I have not yet found this to be true of anyone I've listened to. Dylan's performance at Hop Farm Festival last Saturday night only proved further to me that, fantastic though so many of the current crop of singer-songwriters are, none of them has the potential that must have been there in the 23 year old of 1962. They probably hate the comparison themselves (unless they happen to be Johnny Borell from the unsurprisingly now vanished Razorlight). What could be worse than have that level of expectation heaped upon your shoulders? I swear, I'm not being overtly cynical here - I know plenty of people don't like Dylan for a number of reasons, and would probably prefer to listen to Laura Marling, Josh Ritter, Pete Docherty, or Mumford and Sons. So long as they just say: 'You know, I don't really enjoy his songs/singing/music', that's fine (and incidentally I've heard the surely defunct 'He can't sing' argument so many times it makes my teeth fall out. Of course he can sing. He chooses to sing in a number of different ways. It's allowed, if you're capable.) But when they say - 'You know, Ray Lamontagne is the new Bob Dylan', ask yourself these questions:
1. Have they/are the likely to release at least five genre changing, epoch defining albums, about which debate will range for decades?
2. Have they/are they likely to have five decades of reasonably continuous live performance, over the world?
3. Have they/are they likely to have a public persona that is at least as or more important than their recorded work (if so, it's not good, incidentally).
4. Will people continue to record their songs now, and for the forseeable future?
5. Do people love or hate their music, and not inbetween? (I've never heard 'Bob Dylan - he's alright, I guess..' but would lose count of the amount of times people have spat vitriol or proclaimed love to him.)
The Beatles fit into the above description, and just about no one else. I really hope someone does, that in the future, do all these things - I want music to evolve, and would embrace a new Bobby D from the bottom of my heart - me and the new Bob, together through life.
I saw him on Saturday, and his relevance was absolute. I'm 26, and he's the most important artist I know of. To see him sing his songs is a priveledge - and he interprets them far better than any cover version. I've heard 'Like a Rolling Stone' thousands of times on record and three times live, and every time, it's been a revelation. How does it feel? My sister is 20, and she was awestruck. Kids of 14 and 15 knew they were seeing something they would treasure, and people of 40, 50, 60 and 70 stood, as these songs explode down the years.
He's an enigma, and that troubles some people - 'Who does he think he is?' Truly, he is an artist who's music does the work, and his private life doesn't matter - I don't care where he lives, what he wears, or how he eats. A lesson for the Kerry Katona generation, who believe that celebrity and money come first and art is second. This will not last. Bob Dylan, does.
Just so you know, I'm not gushing about all his work. His 'Saved' period was awful. 'Self Portrait' is terrible. There are slapdash songs kicking about all over the place. But this is heavily outweighed by a huge degree by the quality of the majority of his work. I sing 'Shooting Star' from 'Oh Mercy' live. A little known song, but what a powerful work - audiences love it, I love it.
I hope we get a new Bob. Because if not, it's a sad shout for this generation and the next. But whilst he's still here, I'll see and listen to him whenever possible.
