I spoke with Bill last evening via ICQ and I wished him a grand birthday. I told him I planned to create a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILL" thread on Mudcat and he asked me to not do so.

He explained that, though he loves being an Icon at Mudcat, there have been a few times that things were mentioned that he would have preferred to forget. I asked him if he would share with me those subjects, so that I would not join in any further discussions of them here.

Immediately, Bill said "Tom Jones". It was obvious this was a sore subject & I asked him to elaborate. He said that he didn't really mind that it had been published on Mudcat that he had been a big supporter of folk music in the late 1950s, & had written several songs with Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie (though Shatner did not take nor want credit for his contribution to the songs!), but due to a personality clash that developed in the early 1970s, he no longer wished his name to be associated with Tom Jones, even though it was he who brought Jones over from Wales & made possible Jones' first ( & only) folk album, "Front Porch Pickin'" (in which Shatner plays an excellent guitar & banjo!). He said that he had really loved the young Jones and it broke his heart when Jones tossed folk music out the door for the love of a lousy buck. But he understood Jones' "career move" and Bill helped him establish himself in that genre. However, Jones was asked to allow Shatner to sing "Mr. Tambourine Man" on the TV program "This Is Tom Jones", Jones refused, saying Shatner was not "musically viable". Needless to say, this cut Bill deep.

After Bill and I discussed this, I asked him about the infamous "Dylan / Shatner" recording sessions. At this point Bill became wroth, began using words so foul I shudder just to recall them. The connection was abruptly broken.

I realized that I was a fault...I should have asked instead about the "Shatner / Dylan" sessions.

All my attempts to re-establish communications have thus far been futile.

Anyway, Bill, if you are reading, I am sorry. And I do prefer your version of "Mr Tambourine Man" over Bob's.

Happy Birthday, Mr MAN!

k