Rick Danko with his dog, Hamlet. Given to him by Bob Dylan

The Band, Rick Danko with his dog, Hamlet. Given to him by Bob Dylan, Zena Road home, Woodstock, NY, 1969. photo credit : Elliott Landy

“Then I got Hamlet the dog from Bob Dylan. Hamlet was as big as a bear – a big dog. Albert and Bob had paid about a grand a piece for these pedigreed German dogs that had come from the most illustrious bloodlines in the world, but something went wrong. Hamlet was more like a standard poodle mix with a German shepherd and a giant shorthaird terrier.
Bob was having a hard time with the dog one day when I was over at his house. The dog was bigger than Bob, and Bob already had a Saint Bernard pulling him around. I stayed out of that one, but Hamlet and Bob were having some trouble, Bob said, “Please, Rick, take this dog back to the house with you. No, man, I insist…’ I didn’t want anything bad to happen, and Bob had kicked Hamlet out of the house, so he was living outside. So I took him back to Big Pink. We went to the vet – he didn’t care – and I had him groomed. He looked so great that the next time Sara Dylan saw Hamlet, she wanted him back! But he was our dog by then. He slept on the carpet by the stove through most of the basement tapes music and most of the Big Pink rehearsals as well. That dog heard a lot of music.” -Levon Helm, ‘This Wheel’s on Fire’