Expecting Rain

I took a trip to the Heritage Motel in Carbondale, Il to see what I could find regarding Bob staying there and also to see if that is the Motel from his painting. Going there, I was a little nervous the office workers wouldn't have a clue what I meant or know who Bob Dylan was. To my relief, this guy, Jeff, was the office manager.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchervinko/12525788085/

He was floored by the thought of Bob staying there, and was more than happy to show me around. He also said he might have access to old records dating back to 1990 which would verify Bob's stay 100%. The place now rents its rooms by the month to people and several of the rooms we looked in were occupied. It was kind of strange, but all of the residents were happy to let me look around once we told them Bob may have stayed in their room.

First is a picture of the painting

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchervinko/12525777615/

Next is the closest match to the room and furniture I could find -- pretty darn close! I also snapped a shot of the exterior, #14

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchervinko/12525899203/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchervinko/12526268774/

The people staying there let me rearrange the area to match the painting. They were pretty excited at the prospect of him staying there!

The last photo is of the room next door. I took it because the there is something behind the lamp shade in the paint which could be a window, air conditioner or a picture. It could be there was a picture in room 14, or the furniture was in room 12, the one in this last photo, and the unidentifiable thing in the painting is the air conditioner.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchervinko/12525902183/

Will share more facts if Jeff can dig any up.

the fuzziness in Jeff's photo is from an acid flashback he had, or something,LOL.

Excellent detective work! Looks a bit down market for a Rock God though.

Precisely his taste. The room is way in the back, in a tucked away area. Everything seems to fit for a place he'd stay.

Yes, except for the fact that he's a (rich) rock icon and that room looks like a shithole.

Congratulations for the great work and effort, though, probably he just painted that from a picture.

Unlikely. If he'd done that back then, some of the photos would have been fund since the drawings came out in '94.

So he stopped, drew and left. Or someone took a picture strictly for him. Anyway, I can't find a reason why we should think he actually slept there. I can find many to believe he did not.

Of course we could also think that the place was a lot better back then. It happens pretty often. Him sleeping there would make way more sense.

Why would they say he did if he didn't? See my post of a few days ago here - I asked about it when I first noticed the similarity between the drawing and the rooms shown on their website.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=79196&p=1450842#p1450842

I have no problem believing he stayed at this and similar places, esp back in '91.

^

Hmm, missed your post, sorry (missed the whole topic actually ). Didn't know they told you he actually did stay there.
Rooms shown on that website look better than the one from MJC's picture though. They look like average motel rooms and I've no problem thinking he spent many of his night in motels. So... if the motel was like that back then, I guess he actually stayed there.

Yeah, I'd say the place has slid down a slippery slope of dive-ly-hood over the past 25 years. It used to be nicer, and Jeff said a few other celebrities stayed there, too. He said David Lee Murphy stayed there once, which is why the owner calls it a "legendary" motel. Jeff also said they never throw anything away, which is why the dresser and lamp are still there.

It wouldn't surprise me if Bob stayed there to interact with a few locals, cause that is exactly what he would have gotten. Great fodder for material.

Also, Bob is an artist, and a pretty good one at that. I'd have no trouble believing he'd immerse himself into an environment for inspiration, whether it be to live like a hobo (Woodie Gutherie) or a favorite country singer. I bet its a life he's wanted, but could never really have due to his immense popularity. It seems to me he really does just want to be an ordinary folk hero and not an icon of a generation, and doing things like staying in dives helps him feel that way. Food for thought.

I have no trouble believing he would stay there. I've read a couple of times, that he travels (or used to) like that. Maybe it's partly because he thinks his chances of being recognized are more slim in these types of establishments, and I also think he needs to mingle, even if unnoticed, with ordinary people. It's a way to stay in touch and remain an observer.

Thanks for the info and pics, MJC.

Johanna, who told you he stayed at the motel? Did you call the place? Jeff said the owner was "like a millionaire, and would be in Vegas until May." I wonder if you spoke with him (the owner).

I wrote them an email at the time I was doing research of the DBS drawings / paintings. Got a reply from the 'Manager Operator' on 24 August 2011 confirming that Dylan stayed there and that "all rooms are basically the same."

Johanna, I'd say our combined research has pegged this as the place he stayed, for sure, and I think he did stay in room #14. It is the only one with wooden paneling on the one wall and that dresser and lamp are really close to the ones in his painting. Plus, only a few rooms had a design which allowed enough room for two beds and a wide nightstand/dresser. The rooms are similar, but most are really small. Also, the way the light casts down from the lamp in my photo is strikingly similar to his painting. The lamp was off and when I clicked it on I thought, this has to be it. Another thing about this motel, especially in 1990, is that most of the "down home" motels in Carbondale are in the shadier parts of town. The choices back then were really limited -- maybe as few as 3-4 that were at least a few degrees above being a total dump. I'm sure everybody knows his color choices in his paintings aren't anywhere close to the actual colors in the scene. So, the fact his lamp is white and the wall is pink and purple doesn't mean much in terms of figuring things out. Especially if he made the paintings from pencil sketches. On a final note, to further prove this place's decline over the years, they don't have a working computer anymore -- but they did in 2011.

ER member wedding and I co-wrote an article for ISIS magazine a few years back, dealing with the exact location of Dylan's Brussels paintings. It was near the stock exchange, near a hotel, in a small road with a plaque on the wall at the place where Verlaine shot at and injured Rimbaud.

It also seems possible he photographed more than one of the rooms and used 'wood paneling' from one room and 'furniture' from another to build an image of an interior. Why assume it's an exact replica of one particular room?


I find it almost unbelievable he stayed overnight in that place.......