Bob Dylan, have an opinion?


Would love to hear your comments on the man. Good, bad or indifferent. Is he rocks most influential artist? Is he a musical and poetic genius? What are your favorite albums, songs, and concerts. Cornfedboy, ya got any good Dylan stories?
brulee

Showing 1 response by cornfedboy

brulee: i've said some of this before, but since you asked............ our 1st son, born may 7, 1969, was named dylan. that was a fairly rare name at the time but, unfortunately, is no longer. i was struck by its commonality especially when i learned that one of the columbine killers was named dylan klebold. that coldblooded killer couldn't have been named for the man born bobby zimmerman. at least i'll never believe so.

i heard dylan's first record in 1963 on a hifi rig built by one of my fraternity brothers. it was my listening to his unique voice on that tiny system, singing "blowing in the wind" that drove me into the hobby i've been at ever since.

first time i saw dylan perform was by chance, the year before i 1st heard him on vinyl. he was playing in a small venue, a bar really, just off harvard square. he mostly sang duets with a young woman named joan baez.

i've followed dylan's careening paths through folk, rock, nashville country, christian, post-divorce and all other forms of music he's written and sung for, lo, these last 39 years. he's disappointed me at times, i'll admit. but his best stuff is, IMHO, some of the most important music of the last century. as others have said, he's never had a soothing voice or great range. nonetheless, his music and his words nearly always shine through.

i hadn't seen the man live since he toured with the dead, until i went to see him and paul simon sing together a couple or three years ago. lately, i've been to at least a concert a year. he's playing at mackey auditorium at the university of colorado tomorrow nite. i'm planning on being there, with all the other old farts and the youngest generation, so far, to embrace him. -kelly