For the inaugural blog it's only fitting to mention Bob Dylan. There is not much that can be said about Bob Dylan that hasn't already been said. So I'll leave it to the experts:
Joan Baez:"[P]eople say to me, that if I hadn't discovered Bob, people wouldn't have heard of him. People would have heard of him. ...[However, i]n those days, since he was such a grubby little thing, they needed to have him sanctioned [by Baez] before they would listen. So yeah, I'm happy that I did that."
Bono:"I think he is a very tenacious character. I think underneath all the so-called eccentricity, which I think is just a mask, there's a very true person. He's a good father --- I've seen him with his children --- with a moral compass, and who can get lost at sea like everybody. But I think he's very strong."
Donovan:[After mentioning the accusations of "ripping off" Dylan and being irritated with Dylan comparisons in general, Donovan tells this anecdote:] "I remember arriving, and Bobby Neuwirth, Dylan's roadie at the time, quietly bringing me into Dylan's suite... I went into a little television room, creeped in and shut the door. It was dark in there. Dylan was just a shadow. He was looking at the ice skating championships from Austria on television in a darkened room. He didn't say anything. We just sat down. Neither asked the other a question. There was nothing to say, nothing to ask. Slowly my eyes got accustomed to the dark, and I realized there were other figures in the room sitting on the couch. Slowly the figures became more real. It was John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I must say I felt a little out of my depth."
George Harrison:"Dylan is so brilliant. To me, he makes William Shakespeare look like Billy Joel."
Dave Matthews:[Asked to name his favorites.] "It wouldn't be fair if I didn't name every Dylan record. It almost makes me furious sometimes, how good his lyrics are. You know, you aspire to things. I'm trying and trying [to write a song], and I'll get something and I'll say, 'That's pretty good,' and then I'll listen to Blood On the Tracks and think 'Who the hell am I kidding? What the hell am I talking about?' 'Come in, she said / I'll give you / shelter from the storm.' Asshole!"
In more recent Bob Dylan news there's a new 3-cd mega Dylan collection. The "definitive retrospective." I'm not sure how this is really any different from all of his greatest hits cds, but the
trailer is impressive. Seems like another way to make money. Just go buy all of his albums.
In honor of the inspiration.
Bob Dylan -
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