On Denny Freeman

Denny Freeman was a legendary guitarist but still I don't know if he was the right guitar player for Bob Dylan.

Before the fall 2009 tour was announced, the news leaked that Charlie Sexton was back in the band replacing Denny Freeman on lead guitar. Freeman taught Charlie how to play. I was never among the Denny Freeman bashers. Most Dylan fans did not realize this at the time, but Denny Freeman was a legendary guitarist in Austin. His other big student was Stevie Ray Vaughn. I thought Denny Freeman was an often brilliant guitarist, whose style was more influenced by Texas blues and also West Coast which is more sophisticated, more influenced by jazz and of course swing.  It's lighter, more laid back, a lot of it based on jazz chording.  Now that's a big part of Freeman's playing.  But also most guitar players when they do a solo, they'll maybe quote two players - and of course they all put themselves into it.

Like every lead guitar player, the whole thing is stealing licks from other lead players, usually the truly great ones who've pioneered the way, whether the blues players or James Burton,…