Val Kilmer is a busy man but he still has time to feel like an idiot over the time he unintentionally brushed off a request from Tombstone fan Bob Dylan.
Right now, Val Kilmer is getting ready to tour in his one-man show opening June 28 called “Citizen Twain,” which CBS Los Angeles described as Kilmer’s take on legendary author Mark Twain. Sometimes considered America’s first stand-up comedian, beloved storyteller Twain was also the author of what is widely regarded as the best novel in American literature, Huckleberry Finn .
But, of course, Kilmer will be forever remembered for his role as another iconic figure in America history, Doc Holliday — the part he played in the 1993 hit western Tombstone.
On Wednesday, KCRW radio asked Val Kilmer to appear for their Guest DJ project, giving the star a chance to choose five songs that awakened his so-called artistic expression.
All of the songs were decades-old classics — and one of them was “It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” from Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic album Bringing It All Back home.
KCRW naturally wanted a Bob Dylan story. And that’s when Val Kilmer confessed something that’s apparently been on his mind for awhile.
According to Vilmer, he learned that Bob Dylan was a big Tombstone fan, so he set up a meeting with the enduring folk singer in New York:
He shows up and sits down and he wants to talk about Tombstone , but I just can’t…Eventually he says, ‘ain’t you going to say anything about that movie?’ and I said, “do some ‘Blowing in the Wind…’
“That’s what I said to him, basically I said no. I get like that sometimes…Anyway, I felt like an idiot afterwards, well, yeah I could have said a few lines. They’re fun lines too, like people still ask me to say lines and now I’ll tell any schmo in the airport, I’ll say ‘I’m your huckleberry,’ but I wouldn’t say it to Bob Dylan!”
To make up for the muffed meeting, Val Kilmer created a recording for Bob Dylan of “It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” — only with the best lines from Tombstone on the tape.
There’s a lot more to this interview than the tiny bit I’ve quoted here, so head over the KCRW for more musical thoughts from Val Kilmer .
[Val Kilmer photo by cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com ]
