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Richie Hayward
(September 2005 Issue)
Dylan Detour, New Feat Last February, Richie
Hayward received a surprise phone call. It
was from Bob Dylan's camp,
asking the drummer if he was interested in going out with Dylan on a
five-week tour. "It was
an offer I couldn't refuse," the Little Feat
drummer says. "I've been a huge fan of Dylan for forty years."
Just like you'd expect, Hayward confirms that Dylan is a very
introverted person who doesn't talk much.
But that was no matter to
Hayward, who recalls his first meeting with the artist. "There he was,
standing there, just playing his
songs," Richie says with a bit of awe
in his voice. "Imagine what that was like."
There was very little Hayward could
do to prepare for the gig, which,
he says with a laugh, was "a real science project. We rehearsed for two
days before the first
gig. And during rehearsal Dylan never played the
same song twice - or even sang! The learning curve was difficult,
but
Dylan's regular drummer, George Riceli, was playing too, and that
helped."
As for playing with another
drummer, well, Richie didn't mind, but
Dylan didn't like it. "We started out with two drummers," Hayward says,
"but
while we were in Boston, Bob went out to the sound equipment area,
saw the two drumsets on stage, and didn't like the
way it looked, so we
struck one drumset. For the last few gigs George and I traded off. It
was very unusual."
Hayward left Dylan a couple of days before the tour ended to meet up
with Little Feat for a five-day rehearsal to tour
in support of their
new album, Kickin' It At The Barn, and their live CD and DVD, Highwire Act Live In St. Louis
2003. In fact, this is a big year for Feat, as it's their thirty-fifth anniversary. Hayward and crew are now back on the
road yet again.
Robyn Flans
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