“‘Mr. Tambourine Man,” I think, was inspired by Bruce Langhorne. Bruce was playing guitar with me on a bunch of the early records. On one session, (producer) Tom Wilson had asked him to play tambourine. And he had this gigantic tambourine. It was like, really big. It was as big as a wagon-wheel. He was playing, and this vision of him playing this tambourine just stuck in my mind. He was one of those characters…he was like that. I don’t know if I’ve ever told him that.” – Bob Dylan
The World of Bob Dylan is excited to welcome Cynthia Riddle as a keynote speaker at this year’s conference. Riddle will be giving a sneak-peek screening of her current work-in-progress, Invisible Legend: Bruce Langhorne. The film tells the life story of Bruce Langhorne, an African American musician who was the inspiration for Bob Dylan’s song “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Though the winds of change made him repeatedly reinvent himself, Bruce personified the spirit of the ’60s and lived a life filled with joy and laughter, despite dealing with a life-altering tragedy – losing three fingers in a childhood accident.
Langhorne would go on to become the go-to guitarist in New York in the ’60s, and he played a crucial role in Bob Dylan’s transition from acoustic to electric and in the cultural shift from folk to folk-rock. Albums that Bruce played on sold over 18 million copies; yet, despite his monumental impact on the music world, Bruce Langhorne remains a largely unknown – truly an “Invisible Legend.”
Most famous for playing on some of Bob Dylan’s records, including Bringing It All Back Home in 1965, Bruce also played with numerous other musicians during their change from folk to folk-rock in the second half of the ’60s including Tom Rush, Richard & Mimi Fariña, Richie Havens, Gordon Lightfoot, Eric Anderson, Fred Neil, Joan Baez, and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Cynthia Riddle is an award-winning DGA Director with decades of experience in film and television. Her feature credits include Swing Shift, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Sports Theater with Shaquille O’Neal. Always an idealist, she was VP of Marketing for a natural products company. She also published books on holistic health and led an environmental non-profit. But of all these wonderful and varied adventures, the one that was the most fun was co-founding Brother Bru Bru’s (Hot Sauce) with Bruce.
This event will take place on Thursday, July 24 at 7 p.m in the Gussman Concert Hall (Lorton Performance Center). Attendees are encouraged to come dressed for fun and to celebrate the spirit of the ’60s by bringing a percussion instrument (or two) if they can.