Yes indeed, jafant. He started going to Nashville in ’65, to get the studio musicians he wanted on his recordings: Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, Fred Carter, Pete Drake, Bob Wilson, Charlie Daniels, lots of others (most of them playing on Ringo’s 1970 Beaucoups Of Blues album). While the hippest new groups were just starting to get into Country (The Beatles, The Byrds---though bassist Chris Hillman had already played in a Bluegrass band), Dylan already had the Masters in the genre on his records. And that was when being a Southerner wasn’t considered too cool. Until John Sebastian wrote "Nashville Cats" for The Lovin' Spoonful, that is.
I love Dylan’s albums with the pure Southern feel and sound: John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, New Morning, Planet Waves (with The Band), the three Christian albums, even Self Portrait.
The last time I saw him live, he had Larry Campbell in his band, a great musician who later played in Levon Helm’s Ramble house band. He has always had a great drummer, including one of my favorites, David Kemper, who also worked with T Bone Burnett. Just as they say you can judge a man by his friends, you can judge a singer and/or songwriter by his or her band. Lucinda Williams and Iris Dement also have great, great taste in musicians.
