[lit-ideas] Re: a must see
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:14:24 +0100 (BST)
> 1) Bob Dylan, of anyone EVER, was in the right place at the right time
Oh. I thought that was Bush in Iraq.
> 2) He was a better poet than I had previously thought
Yeh.
> 3) He absolutely deserves the adoration that he even today enjoys
Well, shucks.
> 4) He is one of the best inteviewees I've ever seen. I could listen to him
> talk for hours. He's cryptically crystal clear.
"Cryptically crystal clear" is right: Paul will probably enjoy any of his
published interviews - for example the ones given in the booklet that
accompanies the 'Biograph' box set where Dylan is alternately surly and open,
unpredictable and spikey.
The Scorcese biopic was much touted here but apparently did not enjoy a very
wide audience - even by the standards of BBC2 it was below par. It was a
must-see nevertheless, particularly because of the footage of the 'Albert
Hall' concert which has been compared to the Zapruder footage turning up
after all these years and where Dylan is remarkably like what I imagined him
to be like.
It is the way of these things that they can only give a flavour of what went
down and that the portrait was somewhat sanitised - Bob the loverat, thief,
abuser of friendships, rampant egotist etc was hardly painted in the darkest
of colours. The recent interviews did not give much away here even if you
smelt some of this. Also the whole 'making it against the odds' aspect is a
cliche that can be applied to virtually any 'breakthrough' act in popular
culture, including The Beatles who were of course turned down by all but one
of the major record companies and whose colossal success was not at all
foreseen (except in hindsight). And popular culture is somewhat obsessed with
the 'new thing' breakthrough-against-the-odds, so that this tends to
eventually operate against even worthy figures like Dylan who become eclipsed
before being rediscovered etc. Demand creates supply and it is naive to think
Dylan is especially unique this way - though he may seem so because his lack
of obvious popular appeal.
Mike once posted that Dylan's work is like sex - when good it's amazing but
even when not very good it's still very good. Dylan meanwhile has described
the modern era as 'The Age Of Masturbation'. And of course I say this is
surely not to knock it - it being sex with someone we love.
> I'm still not a fan of Dylan's music, but I am certainly a fan of Bob.
Though I understand why people are not fans of Dylan's music, I don't really
understand.
Donal
___________________________________________________________
To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo!
Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
