Bob Dylan

[sodascouts]

While I can't be characterized as a fan of the highest ardor, I recognize his remarkable skills as a lyricist. Certainly he's worthy of his own thread! :)

[WalshFan88]

I really like some of Dylan's stuff. Especially "Highway 61 Revisited".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk3mAX5xdxo

[Freypower]

Thanks Soda. Now where do I start? I just didn't want to start a thread for Bob for the sake of it; like the Dire Straits thread while it may be a passion of mine others may not agree.

I always do these Top 10 things. So off the top of my head my Top 10 Dylan songs are as follows:

1. Like A Rolling Stone
2. Tangled Up In Blue
3. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
4. Lay Lady Lay
5. Hurricane
6. Just Like A Woman
7. Positively 4th Steet
8. Lily, Rosemary & the Jack Of Hearts
9. Visions Of Johanna
10. Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

And I could have included so much else in there; I would say those songs are the ones which mean most to me at the moment.

What I might do later is include some snippets of my favourite Dylan lyrics. I did that in the Led Zeppelin thread.

My Top 10 albums are:

1. Blood On The Tracks
2. Highway 61 Revisited
3. Blonde On Blonde
4. Desire
5. Bringing It All Back Home
6. Time Out Of Mind
7. Another Side Of Bob Dylan
8. Nashville Skyline
9. John Wesley Harding
10. Modern Times

But other more recent albums like Oh Mercy & Love & Theft which I am still getting to know are also excellent. Ironically I don't have the earliest, folk influenced albums although I have many of the songs on Biograph & on the Manchester Free Trades Hall discs.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well - I'm pretty much in agreement with Soda here. While I recognize and appreciate Dylan's skills as a poetic lyricist, I've never been much of a fan of his vocals. I love a lot of the songs he wrote, but honestly, the only song I like hearing him sing is "Like a Rolling Stone".

[AzEaglesFan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8s9dmuAKvU&feature=player_detailpage

[Freypower]

Bob's been in Asia; Vietnam last night our time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13029109

I hope that the setlist for Australia includes two songs mentioned here; A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall & Highway 61 Revisited, although I did see Hard Rain in 2007.

He had to play an 'approved set' in China:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/touring/bob-dylan-gets-rapturous-reception-at-china-1005118752.story

But Like A Rolling Stone?! Yes please, Bob! In 2007 the setlist was mainly newer material.

[Freypower]

I saw Bob last night. My review of the 2007 show is here:

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=310&page=18

Last night's setlist:

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Tangled Up In Blue
Jolene
Forgetful Heart
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Cold Irons Bound
When The Deal Goes Down
The Levee's Gonna Break
Simple Twist Of Fate
Highway 61 Revisited
Ballad Of A Thin Man

Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower
Forever Young

The most disconcerting aspect of the show was watching Bob just stand at the mic with no guitar clutching his harmonica which was attached to a hand mic. You expect him to play guitar! It wasn't right; even if he's pushing 70 you would have thought some acoustic guitar wouldn't be beyond him. Otherwise he played organ or electric guitar.

The famous nasal whine is now a guttaral growl. This did songs like Senor (which I absolutely love) & Tom Thumb's Blues no favours at all. He used to sneer 'I'm going back to New York City/I do believe I've had enough', not gargle it. He cut out half of Tangled Up In Blue & slowed it to a crawl; he should not have played it (fortunately I have seen it done properly). And yet the growl worked surprisingly well on the delicate Simple Twist of Fate & less surprisingly on the venomous Ballad Of A Thin Man. But again it made Like A Rolling Stone (minus the 'jugglers & the clowns' verse) nowhere near as transcendent as it should have been.

Ironically the more recent songs probably worked better (the setlist was nowhere near as heavy with recent songs as 2007); Cold Irons Bound & The Levee's Gonna Break were superb & Forgetful Heart was poignant. Highway 61 Revisted rocked, as it should. All Along The Watchtower & Forever Young seemed to say 'farewell Australia'.

The guitarist, Charlie Sexton, was uncannily similar to Robbie Robertson during the Last Waltz period (I'm sure Troub will see what I mean by that... :rockguitar:

http://expectingrain.com/dok/who/images/sexton_dylan.jpg

That isn't last night, but it gives you an idea!

[Spiritinthesky]

Any Dylan fans?

http://www.facebook.com/ThisdayinBobDylan

[Freypower]

Any Dylan fans?

http://www.facebook.com/ThisdayinBobDylan

I am a Dylan fan, but I don't use Facebook. Welcome.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Fifty years ago today, Dylan released his first album. This is from a local DC TV station.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/03/bob-dylan-s-first-album-released-50-years-ago-today-73939.html

[WS82Classics]

I bought his 'Greatest Hits' CD on Saturday. It was an interesting listen. Most songs are what I would call 'Quintessential Dylan.' "Rainy Day Women" is a bit of a dumb song, but a solid album opener none the less. My favourites were "Like a Rolling Stone,"(steadily emerging as an all-time favourite) "Subterranean Homesick Blues," and "Positively Fourth Street."(sums up a lot of people I've known) "Mr. Tambourine Man" was a very good song in its full version, though I still prefer the Byrds' cover.

Top 5 Dylan songs:

1. "Like a Rolling Stone"
2. "Lay, Lady, Lay"
3. "Positively Fourth Street"
4. "Tangled Up in Blue"
5. "Subterranean Homesick Blues"

[Jonny Come Lately]

I'd not seen that compilation before, although looking at the track list I think it's a pretty good summary of that epoch of Dylan's career.

Here's my approximate top ten songs in chronological order; not too worried about ranking them, as they are all classics.

Subterranean Homesick Blues
Mr Tambourine Man
Like A Rolling Stone
Tombstone Blues
Desolation Row
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Tangled Up In Blue
Idiot Wind
Hurricane

Most of the ones you cited as favourites are high up my own list. I personally really like Rainy Day Women - it is silly but it makes me laugh! It's funny because it was actually released as a single. I am trying to imagine how the lines 'everybody must get stoned' sounded on the radio back in the 1960s. :hilarious:

Lots of other great ones I could mention too of course - Don't Think Twice It's Alright, Visions of Johanna, Shelter From The Storm and others. A couple of really good ones that I think don't get enough attention are Love Minus Zero/No Limit from Bringing It All Back Home (fantastic lyrics such as 'She knows there's no success like failure, and that failure's no success at all') and One More Cup Of Coffee from Desire (love the combination of Bob's vocals with Emmylou Harris).

I'm most familiar with the 1960s electric trilogy and the two great mid-1970s albums (Blood On The Tracks and Desire). Elsewhere I generally know the famous songs but haven't explored the deeper tracks to the same extent - for instance, Knockin On' Heaven's Door is definitely one of my very favourites, but I've never listened to the rest of the soundtrack album it hails from.

[buffyfan145]

Congrats to Bob Dylan for getting the Nobel Prize for Literature!!! :D He's the first singer/songwriter to be awarded it.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I heard about this around lunchtime (in the UK) today. Congratulations to Bob for an unprecedented achievement! I have no idea if this will open the way for other singer/songwriters to win this award, but Bob truly deserves this as he's on a different planet with his lyrics. As much as I love lyrics by people like Don H, Roger Waters and Neil Young I'd probably struggle to justify them getting an award like this, but no one else makes me think 'how did they come up with that?' in awe of their lyrical abilities like Bob does. I think the difference between him and others is that most of the other greats write brilliant lyrics that sound great when sung, whereas so many of Bob's songs would stand up if they were read as poems with no musical accompaniment.

One day his work will be written in down books, kind of like the ones you can get written by Italian poets in the thirteenth century. :wink:

[Freypower]

I have mixed feelings about this. As a fan I'm very pleased. As a student of literature I am not so sure. Great though his lyrics are (or WERE) they still for the most part followed the standard verse/chorus/verse structure of the popular song. I will be interested to hear Soda's thoughts on this.

Also it must be said this award is for the 60s & the first half of the 70s. The truth is that apart from a couple of albums (Time Out Of Mind, Modern Times) his output has been erratic. I wouldn't class anything from the later albums as deserving of a Nobel Prize - and ironically his last two albums have been 'American Songbook' albums.

So yes, while Tangled Up In Blue & Desolation Row may well be included in poetry anthologies, a lot of it won't.

The New York Times thinks he shouldn't have got it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/opinion/why-bob-dylan-shouldnt-have-gotten-a-nobel.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Britain's Daily Telegraph thinks he should:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/bob-dylan-turned-the-simple-pop-song-into-fine-literature---of-c/

[Dawn]

A recent, very interesting and lengthy interview with Bob Dylan!

"Bob Dylan Discusses Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Iggy Pop, Amy Winehouse & New 'Triplicate' Album In Rare Interview

Read entire interview here extensive Q&A with Bill Flanagan

http://www.bobdylan.com/news/qa-with-bill-flanagan/