Any Bob Dylan fans?

[markb77]

Hi Mark ,
The album coincided with my conversion and the words and melodies harmonised with my emotions , there was and still is a connection . I had gone from heavy Rock to Dylan in a wink of an eye , I have just about everything Bob has ever done including acetates and box sets , I'm contemplating the new box set to hear 'Street Legal' remixed , sounds so cool .

I do wish Budokan had been filmed , I had that free poster that came out with the double LP on my wall for years

I barely knew three songs by Bob until this album , All along the Watchtower (Hendrix of course) ! Like a Rolling Stone (again Hendrix) and Tambourine Man (by The Byrds)

I still prefer some of the re workings on this album , ' I want You' sounds so powerful here . I also prefer 'Ballad of a Thin man' on this album....

I could chat for days about this subject

Yes. Now that you mention it, I believe I remember "Thin Man" standing out as one of the best things on the album. Now I'm going to have to pull this down off the shelf and give it a listen. I only have it on vinyl - one of the few BD albums I haven't yet bought on CD.

 

[SFTS]

I just discovered Bob Dylan last year and have immersed myself in his music ever since. I even went to the concert he had last year here in Va Beach. All his works have been unbelievable and he has always had such a deep spiritual connection, even in his secular music. I have about 30 cd albums now, that I have got off ebay or at local music stores. My favorite songs are SFTS - "Shelter from the Storm" and "Every Grain of Sand". I had been so out of touch with his music, that it wasn't until I was in my 30's that I even learned he wrote "Blowin' in the Wind". Listening to his new works like "Tempest" gave me such comfort to know he was still around and writing good music, albiet it's a bit different than his early folk years.
He is still supporting the common people, like in his recent album "Hard Times", with the song "Workingman Blues". I could go on forever and don't get me started on his Gospel albums!

 

[Blue Wren]

I don't like all of his songs, but, I like many of them. I like Shelter from the Storm, very much

 

[Dante116]

I like a lot of his songs, but the one that stands out to me as my favorite is Changing of the Guards.

 

[Brokenhill]

One of my favorite artists as well.

'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' would have to be my favorite album of his.

 

[Sammy-San]

That big box set is way out of my price range, but I have the majority of his albums in one format or another. Dylan is one of those artists I can't help but buy pretty much anything they put out. I did pick up The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 - Another Self Portriat the other week, and was plesantly surprised by how much I liked it on first listen. There are a few things on there that are a little silly, but by and large, it's excellent.

What do people like about Bob Dylan? He isnt a good singer, and a lot of his songs are boring and not exciting.

 

[grasping the after wind]

By the way, Rolling Stone Mag gave "Like a Rolling Stone" the #1 spot for best rock song of all time. Blonde on Blonde & HW61 Re. are very near the top of their best albums.
Merrily, just curious...what do you think of Desolation Row? I think it's all acoustic.

Perhaps they were a bit biased? I think it is a remarkably good one but picking out one of thousands is not a science and being it is a namesake might have pulled some weight. I couldn't put my finger on one song of Dylan's that i would rate as his best ever mind rating an all time best rock song.

 

[grasping the after wind]

What do people like about Bob Dylan? He isnt a good singer, and a lot of his songs are boring and not exciting.

He is a unique singer and almost all of his songs are thought provoking. His lyrics are to the run of the mill as Shakespeare is to a toilet tissue commercial. He has been at home with a range of musical genres beyond anyone else I have heard. He reinvents himself throughout his carreer moving from one genre to another successfully. In his time he has written and recorded folk, rock , country, gospel, blues, pop, jazz and even what could be described as an early version of rap. There are people that tend to want to avoid thought and find repetition and repetitive beats, typical sounding vocalists and simplistic lyrics exciting. They will not like Dylan. Dylan appeals to those that are more interested in what is being said by a song than whether one can dance to it or not or if it sounds like what one is used to hearing or if the singer would do well in some cookie cutter plastic format such as " American Idol".

 

[markb77]

And now he's in an IBM commercial. A pretty funny one at that, but still.... AN IBM COMMERCIAL!!!!

 

[grasping the after wind]

And now he's in an IBM commercial. A pretty funny one at that, but still.... AN IBM COMMERCIAL!!!!

He's rather lame in that commercial if you ask me

 

[Sammy-San]

He is a unique singer and almost all of his songs are thought provoking. His lyrics are to the run of the mill as Shakespeare is to a toilet tissue commercial. He has been at home with a range of musical genres beyond anyone else I have heard. He reinvents himself throughout his carreer moving from one genre to another successfully. In his time he has written and recorded folk, rock , country, gospel, blues, pop, jazz and even what could be described as an early version of rap. There are people that tend to want to avoid thought and find repetition and repetitive beats, typical sounding vocalists and simplistic lyrics exciting. They will not like Dylan. Dylan appeals to those that are more interested in what is being said by a song than whether one can dance to it or not or if it sounds like what one is used to hearing or if the singer would do well in some cookie cutter plastic format such as " American Idol".

How does music being intellectual instead of pleasing to the emotions or entertaining make it better?

One time I was talking to a girl who said that Bob Dylan is way better than Elvis Presley. I'm not being shallow, Bob Dylan is way better than Elvis's musically simple 1950s rock n roll teenybopper music that had no substance or musical talent, but his ballads and pop songs far surpass any of Dylan's songs. I know this sounds dumb, but "it's now or never" or "my way" are better songs than "hey mr tambourine man" or "like a rolling stone".

I'm not hating on Dylan as a person or an artist, I'm just saying, I don't understand the appeal of his music and why his fans are so devout.

 

[grasping the after wind]

How does music being intellectual instead of pleasing to the emotions or entertaining make it better?

One time I was talking to a girl who said that Bob Dylan is way better than Elvis Presley. I'm not being shallow, Bob Dylan is way better than Elvis's musically simple 1950s rock n roll teenybopper music that had no substance or musical talent, but his ballads and pop songs far surpass any of Dylan's songs. I know this sounds dumb, but "it's now or never" or "my way" are better songs than "hey mr tambourine man" or "like a rolling stone".

I'm not hating on Dylan as a person or an artist, I'm just saying, I don't understand the appeal of his music and why his fans are so devout.

I tried to explain to you what appeals to his fans. I won't claim he is better. Music and poetry are too subjective to make that kind of general statement. I will only say he is different and appeals to a different set of people of which I am one. So, for my taste, he is magnitudes of degrees better than an Elvis Presley or a Frank Sinatra but that is personal taste and not verifiable fact. BTW Dylan's songs appeal to emotions as much as any one else's does. Many people cannot hear "The Lonesome Tale of Hattie Carroll" without tearing up. I find nothing emotionally stimulating about "Now or Never" or "My Way" but to each their own.

 

[Sammy-San]

I tried to explain to you what appeals to his fans. I won't claim he is better. Music and poetry are too subjective to make that kind of general statement. I will only say he is different and appeals to a different set of people of which I am one. So, for my taste, he is magnitudes of degrees better than an Elvis Presley or a Frank Sinatra but that is personal taste and not verifiable fact. BTW Dylan's songs appeal to emotions as much as any one else's does. Many people cannot hear "The Lonesome Tale of Hattie Carroll" without tearing up. I find nothing emotionally stimulating about "Now or Never" or "My Way" but to each their own.

Do you like If I can Dream?

 

[Grafted In]

I think Dylan appeals to another area of the brain than others. Though he is incredibly good at picking backup artist on the wide variety of instruments he chooses, he has an incredible way of delivering his unique lyrics. You have to listen. His stuff is not relaxation music.
HW61 is my favorite album of all artists. I'd bet I've listened to it at lease 300 times and it still draws my interest. And I would argue that he has an amazing singing voice.

 

[Brokenhill]

I love Dylan's voice personally, but I understand why most people don't like it or the way he sings.

Dylan, in my opinion/experience, is probably the greatest story-teller in music of the past 100 years. He is great at invoking imagery in your brain, whether through his straight-forward social conscious songs or his dog piling of metaphors and fantasy-like pictures. His song writing holds the majority of the weight for his quality, but he has also created quite a few very memorable musical melodies (hence why he is covered by famous artists like GnR or Jimi Hendrix or Johnny Cash).

And yes, he can be extremely emotional, which is one of the reasons why he is one of my all-time favorite artists. This is one of many touching songs which is totally personal for him...it's a back-and-forth reading of letters between a couple falling apart:

I wish I could post the studio version, though.

 

[Sammy-San]

I think Dylan appeals to another area of the brain than others. Though he is incredibly good at picking backup artist on the wide variety of instruments he chooses, he has an incredible way of delivering his unique lyrics. You have to listen. His stuff is not relaxation music.
HW61 is my favorite album of all artists. I'd bet I've listened to it at lease 300 times and it still draws my interest. And I would argue that he has an amazing singing voice.

True. But what is the purpose of listening to Dylan's music? Lately, I'm getting obsessed with Elvis's music because I find it entertaining. I know people who view Bob Dylan as one of their favorite singers, but I don't quite get the appeal.

 

[Brokenhill]

True. But what is the purpose of listening to Dylan's music? Lately, I'm getting obsessed with Elvis's music because I find it entertaining. I know people who view Bob Dylan as one of their favorite singers, but I don't quite get the appeal.

Some people, such as myself, love odd-ball, unique voices. I appreciate artists who can't hit all the notes, who don't know how to stay in pitch consistently...but sing from the heart. An off-kilter singer who is stumbling over his words but pouring out his soul is much more impacting to me than some really pretty voice singing a mathematically written pop melody.
Some people are just attracted to the weirdos, the underground, against the grain, different, anything-but-accessible/popular.
All but one of my favorite artists have either strange voices, or strange vocal delivery techniques (Geoff Rickly of Thursday, Daniel Johnston, Joanna Newsom, Blind Willie Johnson, Ian Curtis of Joy Division...). It's appealing because it's unique and because it's refreshing to hear someone who doesn't care what they sound like or whatever people think, they're just doing what they love. And Bob Dylan is just doing what he loves. He's a rebel and will sing about and talk about whatever he wants, however he wants...and change things whenever he wants (like when we went electric and some fans hated it), because he's a drifter and a rebel and he keeps his creativity flowing for the most part without chains.

His music is mostly just a rythymic back-drop for his words (since he has SO MUCH to say, he's used half the words in the dictionary probably lol)...but when he's playing guitar while singing and alternating to the harmonica, the sound can be very pleasing too. And sometimes you can get lost in some of the drum-loops, such as the rata-tat-tat in "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands". And again, there's the occasional vocal melody which is very enjoyable to sing=along to (like "Tangled up in bluuuueeee".

 

[Dave-W]

I like Dylan's music - but usually when sung by other people. I do not like his voice very much. But his writing is amazing.

I have ever only owned one of his records - Slow Train Coming. It had the first music he wrote after coming to the Lord. Here is one of my favorites:

 

[Grafted In]

All but one of my favorite artists have either strange voices, or strange vocal delivery techniques (Geoff Rickly of Thursday, Daniel Johnston, Joanna Newsom, Blind Willie Johnson, Ian Curtis of Joy Division...). It's appealing because it's unique and because it's refreshing to hear someone who doesn't care what they sound .

I absolutely love Ian Curtis. What a horrible tragedy he ended his life as he did. From reading a documentary on Ian I learned that it broke his heart to think that people showed up at his concerts just to watch his body breaking down.
Few if an could put every bit of themselves out there with the health issues he had. What I read talked about the seizures he often had whIle performing, but I think he may also have had what M.J. Fox has. Watch as he struggles to raise his arm from his side how he pulls it in as close to himself as posible. Though he had a crippled body I had great respect for him because he held nothing back. Wish I could have seen him live.
Here's a video where you can see he has trouble lifting his arms. But he put himself out there, no quarter asked and none taken.

 

[Grafted In]

Well here's a Dylan tune I intended to post until Brokenhill distracted me (thanks Brokenhill. I hadn't watched any of Joy Division's stuff for a long time)

Anyway this some is an example of when we think we have Bob figured out he's moved far beyond what you know and understand about him. The album this came from was released on 911.
I had the privilege of attending one of his concerts shortly after it's release and all I can say is Bob put one heck of a band together for this one. What am incredible sound!!!