Though there is no denying that Bob Dylan had a significant influence on the musical world, there are some bands and artists who were simply not impacted, and Guns N’ Roses is undoubtedly one of those groups. Bob Dylan, famous for his poetic lyrics and smooth instrumentation, and a hard rock outfit with notoriously controversial lyrics don’t have many parallels.
That being said, despite Bob Dylan not being a massive inspiration for the group, when Slash was offered the opportunity to perform with him and help record a track, he would never turn it down. Slash had previously worked with Iggy Pop on Brick By Brick, and given that the same producer was working with Dylan and had been happy with Slash’s contributions, he decided to bring him into the studio one day. What unfurled wasn’t a magical moment you often hear about when two great minds come together; instead, it was essentially a drink-fuelled jam session that amounted to one of Dylan’s worst songs ever.
“Don Was, was also producing Bob’s new record. He was so happy with the way Iggy’s record turned out, he asked me if I wanted to play on Dylan’s new project,” recalls Slash, “I agreed, even though I’m not what you call a huge Bob Dylan fan, especially as of late. But I was curious and wanted to check it out. The scene at the studio was a total trip.”
When Slash saw Bob Dylan, he knew it would be a strange day. He remembers seeing George Harrison, Kim Bassinger, and a “little guy wearing leather gloves and a hooded surfer’s sweater”. Given it was warm outside, the “little guy” outfit confused Slash until he realized it was Bob Dylan.
“I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ Anyway, Dylan and I spoke – he was pretty quiet. George was laying down some slide, and we started just getting drunk and stuff,” he said. “Then they asked me to play a song with a pretty silly title, ‘Wiggle Wiggle’. I just learned it on the spot.”
Upon hearing the track and learning about the recording sessions, it’s clear that Dylan didn’t have much direction when recording ‘Wiggle Wiggle’. The fact that so many musicians whose styles completely contrasted with one another worked on it meant the piece would always be a mess. The lack of direction that went into the track is best reflected in the bizarre advice Bob Dylan gave Slash before he started recording.
“When I went to play the lead, Bob came up and asked me to play like… [incredulously] Django Reinhardt! I couldn’t figure out where he was coming from,” recalls Slash. “I didn’t hear that at all! So basically, I just laid down the part I thought should be there. Everybody seemed to be happy with it. It was just a funny day.”
‘Wiggle Wiggle’ shows that just because musicians are excellent at what they do doesn’t mean they will work well together. There is minimal overlap between Bob Dylan and Slash, so the fact that the song they worked on together was incohesive is hardly surprising.
