The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #83989   Message #1547924
Posted By: GUEST,Songster Bob
23-Aug-05 - 04:41 PM
Thread Name: An Open Letter To Bob Dylan
Subject: RE: An Open Letter To Bob Dylan
A couple of points:

Starbucks is one of the few commercial behemoths that gives its employees health insurance, no matter how many hours they work. In other words, the 15-hour-a-week college kid gets it, as well as the 50-hour-a-week manager. And, if I recall, they also pay fairly decently for their kind of establishment. Not a Walmarts, by any means. I do not know anything about their real estate practices, which someone mentioned.

Dylan, live, is an oddity. In fact, I've noticed a phenomenon that I can't explain. It's an awards show -- Grammies, whatever -- and Dylan's on to do one number. The audience goes batsh*t crazy, you can barely hear him, and he is totally mumbly-mushy-incomprehensible. Now, is he putting the audience on? Are they putting him on?

When Daylia, I think, above, said the audience shouted out their favorites, it's no wonder he didn't respond. He had his program. He wasn't singing those old songs then. To expect him to do so is, well, close to rude, and shouting for him to do those songs IS rude. I was at the Mariposa Folk Festival some 40 years ago or so, 1968 anyway, and I think it was James Taylor, whose music I didn't much like (which is maybe why I can't recall for sure who the singer was), had finished his opening number. The fans shouted for their favorite numbers, and his response was perfect -- "I am not a jukebox." Then he sang what he had intended to sing, and the audience (mostly) "got it" and were quiet. I think Dylan said the same thing, in his actions, not in words. Maybe he shoulda used words.


Bob Clayton