Interview with Scarlet Rivera, Bob Dylan's violinist during the Rolling Thunder Revue (Boston Harold Video Podcast)



On today's Boston Harold Podcast, my special guest is musician Scarlet Rivera. Ms Rivera is most well known as Bob Dylan's violinist in 1975-6. She collaborated with him in the studio for the Desire sessions, on stage as a member of the Rolling Thunder Revue, on television for the Hard Rain primetime special, and on film for the movies Renaldo & Clara and Martin Scorsese's Rolling Thunder Revue - A Bob Dylan Story,  streaming on Netflix, and now available for purchase as a DVD or Blu-Ray. That's not to mention her appearances on the numerous live Rolling Thunder Revue releases.

Scarlet Rivera interview via Zoom, January 13, 2021

During our conversation, we discussed her rebellious childhood, early musical leanings, playing with Dylan - and only Dylan - in the Rolling Thunder Revue, jamming with Muddy Waters, then visiting Victoria Spivey in Brooklyn (one of the rare factual events depicted in the film), Scarlet's inspirational Rolling Thunder makeup, her thoughts on Renaldo & Clara and the recent Scorsese film, her recent recordings and activities, the charitable causes she champions, and more.

"One More Cup of Coffee," from the Scorsese film, featuring Scarlet Rivera

This is the video for her recent topical song, "Lady Liberty," which was discussed in the interview.


Find out more about Ms Rivera at her website, with links to all of her social media, her music and other news …

(Yes, I know it was the Midnight Special, not Don Kirshner, but it wasn't worth interrupting Ms Rivera about such trivia.)

(Bright Sun Records)


Rolling Thunder Revue - A Bob Dylan Story - 
A Film by Martin Scorsese

Video content (c) 2021 Harold Lepidus.  
Thanks, and please subscribe to my You Tube Channel. 
Special thanks to Marc Percansky. 


Popular posts from this blog

DYLAN’S OUTLAW BLUES ‘24 IN MANSFIELD: HE USED TO BE DISGUSTED ….plus Lukas Nelson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Celisse. - with FAB PIX!!

Image
DYLAN’S OUTLAW BLUES ‘24 IN MANSFIELD: HE USED TO BE DISGUSTED ….plus Lukas Nelson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Celisse. with FAB PIX! by Harold Lepidus OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL 2024 - XFINITY CENTER, MANSFIELD, MA, JULY 2, 2024 Willie Nelson’s Family (featuring his son Lukas, standing in for his recuperating father) Bob Dylan and his Band Robert Plant & Alison Krauss  Celisse    This concert sort of snuck up on me, just as the surprise announcement that this tour was even happening back in February did. This was only a couple of months after I last saw Dylan during his swing through New England in November. In my haste (a.k.a. panic state), I splurged for a VIP 8th row seat (I’d forgotten how much I paid, until I looked it up just now. Yikes!) It was a little odd walking into the venue and seeing a handful of people wearing t-shirts with, let’s say, “politically charged” slogans which would seem out of place at a Dylan show.  One thing that has emerged over the past few yea
Read more

VIETNAM, WATERGATE, AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: Bob Dylan/The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings

Image
VIETNAM, WATERGATE, AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: Bob Dylan/The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings Mildred (Peggy Maley): “Hey, Johnny! What are you rebelling against?” Johnny (Marlon Brando): “Whadda you got?” —  The Wild One (1953) “Mama wipe the blood from my face/I'm sick and tired of this war/I’ve got a long black feeling and it’s hard to trace” - “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” 1974 live version. “Art is never finished, it is only abandoned,” Leonardo Da Vinci, which can be applied to Dylan’s body of work, as well as this review. (Please forgive any grammatical or syntax errors. I am abandoning the article now, as is.) Bob Dylan and the Band - The 1974 Live Recordings is a 27 CD box set of whatever surviving soundboards exist in the Sony cupboards, from Dylan’s “comeback” trek across North America, then known as “Tour ‘74.” 40 shows in six weeks, sometimes two a day/night - a mix of Dylan with the Band, Dylan solo, and separate sets by the Band. Each of almost all of Dyla
Read more

JEFF SLATE ON INTERVIEWING DYLAN, INTERACTING WITH TOWNSHEND, AND HIS NEW ALBUM (FEATURING HIS DAVE STEWART-PRODUCED SINGLE)

Image
JEFF SLATE ON INTERVIEWING DYLAN, INTERACTING WITH TOWNSHEND, AND HIS NEW ALBUM (FEATURING HIS DAVE STEWART-PRODUCED SINGLE) by Harold Lepidus (Boston Harold Video Podcast, February 28, 2024) Musician/journalist Jeff Slate should be no stranger to anyone reading this. In addition to interviewing just about every major rock musician over the years, from Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page to Chrissie Hynde and Janelle Monae to Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller, he has also written the liner notes for recent box sets by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones. He is the co-author of The Authorized Biography of Roy Orbison, and interviewed Roger McGuinn and Margo Price in Tulsa, OK, at recent Bob Dylan Center-related events. He is also a frequent guest on SiriusXM.  (Courtesy Jeff Slate/Credit Bob Gruen) Slate is a musician in his own right. From his time with his bands The Badge and Mindless Thinkers to his recent solo career, as well as his tribute shows cel
Read more