Rob Stoner - The Dylan Whisperer

Rob Stoner - The Dylan Whisperer

From Game Changers With Vicki Abelson by Vicki Abelson

January 29, 2026 · 1h 11m

About this episode

Rob Stoner shares his experiences and stories from his musical career, including his work with Bob Dylan and other legendary artists.

The Dylan Whisperer Rob Stoner and I have been in the same city, on the same street, in the same club where I was promoting and he was playing, at the same time, over and over, and somehow we never met. Until tonight. He was worth waiting for. What a fun edutainment! We talked about his heroes, Chuck Berry to Jerry Lee Lewis, Rob’s famous photographer father, who, like Rob’s later boss, Bob Dylan, used art to change our thinking, to his own early days playing with Pete Seeger and Tim Hardin. From high school bands playing keyboards, guitar, and then bass, great story there as to why he picked it up, to his first session with Pete Seeger, another important mind-shaper, to Tim Hardin, and Don Mclean, with his first ill-fated named first album, Tapestry, to his second album and the session which bore his first #1 hit, American Pie. Rob tells the tale, from soup to platinum single. The session with Robert Gordon and Link Wray, recording a not-yet-wildly famous Bruce Springsteen’s first recording of his soon-to-be monster hit, Fire. Where a young Rob Stoner came up with the iconic bass line that Bruce would soon “borrow.” Rob had his own record deal in ’73, meeting Dylan a year later…

People in this episode

Host: Vicki Abelson

Guest: Rob Stoner

Topics covered

  • music history
  • collaboration
  • influential artists
  • recording sessions
  • storytelling

Keywords

  • Rob Stoner
  • Bob Dylan
  • music collaboration
  • recording history
  • American Pie

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: American Pie, Tapestry, Desire

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