Has my life been wasted listening to and following Bob Dylan for almost 5 decades?
Bob Dylan on tour in Barrowsland UK
One of the world’s most prolific songwriters and touring performers turns 72 doing what he likes the most – touring.
Bob Dylan, who is 72 years old today, is taking a few days off from The Never Ending Tour but he will be back on the road June 26th in West Palm Beach Florida.
Born May 24, 1941, Dylan was the darling of the 1960’s folk and folk rock scene, establishing a legacy for himself as the pre-eminent singer songwriter.
Celebrate his birthday by listening to your fave Dylan music.
An amalgam of Woody Guthrie, ancient and modern blues artists, Hank Williams and Bertolt Brecht, Dylan was the dream iconoclast for 1960’s teenagers – articulate, rebellious and musical.
If you dare visit my 93-year-old mother, she will regale you with stories of me sitting on the dining room piano keyboard lid, with my guitar and coat-hanger harmonica holder trying to learn Dylan songs while watching myself in the mirror.
I discovered Dylan reading jazz critic Nat Hentoff extol Dylan’s virtues in “Stereo Review” and “The New Yorker” magazine as a junior music critic for the Halifax Mail Star in 1963. While parents thought him tuneless and a terrible singer, we knew he was awesome and a counter force to the square lifestyle they dreamed for us in the post-war era.
Who else was singing about “how does it feel” and dark poetic lines like
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying
(lyrics of “It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Just as soon as Dylan established himself with protest songs like “Blowin’ In the Wind” and “Masters of War”, Dylan metamorphosis revealed the rock singer in classics starting with “Like a Rolling Stone” in 1965 which re-fined what a rock song could be, including 6 minutes long.
“I Want You” by Bob Dylan, Cornell University 1999
So began a life long fascination with Bob Dylan that included being a Bob Dylan jukebox for no other reason than I could remember and sing his songs. When I formed my first rock band in my 50s, we got fired in the audition because it was really just a Bob Dylan tribute band.
Who cares? We were having fun.
Some people like Bob Dylan 1966, some like Bob Dylan from 1975 and “Blood on the Tracks”. Others swear by his two albums with producer wunderkind Daniel Lanois.
Over the 50 years of his career, Bob Dylan has worked with, toured with and recorded with more great musicians than any artist I know.
When Dylan disappears off the scene he is likely hanging out with musical friends and may produce another gem like Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne in the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys.
Wikipedia has a very good synopsis of Bob Dylan’s life and work. On YouTube check out hollisbrown000 for some great concert videos.
An excellent career profile was published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by Jon Bream “The Minnesota Profile Forever Bob Dylan“. Jon interviewed a ton of people for his story and got this admission from me,
“Not every fan remains unrelentingly gaga. Canadian journalist Stephen Pate, 64, has been observing Dylan since 1963 and has posted 500 items on his Dylan blog since 2005. He sees the effects of age on the singer, who seldom plays guitar anymore in concert. Some say that’s because of arthritis.
“I still have a great deal of respect for him,” Pate said. “I listen to Dylan every day. He’s my life’s study.” But he bluntly blogged in October: “Enough is enough. He has lost his voice and apparently now his sense of pitch and musical timing.”
I have to eat those words since Dylan has returned to the stage this year in better voice. He is getting strong reviews wherever he has been this spring. OK so what do I know about Bob Dylan.
Thanks Mr. Dylan for a lifetime of music and songs. You could retire anytime, but would you swing by Halifax again before you do it? Or at least Bangor Maine.
I was setting up a new bookshelf this week. The Dylan books took up two rows, the Dylan CD’s another row doubled. There was no room for the Dylan vinyl, VHS tapes, DVD’s and Laserdics. My wife, who has been with me to at least 8 Dylan concerts, said I’d better leave her a shelf or else. I need to order some stuff from Ikea, soon.
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