The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #8683   Message #54272
Posted By: John Twomey
15-Jan-99 - 04:12 PM
Thread Name: The Bob Dylan Mystique
Subject: RE: The Bob Dylan Mystique
I never felt betrayed by Mr. Dylan; he was just in tune with the times, slightly ahead of the curve: he is still.

Every studio recording feels like getting a strange letter from an eccentric, bohemian uncle. Each contains at least one gem, usually more, and songs not appreciated at first, may grab you years later, and at odd moments old favorites may reveal new layers of meaning, or phrases or references may become suddenly clear, in a new light.

His love for the folk tradition is obvious, even though he doesn't restrict himself to what is known now as "traditional music", though he constantly draws on it for insprition, and references it in his lyrics and music.

How ironic that in the year Dylan released "Good as I been to You" the Grammy for best folk allbum went to Greg Brown. Kudos to Mr. Brown for stating, This belongs to Bob Dylan.".

One more thing. I disagree with those who say his best work lies far behind him; he writes for his age, and for the times, and he remains ahead of the curve. The media regularly savages him. They hold a huge bias toward him and some of the backlash he gets is a product of this bias.

We tend to hold great artists in low esteem, shame, shame on us for treating an artist of Dylan's stature so.