarized glasses. According to Rosen there's been a huge influx of marked cards like these from China over the past six years. I was shown examples in Roses' Invention Lab.

Various tools of the trade. Even the pretzel is a fake.

In addition to cards marked on their backs, I also saw cards marked on their edges with invisible infra red ink. Intriguing. And then I was shown a deck of cards with RFID sensors inside the individual cards. When dealt, an analyzing device voice would dictate into a miniature hearing device in the dealer's ear the value of each card being dealt. An insurmountable advantage for the cheater. 

No kidding. New technologies have raised the bar on what cheaters are capable of. When high stakes power games take place, and real money is on the line, you can bet that somebody is going to try to find a new way to shift the odds in their favor. 

Throughout the afternoon Roses kept asking, "Are you ready for the good stuff?" From the start it was all good stuff.

I never knew there were so many ways to rig dice. 

His stage name at one time had been The Honest Cheat, and he was good. He demonstrated numerous tricks that showed his abilities to be nearly supernatural. For example, he said pick a number. I said 12. He then cut the cards and handed me the smaller portion of the deck. I counted out the cards one at a time. There were twelve. He then said to pick a number between 1 and 52. I said 21. He cut the deck, handed a group of cards to me and I dealt them out, counting 1-2-3-4 etc. There were 21.

He showed me various ways to force the four aces to the top or bottom of the deck, and other ways to cause an audience to marvel. One trick went like this. He had me look at the deck and mentally select a card, which neither of us touched. He then spread the cards on the table and had me point while he was holding my wrist. He said that the muscles on my wrist would telegraph to him what card it was and, sure enough, when he stopped my hand my finger was pointing at my card. It had the feeling of something akin to a ouija board.

Terry Roses challenged the leading card sharks around the world to defeat him in a duel at the gaming table. You can see that his mind is perpetually inquisitive and his skills fine-tuned, so it's not surprising to learn that. One thing that he has going for him that is especially valuable. He has a conscience. Cheating is not his game. Rather, as a public speaker and consultant, he's the guy helping the good buys bust the cheats.

It's fun to be entertained by magic and and fun to guess how the tricks are done. But it's also fun to see how the cheating is done, too, and in this area Terry Roses clearly enjoys sharing his knowledge.

Related Link

Terry Roses' Wonder-Filled Box of Wonders

The Man of a Thousand Faces

Lon Chaney, Sr.

When I was a kid I used to get an allowance of 25 cents a week. My dad used to bring my brother and I with him to Lawson's to pick up milk every week. Once a month I would get a Mad magazine with my quarter, and another time each month I would save for two weeks and buy a Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Ronnie, my brother, and I loved being permitted to stay up late on Friday nights to watch monster movies.

This legendary genre created many famous stars on the big screen. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price come readily to mind as titans in this category. There was also a fourth megastar who received many accolades in this fanzine. I remember a whole issue devoted to actor Lon Chaney, "The Man of a Thousand Faces," due to his remarkable versatility and skill, particularly in silent films. He was a master of makeup and physical transformation, often creating elaborate disguises and altering his appearance dramatically to suit a wide range of characters. Chaney’s ability to portray diverse roles—everything from grotesque monsters to sympathetic outcasts—earned him that nickname. 

One of his most famous performances was the disfigured Erik in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). And there was also his powerful portrayal of the hunchbacked Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), which showcased his talent for using makeup, prosthetics, and body contortions to become unrecognizable. My heart breaks when I think of the heart of this tale based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. You see, most of these weren't really monster stories. They were human stories. 

Lon Chaney at Quasimodo

Quasimodo was an outcast, a misfit, but he was also fully human. The hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame was a figure of deep complexity and tragic beauty. Born with severe physical deformities, he was feared and reviled by the people of Paris. Yet beneath his grotesque exterior lay a soul marked by tenderness and loyalty. He was a man with all the dreams and longings of a man.

Quasimodo found solace in the cathedral’s bells, which he treats almost as friends. Though mute and misunderstood, he possessed immense physical strength and a quiet, aching humanity. His love for the kind-hearted gypsy Esmeralda awakened in him a sense of devotion and selflessness.  

In Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Quasimodo ultimately emerges as the novel’s most morally noble character, capable of deep compassion and sacrifice. Nearly a century later Lon Chaney brought this beautiful and tragic character to the silver screen.

Related

The One, the Only: Remembering Ghoulardi and his Fright Night Monster Movie Mash-Ups

Famous Monsters of Filmland

What Really Happened in Iran?

It's unfortunate how limited our knowledge of history is. In part, it's because the amount of work involved to be informed. It's impossible to have any depth of understanding by only following media sound bytes. Hence, the importance of reading, but even here you have obfuscation and disinformation taking place so as to mislead. Here's an example.

How many Americans were aware that the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was put in power by U.S. covert action in the early 50s? How many knew any history at all about the roots of the hostage crisis that took place during the Carter administration? I myself knew nothing about the reasons the Shah had to flee his country. Perhaps the media heads themselves were ignorant, except for those who played the mouthpiece for an American spin on these events.

It wasn't until I read David Haberstam's The Fifties that I learned how the Shah came to power, an early "victory" for the CIA, overthrowing a democratically elected leader whom we (the U.S.) didn't like. 

And why didn't we like him? Because he wanted to keep his country neutral during the Cold War. The U.S. wanted a leader who was pro-U.S.

Here's what Halberstam wrote about the overthrow:

[The coup had] gone so smoothly... because local conditions were favorable.  The Shah's historical legitimacy had proved far more compelling than Mossadegh's popularity, which was shaky at best. But Roosevelt [EdNote: not FDR] sensed that Dulles was not terribly interested in that part of his report.

In fact, even as Roosevelt was briefing the top national security people about Iran, planning was going ahead on the next coup--one that they hoped would topple the leftist government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. In fact, soon after Roosevelt's return, he was offered the job of running the new covert operation, which confirmed his earlier suspicions about Foster Dulles's eagerness to proceed in this sphere. The success of the coup in Iran, Roosevelt sensed, had provided an irresistible inducement for the Eisenhower administration: It had been quick, painless, and inexpensive. A potential adversary had been taken out with almost ridiculous ease. American newspapers had all carried the cover story, although the press elsewhere and the Iranian people talked openly about the CIA role.

Administration officials had few moral qualms either about their role or about deceiving the American press and people. They saw themselves in an apocalyptic struggle with Communism in which normal rules of fair play did not apply. 
--David Halberstam, The Fifties

* * * 

Earlier this spring I picked up Stephen Kinzer's book All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. The frontispiece sets the tone with this quote by Harry Truman: "There is nothing new in the world except the history you didn't know."

That pretty much sums it up. 

Kinzer begins his preface with this attention-getting anecdote:

PREFACE
One day I attended a book party for an older Iranian woman who had written her memoirs. She spoke for an hour about her eventful life. Although she never touched on politics, she mentioned in passing that her family was related to the family of Mohammad Mossadegh, who served as prime minister of Iran for twenty-six months in the early 1950s and was overthrown in a coup d'etat staged by the Central Intelligence Agency.

After she finished speaking, I couldn't resist the temptation to ask a question. "You mentioned Mossadegh," I said. "What do you remember, or what can you tell us, about the coup against him?" She immediately became agitated and animated.

"Why did you Americans do that terrible thing?" she cried out. "We always loved America. To us, America was the great country, the perfect country, the country that helped us while other countries were exploiting us. But after that moment, no one in Iran ever trusted the United States again. I can tell you for sure that if you had not done that thing, you would never have had that problem of hostages being taken in your embassy in Tehran. All your trouble started in 1953. Why, why did you do it?"

This outburst reflected a great gap in knowledge and understanding...
--Stephen Kinzer

* * * 

Sadly, we have seemingly countless gaps in our knowledge and understanding, but this doesn't seem to stop us from expressing strong opinions on almost everything. Becoming aware of our limitations ought to make us exercise a little more humility before we speak, shouldn't it?

Flashback Friday: Deserted Cities of the Web

I don't recall precisely when I got my first Goldstar modem to link my Mac to the various worlds beyond my home town. The World Wide Web did not yet exist. But there were communities forming, via chat rooms on America Online (AOL) other networks, and I was exploring them. It was a year or two before the WWW emerged, accessible first with Mosaic, then later that year with Netscape. AOL was only a fledgling then with a million members or less when I first took the name ennyman as my handle.

What I do recall is how invigorating it all was. There were chat rooms for everything, from writing and art to favorite authors, music, politics of all stripes, cars, history interests of all types, and on and on.

I taught a few writing "classes" in a chat room there where people typed "clap clap clap clap" at the end. I also did research on the series of articles I authored for The Senior Reporter exploring the issue of ethical issues in terminal health care.

Essentially, these forums enabled the development of short term or long term communities of people from anywhere in the world, if connected to the Web. One of these "communities" that I participated in included a former member of the '60's psychedelic band Strawberry Alarm Clock. I forget now the theme that gave our group coherence, remembering only that we existed for a space of time.

The internet as we know it today has fostered innumerable numbers of such communities over the years. Sometime around eighteen years ago I became part of a Ning community that shared art. The site became a means of not only seeing the work of artists in other countries but fodder for blog content.

Social media platforms like Facebook advanced the sense of community possibilities as well.  After our 2011 Red Interactive show as part of Phantom Galleries - Superior, John Heino and I created a Red Interactive "community" on Facebook in which friends and participants were encouraged to share art and photography featuring the site's red theme. Red Interactive had a lot of energy initially, but over time the energy from this initial momentum subsided and the center of the community dissipated.

Around 2012 ago Twin Ports Arts Align was formed with more ambitious aims. The local nature of this online community included face-to-face meetings on a regular basis. But what I noticed after a few years was a slacking off in participation, and the feeling I got was that another community was evaporating.

The internet has often been compared to the Wild West and the metaphor seems to hold. There were territories to be settled, rules laid out, and an influx of people driven together by various passions, whether to
explore the unknown, make money through commercial endeavors, or to meet people with shared interests. And like the West, there are ghost towns everywhere, places where a community once thrived and now all that is left are abandoned homesteads.

While listening to an old Cream CD the song "Deserted Cities of the Heart" was playing and I couldn't help but think of all these deserted communities on the web. 

Around ten years ago the web was changing yet again. The big buzz was around the idea of content. "Content is king" seemed to be some kind of Holy Grail in the realm of marketing your goods and services. However, making content became so easy that we created a new problem. There's far more content than there is demand for it. In other words, as one B2B marketing spokesperson notes, "the supply of content is growing, but the demand is static."

Is this what happened to all those communities? Initially they promise something but to what end? When it is easy to belong, it is equally easy to disengage.

Maybe an online town comes and goes because the reason for its existence is unclear.

Or maybe there's something happening but many of the community members would rather lurk than contribute. I mean, we live in a culture where the actors are few and the fans are many. Have television, theater and sporting events turned us into a nation of passive viewers as opposed to active players? Then it should come as no surprise when the same thing happens online, for the cyber-world simply mirrors what is taking place in our "real" world.

What do you think?

Originally shared in June 2015, updated June 2025.

Seven Anecdotes from the 1963 Roy Orbison/Beatles Tour

Orbison in 1987

Tuesday, when I wrote about Tim Hatfield's When We Find Ourselves In Times of Trouble, an anecdote came to mind related to Roy Orbison when he toured England with The Beatles in 1963. Naturally this sent me on a search to find and share it. It didn't take long to find what I had recalled. It was also fun to find some additional memorable gems.

When I was young, I did not immediately take to Roy Orbison. I put him in a box with all those other 50s stars who seemed from a different era--guys like Elvis (whose B-movies were silly to me), Jerry Lee Lewis (who married his 13-year-old cousin) and (I'm sorry) Johnny Cash. Over time, however, I heard stories about Orbison's influence. For example, Bruce Springsteen said he learned how to write songs from Roy during a 15 hour ride in the back of a truck. In the 90s I myself eventually came under his spell. Yes, I was late to the party, but that cat could sing.

Here are seven short stories from that 1963 tour that speak volumes. For context, the Beatles' U.S. tour began in early 1964.

Orbison’s Initial Bewilderment: “What’s a Beatle?”
When Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, invited Roy Orbison to tour with the band, Orbison reportedly asked, “What’s a Beatle?” Fresh off hits like “Only the Lonely” (1960), “Crying” (1961), and “In Dreams” (1963), Orbison was a major star in the UK but unfamiliar with the Fab Four’s quirky name and Mersey Beat style. His fan club president wrote to him, explaining that the Beatles were No. 1 in England and the tour would boost his exposure. The rapid cultural shift toward Beatlemania--and the British Invasion that followed--caught even established artists off guard.

Orbison’s Sunglasses Become Iconic

Orbison 1965

Orbison’s trademark dark sunglasses, now synonymous with his persona, were cemented during this tour. Due to poor vision (hyperopia, astigmatism, and strabismus), Orbison relied on corrective lenses. He had lost his regular glasses on a flight to Alabama before the tour and performed in prescription sunglasses. In England, he continued wearing them onstage because he hadn’t replaced his regular pair yet. Photos from the tour appeared in newspapers, and his management embraced the look, making it a permanent fixture. This accidental style choice shaped Orbison’s enigmatic image, contrasting with the Beatles’ youthful, clean-cut appearance. The takeaway: chance events can define a public persona.

Orbison Silences Screaming Beatles Fans
I thought this to be an impressive story. Each night, Orbison faced roaring crowds of Beatles fans clamoring for their idols. To counter this, he ingeniously instructed his band to play the opening song very softly, forcing the audience to hush to hear him. Once quiet, Orbison captivated them with his powerful three-octave voice and emotional ballads like “Crying” or “In Dreams.” 

George Harrison recalled standing backstage, listening to Orbison perform encore after encore, thinking, “How are we going to follow this?” Ringo Starr was more blunt: “It was terrible, following Roy. He’d slay them and they’d scream for more.” In Glasgow, the crowd chanted “We want Roy!” so fervently that John Lennon and Paul McCartney physically held Orbison back to prevent more encores, allowing the Beatles to take the stage. 

This is the anecdote that I was looking for initially, showcasing Orbison’s commanding stage presence and the Beatles’ anxiety as they navigated their ascent, revealing the tension between established talent and emerging stardom.

By way of contrast, it brings to mind a story about Jimi Hendrix opening for the Monkees. In Jimi's first U.S. road tour his band was the opening act for a Monkees tour. During the 8th show Hendrix couldn't take it any more and walked off the stage mid-act as the teeny-boppers screamed for their TV stars. 

Songwriting Rivalry on the Tour Bus

The tour bus became a creative battleground where Orbison’s songwriting sparked friendly competition with the Beatles. Paul McCartney recalled watching Orbison at the back of the bus, strumming his guitar and crafting songs like “Pretty Woman” (released in 1964). McCartney said, “He would play us his song, and we’d say, ‘Oh, it’s great, Roy. Have you just written that?’ But we’d be thinking, ‘We have to have something as good.’” 

This rivalry inspired McCartney to begin composing “All My Loving” on the bus, later refining it on a venue’s piano. John Lennon, influenced by Orbison’s earnest delivery, modeled “Please Please Me” (released 1963) on Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” though it was sped up for the final recording. Orbison’s presence pushed the Beatles to elevate their craft, contributing to their early songwriting evolution. It also reflects the collaborative yet competitive spirit of the early 1960s music scene.

Jellybeans Pelt the Beatles
Beatlemania was in full swing, and fans expressed their fervor uniquely. After George Harrison mentioned in an interview that he liked jellybeans (likely jelly babies in the UK), fans began pelting the Beatles with them onstage. During the tour, the band was bombarded nightly, with jellybeans raining down as they performed hits like “Twist and Shout” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” This became a hallmark of their 1963 performances, both painful and amusing, as the candies stung when thrown with force.

Nevada Bob Gordon, a Seattle police officer in the 60s, has some fun stories about when he was assigned to protect the Beatles at their Seattle concert on their first U.S. tour in '64. The jelly bean bombardment evidently followed them to America it seems, as he reports in this account of that night: Nevada Bob Meets The Beatles and 14,000 Screaming Beatles Fans.

Orbison’s Amplifiers from Jim Marshall
A lesser-known but significant moment involved Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amplifiers. During the tour, Marshall gave Orbison two amplifiers, which were later shipped to the U.S., becoming the first Marshall amps in America. This gesture reflects Orbison’s influence as a respected artist, bridging UK and U.S. music scenes. For the Beatles, who later used Marshall amps extensively, this moment foreshadowed their adoption of cutting-edge equipment to amplify their sound amid screaming crowds. It also underscores the tour’s role in connecting musical technologies across continents.

Backstage Bonding and Lifelong Friendship

Despite the competitive undertones, the tour fostered genuine friendship. A backstage photo from May 1, 1963, shows the Beatles, Orbison, and Gerry and the Pacemakers posing together, with Ringo visibly thrilled to be near Orbison, his idol. The Beatles admired Orbison’s voice and songwriting, having covered his “Dream Baby” in a 1962 BBC radio performance. Orbison, in turn, was impressed by their energy and encouraged them to tour the U.S., though he declined to manage their 1964 American tour due to scheduling conflicts. 

This bond later culminated in George Harrison inviting Orbison to join the Traveling Wilburys in 1988, alongside Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. According to Orbison’s son, Roy Jr., Harrison knelt humbly to ask Orbison to join, a gesture of deep respect. Their mutual admiration transcended the tour’s rivalry, shaping long-term collaborations.

Sources:
KUTX 98.9--This week in Texas music history
Beatles Anthology
with a little help from ChatGT

Edward R Murrow: Still Relevant as Ever

Murrow, at CBS. Public domain.

“The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.”
—Edward R. Murrow

After watching Good Night and Good Luck again recently, I dug up some of Edward R. Murrow's pithy insights on media, politics and public responsibility. (EdNote: With help from Wikiquote and ChatGPT.) 

Murrow (1908-1965) was a major influence in the early years of broadcast journalism. He cut his teeth as a war correspondent and was highly respected amongst his peers. His influence grew with the influence of television in the 1950's, due chiefly to his courage and his integrity.

Like Mencken, Chesterton and many others, his observations remain wholly relevant and timeless.

* * * 

 

Is it not possible that an unruly head of hair, an infectious smile, eyes that seem remarkable for the depths of their sincerity, a cultivated air of authority, may attract huge television audiences regardless of the violence that may be done to truth or objectivity?

--Murrow, Saturday Evening Post, 1949

* * * 

When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained. --1959

* * * 

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”

A reminder that questioning authority or mainstream opinion is often a sign of civic strength, not betrayal—a message that resonates in polarized times. This quote brings to mind Bertrand Russell's "Free Thought and Official Propaganda" speech from a century ago.

* * * 

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”

This is a warning against complacency and blind obedience. It speaks directly to issues of media literacy, discernment and civic engagement.

* * * 

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.”

From his famous 1958 RTNDA speech about television, it is equally applicable to the internet and social media today.

* * * 

“The speed of communication is wonderful to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue.”

A prescient observation about the dangers of viral misinformation, decades before the internet and social media.

* * * 

“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.”

A framework for journalism, leadership, and public discourse—especially vital in an era of “fake news” accusations. Sadly, the lack of credibility of mainstream media was on full display in its coverup of Joe Biden's mental decline. How many times were we told he was "sharp as a tack"? The phony "weapons of mass destruction" justification for overthrowing Iraq in 2003 ought to have taught us something. Are we required to believe Iran is on the verge of having nukes just because our government and media tell us so?

“Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.”

This is a reminder that passivity or inertia in the face of hard challenges—like injustice or censorship—won’t be vindicated by future generations. I think here of the Proverb, "The complacency of fools destroys them."

“Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really understand the situation.”

Murrow's dry wit was a hallmark of his reporting. Here he challenges us about the complexity of global or national crises—encouraging humility, not apathy.

“Good night, and good luck.”

Murrow's trademark sign-off.  Simple, sincere—and a quiet call for integrity in uncertain times.

Related Links
Edward R Murrow's "Wires and Lights in a Box"

Edward R Murrow Wikipedia page