The Bob hits seventy thread!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

as well as Bob and Fan on BBC4 tonite also this

[gurnemanz]

.......Of course with Desolation Row one also thinks of the epics "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" and "Highlands". Although the latter came many decades later, it is one to make you laugh as well as think.

When Time out of Mind came out I got quite fascinated by the Highland/Lowlands links. Here's an article I bookmarked at the time.

http://my.execpc.com/~billp61/highland.html

[Anna]

Only just twigged what this thread is about. Greatly enjoyed the BBC4 prog, had no idea about Dylan really, only thing I knew was the The pumps don't work cos the vandal took the handel didn't know about McCathyism or any of that stuff. Makes me want to investigate a lot more.

[zola]

What more to say about BobbyZ ? Ok, the voice is a bit of a croak now but listen to it at Newport '63 ringing clear as a bell. Great DJ too. Song to take to the grave ? Desolation Row. Remember walking alongside it at the Isle of Wight in 1969.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

...ah the great Lonnie


a song for today of all days

[johncorrigan]

...ah the great Lonnie


a song for today of all days

The great Lonnie indeed, Calum - thanks for that fine article and mighty fine song.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Interestingly, or not, Paul Simon also 70 this year - we are all getting old brothers and sisters - says in a recent interview...."One of my deficiencies is my voice sounds sincere," Simon says. "I've tried to sound ironic. I don't. I can't. Dylan, everything he sings has two meanings. He's telling you the truth and making fun of you at the same time. I sound sincere every time"

I hope Paul Simon doesn't mean that he's just a lightweight alongside Dylan. 'The Boxer' and 'Slip-slidin' away' are two of the heaviest, saddest, finest C20 songs I know.

[antongould]

I think having read a fair bit about Paul Simon he has felt that from the very start of their "careers".

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

well he might, i think Paul Simon is an immense talent and think his work excellent .... it is just that Dylan is truly something else again ... no one can live where he works .. watching the Scorse film Part 1 last night brought to mind the sheer impact he had on everyone everywhere .... and it is all still standing ... the lyrics are still spellbinding and original ...

[Lateralthinking1]

I completely agree with the above post. I believe R4 are doing their bit on Bob at 8pm tonight. Welcome but they have been doing their utmost all day to turn themselves into what R2 should be. Earlier, a half hour slot on Francoise Hardy - recommended for those who use the I-Player and this afternoon, a programme in which three people chose their most meaningful song. Less successful - Rush from 1977 didn't exactly grab me.

[Globaltruth]

I completely agree with the above post. I believe R4 are doing their bit on Bob at 8pm tonight. Welcome but they have been doing their utmost all day to turn themselves into what R2 should be. Earlier, a half hour slot on Francoise Hardy - recommended for those who use the I-Player and this afternoon, a programme in which three people chose their most meaningful song. Less successful - Rush from 1977 didn't exactly grab me.

Yep, listen to the sound of the media going into overload.... I'm sure someone can quote an appropriate line of Bobbery.

btw I only have 1 small piece of trivialese about BD - I knew the man who drove him some of the time when he toured UK. The car was an elderly SAAB (9.5 Aero) but the possibly fascinating fact (other than that Bob was perfectly pleasant, whereas his minder was a p*** in the a***) is that, at every gig Bob used to get dropped off a few hundred yards away as he always insisted on walking to the gig. Presumably round the back. er, that's it.

[johncorrigan]

I hope Paul Simon doesn't mean that he's just a lightweight alongside Dylan. 'The Boxer' and 'Slip-slidin' away' are two of the heaviest, saddest, finest C20 songs I know.

I found this article from earlier this year comparing Paul and Bob's various approaches to dealing with heartbreak in song very interesting - it's from Laura Barton's Hail Haill Rock'n'roll column in the Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/20/hail-hail-rock-n-roll

[MrGongGong]

how much of the interest in Dylan is to do with the lyrics of the songs ? not the music ................I'm not a great fan myself but do sometimes find the whole way that music has become (was it ever not ? ) so entangled with the word that when people say they like a particular songwriter they are often more interested in the words than the sound of the thing ............

Geeky saab moment (why do so many musicians drive these ?)
whats a
"The car was an elderly SAAB (9.5 Aero) " surely you mean a V4 95 (that was the first car i had) the estate version of the 96 ?

[johncorrigan]

how much of the interest in Dylan is to do with the lyrics of the songs ? not the music ................I'm not a great fan myself but do sometimes find the whole way that music has become (was it ever not ? ) so entangled with the word that when people say they like a particular songwriter they are often more interested in the words than the sound of the thing ............

Geeky saab moment (why do so many musicians drive these ?)
whats a
"The car was an elderly SAAB (9.5 Aero) " surely you mean a V4 95 (that was the first car i had) the estate version of the 96 ?

Mr GG, I think the great thing about Bob is that he never stood still - he's kept on moving, reflecting whatever was going on with him at any time - the changeling. So yes sometimes it's the words - there is a poetic element to him; but sometimes it's the bands that he chose (or that happened) - a lot of what is great about 'Highway 61 Revisited' or 'Blonde on Blonde' is not just the songs, but is the wonderful band and his ability to pull that together. Then sometimes he seems to create an atmosphere - John Wesley Harding has a feeling about it that no other has; but so has 'Blood on the Tracks' or 'Love and Theft'. It always seems like when he's at his best he's been in a zone and gives me a glimpse of something else...and sometimes I might even think I've got the hang of what he's saying....and sometimes I'm not that bothered. I just love listening to his energy.

[MrGongGong]

yes I get all of that
BUT

How much is to do with SOUND as opposed to TEXT ?