A real long time ago maybe 1980 or early 1981 I met Joel Bernstein. He's originally from a suburb just outside of town and this friend of mine knew him. He's a photographer, but also a guitar roadie. Anyway he worked with Bob Dylan on the 2nd Rolling Thunder tour, took the photo on the back of Hard Rain (I'm pretty sure that's the one) and also worked with Bob in '78, being pretty much his all around assistant. On the tours he was official photographer and guitar roadie, Bernstein also did a lot of photography for Neil Young and CSN as well. I met him 'cause this friend called me and Bernstein was over at my friend's parent's house and he had this tape of a new Dylan song. I had to borrow a car to go, but went.
We talked until very early in the morning. The song turned out to be "Every Grain of Sand," the version that came out on Bootleg Series with Bob on piano and Jennifer Warnes singing along with the dog barking in the background. This was way before Shot of Love. Well the song blew my fucking mind. Thought it was one of the most beautiful things I ever heard and still do. Bernstein wouldn't let me tape it (you know how that goes) but he did keep playing it over and over for me.
Anyway before the 2nd Rolling Thunder (Hard Rain) tour, they were rehearsing down in Clearwater where they made the TV special that was never shown. Well Bob names his guitars or did at the time after poets, so he doesn't say “get me the triple-0 18” or something, he says “get me Rimbaud”. On acoustics anyway at the time, he saved all his old strings keeping them in the guitar case. His favorite guitar, the one he writes on, was this beat-to-shit ancient Martin that had the finish all scratched getting close to Willie Nelson proportions.
So one day Bernstein's checking it out and like the strings are a million years old and all dirty and crusted and shit. So thinking that he's official guitar roadie and everything, he says to himself, I'll do Bob a favor and change the strings. Hours later, Bob comes up to him and says, "Uh Joel, did you by any chance save the strings that we're on that guitar?"
Another time (now this Clearwater rehearsal space was one of those Florida hotels with a main building and lots of cabins [Bob was living in a tent or teepee or something] and lots of space outside to wandering around). So one afternoon, Joel spots one of Bob's guitars, maybe that same one -- which he doesn't use in concert -- sitting out somewhere under a tree with no one around. So he's thinking (like a normal person) oh my God, Bob's guitar just sitting there. So he puts it away. Hours later. "Uh Joel, next time you see my guitar someplace, just leave it where it is, 'cause otherwise I get confused."
Joel Bernstein told me that some of the songs on Blood in the Tracks are not about Sara, but about Ellen Bernstein, specifically "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is about one-time Dylan girlfriend, Ellen Bernstein.
Joel also sent me some cool boots of the 1978 Australia and L.A. shows, he said what Bob did on rehearsals (which contradicts what Rob Stoner says, that he (Stoner) came up with the arrangements) was sit at the piano (maybe with the band) with the Writings and Drawings lyric book, and the 66-76 book and would go through the book and pick a song and start playing it in several ways. One version would be a blues, the next reggae, a waltz, a samba, whatever, and try out each one with the band. Then at the end of the day Bob and Joel would listen back to the rehearsals and Bob would pick the version he wanted to do. As Joel put it, “Some of his choices were good, and some not so good.”