When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it - don't back down and don't give up - then you're going to mystify a lot of folks.
Bob Dylan
I guess it's a pretty good time to talk about Bob Dylan, one of my longtime favorite musicians. Martin Scorsese will be doing a film on him that will be shown on PBS September 26th and 27th at nine PM.
What can I say about this man, that has not been said already ?
Probably nothing...
I'll try anyway.
In an era when McCartney is letting his name be used in commercials, and the Stones are charging ridiculous prices for tickets to their shows - Dylan stays true to himself, and to his art. He began " The Never Ending Tour" in about 1988, and he still is going strong. Right now he preparing to tour Europe, and the prices announced for his shows are what the Stones are probably charging for a " Jumping Jack Flash(light) " , or whatever new corporate marketing trinket they can conceive of. Prices for his shows in England are about thirty euros.
This is a man who has challenged his audience, and himself, every step of the way. From his teenage rock and roll years, he transformed himself into a folksinger. Moving to New York City from Hibbing, Minnisota - he met his idol Woody Guthrie as he lay dying, and became the voice of his generation, as Guthrie had been to his.
Before Dylan, singers had their songs written by other people in popular American music. After Dylan, the concept of performer was replaced by artist/performer. Music would never be the same again.
Who else but Dylan could write a lyric as intricate and poetic as this verse from " Mr. Tamborine Man ? "
Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
Copyright © 1964; renewed 1992 Special Rider Music
He introduced the pill popping Beatles to marijuana, which he had assumed they knew all about. When he had listened to " I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the radio, he had heard them sing " I get high, I get high..." in the chorus.
Actually, it was " I can't hide, I can't hide " sung with a Liverpuddlian accent.
In that hotel room in New York City, with all the curtains closed and wet towels stuffed under the doors to block the smell, the Beatles were introduced to a new world of creativity. We can thank Dylan for that.
At his height of popularity as a folksinger, Dylan picked up an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, to a chorus of boos and catcalls from his "fans". He paid no attention, turned up the volume to the maximum - and created the genre of folk rock all by himself, with a little help from his friends The Band.
He influenced everyone, and then disappeared after a motorcycle accident for a while at his home in Woodstock, New York. During his recovery, a bootleg of his new work surfaced, and showed Dylan was still trying to push the boundries of music.
Through the latter part of the Sixties and early Seventies, many of his contemporaries burned themselves out and died early deaths. Morrison, Joplin and Hendrix passed away, and the Beatles broke up while the Stones circled around like a ship without a rudder. In that period, Dylan kept on going strong.
Dylan got divorced, and the crushing effect on him produced "Blood On The Tracks". It's one of those "musts' in any CD collection, along with " Blonde On Blonde ". Anyone who has ever had their heart broken can relate to the bittersweat tone of that CD.
Juat a sample of his lyrics, from one of my favorite songs from " Blood On The Tracks" - " Simple Twist Of Fate "
People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within.
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring.
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate.
Copyright © 1974 Ram's Horn Music
You can read the rest of the lyrics of that song ( and all his others ), and hear samples here:
http://bobdylan.com/songs/twist.html
I had the great privlege to see him live, in Quebec City, in 1975 with the Rolling Thunder Revue. I was sitting in the third row center, in an arena normally used for hockey games. Dylan came out, with a white face and hat, and his band was a collection of some of the best musicians of that time period.
Here's a clip of Dylan, which is pretty much exactly the view I had of him in action - from that third row seat that night. I can still remember him doing "Isis" that night.
Roger McGuinn from the Byrds showed up, and Joan Baez did her "hippie chick" go go dance :
They all rocked out the house, with Dylan at the top of his game. The second part of the show opened with Dylan and Joan Baez sitting together playing acoustic guitar and singing. It was a magical moment, and one of those memories I will treasure forever.
I saw him again in the late Seventies, from the back of the old Montreal Forum. This was during a period where he had rearranged his old songs to such a point that it sometimes took about a minute to even recognize them, even for a diehard fan like myself.
The last time I saw him was on the Slow Train Tour in the early Eighties. That show was is a small theater in Montreal called the St. Denis. It opened with a full gospel choir doing a few songs, and then Dylan walked out and the magic began.
Since then he has continued, and proven his talent again with his recent releases. Every time he has been written off, he transforms himself, and proves once more that few artists in the history of modern music have the creativity, determination, and drive that Dylan has always shown.
I know one thing, I'll be watching those shows on PBS, and buying a ticket the next time he plays in Montreal.
Bob - thank you for everything you have given me - and the rest of the world.
Here is Bob Dylan, during that "Rolling Thunder" period, doing one of my favorite Dylan tracks "Shelter From The Storm" . It's loose and free, with Bob actually playing slide guitar.
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