24 Facts About Bob Neuwirth

Robert John Neuwirth was an American folk singer, songwriter, record producer, and visual artist.

Bob Neuwirth was noted for being the road manager and associate of Bob Dylan, as well as the co-writer of Janis Joplin's hit song "Mercedes Benz".

Bob Neuwirth was portrayed by Will Harrison in the 2024 film A Complete Unknown.

Bob Neuwirth was born in Akron, Ohio, on June 20,1939.

Bob Neuwirth first started painting when he was seven years old.

Bob Neuwirth initially studied at Ohio University, before moving to Boston in 1959 when he was awarded an arts scholarship to study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.

Bob Neuwirth went busking with Ramblin' Jack Elliott during his sojourn in the French capital.

Bob Neuwirth later went back to Boston and was employed at an art supply store.

Bob Neuwirth soon became Dylan's friend and associate, as well as his road manager.

Bob Neuwirth pulled back from Dylan's circle after the latter's motorcycle accident in 1966 and subsequent withdrawal from public life.

Bob Neuwirth intended to do a film with Edie Sedgwick, whom he introduced to Dylan in 1965, before her death in 1971.

Bob Neuwirth scribbled the lyrics onto a napkin, which Joplin sang at her Capitol Theatre show that same night and then recorded a cappella just three days before she died.

Neuwirth introduced Kris Kristofferson to Joplin, who would have a major posthumous hit single with Kristofferson's song "Me and Bobby McGee", which Neuwirth first played for Joplin.

Painter, road manager, sidekick, confidante, henchman, poet, underground cult hero, womanizer, party organizer, self-appointed king of cool, and baiter-in-chief of Baez, Donovan, and any other unfortunate who wound up in the line of fire of his sledgehammer jibes, Bob Neuwirth went on to become a film-maker and a credible singer-songwriter in his own right, co-writing the wonderful "Mercedes Benz" with his friend Janis Joplin.

Bob Neuwirth's following album, a collaboration with John Cale titled Last Day on Earth, was described by The Daily Telegraph as "ambitious, experimental and doom-laden".

Bob Neuwirth subsequently travelled to Havana to collaborate with Jose Maria Vitier on Havana Midnight, which was characterized as a wholehearted effort at fusion between folk and blues with Cuban music.

Bob Neuwirth was involved in concerts at a church in Brooklyn and the Royal Festival Hall in 1999, which were organized by Hal Willner as a tribute to the Anthology of American Folk Music released almost 50 years before.

Bob Neuwirth took part in music projects involving various artists at the turn of the millennium, namely Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo and Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys.

Bob Neuwirth was interviewed by Martin Scorsese for No Direction Home, and featured in Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese fourteen years later.

Bob Neuwirth was in a domestic partnership with Paula Batson until his death.

Bob Neuwirth resided in Santa Monica, California, during his later years.

Bob Neuwirth carried on painting throughout this time at a studio in the Meatpacking District in New York, and identified Jackson Pollock as his main inspiration that guided Neuwirth's colourful and abstract style.

Bob Neuwirth died on the evening of May 18,2022, in Santa Monica.

Bob Neuwirth was 82, and had heart failure prior to his death.