Bob Dylan Turns 80
Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in St. Mary's Hospital on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota
When I think of Bob Dylan, I always picture him in the 1960's. In those days he was more than an entertainer, he was the poetic voice of a generation. To many, he was the voice of civil rights and anti-war protest, and then he produced what Rolling Stone magazine was later to proclaim the greatest single ever made, Like A Rolling Stone , with its precise but expansive confrontational lyric.
" According to review aggregator Acclaimed Music , "Like a Rolling Stone" is the statistically most acclaimed song of all time." Like a Rolling Stone - Wikipedia
Although Dylan certainly continued to achieve success in later decades, his "influence" on pop culture seriously waned. He became more of a prolific entertainer than a poetic voice.
But back in the day
THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN' -Bob Dylan
Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
And if your breath to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
'Cause the times they are a-changin'
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in your doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt, will be he who has stalled
'Cause the battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticise what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slowest now, will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
'Cause the times they are a-changin'
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LIKE A ROLLING STONE - Bob Dylan
I remember him long before the 60s.
One of my favorites of his.
Although I know it, I'm sure some may be curious about your story. I'm curious, yet again, about what song you posted.
I like the way it's shot, a single look down an alleyway. It seems that he is being overwhelmed by his emerging fame and really isn't sure that it's what he wants. The song is ''Subterranean Homesick Blues''
Another favorite of mine is ''Northern Girl''.
Yeah, with Allen Ginsberg loitering in the left of the picture.
Kavika IIRC you had mentioned that you had met Dylan (in MN?) Before he was Bob "Dylan'?
I've heard someone claim that was the first true music video. (I don't know enough about music to know if that's true)>
I've always said I never thought of him as a musician but rather a poem. (I love his music-- but IMO his words are incredible).
I was wondering where that ally was-- and if I'd ever been there.
I knew Dylan had been to NYC as well as England, (as have I) so I was wondering if I knew that ally! Seemed like a long shot but I tracked it down!
And perhaps not surprisingly, I hadn't been there nor did I even know it. (It is in England-- I forget where-- somewhere in London IIRC).
Yes, many times Krish.
I have no idea Kirsh, but it's possible.
I totally agree.
Poet of the century.
This stanza in the song "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
is both prophetic considering when it was written and very much applicable today.
Another interesting thing about the song is that the stanza about mothers and fathers was used in a commercial for a product, and doubt that any other words from his vast collection have been so used.
Stories about the following three things have already been posted previously on NT:
I wonder if I might be the only member of NT (except possibly Kavika) who ever shook hands and had a conversation with Dylan.
I also wonder if I might be the only member of NT who was a personal witness in the audience of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival to see the iconic moment of Dylan going electric in public.
I know, however, that I am probably the ONLY person who ever ran a music festival who refused to allow Dylan, who was there and willing to do so, perform (in the early 1970s, when he was already the most iconic folk/rock performer).
I wonder if I might be the only member of NT (except possibly Kavika) who ever shook hands and had a conversation with Dylan.
I've always been a big fan of Bob Dylan. (Still am). But I never met him...and in fact I never even saw him live!
Always liked Ginsberg's poetry. Never met him but I saw him, IIRC, two times. He was walking on 6th Avenue a few blocks South of 8th St in NY"s Greenwich Village. (Don't remember the exact date, but must've been the early 70s. At one point I think I had much of Howl memorized...
The one famous person of that era I did meet (other than MLK, although that was even earlier) was Jack Kerouac. (He was drunk and pretty obnoxious, LOL!)
I was also a big fan of Janice Joplin. Once a coupla friend were going to a concert of hers at The Fillmore East and invited me. But I was in a very negative mood so decided not to go. What an incredible experience that would've been!
Finally I should mention I used to hang with my friends in a bar (club?) called Hilly's. Amazing jukebox!
It later became a very famous place. (With a changed name and live musicians...lots of Country and both Blue Grass and Blues..... later Punk. (Many people were saying it was very uplifting music "For "Gourmandizers" as it were ...Heh :^)
Anyone know of Hilly's? (Buzz might know, although it was probably several blocks East of where you were in NYC IIRC...near Cafe Reggio perhaps?), and I'm sure Perrie's husband would know about Hilly's based upon what she said about him.
Never heard of Hilly's. One weekend a girl friend and I drove to Greenwich Village to attend a concert by Ian and Sylvia at the Bitter End, and Izzy Young, owner of the New York Folklore Centre gave us the keys to the place (it was his home as well so we stayed there) to look after while he spent the weekend away. We sold some guitar strings and sheet music but no guitars or banjos, but enjoyed the jamming by amateur folkies who came there to play. What I guess turned me off about the place were the cockroaches in the bathtub. Anyway, the experience of running the Folklore Centre gave me the idea and impetus to open a Folklore Centre in Toronto, which I did in partnership with a couple of draft dodger friends of mine, musician Eric Nagler who was married to Martha Beers of the Beers family who ran the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in upstate New York (the most authentic folk festival I ever attended) and another guy who was a guitar maker. It was a successful operation and I soon sold out to the other two.
Where was that? (If it still exists).
I wonder if I've known it in the distant past when I was up there?
(I may be confusing it with Folkways Records? Which also may longer exist)
It was on Macdougall Street in the West Village. I think it's now a Fellafel place. Izzy died 2 years ago.
You ran a music festival?
(Makes me kinda wonder what a person of your calibre is doing spending so much time on a social media site. Well, now that I think of it its probably because its hard to meet many English speakers in your "hood"!)
It was the 1972 July weekend Mariposa Folk Festival on one of Toronto's islands. The woman who usually ran it went to Europe that summer and I was the next in command. It was a very exciting weekend because of some of the musicians who came unexpectedly. Dylan had heard about the festival from his friends and came with his wife Sarah and son Jesse just to see it - we didn't know about it until Friday morning - the first day. Not only him, but Joni Mitchell and Neil Young also showed up. Gord Lightfoot was there, as were Ian and Sylvia, and none of them were the scheduled performers for the weekend.
A little story about Dylan that nobody knew about. Nobody knew it was him - like nobody would ever have expected him to be there. However, I had one of my staff shadow him to make sure he had no problems. The staff guy told me that at one point somebody saw him and said "Hey man, you look just like Bob Dylan. What's your name?" Dylan didn't reply, and the guy continued - "Come on, man, what's your name?" Dylan replied "Jerome Avenue" (which I believe is a street in Greenwich Village." Eventually people did start to recognize him and we had to hide him in our sealed off performers rest and food area, and eventually have the Toronto Harbour Police take him by boat back to the city. He did shake my hand and say to me "I really dig your festival, man."
Dylan and his wife Sarah (with camera) sitting in the audience at one of the 7 stages.
Dylan with Gord Lightfoot and Dylan's son Jesse hiding below.
I used to know the Village pretty well (Many, many years ago..), and I could be wrong but I don't think there's a Jerome Avenue in the Village.
Sounds like something in Da Bronx (BTW that the correct pronunciation..."Da Bronx"!), but I'm not sure-- to me the Bronx might as well be heart of darkness deep within the African continent-- I know it about as well as I know Yakutsk (or for that matter, Irkutsk).
Anybody here ever play RISK! ?
Great photos. With his style, moustache and bandana he looks the part,,,sort of hippie but just slightly toned down Early Hippie..
That's what he said, but I just guessed it was a street in the Village.
Well I could be wrong...its been a long, long time since I've actually been there...
Although I'm pretty sure its nowhere near Collins Avenue...Boylston St...Wisconsin Avenue ...Rue du Petit-Champlain...Wacker Drive..Market Street...Dizengoff...Lombard Street...La Ciena.....Tahrir Square...Meaddowood Road..or for that matter La Rue de la Chat Qui Peche! (I don't think any of these is in Da Bronx..but ya never know (depends uypon what yer smokin' I guess?).
I've got a "I'm probably the only member of NT who" that can equal that.. (maybe even surpass it) .but I trying to decide if I should mention it...
(P.S: For a real fan of so much 60s music, I thihk people would be amazed at how few live concerts I attended. )
is both prophetic considering when it was written and very much applicable today.
Well, now as well as back then, the following has always been true:
You don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the blows!
--Krishna (still wondering where the those vandals put the damn handles!
)
The slowest now, will later be fast
I'm not sure, but that sounds like something out of the Bible. Anyone know?
(Not sure if its in The Old or New Testiment...but sounds very Biblical to me)