Trouble with Dylan was that his diction was sometimes very dodgy. At his best [see all the Hattie Carroll threads] he could have a powerful effect; but once he slipped into his all-too-frequent back-in-the-throat navel-gazing never·mind·if·they·can't·make·out·the·words mode, he could be infuriating.

A strange effect was that Joan Baez, who, apart from all her other excellences, had some of the best articulation of any singer ever, every single word normally crystal-clear, would often turn the lyric hard-to-catch when she was with Dylan & in her phase of singing his songs in imitation of his style.