Could Rhymin' Simon and Illin' Dylan be planning to hit the road together this summer? Although a spokesperson at Bob Dylan's management says nothing's written in stone ("The two of them are talking about it, but haven't had contracts drawn up yet,") a high-level source confirms that the bard will be touring with Paul Simon this summer.

This would be Simon's first tour since 1991, and it couldn't come at a more propitious time since the singer is still licking his wounds after his Broadway musical The Capeman failed so spectacularly last year.

Although the two have never performed together, no one in Dylan's inner circle is surprised about the possibility of a tour. Back in 1966, on "A Simple Desultory Philippic" from Simon and Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Simon ended the song with his own personal in-crowd message to the singer: "I dropped the harmonica, Albert." He was referring, of course, to Dylan's former manager and father figure, Albert Grossman. Dylan later recorded Paul Simon's "The Boxer" for 1970's Self-Portrait, and the two have maintained a three-decade long friendship.

Dylan and Simon are expected to share the stage during each other's sets, according the L.A. Times. No word yet on whether Art Garfunkel has been offered an opening slot.

JAAN UHELSZKI
(March 10, 1999)