blindboygrunt Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2015/bob-dylan-aarp-magazine.html?cid=nl%3A1070415870&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uscolumbia-bobdylan&utm_campaign=email%7C1070415870%7C20150122&utm_content=nllink-3fcdc231-read%20online%20now%20on%20AARP.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Interesting. Frankly I've never been a Dylan (person) fan, regardless that I've done some of his music from "Positively Fourth Street" (dedicated to the girls on campus of the college I was attending <grin>) to one I wrote in a Dylanesque form that was used on radio as a folkie as well as in the rock band as a "Dylan" type thing in '65-66. Bottom line I guess is that I saw more commonality with him than I ever might have imagined. I think that's perspective of age, as he was noting. We grew up not all that far from each other in culture, at least, and with pretty much the same radio music. Went through rock, folkie and rock; the political outlook considerations of relationships, etc. Lives that went very different directions but - given the generation (both pre-baby boom births), I think there's a lot more in common than a cursory glance might reflect. So... I really think AARP mag (I'm too young for that - only 69) was a great venue for this. On the other hand, as reading King Lear may be something only for those over 40 at minimum to "get," I wonder how much of the interview will be really understood by those under age 60. I dunno. I also saw a reflection in his comments of T.S. Eliot's perspective on poetry; that poetry is best done as a reflection of emotion rather than an outpouring of it. That itself... Yeah, the BobZ interview, brought me into respect of the person, not just the poetry itself and a strange career and lifestyle as it appeared from here prior to reading it. Thanks BBG! m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Really good interview. Not the mystery man, but the wiser old soul. "Don't try to act like you're young. You could really hurt yourself." As one of those 68-year-old AARP geezers, I need to remember that one a bit more often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Really good interview. Not the mystery man, but the wiser old soul. "Don't try to act like you're young. You could really hurt yourself." As one of those 68-year-old AARP geezers, I need to remember that one a bit more often! Aah but I was so much older then than I'm younger than that now. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Yeah... Age and our reflection on our own age and that of others is something we seem to do forever. I recall a girlfriend when I was 19 suggesting that I was "old" inside. It wasn't meant as criticism, but I think rather that what I'd read and how it hit me was quite different from that of the average kid my age. I also had a rather different perspective on emotion and usage of emotion in both life and my own literature. Now... I think increasingly folks at my age group - including Dylan - tend to give up on seeking the images we sought from youth through our 50s and simply do what we wanna do and can afford physically and economically - and if folks don't like it, so what, they're no longer particularly relevant to whatever time we might have. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatstrat Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Dylan isn't for everyone and for some he is an acquired taste. I like a lot of Dylans old tunes and think he was/is a good songwriter. But see him now or buy a new record? NO and probably not. Lets face it, his voice is GONE. As is his respect for his fans. The video's I've seen of his performances in recent years were IMO unadulterated rip-offs. With many of the songs utterly unrecognizable. Not because of his changed voice, but IMO because he just mutters through them w/no attempt whatsoever to make them sound even similar to the songs his fan came to hear. Some say he's an Icon that has earned the right. Not with MY dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Dylan isn't for everyone and for some he is an acquired taste. I like a lot of Dylans old tunes and think he was/is a good songwriter. But see him now or buy a new record? NO and probably not. Lets face it, his voice is GONE. As is his respect for his fans. The video's I've seen of his performances in recent years were IMO unadulterated rip-offs. With many of the songs utterly unrecognizable. Not because of his changed voice, but IMO because he just mutters through them w/no attempt whatsoever to make them sound even similar to the songs his fan came to hear. Some say he's an Icon that has earned the right. Not with MY dollars. Who's your 'hero' then fatstrat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatstrat Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Who's your 'hero' then fatstrat? Good Question. I like a lot of people. But really have a "hero". If I had to pick one, it would be a them. The original LYNYRD SKYNYRD. Aside from their great guitar songs I liked the fact that Ronnie Van Zant insisted (with an iron fist if need be) that Skynyrd sounded THE SAME every time. Live or studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Aah but I was so much older then than I'm younger than that now. . Yes..... yes, indeed. He was an old soul even when he was young. I have a young soul even though I'm old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 No one can argue that Dylan wasn't relevant back in the 60s. Yes, he was influenced by many. But he influenced literally millions more. I would never expect a singer songwriter to keep performing his Top 40 every night throughout the world, the same way he did 50 years ago, anymore than I would expect Da Vinci to only paint thousands of the same Mona Lisa. I would expect him to do more, get better. If a poet doesn't improve with age, how can any of the rest of us expect to? I am really very shallow (no surprise here) and can't say I like more than half of any single singer/songwriter's work. But, the ones that I like make me a 'fan for life', and absolutely willing to 'forgive' them for things they do I don't like. My taste is not so refined that they should try to please me 100% of the time. They need to appeal to others - but more importantly - do what they think is relevant to their own souls. And, the wisest observation I've heard in years - "Now... I think increasingly folks at my age group - including Dylan - tend to give up on seeking the images we sought from youth through our 50s and simply do what we wanna do and can afford physically and economically - and if folks don't like it, so what, they're no longer particularly relevant to whatever time we might have." ... Words to live by. If not when your in your 60s, then when? Your 70s? Better - shoot for your 50s ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatstrat Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 No one can argue that Dylan wasn't relevant back in the 60s. Yes, he was influenced by many. But he influenced literally millions more. I would never expect a singer songwriter to keep performing his Top 40 every night throughout the world, the same way he did 50 years ago, anymore than I would expect Da Vinci to only paint thousands of the same Mona Lisa. I would expect him to do more, get better. If a poet doesn't improve with age, how can any of the rest of us expect to? I am really very shallow (no surprise here) and can't say I like more than half of any single singer/songwriter's work. But, the ones that I like make me a 'fan for life', and absolutely willing to 'forgive' them for things they do I don't like. My taste is not so refined that they should try to please me 100% of the time. They need to appeal to others - but more importantly - do what they think is relevant to their own souls. And, the wisest observation I've heard in years - "Now... I think increasingly folks at my age group - including Dylan - tend to give up on seeking the images we sought from youth through our 50s and simply do what we wanna do and can afford physically and economically - and if folks don't like it, so what, they're no longer particularly relevant to whatever time we might have." ... Words to live by. If not when your in your 60s, then when? Your 70s? Better - shoot for your 50s ! That's certainly a valid opinion that elder artists often come to. But IMO only as long as you're living up to the expectations of what you're asking people to PAY to see & hear. Dylan has every right to make new records based on his current attitude. But when on tour, most of the public are there to hear the oldies primarily. If you want to be up front and advertise "I'm tired of that crap and I'm not playing it anymore", fine. But if the TV/Radio promo's advertise it, IMO you owe it to your fans to not only PLAY IT. But do so enthusiastically. That's what makes Paul McCartney and Elton John concert sell outs to this day. If they're tired of the old stuff, you'd never sense it. Basically, If you're tired of performing. Stay home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetdog Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 What a lot of folks don't get is that Dylan, like Miles Davis did, never plays it the same twice. If you want to hear it like it "was" then listen to the flippin' record. If you want to hear it like he is feeling it NOW, listen live. You may not like it. I reckin he'd be cool with that. In past interviews Dylan was always pissed that folks thought they knew him and wanted him to act or feel or play or sing according to their preconceived, put-him-in-a-pigeon-hole way, as did Jimmy Hendrix. Then he'd surprise you. Always mixing it up, flipping it around, putting a new spin on it and serving it up authentically. I mean who would have though he'd be cool with AARP? He has never had a "great" voice. but neither does Willy Nelson or Neil Young. Love him, hate him or indifferent, the reason we are talking about him now is that he is by all accounts the quintessential singer/songwriter. His interview which I've only read in part seems civil, wise, thoughtful, respectful and authentic. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Dylan isn't for everyone and for some he is an acquired taste. I can see that for people who did not grow up, along with Dylan, in the 60s, when he was flowering. From '63 to '66 he had six albums that just had a lot of great stuff on them. I particularly liked his use of a whistle ring on one of those pieces, lol. Bob Dylan 1962 The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 1963 Another Side Of Bob Dylan 1964 The Times They Are A-Changin' 1964 Highway 61 Revisited 1965 Bringing It All Back Home 1965 Blonde On Blonde 1966 John Wesley Harding 1968.... But frankly, after that, I was apparently not too impressed with what he was coming out with. Maybe I just wasn't collecting much music anymore at the time... I like a lot of Dylans old tunes and think he was/is a good songwriter. But see him now or buy a new record? NO and probably not. Yep, the old tunes were great. I haven't really followed him much since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I think the reason Dylan did the interview with AARP magazine is simply because ... regardless of our politics or the state our our health in the "AARP" age group... we can identify with a lot of commonalities. One commonality is - do whatever and if folks don't like it they can jump in a lake. I think that's also why Dylan made the comment that he'd like to get a free copy of this new material to all of the old people <grin> likely to read the mag. It's kinda a solidarity with "us," as well as an admission that is is one of "us." In our teens and 20s we set up a facade. We maintain it often through our 50s. Usually at least around 60-something, it's a matter of, "Okay, I'm me and some of the facade is a part of me, but only a part. Now on, I'm me." m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Enjoyed that interview.Interesting take on how he felt playing something with the universality of these covers compared with the "particular" of a personal song like "Queen Jane...." Love the Woodstock family portrait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 At just 46 yrs old, I assure you Dylan's music is hardly age-centric. Nearly every one of my friends knows Dylan's catalog to some degree and many well beyond just the work from 1962-1968. He's never considered the record to be the definitive recording, but a moment in time. The idea of trying to replicate a moment isn't in his wheelhouse. That's something Don Henley insists upon. Recent tours -- one in this decade -- have seen him largely abandon his pre-2000 catalog, only salting the setlist with, say, "Tangled Up in Blue" and one two others, with the remaining set being pulled from his last four or five studio albums. His voice is no longer what it was due to the simple fact that he's been touring so much, though his voice sounds much better on the tracks for this new album than it did on much of Tempest, where it sounded like he'd hit the end of the line, his voice often singing two notes at once and one of them not being in consonance with the other. He's one of the very few who still believes in magic. His interviews are thousand times more interesting than most. I only hope he lives long enough to write Chronicles, Vols. 2 & 3. Because of my age, I did not experience Dylan in real time, but rather the years 1983 (14-15yrs old), 1991 (22-23 yrs. old) were spent in deep listening as if he was the only musician alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 It's kinda a solidarity with "us," as well as an admission that is is one of "us." But I was never into Sinatra, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 ...I did not experience Dylan in real time, but rather the years 1983 (14-15yrs old), 1991 (22-23 yrs. old) were spent in deep listening as if he was the only musician alive. Good to hear it, Smurf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Good to hear it, Smurf. Agree. Reassuring - and all the friends are in too. . Personally go further than you, Cougar. The last really good record for me was Slow Train. I bought Saved and found it okay, saw the show here and there also, then took an album-break until Oh M. which was a relief after all those years of drought. Dylan was strong in the 70's, but his voice quit as soon as the early 80's. At some point back then he sang up stadiums from a tiny spot behind the nose. Imagine a tired goat delivering all those classics. Painful, , , and it went on and on. Kept attending the concerts, but the pleasure was limited. Then suddenly after bein' down with a quite serious disease, he performed a brilliant gig in the late 90's. Remember Cold Irons Bound (Time Out of Mind) from that event as nothing short of fantastic. By then things generally turned good again, but at some point I had to stop goin'. Routine sat in again. Needed other virtues than unpredictable spontaneity, weird abstractions and hearing him takin' the piss out of his own melodies. When he switched to keyboard, the ride was over. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I am a newcomer to BBG in my late 40s. Actually just in the last two years or so. Never seen him live. Interesting thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I am a newcomer to BBG in my late 40s. Actually just in the last two years or so. Never seen him live. Interesting thread. I saw him live for the first time in 1978. As I recall it, he had Elvis Presley's former bass player in the ensemble and that guy was interviewed for the rock-radio here. Remember he told that Dylan now had taken over as maestro himself, , , and played that role in front of an enormous band including horn-section, percussionist and 2-3 girl singers. Yes, we were excited ! , , with the bass-man ending up saying : I won't tell you too much, but you gonna be amazed. . . It was the Street Legal / Budokan Tour and here's the line-up : Billy Cross – lead guitar Steve Douglas – saxophone, Flute, Recorder Helena Springs – backing vocals Debi Dye – backing vocals Jo Ann Harris – backing vocals Bobbye Hall – percussion David Mansfield – pedal steel, violin, mandolin, dobro, guitar Alan Pasqua – keyboards Ed Rash – tambourine Steven Soles – acoustic rhythm guitar, backing vocals Rob Stoner – bass guitar backing vocals Ian Wallace – drums Btw Dylan on stage called Steve Douglas 'the genius of the band' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Of course, one of the more maddening aspects of being a fan is tracking down his best stuff. He's notorious for choosing inferior takes and removing the best songs from the album and substituting them for others. There's a reason why the Bootleg Series has so many of his best songs in their best, or better, versions. Still, there exist so many bootlegs that feature even better takes. I'm hoping this year's expected 40th Anniv of Blood on the Tracks will finally include all the various takes of Idiot Wind...so much better than the one on the official album and even a few takes as good as the one on Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3. Has the solo piano version of She's Your Lover Now ever been officially released? What a masterpiece! So much nuance, so much inspiration. I recently received copies of Van Morrison's Into the Music and Common One in their 2008 UK remasters, which were discontinued because Van got pissed off that they were outselling his new albums, and the outtakes/ bonus tracks are transcendent. Alt. takes of "When Heart is Open," "Haunts of Ancient Peace," "Steppin' Out Queen" and "Troubadours" are just what music is meant to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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