Jeff Bridges On New Album ‘Slow Magic,’ Improvisation And The Dude

By 1977, actor Jeff Bridges had already been nominated for a pair of Academy Awards in recognition of his work on 1972’s The Last Picture Show as well as Thunderbolt and Lightfoot three years later – but music was in his blood.

While he began writing songs at the age of just 14, Bridges has released a trio of albums since 2000, moving nearly 400,000 copies of his T-Bone Burnett-produced, self-titled effort in 2011 (following an Oscar-winning turn as troubled country singer “Bad” Blake in the film Crazy Heart).

But his latest musical endeavor, Slow Magic, 1977-1978, now available for streaming on digital platforms ahead of a Record Store Day vinyl release this Saturday, April 12, is different.

Rescued from a single five decade old cassette, and mastered by John Baldwin, the new collection finds Bridges in experimental mode, drawing from influences ranging anywhere from Bob Dylan or The Beatles to Captain Beefheart along the way.

Slow Magic grew out of a run of Wednesday night jam sessions led by co-conspirator Steve Baim, which would wind up including everyone from Mitch Mitchell (the Jimi Hendrix Experience) to members of Oingo Boingo.

On a record not without the occasional odd moment, Bridges jams with friends including legendary actor Burgess Meredith, who channels Mickey Goldmill (the character he portrayed opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1976 boxing drama Rocky) as he delivers a unique guest vocal on both “Here on This Island” and “Kong,” an epic tour de force which finds Meredith helping deliver Bridges’ idea for a King Kong sequel in a song.

Not unlike Bridges’ Emergent Behavior, a series of similarly raw, lo-fi recordings available on his website which drill down on the idea of musical evolution, Slow Magic, 1977-1978 has also evolved, defined at times by the idea of improvisation.

“This album and this Emergent Behavior, those volumes, it’s kind of like reversing the order,” explained Bridges during a recent video call. “Often, you’ll get an album that will come out and be a beautiful album, and then years later they’ll say, ‘And here’s the making of that album! Here are some demos,’” he continued. “This is sort of flipping that around. This is like releasing all of this demo-like stuff first.”

Teaming with record label and distributor Light in the Attic, who has specialized largely in archival projects and reissues since 2002, the Slow Magic vinyl set features stunning liner notes, penned by writer Sam Sweet, which really ties the project together.

I spoke with Jeff Bridges about revisiting Slow Magic almost 50 years later, strong storytelling, the city of Los Angeles, improvisation, optimism and The Big Lebowski. A transcript of our video call, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

Jim Ryan: When I read that the fortunes of this project hinged upon the condition of a single 50 year old cassette, I was… concerned. But the sound quality is actually pretty good. I know John Baldwin mastered the album. What was the process of saving and enhancing this music like?

Jeff Bridges: You mentioned our mixer, the guy who did the final mix: John. He did a remarkable job. Because, yeah, it’s all off a 50 year old cassette! So, I was really pleased with how it was mastered.

Ryan: I have to admit, I was not familiar with Light in the Attic prior to this. They seem like the perfect partner. What was it like working with them on Slow Magic?

Bridges: Incredible, man! The whole thing was started by my dear friend Keefus Ciancia, who I worked with on several other projects. And, without me knowing it, he sent it to Matt Sullivan at Light in the Attic. And I was just so pleased that Matt dug it too. He said, “Let’s make an album!” I said, “What?! Are you kidding me, man?” And he said “No. Archival. It’s all about archiving stuff.” I guess it qualifies. But, anyway, it was wonderful. And the great byproduct of the whole project was reigniting all of these old friendships from that time. That was wonderful.

I just think they did a splendid job. I loved working with Sam Sweet on all of the copy. We did some more documentation stuff with video. My old girlfriend Candy Clark had some photos to contribute. Loretta Ayeroff shot the cover. It was just a fun project.

Ryan: Sam’s liner notes are really lovely – in a way we just don’t see much anymore with new releases. There’s a real element of storytelling there I wasn’t expecting. How important was that to you?

Bridges: Oh, that was so important! So important. Yeah, when I met with Sam we hit it off kind of immediately. I really enjoyed his sense and importance of place. He wanted to go to that place on Washington Boulevard and find out what it was. Just his genuine curiosity was great to behold and be a part of.

Ryan: When it comes to storytelling, whether it’s a songwriter, a screenwriter, poet, novelist or anyone else, who are some favorite storytellers?

Bridges: Now, all of the sudden, boom, my mind is blank. Let me think…

Check out Tom McGuane. I met him the year I met my wife – so that’s about 50 years ago – right around this time. He’s the guy who wrote a movie called Rancho Deluxe. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a pretty good one, I think. You know, Slim Pickens, Sam Waterston – pretty wild cast. So, he comes to mind. There’s a great book of his called Cloudbursts, a book of his short stories, that I’m currently reading.

I’m reading Michael McDonald’s What a Fool Believes, his biography – that’s fun. I recently read Jim Carrey’s memoir! Consolations by David Whyte, a wonderful author.

Ryan: Speaking of storytelling, I’m familiar with the backstory to “Kong” and your idea for a King Kong sequel. Not that I ever expected to be asking someone about a Burgess Meredith guest vocal but how does he, while sort of in character as Mickey from Rocky no less, kind of help flesh out the unique storytelling there?

Bridges: Oh man, well… I was gonna say still waters run deep – his waters weren’t even that still – but they were still very deep, man.

He turned me on to John Lilly. Do you know who John Lilly is? The guy who invented the isolation tank. So, right around those times when we were doing the “Kong” stuff, maybe shortly after, he turned me on to the isolation tank: the inner journey that you go through when you take away all of your sensory organs. And that was a wonderful thing.

I remember when we did my second film. It was called The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go. It’s a pretty bizarre movie. James Mason plays a Chinese-Mexican character. Burgess also plays a Chinese man. When we were doing it, Burgess was writing songs and playing and goes, “Oh, let’s change the character! Let’s say you’re gonna write a rock opera!” So, we wrote some tunes.

He was just so encouraging of any kind of creativity. And, so, when I thought of this “Kong” story, he immediately came to mind to do this takeoff on the Hindenburg disaster, or the Zeppelin crashing.

And then, on the spot, he said, “Do you mind if I read a poem of mine?” I said, “Oh, by all means.” And he read that thing. And that was like a jam. I think it was the first take – we just played over that, you know? Played together. And it was great.

Ryan: To me, an exciting element of this album is the way that it takes you directly to a very unique time and place. Especially in the liner notes, Los Angeles is almost presented less as a setting and more as a character, a protagonist. It kind of makes L.A., at that point, sort of seem like this magical place where anything, even fame, isn’t just possible, it’s expected. How did Los Angeles at that particular time kind of shape the creative you’d become?

Bridges: Interesting… It’s also youth, you know? When you’re young, you think, “Oh, anything is possible! I wonder what’s gonna happen?” That kind of uncertainty and that open quality was part of the music that was going on there and that we were making.

Also, you’ve got to think about the music that we were listening to growing up: The Beatles, Bob Dylan – it doesn’t get much better than that stuff.

Ryan: You sort of hit on the idea of improvisation there in the construction of “Kong.” I always feel like the idea of improvisation is one that carries important life lessons beyond making music or acting. Improv keeps me out of my comfort zone. How important is that to you even this far along? Are there some parallels there?

Bridges: That word is a pretty strong word in my life.

We certainly use it in the acting realm. Sometimes, you actually film it and that’s what you see on the film is the improv. But a lot of improv can be used to discover the truth of a scene.

For instance, I’m thinking like Lebowski: there’s very little improvisation in The Big Lebowski. The Coen brothers just write so well that it seems like that. John Goodman and I would rehearse and improvise a lot to find the reality of the scene – but we’d always go back to the original. Because every “f–k,” every “man,” was just in the right musical place, you know? You want to play the notes of the tune. And they were so well placed that we would always go back to that.

But improvisation, if you apply that to life and say, “Let’s improv,” it’s like creating a context where you don’t have to play your persona. You don’t have to do your normal lines, you can be free.

I remember one of the guys in the Wednesday night jam, who was a dear friend but is no longer with us, Mike Portis, when he was in college, his whole thesis was on this thing where he would become another person – and would act with a different accent and all. Because he felt another aspect of himself could come through if he didn’t have to play himself, you know? We all have these personas of who we think we are – and who we think people think we are. And that’s something that you can play against.

Ryan: I know you’re doing a run of Big Lebowski screenings in California starting April 16. I was pondering the Dude as I watched that film last night. The Dude doesn’t judge. He has a caring side. He accepts that which is different. He’s honest and he’s there for his friends. You’ve written about the Dude’s spirituality. And, god bless him, he hates the f–ing Eagles, man. But I feel like we could learn a lot from that character. What could the Dude teach us as we navigate life in 2025?

Bridges: Oh man. Well, he’s authentically the Dude, you know?

He’s known as the Dude and he’s supposed to be so chill and relaxed – but all through the movie, he’s not at all, you know?! And I can relate to that. This idea, like we know how we oughta be – but that ain’t necessarily how it is. And, in each of those troubled, tough times, that’s where the gold is actually – that’s where the lesson is.

It’s those times when you think everything is perfect and relaxed. I find those to be the most dangerous times. “Watch out, I’m feeling too good!” That’s where I get in trouble.

Ryan: Well, I love the gritty guitar part at the top of “You Could be Ready.” What was it like revisiting that one?

Bridges: (Hums intro) I was just playing that song this morning, man! I was revisiting old tunes saying, “Oh yeah…”

This idea of being ready. We so often think that we come from this place of not enough: not enough money, we don’t have enough training or enlightenment – all of these different things we don’t have enough of. And maybe the song is saying, “Maybe, you’ve got it. Maybe you’ve got what’s enough. Maybe you don’t even realize that you’re ready.”

What is ready anyway, you know?

Ryan: I was listening to the song “Slow Magic” again this morning. Given what you’ve been through in the last five or so years in particular, does a song like that take on new meaning as you sort of set it against the idea of mortality?

Bridges: Yeah. Yeah. I think, when I was on death’s door, I experienced some slow magic, you know? (Laughs) It was pretty wild.

That’s a song – and I’m not sure if it’s in the version that is on the album – but, there’s a line in the new version, I think, where “Slow Magic” – “It’s slow magic when you see how the trick was done.” That’s kind of the punchline to the song. I’m not sure if it made that early version.

Ryan: I love that we’re talking about a 50 year old cassette in 2025 – and here you’re illuminating the way in which these songs are still evolving. How important is it to you whether it’s a film or a song that these things do have that ability to grow and evolve?

Bridges: I love that… I love that!

This album and this Emergent Behavior, those volumes, it’s kind of like reversing the order. Often, you’ll get an album that will come out and be a beautiful album, and then years later they’ll say, “And here’s the making of that album! Here are some demos.” This is sort of flipping that around. This is like releasing all of this demo-like stuff first. And who knows? Maybe it’ll get polished up, maybe it won’t. Doesn’t really matter all that much, you know?

I might polish it. Or some other young band might say, “Oh yeah, let’s do some of those Bridges tunes, man!”

Ryan: I thought it was interesting the way the liner notes ended with the lyrics of the unreleased song about the Wednesday jams. Certainly, there’s an element of nostalgia there. But, to me, it also sort of closes the Slow Magic project on an optimistic note. Was it important to strike that tone?

Bridges: Yeah, I’m an optimist. I think positively. I’m hopeful. That just seems to be how I roll, you know? My DNA, how I was raised, my environment – that’s definitely part of who I am.

That seems to be just how I naturally am cooked.