The Beastie Boys Big Up Bob Dylan, Billy Joel

If you thought Nas joining the Beastie Boys on-stage at Bonnaroo was the ultimate hip-hop lovefest, think again. Rumors have been circulating for some time about Bob Dylan’s involvement in an upcoming Beastie Boys record. Ever since the Boys mentioned Bob Dylan as a possible guest on their new record on the commentary track to the Check Your Head reissue, fans have assumed they would hear Dylan’s gravelly pipes on The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1. That record, which will be released September 15 on Capitol Records, features guest spots from Nas and Santigold, but no Dylan.

MCA (Adam Yauch) is reassuring Dylan-heads that he will make a cameo on The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2. Still, don’t expect a sing-a-long. MCA explained to Drowned in Sound, “We sample his ass.” It won’t be the first time, either. You can hear bits of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” on Check Your Head’s “Finger Lickin’ Good.” This particular “spoken word” clip comes from Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour, his now-dormant Sirius XM show. In the past, he has taken time to praise the Beastie Boys’ work on the show, and now they are returning the favor.

Here’s the exchange from Drowned in Sound:

DiS: Nas and Santigold appear on the album but there’s no sign of, as previously claimed, Bob Dylan. Was that, in best Beastie Boys tradition, a cheeky fib?

Ad-Rock: Bob Dylan is guesting on …Pt 2. He talks about us. More of a spoken word thing…

MCA: We sampled his ass.

Mike D: He has a radio show on satellite and he was speaking about Beastie Boys…

Ad-Rock: He played one of our songs and was talking about us; he’s a big fan.

Mike D: So we collaborated with that.

DiS: Is he one of your big musical heroes?

Mike D: Oh, first off, he’s one of the first b-boys, if not the first. What more to say?

Ad-Rock: Billy Joel is the fifth b-boy. That’s just a side note. Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

Mike D: When you think ‘songwriter’ you think him, Gordon Lightfoot; there’s not many others.

Ad-Rock: Carl Carlton. Carl Douglas. There’s a lot of Carls.

The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2’s distribution will differ from the traditional method. After Pt. 1 is released on September 15, Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) says, “MP3s could just rain from the sky.” While skies are still clear, however, the Beastie Boys are hitting the summer festivals hard.

Beastie Boys Upcoming Tour Dates:

July 31: All Points West Festival- Jersey City, NJ

August 2: Osheaga Music & Arts Festival- Montreal, CA

August 6: Congress Theater- Chicago, IL

August 8: Lollapalooza- Chicago, IL

August 30: Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival- San Francisco, CA

September 24: Hollywood Bowl- Hollywood, CA

October 2: Austin City Limits Festival- Austin, TX