Yeah, it's all opinion; we'll never bring these discussions into the realm of undisputed fact (not sure why we'd want to, anyway). I agree that a Dylan/Ellington comparison is apples and oranges, and I also feel that there is much of interest in Dylan's later work, even if, on the whole, it falls somewhat short of the standards he set in the 60s.

But the question remains: could someone achieve the same depths and layers of meaning that Dylan did lyrically against a more sophisticated musical backdrop? Or, to speak more directly to Van Ronk's point, would additional musical education have enabled Dylan to produce more compelling work when the muse of his early days deserted him?