KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer recalls surprise recording encounter with Bob Dylan

KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer recalls surprise recording encounter with Bob Dylan

KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer was recently interviewed by Jay Gilbert and asked about his favorite “industry moments.”

Thayer replied: “Gene Simmons wrote a song with Bob Dylan and I’m guessing it was around 1991. One day I got a call from Gene and he says, “Get a drummer and a keyboard player and meet me down at Cherokee Studios at 7pm tonight, we’re going to record a song I wrote with Bob Dylan.” I’m like wow, seriously? I brought my Les Paul and two acoustic guitars, a 6 and a 12-string that I borrowed from my buddy Marc Ferrari. I get there and sure enough in walks Bob Dylan and his girlfriend. Suddenly I’m thinking it’s Bob Dylan, the guy who influenced the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, unreal. He says let me show you the chord changes and we proceed to pass the 12-string acoustic back and forth. It seemed like one of the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced. He was quiet and eccentric but friendly. The thing that stood out to me more than anything was Gene. He won’t mind me saying this, but I’ve never seen Gene be anything but “I’m Gene Simmons and I’m the center of the universe,” but around Bob Dylan, he was like a kid just happy to be in the room. I do remember taking the strings off the 12-string the next day before I gave it back to Marc. I still have those strings.”

You can read the rest of the “Coffee Talk with Tommy Thayer” interview at Jay Gilbert‘s website.