The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #83989 Message #1547401
Posted By: WFDU - Ron Olesko
22-Aug-05 - 10:03 PM
Thread Name: An Open Letter To Bob Dylan
Subject: RE: An Open Letter To Bob Dylan
Coffee retailers like Starbucks should be blamed for meny things, but to blame Starbucks for empty stages is like blaming Jay Leno for killing vaudeville. The coffeehouse scene that nutured Bob Dylan was gone by the mid 60's. As soon as people began making money in folk music, the coffeehouses like the Gaslight faded from prominance to be replaced by commercial venues. Folk music was "saved" by groups of fans who began presenting the music in church basements.
To answer an earlier question, Starbucks will be issuing a CD of Dylan's "Gaslight" tapes. They have exclusive rights to sell the CD for a period, which I think is 18 months. They have done this with other artists. They also sell CD's from many acoustic artists, something that isn't done in many places these days.
Don't get me wrong, I don't support Starbucks for many of the reasons named. However, I think the group that signed that letter is using Bob Dylan and other artists such as Alanis Morrisette as an excuse to get their message out. There may not be anything wrong with that, but I think they should be honest.