Carla Rotolo
Encyclopedia
Carla Rotolo is the older sister of Suze Rotolo
, one of Bob Dylan's
early girlfriends in New York City
.
Carla was the first child of Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo who were union activists. She and her sister Suze befriended Dylan shortly after he arrived in New York in 1961 and they became two of his biggest fans and supporters.
Carla helped Dylan with his research into folk tunes. At the time she was the secretary of the eminent musicologist Alan Lomax
and had a large collection of folk music at her apartment. Dylan would spend hours during the day listening to and examining her vast collection.
Their friendship broke up when she and Dylan argued with each other as her sister Suze broke up with Dylan. Dylan retaliated with his song Ballad in Plain D
in which he labeled Carla, "her parasite sister". In the mid 1980s Dylan said of the song, "I look back and I say, 'I must have been a real schmuck to write that.' I look back at that particular one and say, 'of all the songs I’ve written, maybe I could have left that alone'."
When interviewed by Howard Sounes
for his 2001 Dylan biography,
Down the Highway The Life Of Bob Dylan, Carla Rotolo stated: "I remember it being a terrible experience". Informing Sounes that when she heard the song, she had no doubt that she was meant to be the "parasite".
Carla Rotolo says that she resented the term, pointing out that she worked to pay the rent. She also rejects the implication that she was interfering in Dylan's and her sister's business. "I got dragged into something that, frankly by then I didn't give a fuck about, because Suze was going to choose whoever she liked, I couldn't keep sitting in my no-door room with screaming and yelling going on". Rotolo says that on the night in question she had asked Dylan to leave, but he refused to go. Rotolo claims that Dylan pushed her, so she pushed him back and that a physical fight almost ensued, adding that friends had to be called and Dylan forcibly removed. Carla Rotolo says she was left with a very negative view of Dylan, considering him selfish, manipulative
, and emotionally immature.
According to Carla, the months between the Newport Folk Festival
the previous summer (1963) had been miserable for Suze. Dylan was conducting a flagrant affair with Joan Baez
and was expecting to continue his relationship with Suze. An already difficult situation took a desperate turn when, at some stage during this period Suze became pregnant with Dylan's child.
According to Carla Rotolo, Suze had the pregnancy terminated. "At the time abortions were illegal", says Carla, who nursed her sister afterward. "There were some bad things between them". The abortion precipitated the final breakup of the relationship.
She and her sister Suze were sometimes credited with helping to form Dylan's liberal leanings during his development period in the early sixties.
Rotolo was briefly married to actor Rolondo Salvador Pena-Diaz. They were married in New York on December 27, 1969. Rotolo is currently living in Europe
.
Suze Rotolo
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo , known as Suze Rotolo , was an American artist, but is perhaps best known as Bob Dylan's girlfriend between 1961 and 1964 and a strong influence on his music...
, one of Bob Dylan's
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
early girlfriends in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Carla was the first child of Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo who were union activists. She and her sister Suze befriended Dylan shortly after he arrived in New York in 1961 and they became two of his biggest fans and supporters.
Carla helped Dylan with his research into folk tunes. At the time she was the secretary of the eminent musicologist Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
and had a large collection of folk music at her apartment. Dylan would spend hours during the day listening to and examining her vast collection.
Their friendship broke up when she and Dylan argued with each other as her sister Suze broke up with Dylan. Dylan retaliated with his song Ballad in Plain D
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Another Side of Bob Dylan is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released August 8, 1964 by Columbia Records....
in which he labeled Carla, "her parasite sister". In the mid 1980s Dylan said of the song, "I look back and I say, 'I must have been a real schmuck to write that.' I look back at that particular one and say, 'of all the songs I’ve written, maybe I could have left that alone'."
When interviewed by Howard Sounes
Howard Sounes
Howard Sounes is a British author, journalist and biographer.Howard Sounes began his career as a newspaper journalist as a staff reporter for the Sunday Mirror. He broke major stories concerning one of the most notorious murder cases in British criminal history, that of Fred West and Rosemary West...
for his 2001 Dylan biography,
Down the Highway The Life Of Bob Dylan, Carla Rotolo stated: "I remember it being a terrible experience". Informing Sounes that when she heard the song, she had no doubt that she was meant to be the "parasite".
Carla Rotolo says that she resented the term, pointing out that she worked to pay the rent. She also rejects the implication that she was interfering in Dylan's and her sister's business. "I got dragged into something that, frankly by then I didn't give a fuck about, because Suze was going to choose whoever she liked, I couldn't keep sitting in my no-door room with screaming and yelling going on". Rotolo says that on the night in question she had asked Dylan to leave, but he refused to go. Rotolo claims that Dylan pushed her, so she pushed him back and that a physical fight almost ensued, adding that friends had to be called and Dylan forcibly removed. Carla Rotolo says she was left with a very negative view of Dylan, considering him selfish, manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
, and emotionally immature.
According to Carla, the months between the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
the previous summer (1963) had been miserable for Suze. Dylan was conducting a flagrant affair with Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
and was expecting to continue his relationship with Suze. An already difficult situation took a desperate turn when, at some stage during this period Suze became pregnant with Dylan's child.
According to Carla Rotolo, Suze had the pregnancy terminated. "At the time abortions were illegal", says Carla, who nursed her sister afterward. "There were some bad things between them". The abortion precipitated the final breakup of the relationship.
She and her sister Suze were sometimes credited with helping to form Dylan's liberal leanings during his development period in the early sixties.
Rotolo was briefly married to actor Rolondo Salvador Pena-Diaz. They were married in New York on December 27, 1969. Rotolo is currently living in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Sources
- Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades, A Biography, Clinton Heylin, Summit Books, New York, 1991.
- Down the Highway The Life Of Bob Dylan, Howard SounesHoward SounesHoward Sounes is a British author, journalist and biographer.Howard Sounes began his career as a newspaper journalist as a staff reporter for the Sunday Mirror. He broke major stories concerning one of the most notorious murder cases in British criminal history, that of Fred West and Rosemary West...
Doubleday ISBN 0-552-99929-6, 2001