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June 19, 2013
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 The Dylan in All of UsPosted on Sep 10, 2010
By Allen Barra (Page 2) The first chapter is a 29-page essay on the connection between Aaron Copland and Dylan. Yes, you read that right, and yes, you will have to allow Wilentz the indulgence he requests. How exactly does the composer of “Appalachian Spring” and “Billy the Kid” connect with the composer of “Positively Fourth Street”? The connection which Wilentz makes seems convoluted, but, in the end, accurate: Copland’s “orchestral work raises some of the same conundrums that Dylan’s songs do—about art and politics, simplicity and difficulty, compromise and genius, love and theft.” Dylan “began his musical writing in Guthrie-esque style and then entered into every other folk-music style he could lay his hands on. Copland, by contrast, was first inspired to become a composer by the Polish composer ... and national patriot Ignacy Paderewski. … Still, Copland’s musical world in 1930s New York led, directly and indirectly, to Dylan’s in 1960s New York. And Copland’s amalgamating art, in time built partly out of old cowboy ballads and mountain fiddle tunes, anticipated Dylan’s in ways that helped make sense of both men’s achievements.” Copland didn’t so much influence Dylan directly as he did, through his left-wing politics and synthesis of American musical styles, prepare a social and intellectual climate in the early 1950s Village that Dylan would move to and thrive in. He is merely the first of several confluent cultural strains that Wilentz charts to Dylan’s music: Woody Guthrie and Little Richard, of course, whom Dylan listened to and loved while growing up in Hibbing, Minn.; later, the Beat writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac; and “the French guys,” as Dylan put it, “Rimbaud and Francois Villon.” Musically, Dylan was a receptor, drawing on everything he heard while living in the Village. And he heard plenty. Far more eclectic than the urban folk singers he hung out and played with, Dylan absorbed everything from jazz to the Irish rebel ballads of the Clancy Brothers. Despite the disdain in which electric music was held by folk music purists, Dylan’s evolution into a rock star was inevitable. “Bob Dylan in America” is almost as remarkable for what it isn’t as for what it is. The literature available on Dylan is more voluminous than that on any other figure in popular music (unless one includes the tons of fanzines and supermarket tabloids on Elvis). The challenge of finding something new to say on Dylan must have seemed daunting, even to the man who, in “The Rise of Democracy in America,” found, in 800 pages, a way to make everything from the shot heard round the world to Lincoln seem fresh, and Wilentz’s patience and persistence, combined with a fan’s enthusiasm, has paid off.
Bob Dylan In America
By Sean Wilentz
Doubleday , 400 pages
Most critical writing on Dylan has suggested that somehow his rise in the early and mid-1960s “saved” rock ’n’ roll (with an assist from the Beatles and the ensuing wave of British rockers). Nonsense. The early ’60s were the time of Sam Cooke and Gene Pitney and Dion and the Shirelles and the Beach Boys and the Drifters and Del Shannon; of the great Jackie Wilson, of producer Phil Spector’s stable of artists, and of early Motown; of “Louie, Louie” and “It’s My Party” and “The Wanderers” and “Twist and Shout.” There was nothing wrong with early 1960s rock ’n’ roll. It was a richer and more varied music than it was the day Buddy Holly died in 1959. Dylan and the Beatles didn’t “save” anything. What Dylan and the Beatles (and later the Dylan-influenced Beatles and the Beatles-influenced Dylan) did was to set the stage for a music that could be appreciated by older, college kids who had come of age on Buddy Holly and wanted a music that preserved something in that sound while reflecting the more complex universe they now lived in. It was rock ’n’ roll that saved Dylan from a lifetime of god-awful humorless “protest” music by throwing him a lifeline back to rock’s roots—the blues, hillbilly, jug band and medicine show music from which it had evolved. In the revelatory words of rock writer Lester Bangs, Dylan “wanted to be Elvis, but there was an opening for Woody Guthrie, so he took it.” In the end, in large part because he was able to bridge the gap between Woody and Elvis, Dylan became far more complex and vital than either. Moreover, unlike Guthrie or Presley or almost anyone else in American popular music—with the possible exception of Bruce Springsteen—Dylan has shown that he can absorb new influences and continue to re-create himself. In tracing the impact on Dylan of such diverse sources as Marcel Carne’s 1945 classic film “Children of Paradise” and the obscure black singer guitarist Blind Willie McTell, Wilentz does just about his best work, and in the process rescues Dylan from the persistent and ridiculous charge that he is some kind of cultural plagiarist. Dylan “has never simply been a brilliant, deeply knowledgeable opportunistic folkie; neither has he been, either legally or spiritually, a plagiarist, although some rivals have accused him of plagiarism. He has been a minstrel, or has worked in the same tradition as the minstrels (a tradition that includes vaudeville as well as the Southern songster performers, among them Blind Willie McTell)—copying other people’s mannerisms and melodies and lyrics and utterly transforming them and making them his own, a form of larceny that is as American as apple pie, and cherry, pumpkin, and plum pie, too.” “Bob Dylan in America” could just as easily have been titled “America in Bob Dylan” or perhaps “The Bob Dylan in All of Us.” No other book explains how and why Dylan became, for the last two generations, the avatar of an America only dimly remembered but still strongly felt. Allen Barra is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post Book World, and Bookforum and a contributing writer for American Heritage and the Village Voice. His latest book, “Rickwood Field: A Century in America’s Oldest Ballpark,” was released in July by W.W. Norton & Co.
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By ardee, September 16, 2010 at 2:55 pm Link to this comment
PatrickHenry, September 14 at 9:08 pm
Great link, great tune, great performance.
Dylan for me will always be that skinny seventeen year old haunting the coffee houses of the east village in New York.
Report thisBy marimbadearco, September 15, 2010 at 8:47 am Link to this comment
To get an idea where this reviewer, who regularly writes for the Wall Street Journal, is coming from, swallow this early line:
“Sean Wilentz is surely the least pompous and most accessible of great American historians…”
Yeah, right: Howard Zinn not allowed on right-wingers’ radar.
“My Back Pages” is a great song, but too bad Mr. Zimmerman took it literally in his life and hasn’t played at a demonstration or anything to help improve something besides his access to groupies and personal bank account.
Too bad medicine wasn’t advanced enough to help Phil Ochs in the late 60s—he never lost his conscience and could sing.
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 14, 2010 at 9:11 pm Link to this comment
Patrick Henry…
Thank you so much for that feed. That is also a favorite
of mine.
Both men great humanitarians…........................
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, September 14, 2010 at 7:18 pm Link to this comment
PatrickHenry, September 14 at 9:08 pm Link to this comment
One of my personal favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz_GK_XsoLQ
*************************
Awesome song. Musically, it’s one of the most difficult to sing from his early days.
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, September 14, 2010 at 5:08 pm Link to this comment
One of my personal favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz_GK_XsoLQ
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, September 14, 2010 at 2:15 pm Link to this comment
mrfreeze, September 13 at 6:35 am Link to this comment
Dylan…....
Just another musician who made too much money, received too much praise and
attention and whose music is boring at best.
Like so many others of my peers who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s I simply can’t
understand what was/is so great about this guy.
If his influence truly has resonance in today’s music I can’t hear it…...except perhaps in
those who can’t let the past go….....
*************************
Funny, I feel EXACTLY the same way about the late Michael Jackson. From his “Off the Wall” album in 1979, when I was 24, to his death I never heard one song, nor a tune, nor a lyric in ANYTHING he did that was even VAGUELY impressive or interesting.
How he can be compared to a Stevie Wonder or a Dylan or Public Enemy or Prince or Springsteen or Queen Latifah or even Beyonce is beyond me. I found him to be a big nothing (musically speaking—I’m not commenting on his life or lifestyle—that’s not the topic).
Report thisBy Glen Wayne, September 13, 2010 at 3:39 pm Link to this comment
The Treadmill empirePie Sept. 13th, 2010
(Hook)??From the big bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Intro)??Does entropy spin like a hoola-hoop
The new world order loves chaos
as it unravels the code of order
far from the apple tree
How can that be???(Verse 1)?Obama the branded O
a branded O on a swirly dirt field
Is that ‘dirt to dirt’ ?
Say: “is that dawn or dusk
a circularity, .... or the marionette anus O?
“Watch your mouth or be buggered”
“Better that than a colonoscopy”
For a better movement?
Like a trophy?.....
“No entropy
a movement that attracts flies;
from order to disorder.
“But what about fly food
becoming bird food a reordered biomass;
ah but less ordered you say in a DNA sort of way.
True but we share allot (or DNA) with a worm plus a worm can work both ends
double gendered and multi brained…
DNA to RNA .... ain’t that a brain?
(Hook)??From the big bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Verse 2)?From star dust to dust…
Say what’s in star dust? .....
Light?
Is that a packet a particle or a wave?
Are your digits and musings riding on a wave?
Thats sort of light, .... well in the spectrum sense;
so your musings could they not just as easily be your code
riding on the ether as it were?
Quick down load my brain I hear rumblings of the Zion train??(Hook)??From the big
bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Bridge)?Neuron firings they are energy no?
What about dreaming of dreaming
of a muse on a memorial Sunday?
....from the big bang to void .......
What to avoid?..... What to avoid????(Verse 3)??Bush Obammer, Bush Obammer,
brand me for my end
con me, mark me, make me, chill me;
spill me with the wash on toxic shores.
Find a friendly gavel for the truth speak of the dusk.
Let the shadow masters throw the dice,
the color coded future it ain’t nice.
Bush Obammer, Bush Osammer, oil me to the end.
Does your future call?
Report thisIs there a need to bend???(Hook)??From the big bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
By Glen Wayne, September 13, 2010 at 3:37 pm Link to this comment
The Treadmill empirePie Sept. 13th, 2010
(Hook)
??From the big bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Intro)
??Does entropy spin like a hoola-hoop
The new world order loves chaos
as it unravels the code of order
far from the apple tree
How can that be???(Verse 1)?Obama the branded O
a branded O on a swirly dirt field
Is that ‘dirt to dirt’ ?
Say: “is that dawn or dusk
a circularity, .... or the marionette anus O?
“Watch your mouth or be buggered”
“Better that than a colonoscopy”
For a better movement?
Like a trophy?.....
“No entropy
a movement that attracts flies;
from order to disorder.
“But what about fly food
becoming bird food a reordered biomass;
ah but less ordered you say in a DNA sort of way.
True but we share allot (or DNA) with a worm plus a worm can work both ends
double gendered and multi brained…
DNA to RNA .... ain’t that a brain?
(Hook)
??From the big bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Verse 2)?
From star dust to dust…
Say what’s in star dust? .....
Light?
Is that a packet a particle or a wave?
Are your digits and musings riding on a wave?
Thats sort of light, .... well in the spectrum sense;
so your musings could they not just as easily be your code
riding on the ether as it were?
Quick down load my brain I hear rumblings of the Zion train??(Hook)??From the big
bang to the void
to another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
??(Bridge)
?Neuron firings they are energy no?
What about dreaming of dreaming
of a muse on a memorial Sunday?
....from the big bang to the void .......
What to avoid?..... What to avoid?
???(Verse 3)
??Bush Obammer, Bush Obammer, brand me for my end
con me, mark me, make me, chill me;
spill me with the wash on toxic shores.
Find a friendly gavel for the truth speak of the dusk.
Let the shadow masters throw the dice,
the color coded future it ain’t nice.
Bush Obammer, Bush Osammer, oil me to the end.
Does your future call?
Is there a need to bend?
??(Hook)
??From the big bang to the void
Report thisto another big bang to another void
Is this infinity the one that is in the loop?
Turn your code into light and avoid the fright.
By Shenonymous, September 13, 2010 at 3:54 am Link to this comment
You either love him, or you don’t. No biggie.
Here you go Tony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_BH7UFZMew&feature=artist
Bob Dylan It’s All Good Aragon Ballroom Chicago Il October 31 2009
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobDylanTV#p/f/3/L9EKqQWPjyo
Bob Dylan - Things Have Changed
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobDylanTV#p/f/1/LEwix-Zi0zw
Bob Dylan - Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobDylanTV#p/f/2/CEoGqUqy-0w
Bob Dylan - When the Deal Goes Down
http://www.youtube.com/artist?feature=watch&an=Bob+Dylan
Report thisThen here are tons of Bobby. Just click on song you want to play, or
play all of them! Yikes. Have a happy day.
By ofersince72, September 13, 2010 at 3:06 am Link to this comment
I always like your comments, but
why should anyone let their past go?
Most of us progressed with the music of the times,
Report thisare you saying classical music lovers are stuck in the
past? He may have been boring to you and that is OK,
respect your opinion, don’t base mine on your opinion.
By mrfreeze, September 13, 2010 at 2:35 am Link to this comment
Dylan…....
Just another musician who made too much money, received too much praise and
attention and whose music is boring at best.
Like so many others of my peers who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s I simply can’t
understand what was/is so great about this guy.
If his influence truly has resonance in today’s music I can’t hear it…...except perhaps in
Report thisthose who can’t let the past go….....
By ofersince72, September 12, 2010 at 2:47 pm Link to this comment
Hey Joan Baez…......We can’t speak of Dylan
without the mention of you, you sang his songs so
beautifully….....You loved him, I loved you.
Report thisBy Tony Wicher, September 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm Link to this comment
Bob Dylan is for me the greatest poet and songwriter of my lifetime. I can play his songs over and over and I never get tired of them, not even after 45 years. I love his political songs, his romantic songs and his adventure ballads. Consider the last song on his most recent album (not counting the Christmas album) - “Together Through Life”. This song,“It’s all Good” proves to me that Bob Dylan is a 9/11 truther. Maybe that just proves I’m obsessd, and I am, with both Bob Dylan and 9/11 truth, but allow me to reproduce it here. I will argue Dylan interpretation with anybody:
It’s All Good, by Bob Dylan
Talk about me babe, if you must
Throw on the dirt, pile on the dust
I’d do the same thing if I could
You know what they say, they say it’s all good
All good
It’s all good
Big politician telling lies
Restaurant kitchen, all full of flies
Don’t make a bit of difference, don’t see why it should
But it’s all right, ‘cause it’s all good
It’s all good
It’s all good
Wives are leavin’ their husbands, they beginning to roam
They leave the party and they never get home
I wouldn’t change it, even if I could
You know what they say man, it’s all good
It’s all good
All good
Brick by brick, they tear you down
A teacup of water is enough to drown
You ought to know, if they could they would
Whatever going down, it’s all good
All good
Say it’s all good
People in the country, people on the land
Some of them so sick, they can hardly stand
Everybody would move away, if they could
It’s hard to believe but it’s all good
Yeah
The widow’s cry, the orphan’s plea
Everywhere you look, more misery
Come along with me, babe, I wish you would
You know what I’m sayin’, it’s all good
All good
I said it’s all good
All good
Cold-blooded killer, stalking the town
Cop cars blinking, something bad going down
Buildings are crumbling in the neighborhood
But there’s nothing to worry about, ‘cause it’s all good
It’s all good
They say it’s all good
I’ll pluck off your beard and blow it in your face
Report thisThis time tomorrow I’ll be rolling in your place
I wouldn’t change a thing even if I could
You know what they say, they say it’s all good
It’s all good
By sallysense, September 12, 2010 at 9:03 am Link to this comment
hiya cheyennebode’n'all!... and thank you so much for your kind comment although my words are just simply how it’s been and is… bob’n'his neat songs’n'all got this stuff to ‘em that opens up layers’a doors’n'windows into all kinds’a moving modes’n'moments that touch the heart’n'soul’n'mind through their love of music’n'poetry and rings’a truth and other things too!... yes indeed!... lotsa bob’s neat tunes’n'their doin’s to each’n'everyone!... and the best of wishes’n'ways’n'todays to ya’n'all!... yepper!...
Report thisBy ardee, September 12, 2010 at 7:54 am Link to this comment
For me, Dylan and Jim Morrison were the poet laureates of my generation.
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 12, 2010 at 6:55 am Link to this comment
Naw, Picasso was a BIG prick. But even so, genius does not prevent
Report thisPrickness. Even Herr Bach was a kind of a prick but still was the genius of
his genre of music. I could probably name a few thousand genius artist,
and scientist, and religionist pricks. Dats laif.
By Inherit The Wind, September 12, 2010 at 6:31 am Link to this comment
She, you make a good point.
But don’t get me going on Picasso, that brilliant, talented but selfish, cowardly, misogynistic little prick! He used his paintings to hurt people he’d been close to in ways that they couldn’t fight back against. He used his formidable skills to behave like a Rush Limbaugh to take down people (like former lovers) he wanted to publicly hurt.
Report thisBy mitchell freedman, September 11, 2010 at 10:10 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Ofersince1972,
Phil Ochs wrote and sang the Ballad of Medgar Evers, also known as Too Many
Martyrs.
Not Dylan.
Dylan Cult. Overrating Dylan since 1963…
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 11, 2010 at 4:00 pm Link to this comment
Yeahbutt when you love somebody you just take the bad* with the
good (and that goes for anyone you love, I think that is the way love
works). Ahs heart Bob Dylan since I wuz a youngin. I don’t need to
compare him with anybody else. I can like others too, but I don ‘t
have to compare him with anybody else. Oh, I already said that!
*Bad not meaning evil or sinful, mayyyybbe, depending (you know, stuff
Report thisthat is forgivable). I’ll take his not-the-greatest songs along with the
classically fabulous. It’s like any great artist, there are some of their
stuff better than others of their stuff. Picasso created 40,000+ werkz
uv aht. Some are better than others.
By Inherit The Wind, September 11, 2010 at 3:38 pm Link to this comment
Ironically, today the NYTimes announced the death of Irwin Silber, one of the founders of Sing Out! Silber attacked Dylan for abandoning social conscious songs for introspective ones.
I personally have mixed feelings about Dylan. Much of his early work and persona is totally imitative, from his name, to pictures designed to EXACTLY ape ones of Woody Guthrie, to mediocre talking blues. And, if you listen to his early albums, 1/3 to 1/2 are totally forgettable crap, interspersed with the, of course, legendary and great songs. And they are great.
I am much fonder of Phil Ochs’ work. Dylan once said that Ochs was the best of all those early 60’s folk singers. All his songs are musical, the lyrics fit, yet still punch through with meaning. Sometimes he’s humorous, sometimes serious, and sometimes sets other poets’ work to music (His version of Noyes “The Highwayman” is still mind-blowing). He also sang better than Dylan.
Also, Tom Paxton is STILL around, still writing, playing and singing.
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 3:27 pm Link to this comment
I believe most on here have heard Dylan sing
T H E….B A L L A D….O F…..M E D G A R…E V E R S..
if not, you should.
There are many of his early topical songs I love…
Report thisbut I still loved the whimsical side of Dylan too…
Listen to his Dream songs….they are light , funny,
but still have a great messege.
I like when he woke up right after WWIII, thought he
was the only one left, in NYC.
(that could be a good thing)
When I was eighteen years old, on St. Patricks day,
I got held out of the eighteenth floor of the Picadilly
Hotel by my ankles, I thought they were goin drop me,they
wanted too.
By Patsy, September 11, 2010 at 1:49 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
He is on the radio quite consistently….sirius/xm
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 12:26 pm Link to this comment
The image that I like to keep of Dylan is on
T H E…..L A S T…...W A L T Z…......................
music video done by The Band around 1977…...........
Dylan has a PINK hat on with a feather in it…...........
The HAM in Dylan really came out…......................
He always has and still remains a part of my life….....
Report thisI doubt that I will read the book….....................
I know and have the relationship that I want to have
with Bob Dylan…...............it is great…and….....
.......it doesn’t ..........need…....changing….......
By Shenonymous, September 11, 2010 at 12:18 pm Link to this comment
M’thinks, ofersince72, there’s one in every family. Don’t they keep
us liberals (me a left centrist) and ultra left-wingers(you more left
than left) honest? All said in a good Dylan spirit, now, ofersince72.
Don’t go annihilating me. tsk tsk.
They sure keep us talking about stuff.
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 12:11 pm Link to this comment
I was lucky to have two older sisters so I was
introduced to Dylan at a very young age. My oldest
sister didn’t care for the bubble gum, Ricky Nelson
type music of time. So before Jr. High School I was
listening to Odetta, Mekeba, Dylan and such.
It never let go of me, unfortunatly, my sister let the
messege they delivered get past her. She went on to
become a greedy rich Republican.
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 11:36 am Link to this comment
...God Said To Abraham, Kill Me A Son….................
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 11:34 am Link to this comment
The Dylan in All of Us
But I Would Not Feel So All Alone, Everybody Must Get
..................S T O N E D…..........................
Report thisBy Mitchell J. Freedman, September 11, 2010 at 10:01 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
The Dylan Cult lives on with Professor Wilentz. Give me Phil Ochs for the
historical ride through the Sixties. Give me Paul Simon for its cultural soundtrack.
Dylan remains terribly overrated, and he was and always will be a player…
http://mitchellfreedman.blogspot.com/2009/08/writer-stumbles-toward-
Report thisconnection.html
By ofersince72, September 11, 2010 at 6:22 am Link to this comment
My favorite Dylan albums were the early ones that
he hooked up with Robby Robertson and The Band…
They jammed…....and told a good story at the same time.
Report thisBy cheyennebode, September 11, 2010 at 6:01 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
SALLYSENSE…YOUR HOMAGE TO DYLAN WAS PURE GENIUS….
Report thisBy Goldberg Horowitz Weinstein, September 10, 2010 at 3:07 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Odd, that no one called out Luke Powell’s ridiculous cliche:
“What do the writer of this article, the subject on which he is writing, and the people who run this blog all have in common. All would appear to be secular Jews, the very people who so dominate every aspect of the media, government, and academia at the present time in the USA.es, in many many ways this has been a golden age intellectually as a consequence, but as America is led into deeper and deeper conflict with the entire world of Islam, failing to come to terms with the extent of Jewish cultural dominance, failing to talk about it at all becomes disingenuous if not dangerous.”
So, in some way, because non-Jewish America has been hypnotized by 2% of its smartypants population, and allowed this “golden age of intelligence” to flourish? Dylan, and others who control apparently every aspect of the media, are to blame for the increasingly tragic conflict in the Middle East? What have the other 98% of Americans been up to? Dylan’s fame was not related to his religious beliefs. He has always been a poet, a politically aware communicator whose words and music resonated to all types of people. His “Christian phase”—a kind of self-exploration not uncommon to many people—came at a time of disco dominance in music—also a time when he was busy raising a large family. Do you think his career suffered because Jewish media people blacklisted him? As should be the case with all Americans, religious beliefs are personal. Dylan has had a 50-year career with ups and downs and has continued to be an important part of our history and culture.
Over many centuries, Jewish populations have been subject to diasporas—forced from their homes, exiled, and tortured for being “too smart”, “dominating the culture”—basically, for being non-Christians.These events lead to inquisitions in Spain, pograms in Eastern Europe and finally Nazism, which seems to be making a comeback in many parts of the world. When are non-Jews going to stop putting the blame for the world’s problems on a culture that brings with it “a golden age of intelligence”? The big gorilla in the room is not who you think it is.
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 10, 2010 at 11:04 am Link to this comment
The point is moot since he returned to Judaism. You might write to
his website asking him the question posed here. Frankly I don’t
care if he was religiously reverberating at an altar of praise to a
purple platypus. I liked his music from the 70s onward, like about
40 years. I was too young to be involved in the 70s protest
movements but his vast and broad styles of musical rhythms were
wonderfully rebellious to my politically liberal ears and his poetic words
wonderful to my mind. There are always religionists trying to make
more out of what there is than there is so they can make their own
brand of noise. Ho hum.
linc makes a very good point about the poor quality of the article and
the inept treatment of the gorilla in the corner. I wondered almost to
the very end what the f the writer was really talking about. Not Dylan
that’s f’sure or his music.
Sam Cooke’s last name is spelled correctly on page 2 of the article.
Report thisBy ofersince72, September 10, 2010 at 10:53 am Link to this comment
Nashville Skyline was the last record by Dylan I
enjoyed, I ,like BR549, left Jagger and Dylan with the
sixies.
Dylan does host a decent show on Sat radio once a week.
Report thisBy linc, September 10, 2010 at 10:19 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Brief typographical note. Let’s do Sam Cooke the honor of spelling his last name correctly.
Brief note on the review. The several paragraphs about the reviewer’s opinion of Bob Dylan’s Chronicles seemed to distract from the reader finding out what was actually in the book under review.
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, September 10, 2010 at 10:19 am Link to this comment
I first saw Dylan in Jan 74’ at the Capital Center in Largo, MD for $4.50.
Silver was a buck an ounce then too.
Report thisBy sallysense, September 10, 2010 at 9:27 am Link to this comment
rpm’s in ‘65…
rpm’s in ‘65 on kitchen table legs…
and a record player spun around’n'bounced time on its head…
moving atmospheric vibes that open up the soul…
it touched this lowly heart’a mine through kinship most’a all…
bona fide in rings’a truth on high fidelity…
that musicmaker’s outright sound rang through eternity…
his voice’a versonality stirred up uncommon bonds…
from rhyming lips to fingertips with spunk’n'spirit on…
they helped inspire here’n'now and fire up those starts…
that motivate the being’s state to validate its part…
they led melodic fellowship and to my first guitar…
and hosted parlor dances with my babies under arm…
then bedtime stories for those kids when songs got played or read…
as daily homefront passage moved live music overhead…
and later onto some spare change and concert ticket stubs…
to see more ways than one of’a kind alive on stages’a love…
hence his song family’s offspring grow as tuned-in tones still thrive…
they always did and always will well past this space’a time…
bob dylan’s neat stuff means more to me than others put together…
what he does and what it’s done lives on’n'in forever!...
gotta love that man’n'his stuff!... yepper!...
the best of wishes’n'ways’n'todays to ya’n'all!...
and lotsa bob’s neat tunes’n'their doin’s to each’n'everyone!...
yessiree!...
Report thisBy Luke Powell, September 10, 2010 at 8:09 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I rarely come across any article that leaves such a large and colorful gorilla
Report thissitting in the corner so completely ignored. What do the writer of this article,
the subject on which he is writing, and the people who run this blog all have in
common. All would appear to be secular Jews, the very people who so dominate
every aspect of the media, government, and academia at the present time in
the USA. Yes, in many many ways this has been a golden age intellectually as a
consequence, but as America is led into deeper and deeper conflict with the
entire world of Islam, failing to come to terms with the extent of Jewish cultural
dominance, failing to talk about it at all becomes disingenuous if not
dangerous. How can you possibly talk about Dylan without discussing his
love/hate relationship with Christian America from his position as a secular
Jew? Everyone involved here is basically a believer in the Church of the
Enlightenment, people whose first allegiance is to America and its belief in
itself. Until you come to terms with this basic logical position, nobody involved
here is really talking about what was going on as God Bob, as I once heard him
called by rebellious Southern gentiles, took a generation by storm. We saw
Dylan as a hero, because he called on us to see that we still had common
beliefs and values, we Christians and Jews and others who valued life over war
and machines and hypocrisy. However, his situation as a “not a Christian” was
fundamental to both were he was coming from, how he was perceived, and how
rapidly his star went down once he became a Christian. I find it stunning that
Jewish bloggers, writers, and reviewers could overlook such a large gorilla in
the corner of the room at a time when the spotlight has recently been turned
on this subject by events of the times.
By BR549, September 10, 2010 at 7:49 am Link to this comment
Re: Shenonymous, September 10 at 11:21 am
“You sounded snotty about it. He did better than just make a living as he is a legend.”
“I” sounded snotty? Excuse me.
To you he’s a legend, maybe; to me he was just another dysfunctional egocentric looking for a soapbox and there’s been many of those ......... He’s a talented one, mind you, I’ll give you that, but just not one I would ever buy a record from. I wasn’t being snotty about it at all. As I said, it was a “personal preference”.
Instead of feeling some obsessive need to jump in and rescue his reputation, you might have mentioned some artists whom you happened to dislike or possibly detailing which of his attributes you so much admired. I didn’t trash him from the outset. He obviously has a following and these people somehow resinated with his message. I didn’t. No big deal. My comment doesn’t make either him or me a bad person, I just didn’t care for his music. Jeez, get over it.
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 10, 2010 at 7:21 am Link to this comment
You sounded snotty about it. He did better than just make a living
Report thisas he is a legend.
By BR549, September 10, 2010 at 6:51 am Link to this comment
Re: Shenonymous, September 10 at 10:44 am
“I suggest, BR549, September 10 at 9:03 am, that you avoid Dylan
and his music like the plague.”
I had said he was talented, and apparently there was enough of a following for
Report thishim to make a living from it. For those who found meaning in his words, that’s
great. I was merely stating my personal views and I wasn’t trying to be be snotty
about it ...... so what was it that “compelled” you to have to respond to this
anyway?
By Shenonymous, September 10, 2010 at 6:44 am Link to this comment
I suggest, BR549, September 10 at 9:03 am, that you avoid Dylan
Report thisand his music like the plague. I don’t think he needs the entire
world to like him or his music. There are enough that made his
raft project worthwhile
By PatrickHenry, September 10, 2010 at 6:27 am Link to this comment
Bob figured predominantly in my youth and I will always admire his work.
Report thisBy Mike789, September 10, 2010 at 5:05 am Link to this comment
Got some work to do in my appreciation of Bob Dylan. Haven’t read Chronicles and then this book.
Spending late nights playing pool in my buddy’s basement listening to “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and “Queen Jane Approximately”, and endlessly more, Dylan was simply intriguing. It all seemed to make sense and then not so. Thought I caught sight of him in the Village one day; dovetailing with the street life like a ghost, not there yet compresent. Got a plethora of lyrics in my skull that so often come to the fore as definitives of complex contemporary moments. They’re as befitting as if made for a future time-slot. Got to respect his desire to remain undefined, to not be pigeon-holed. Dylan’s a survivor.
Report thisBy BR549, September 10, 2010 at 5:03 am Link to this comment
It’s all personal taste, I guess. Personally, I never could stand Dylan (Bob Zimmermann). He was a real talented kid but developed this really nasty ego problem. Same thing with Mick Jagger, whom I wouldn’t listen to for the same reason.
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 10, 2010 at 4:57 am Link to this comment
Dylan is my favorite contemporary singer of folk, blues, country etc.
I have 103 of his songs that I often just set to listening to for the day.
You have to go to Dylan’s website to hear him singing any songs these
days as all that were on youtube, etc., have been pulled. So here is a
link to hear about 13 terrific offerings.
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/media/videos/all/musicvideo/all
Report thisBy expat in germany, September 10, 2010 at 3:14 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
What a coincidence to see this headline today. I was just blasting “Blonde on Blonde” in the car yesterday. (I can only do that when I’m alone because the kids make me turn it off.)
Report thisBy martin weiss, September 10, 2010 at 12:09 am Link to this comment
Clear Channel Radio and Nashville Country Music avoid Dylan like the plague. That shows how “American” they really are. Not so much. Corporate Radio. Pravda.
Report thisSo Dylan’s another boogeyman the right-wing’s scared of. The Hate, Fear and Ignorance consortium.
They sell the new, improved War and Debt.
Then go home to Desolation Row.
“And if I really say it, the radio won’t play it.”
—Mamas and Papas
“But it grieves my heart love to see you trying to be a part of a world that just don’t exist.
It’s all just a dream babe, a vacuum, a scheme, babe,
That sucks you into feeling like this.”
—To Ramona (B. Dylan)
Somebody please put Dylan back on the radio.