By the by… I never said I didn’t like the songs Dylan writes, I just don’t care for his singing voice. But, then Dylan doesn’t think much of his singing voice either.
“What they had that I picked up on in my singing - I can hardly even call myself a singer - was a sense of phrasing and dynamics.” Bob Dylan
Here is the interview where he says it: http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/85-mar.htm
As usual, Ike- I couldn’t agree more 
Zette
Your summation is qualitatively quite different. You do not like Dylan’s voice. There is nothing unsophisticated in disliking something.
What is unsophisticated in the previous argument the implication that that what Bob Dylan does is not singing. It is the emotional need to disparage the quality of his art, rather than simply accept that your own taste in singing is the source of your opinion.
I don’t like hip-hop. I know this because I have heard many hip-hop artists perform many hip-hop songs, and uniformly I do not enjoy listening to them. This implies no lack of artistry on the part of hip-pop performers. They simply produce an art I do not like.
Sophistication is not a characteristic I find entirely beneficial, by the way. It does describe the ability to appreciate what does not conform to ones expectations in art. Not every sophisticated person even likes art. Sophistication occasionally reaches extremes where the simple is rejected without consideration of any other quality than its simplicity. That is as much a loss as is the unsophisticated view that that which does not provide the specific pleasure I expected is without merit.
Tris
I LOVE Dylan’s voice. It’s fantastic. Right up until the moment he uses it to sing.
I saw a comedian once who said Bob perfected his singing voice by going into the woods with his guitar. He’d sit under a tree, strumming his guitar and singing, and bugs would begin dropping onto him from the tree above. Bob would yell “EWWWWWWW! BUUUUUUGS!” and the rest is history.
I guess you had to see that joke performed.
Dylan is a fantastic songwriter, and his impact on music cannot be denied. As a singer, though, he’s not very good. Why go to all the trouble of writing incredibly moving and beautiful lyrics if you’re gonna slur half the words into unrecognizable mush?
Ike called Dylan an asshole, Ike called Dylan an asshole. . .
Ike called me an asshole. I know where you live (approximately) Ukelele Ike. I’ll go to your doorstep and start singing loudly. When you try to pour hot water on my head and yell at me to shut up, I’ll just tell you that you are just to immature to appreciate the true beauty of my vocal instrument.
I’d be careful, Biggirl . . . I know for a fact that Ike still has the cauldron of boiling oil on his roof he used on the Christmas carolers last month, and he can easily rehire that hunchback who tips it over . . .
Lawks! Two declarations of love in one thread! I feel so… wanted. Where the hell were you when I was single?
But my point is, it’s still a matter of opinion. To SOME his voice isn’t bad or distasteful, to others it is. And to look down on others and imply that they are stupid, immature, or lacking in taste because they don’t share an opinion is outright snobbery.
You can’t argue opinion as if it were fact. There is no right and wrong here. Some people like Dylan, some people don’t. I see Dylan in much the same way I see Star Trek. Big in the 60s, has an enormous appeal to many people that has endured over the decades. Obviously there’s something there, but I just don’t like it. And I don’t think it’s right to chastize someone for having a differing opinion.
Many people think Dylan can sing, many people don’t. It’s a difference of opinion and personal taste here, not debatable facts. I don’t argue that Dylan can infuse his work with an emotion and passion that no one else can. Does that make him a great singer? Not in my opinion. That makes him a great performer and artist.
I happen to not like opera. Does that mean I have childish musical tastes? I love Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaicofsky (even if I don’t know how to spell his name), but I don’t like to listen to opera. There, I’ve admitted it. Who’ll be the first to berate me for not liking the sounds of fat people belting out high C’s in a foreign tongue?
All right, let’s settle this thing right now. Uke, give us the title and album of one of Bob’s great tunes (preferably something obscure) - something thoughtful and lyrical and which does not sound like an audio ad for why we should avoid weed at all costs - and we can all trot on over to Napster and download it for ourselves.
You’d better make it good, though, because I saw Dylan perform on one of those award shows a few years back and he made Stevie Nicks seem downright articulate.
Okey doke. Obscure, eh? How about…
“Jim Jones,” from 1992’s GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU. Nifty old Brit folk tune. I actually prefer the “Arthur McBride” from that disc, but “Jim Jones” is untainted by my asking a GD question about it once.
“Million Dollar Bash,” from THE BASEMENT TAPES, recorded 1967, released 1974. Perfect setting for him, with The Band wheezing along on fiddles and accordions and mandolins and other acoustic instruments.
“With God on Our Side,” the version from BOB DYLAN UNPLUGGED, 1995.
“Girl from the North Country,” the Johnny Cash duet version from NASHVILLE SKYLINE, 1969.
And, not terribly obscure, as it was nominated for a Grammy (go ahead and do the SIMPSONS Grammy jokes, all of which I agree with), “Not Dark Yet,” from TIME OUT OF MIND, 1997.
If I’ve told this story before, buy me a double bourbon to keep my mouth occupied.
The second time I heard Dylan in concert was in a bullring in Gijon, Spain, in the summer of 1993. I was attending a Semana Negra, a gathering of crime writers from around the world, and Bob was one of the non-literary attractions.
When I got to Madrid, all the mystery writers were excited about the concert, and there were a lot of rumors flying, like “I hear his voice is SHOT” and “I hear he’s only gonna do the CHRISTIAN stuff.” So we staggered half-drunk up into the stands not quite sure of what was in store.
Michael Dibdin and I decided we had enough time to run down and purchase beer for the gang. We were paying up and standing with about six liter-sized drafts in each of our hands when the first chords started thumping from upstairs. We goggled at each other.
“What’s that?”
“No, it can’t be.”
"Yeah…it’s “STUCK INSIDE OF FUCKING MOBILE WITH THE FUCKING MEMPHIS BLUES AFUCKINGGAIN” ! GET BACK TO THE SEATS!!!
Tearing back, trying not to spill beer, to find our buddies (one of whom was a 70-year-old lady editor from St. Martin’s Press) up and dancing with enormous shiteating grins on their faces.
In short, this was the first tour that Bob did with the small and hot group he’s been touring with for the past seven years. The picking was impeccable, Bob’s vocals were clear and true and on the money, and I was in a Spanish bull ring with maybe 700 people. During the second set, when Dylan did a couple of acoustic numbers, I was able to wander down to the EDGE OF THE STAGE to do a bit of blissful twirling to “Mr. Tambourine Man.”
I like Sinnerman by Nina Simone. Anything else I should look up?
–Tim
Your challenge is duly noted. You shall regret your transgressions upon me, in otherwords I’ma spank yo ass!
What I find amusing is that we have people basically saying “Nyah Nyah! I like Dylan! If you don’t like Dylan you’re a little baby and you suck!”
Their argument? You have to be MATURE to like him.
Now that’s good irony!
Some might argue that it’s also a sign of maturity to realize that some people have different tastes, and may not like what you like. And the next level of maturity is to not disparage others as immature when their tastes happen to differ from yours.
Personally, I really don’t care for Dylan’s voice. I also don’t care for his mumbling. How am I supposed to appreciate his lyrical skills if I can’t understand him? I find his nasily whiny mumbling to be quite distasteful (The irony of this is that I happen to love Rush. Geddy’s voice just sounds better to me).
The thing is, I recognize his talent and the contribution he’s had on other artists that I happen to like, like Tom Petty. I certainly have more respect for him than for the manufactured pop “stars” that get churned out nowadays.
Also, I still like soft drinks over beer. Hell, I like almost anything over beer. Coffee sucks too.
How immature.
Sorry, Rev, it was just too damn hard to resist. In any case, I think the discussion has gone beyond that point. Go back and read it.
All I know is, I suggested flashing my tits earlier and no one gave a rat’s ass. I don’t know whether to feel stung, or just admire how dedicated you all are to the debate over Senor Dylan.
shifts her grapefruits back more comfortably into their bra cups and sulks off, muttering “Everybody’s Gotta Serve Somebody” in her worst squirrelly nasal voice
OK, you want obscure but damn good? I’ve mentioned it in other Dylan threads, but I’ll mention it again.
“Blind Willie McTell”
Uke, your experience can only be described as “trancendental”. I must salute you with my most heartfelt DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!
Fats man, lemme tell ya my story…
I saw Dylan in August of '97 at Wolftrap. A co-worker got free tickets from a friend. We were to sit in row ZZ. We knew it was in the pavilion and figured it was near the back. Ushers kept taking us forward, forward, and forward still. Then, they opened a velvet rope and led us into the front section. Actually, it was the front of the front section. That’s right, baby, front row!!!
The show was awesome (even openers BR5-49 and Ani Difranco). At the end of the show, a girl who had moved to the front, next to me wanted to jump the stage. I tried to help her jump, but a BF bouncer pushed her back. Then it happened…Bob Dylan came over to us!!!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I shook Bob Dylan’s hand.
No, ladies and gentlemen, I haven’t washed it yet.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will gently blot my hand with a dry tissue and mail the tissue to you. [sub]for a nominal service charge[/sub]
Uke is right. (I bet you guys get really tired of hearing that.) His current backup band is the bomb (or is that “soy bomb” ). His backup guitarist (Eric [?] Campbell) is superb - an excellent musician who could outplay BD, but knows enough not to.
Saw BD again ('98 I think) at the Patriot Center (with Kenny Wayne Shepherd). Amazing concert. Some songs repeated from Wolftrap, some stuff he hadn’t done live in years, including “Master’s of War”.
Saw BD again in Nov. '98 w/ Joni Mitchell (insert yawning smiley) and Dave Alvin. Again, show was awesome. For those who say that Dylan is washed up as far as live performaces are concerned, I gotta say that you are quite wrong. Yes, his voice has changed, but it fits the songs that he is writing. And he can still play the git-box.
That’s all.
You may now bow before me.
I was raised on Dylan. He’s my father’s favorite of all time, and I literally know the majority of Dylan songs, not by heart, but subliminally. I’ll hear a song, not recognise it, but instinctually know the words, and realise that it MUST be a Dylan song, because I know the words.
For Father’s Day last year, my sisters and I bought my Dad a ticket to see Dylan in Syracuse, NY, which is three years away. I bought myself a ticket, and drove down with him. And I think that trip will remain as one of my favorite father-daugher days of my life. Seeing my father in virtual musical bliss, rocking out to Bobbie, was increadible.
Because of my father’s fanatism, I know some things. Many people have noted the correlation between Bob and Woody Guthrie. This is not accidental. Bob purposefully began singing the way he did way back when BECAUSE of the way Woody sang. Bob idolised Woody. He wanted to emmulate Woody as much as possible. Anyone who knows about the mechanics of singing knows that a singer can alter his/her voice in a variety of ways. Bob purposefully made his more nasally and gravelly because that’s what Woody did. After 40 years of singing like that, he’s damaged his voice to the point where that’s actually how he sounds. But if you listen to the REALLY early stuff, you can hear the difference. There is clarity in this voice in the really early recordings (the boots and such) that is already starting to disappear by the early 60s. I watched Don’t Look Back the other night at work, and you could definately hear the difference there.
Secondly, the reason he LOOKS the way he does (someone said something about him looking badly) is because he was a junkie for 20 years or so. You snort coke for 20 years and see how youthful you look. I have this alternate plan to the DARE program: show them pictures of old rock stars. Bob, Keith Richard, Iggy Pop. Eep.
The point is that because Bob made the decision to have his voice sound like that, it is an artistic decision. You can say that you don’t like Piccasso, but don’t you dare say he couldn’t paint.
Off to pop in the Essential Collection and boogie around my kitchen.