Cross-rhythms in Duple and Triple Meters: Lonnie Johnson's Instrumental Techniques as Described in Bob Dylan's Chronicles

Abstract

This paper offers one interpretation of a well-known and often discussed passage in Bob Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, in which the performer describes instrumental techniques and compositional principles he learned from Lonnie Johnson in the early 1960s. Details are given discussing how these techniques are used in Dylan's own work as well as in a specific example Dylan himself cites, Link Wray & His Ray Men's “Rumble.” The paper's main focus is on this passage because it is one of the few places where Dylan addresses how he constructs his music and also because it may explain one of the most important events in his musical life, his decision about a quarter of a century ago to play far more live performances. The analysis interprets his passage in rhythmic as well as mathematical terms and relates it to cross-rhythms and interference patterns.