Bob Dylan's Birthday

While you're celebrating, you may begin to think there's something happening but you don't know what it is. Well, here's why:

Bob Dylan famously found Jesus in 1979—and then apparently misplaced him, moving away from born-again Christian rock in his set lists and on to his next reinvention. Mr. Dylan himself has been steadily ducking messianic labels since the 1960s, and on the advent of his 70th birthday (May 24) can only be bewildered that critics still tend to refer to him in Christ-like terms. "I never wanted to be a prophet or savior," he told "60 Minutes" in 2004. "If you look at the songs, I don't believe you're going to find anything in there that says I'm a spokesman for anybody or anything really"—except, possibly, for Victoria's Secret, in whose TV ad Mr. Dylan had appeared a short time before, staring moodily into the camera while his song "Love Sick" played in the background. Yet for intellectuals as diverse as music critic Greil Marcus and historian Sean Wilentz, he is a subject fit for fine-grained, extended study. (Mr. Marcus became a writer, he says, in large part because of Mr. Dylan's music.) No other living musician has generated so much ink—articles, biographies, cultural studies, dissertations, monographs, coffee-table books, even the scholarly "Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan."

'Times They are A-Changin' Lyrics for Sale

You can own a part off American music
history:

Bob Dylan's original handwritten lyrics for "The Times They are A-Changin'" are heading for the auction block in New York City. They could sell for an estimated $200,000 to $300,000.

Written in pencil on a sheet of unruled, three-hole notebook paper, the classic 1960s folk protest song was the title track on Dylan's third album. The paper is creased with some small tears and signed "by Bob Dylan."

Sotheby's will offer it for sale on Dec. 10.

Here's what you'd be buying:



No word about who the current owner is but I presume it isn't Dylan. Then again, why not? The item's his to do with as he wants and you can't begrudge him the opportunity to make a buck or two on his own memorabilia. I think it's a great chance to own a part of history, though it's a bit pricey for my taste. Still, Dylanophile or not, it's fascinating to catch a glimpse of the humble beginnings of such a great song.

Dylan Takes a Stand

Brother John sends along this link:

Bob Dylan is refusing to sell advanced tickets to an upcoming concert in a bid to tackle internet resellers and give fans an equal chance to catch him live.

Tickets for the folk singer's concert at The Warfield in San Francisco on Wednesday will be sold at the door. Fans will be permitted to line up at midday but will only be allowed to buy one ticket each, in cash.

The plan was established to prevent touts from purchasing large batches of tickets and selling them for an inflated cost online. It will also eliminate handling and processing fees.

Dylan's still a rebel, even in his codgerdom.

Dylan on Dylan's Christmas Album

Via Althouse, Bob Dylan plays it straight about his new Christmas album:

Big Issue: Is recording a Christmas album something you’ve had on your mind for a while?
Bob Dylan: Yeah, every so often it has crossed my mind. The idea was first brought to me by Walter Yetnikoff, back when he was President of Columbia Records.

Did you take him seriously?
Well, sure I took him seriously.

But it didn’t happen. How come?
He wasn’t specific. Besides, there was always a glut of records out around that time of year and I didn’t see how one by me could make any difference.

What was Christmas like around your town when you were growing up?
Well, you know, plenty of snow, jingle bells, Christmas carolers going from house to house, sleighs in the streets, town bells ringing, nativity plays. That sort of thing.

Your family was Jewish – as a kid did you ever feel left out of the Christmas excitement?
No, not at all.

It goes on from there. I think Dylan's playing it straight and sincere; he loves these songs, his record company was behind the idea, the proceeds are going to charity. What's the big deal?

Well, the big deal is it's Bob Dylan and he's supposed to be an enigma, isn't he? Only maybe in this case, he's not.

(The interview reminds me of the ones found in the Reader Edition's of Anne Tyler's books. Tyler plays it straight as well - she works as hard as she can on her books until they're ready for the publisher. No mystery about the creation of her art other than the hard work she puts in. Other interviews with other authors seem to me to spend too much time exploring the mystery of the creative process. Tyler cuts to the chase: There's no mystery about it. She has to work at it.)

So Dylan appears to be playing it straight. Maybe he's been playing it straight all along.

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album Isn't as Bad as You Think

A not entirely negative negative review of Bob Dylan's Christmas album:

My reaction upon hearing the record lurch to life with “Here Comes Santa Claus ” in my ear buds was first to laugh; whether a joke or not, this (stuff) is funny. Mostly because Dylan sounds so uncharacteristically jovial and (yes, I’ll say it) jolly, even. My second reaction was relief – it’s nice to hear that from Dylan for a change.

Faint praise, indeed. Still, the reviewer doesn't like everything:

But that’s not the worst moment on Christmas in the Heart. That dubious distinction goes to “Must Be Santa,” a hideous polka-shaped monster that terrorizes the eardrums with psychotic glee. I shiver at the memory.

Hey, it's not that bad. Here's a video of the song. You be the judge:



Kinda fun in weird way. Okay, really weird.

More 'Fiscal Blood on the Tax Tracks'

Hey, it's a twofer! A Bob Dylan album title reference and dismal economic news. I doubt I'll ever use these two tags together again:

Across the nation, local governments and related public entities, already reeling from the recession, face another fiscal crisis: billions of dollars in fees owed to UBS, Goldman Sachs, and other financial giants on investment deals gone wrong.

The seeds of this looming disaster were sown during the credit boom, when Wall Street targeted cities big and small with risky financial products that promised to save them money or boost returns. Investment bankers sold exotic derivatives designed to help municipalities cut borrowing costs. Banks and insurance companies constructed complicated tax deals that allowed public utilities, transit authorities, and other nonprofit organizations to extract cash immediately from their long-term assets. Private equity firms, pointing to stellar historical gains, persuaded big public pension funds to plow billions of dollars into high-cost investments at the peak of the market. Many of the transactions shared a striking similarity: provisions that protected the banks from big losses and left the customers on the hook for huge payouts.

Brought to you by TaxProf Blog.

Hark! the Heralded Dylan Sings

Andrew Ferguson takes down Bob Dylan a notch or two. Okay, a lot of notches:

If you needed more evidence, the release this month of Bob Dylan's Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart, should close the case. Dylan fans are like Baby Huey dolls, those inflatable figures with the big red nose and the rounded bottom, weighted so that when you punch them--punch hard, punch with all your might--they bounce right back, grinning the same frozen, unchangeable grin.

We can only make a guess how Bob Dylan truly feels about his fans. But it can be a good, strong guess. He's been punching those Baby Hueys for a long time, hard.

It's not too unusual for a performer to lack respect for his most worshipful admirers; he hears himself as they do not, knowing how far short of his hopes his performance invariably falls, despite their wild applause. Sometimes an artist will even hold his audience in contempt, though he's careful, for business reasons, to keep the contempt at least thinly concealed; Abstract Expressionist painters come to mind. But not since Don Rickles at the height of his powers--the second greatest artist of the past 50 years, some believe--has a performer taken delight in actively abusing the people who pay money to enjoy his act. And when Rickles did it, the people were supposed to laugh, and did. When Dylan does it, the fans pull their chins and think hard. Then they pop right back, Baby Huey-like, and start explaining.

Ferguson is only getting warmed up so read the whole thing.

This kind of things is hard for a fan like me to take but, well, the truth hurts, doesn't it? Dylan's best work is far behind him and when something contemporary of his comes up on the shuffle play mode of my iPod, I find myself gritting my teeth to get through it. He's become a chore to listen to and no artist should get to that point.

No, I won't be buying his Christmas album. Sure, I think the man's an American original and much of what he does amuses me but I have no explanation for this. Sorry, Bob.

Paul Shaffer on Bob Dylan

An excerpt about Bob Dylan from Paul Schaffer's upcoming memoir:

Dylan was hard to find. He lives on the road but is never anywhere for more than a day. Finally, I tracked him down in some motel in Des Moines and placed a call. When I told him that we’d be honored if he played “Like a Rolling Stone,” he was lukewarm at best.

“That’s a little obvious,” he said. “There’s gotta be something else.”

“Dave and I really see ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ as our grand finale.”

The songwriter sighed. “It’s a big catalogue, Paul.”

Ha! Even the great artists get a little tired of their back pages.

Bob Dylan: Like a Complete Unknown

Bob Dylan gets stopped by the New Jersey police for no other reason than wandering around:

The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses.

The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name. According to Woolley, the following exchange ensued:

''What is your name, sir?'' the officer asked.

''Bob Dylan,'' Dylan said.

''OK, what are you doing here?'' the officer asked.

''I'm on tour,'' the singer replied.

A second officer, also in his 20s, responded to assist the first officer. He, too, apparently was unfamiliar with Dylan, Woolley said.

The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as ''Like a Rolling Stone'' and ''Blowin' in the Wind'' said that he didn't have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show.

The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.

The officers thanked him for his cooperation.

How unlike Professor Gates' reaction when confronted by the police! And how differently things turned out!

Glenn Reynolds picks up on the Ray Bradbury tie in.

Bob Dylan to Release Christmas Album

I'm not sure if the world needs a Christmas album by Bob Dylan but Dylan doesn't care; he has to follow his artistic vision so to heck with your ears:

Bob Dylan is set to release an album of Christmas songs, including "Here Comes Santa Claus" and the carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," according to music websites.

Rumours of the album first emerged on Isis magazine website, which is devoted to Dylan. It later reported the songs had been recorded in Jackson Browne's studio in Santa Monica, California, in May.

David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, who played accordion on Dylan's chart-topping latest album "Together Through Life," is one of the musicians who took part in the sessions, it said.

Still, in a way, you have to admire Dylan's bravery. But you have to admire even more the bravery of anyone who'll listen to this album.

Daily Dose of Dylan

Got it right here:

"One guy that was at home in the night was Batman. He was introduced in Detective Comics number #27 by Bob Kane. I always loved Batman. The way I looked at it, you had to come from another planet to be Superman, but I could be Batman... and you know I tried."

Let's end this little mini-series of posts with that one, okay? Hope they brought a smile to you like they did to me.

The Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan

No, not the album; more of his quips from his radio show. Are you tired of them yet? I'm not. But we're getting near the end so hang on. Only a few more to go.

"I ran into Ellen Barkin the other day in Walgreens. I was buying socks. I didn't know what size I was... I was just eyeballing them."

Another Dose of Bob Dylan

"You know I don't usually like to tell people what I'm doing, but I am talking to a couple of car companies about possibly being the voice of their GPS system. I think it would be good if you're looking for directions and you heard my voice saying something like: 'Take a left at the next street... no, a right... you know what - just go straight.' I probably shouldn't do it because whichever way I go I always end up at the same place - on Lonely Avenue"

Ha ha. Lonely Avenue. We all know where that is, don't we?

More Bob Dylan Wit and Wisdom

Don't worry, I'll run out of these soon:

I've always believed one's ju-ju is self-contained. Meaning, if you think you're going to lose it, you very well might. The guys in Radiohead think they might lose their ju-ju if they left [their hometown] Oxford, and so they would. But if you think your ju-ju is secure, that you carry it with you wherever you go, you're free to wander the world. Me? I keep my ju-ju in a jar. So no matter where I go, I can always come back to it.

More Bob Dylan Profundities

Few things go together as well as Country & Western music and crazy people.

Dylan's Profoundness

From The Best Of Theme Time Radio Hour, here's Bob Dylan on websites with strange names:

Look who created these. A lot of those computer guys used to be hippies. Though to be fair they aren't totally hippies. Because if they were totally hippies we'd be going on websites with names like Tapioca Sunshine... wait a second... that's not a bad idea for a name. While I'm playing this next song, I'm going to go and see how my bid is doing. I'm trying to get a thermos on eBay.

Plenty more of Bob at the link.

Dylan Unnoticed on Beatles Tour

Bob Dylan rolls just like any other tourist:

The 67-year-old troubadour paid £16 for the public trip to the 1940s semi in Woolton, Liverpool, last week as his European tour called at the city.

He was one of 14 tourists to examine photos and documents in the National Trust-owned home, where Lennon grew up with his aunt Mimi and uncle George.

A National Trust spokeswoman said Dylan "appeared to enjoy himself."

Endearing. Just when you think he's become a bit of crank, he does this kind of thing. Always surprising.

Bob Dylan: Cranky Old Guy

Bob criticizes what he can't understand:

Bob Dylan may have starred in a television commercial for iTunes, but don’t look for him to become an iPod pitchman anytime soon.

In a Rolling Stone magazine cover story, the 67-year-old troubadour rails against modern technology like cell phones, iPods and video games. The man who wrote “The Times They Are A-Changin’” almost 46 years ago evidently thinks the times have changed a little too much.

“It’s peculiar and unnerving in a way to see so many young people walking around with cell phones and iPods in their ears and so wrapped up in media and video games,” Dylan told interviewer Douglas Brinkley, a professor of U.S. history at Rice University in Houston.

“It robs them of their self-identity. It’s a shame to see them so tuned out to real life. Of course they are free to do that, as if that’s got anything to do with freedom. The cost of liberty is high, and young people should understand that before they start spending their life with all those gadgets.”

Why does Dylan think that just because you're enjoying an iPod - possibly a Dylan tune! - that you're automatically tuned out from the rest of the world? Mult-tasking is a myth but it's possible to listen to music and still do things - like pay attention to the world - while you're listening. (And iPods - and other MP3 players - have earbuds so at they're polite appliances; they allow the listener to keep their music to themselves.)

And cell phones are a good thing, too. Sure, they can be obnoxious - people seem to forget they're talking in public and blast out their conversations to the world - but they serve to help us keep in touch with one another. They help us stay connected with one another and no the other way around. Hard to believe there was a time when we got along without them, thank you very much, but who wants to return to those days? A Victrola worked just fine but I doubt Dylan would insist we listen to his music through one of those devices.

Dylan brings up the cost of liberty and rightly so: a lot of people paid heavily so that we may enjoy the freedom to do what we want, as long was we don't harm others. Sometimes that freedom's ugly - heck, a lot of the time it is - but it's our choice to make. We may not like the choices others make but let's at least be grateful they can at least make them.

And grumble to ourselves about how things were better long ago than they are now.