you know, there's such a cult about bob dylan, around bob di di -- dylan that -- people ask this all the time. there's some sort of magical properties that would come off him, and i suppose those would adhere on me, and i have no magical properties. but i just like to stay away from that. and also, you know, he's a private person, and i respect his privacy. so sorry about that. i'm sure he's a wonderful fellow. >> how important do you think bob dylan's 1964 trip throughout the united states where he wrote some things like -- >> the question is how important was that 1964 trip that i was talking about where he writes "mr. tambourine man" and ends up in california, and he stops off in new orleans. it's one of the biographies of bob dylan, there was this cross-country trip he took by car. >> how important do you think that is to his overall ideal as a poet throughout the next, let's say, seven or eight years or, sorry, next three or four years with blond on blond and highway 61? and do you think that he kind of uses some of -- [inaudible] techniques -- [inaudible] >> well, i mean, i thi

i grew up taking everything from bob dylan, curtis mayfield, the beatles, smokey robinson.ike alma mater was the streets of san francisco. i would dare to go to school. where i really hung out was at the fillmore. that was my university, checking out be the king, and james brown, a cream. finding out how they were able to penetrate people's hearts. with their music. once you do that, something happens to their eyes. they become brighter. they start crying, they do not know why. they start dancing. it is like when a woman gives birth. =mmfirst, she cries and then she laughs. later on, she dances. and that, to me, is the beauty of what san francisco is about. >> one final question, and we are going to link it to your music today. such a rich legacy that you are giving us. you mentioned to me that you are working on a new album. could you share what is coming up? >> i love to dream when i am awake. kand so i had this dream of working with india arie and yo- yo ma to do the george harrison saw; and "-- song. this is the definitive way to do this. we are all in it together, we d

you certainly ran into bob dylan. mm-hmm. mm-hmm. what were those days like? very exciting. it was very-- it was very fast and very--now, in retrospect, it all went so quickly. but in the time that it was happening, it seemed to be a slow process. my own work was--was growing. i was going to the clubs that i was working in. i had to make a living, and it turned out that i-- the only thing i really knew how to do was to sing and to play the guitar. so consequently i made my living in the clubs in the early '60s and eventually got to newport where i met all kinds of singers. but all along the way, i'd be-- been meeting people like tom paxton and eric andersen and bob dylan and joan baez and mimi farina and dick farina, who became a very good buddy of mine. and peter, paul, and mary, before they were peter, paul, and mary-- when they were peter yarrow and mary travers and noel stookey. but we all felt, as i did at that early time, that we could make a difference and that music would change the world. and i believe it did. mary always says, "yes, we thought it wou

rimbaud i loved rimbaud so much when bob dylan was alive. >> rose: informs you brought a copy of "illuminationsen you came here, didn't you? >> well, the young bob and author rimbaud have very similar qualities. they have the same defiant gaze. the same defiant look in their eyes. >> rose: what comes out of this... and by the way this is what johnny depp says "patti smith has graced with us a poetic masterpiece. a rare and privileged invitation to unlatch a treasure chest never before breached." part of the treasure chest is we see people we come to know almost as legends and we see in a sense their... we see their shyness, we see their inspiration. we see their commitment to their art. we see their vulnerability. we think of janice job lynn. >> we're all human. >> rose: there's if janice story you know, the one story that we thought this guy was really interested in her and he went off with someone else and she said i never get the guy. she was very lonely. she was very sweet and very funny and very generous with herself but she had bad luck with fellas and really living at the chelsea hotel i

introduced some of the most iconic musicians of our time-- from janis joplin and jim morrison to bob dylan and elton john-- rock and roll journalist ben fong-torres. i'm maria hinojosa; this is one on one. ben fong-torres, so you don't play a musical instrument, but you are an icon in rock and roll. >> no! >> hinojosa: yes! >> i am not. >> hinojosa: rolling stone magazine made you famous. you were an editor there for well over a decade, and people will remember you as the guy who sent out that kid reporter in the movie almost famous to go get his story. >> that mean guy, yeah. >> hinojosa: that mean guy. >> that's me, mm-hmm. >> hinojosa: and i told you that i was going to do this, because as one journalist to another journalist, it's hard to kind of sum up, because you have interviewed every major rock and roll and pop musician and country musician that exists, i would day. okay. >> well, you're overstating it, but i'll take it. >> hinojosa: overstating a little bit. if you had to choose your like, top most-memorable interviews from this huge history, what would it be? what would it be? >