I asked Hal, but he didn't reply until now
I agree with Pavel that even "primary sources" can make mistakes or can be not that much accurate
I quoted this example a number of times : in an interview, Mark claimed that the trawlerman's song was played on the 54 strat. But Chuck Ainlay provided infos on MK news saying this is the 58 LP, confirmed by Guy.
And when you listen to the song, it's obvious that its sounds like the LP, not the strat
So who is the best "primary source" in this case ?
My bet is that Mark tried different guitars for the song in different takes, so maybe one featuring the 54 strat, and that would explain why he chose to play the song live with the strat (on tour and on Boothbay)
Another example is Neil Dorfsman syaing that MFN was played on a LP junior on the studio version. No pic during the sessions shows such a guitar, an no biog mentions Mark ahving such a guitar. So again, it must be a mistake
anyway, it shows that even the most concerned person can be wrong sometimes. I don't blame them, it's impossible to remember such details in a musical carreer when you have done tones of recordings and tours.
So it's normal that they "may be overwhelmed with emotions and exaggerate the past" I agree with that