Val Kilmer Felt Like ‘Idiot’ After Bob Dylan Diss

Val Kilmer is a busy man but he still has time to feel like an idiot over the time he unintentionally brushed off a request from Tombstone fan Bob Dylan.

Right now, Val Kilmer is getting ready to tour in his one-man show opening June 28 called “Citizen Twain,” which CBS Los Angeles described as Kilmer’s take on legendary author Mark Twain. Sometimes considered America’s first stand-up comedian, beloved storyteller Twain was also the author of what is widely regarded as the best novel in American literature, Huckleberry Finn.

But, of course, Kilmer will be forever remembered for his role as another iconic figure in America history, Doc Holliday — the part he played in the 1993 hit western Tombstone.

On Wednesday, KCRW radio asked Val Kilmer to appear for their Guest DJ project, giving the star a chance to choose five songs that awakened his so-called artistic expression.

All of the songs were decades-old classics — and one of them was “It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” from Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic album Bringing It All Back home.

KCRW naturally wanted a Bob Dylan story. And that’s when Val Kilmer confessed something that’s apparently been on his mind for awhile.

According to Vilmer, he learned that Bob Dylan was a big Tombstone fan, so he set up a meeting with the enduring folk singer in New York:

He shows up and sits down and he wants to talk about Tombstone, but I just can’t…Eventually he says, ‘ain’t you going to say anything about that movie?’ and I said, “do some ‘Blowing in the Wind…’

“That’s what I said to him, basically I said no. I get like that sometimes…Anyway, I felt like an idiot afterwards, well, yeah I could have said a few lines. They’re fun lines too, like people still ask me to say lines and now I’ll tell any schmo in the airport, I’ll say ‘I’m your huckleberry,’ but I wouldn’t say it to Bob Dylan!”

To make up for the muffed meeting, Val Kilmer created a recording for Bob Dylan of “It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” — only with the best lines from Tombstone on the tape.

There’s a lot more to this interview than the tiny bit I’ve quoted here, so head over the KCRW for more musical thoughts from Val Kilmer.

[Val Kilmer photo by cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com]