Wilson's Bob Dylan Suggestions
Piggybacking on the recent Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, I am sharing a few personal thoughts about the music, art, and life of the greatest, living American songwriter (if not the best American songwriter period) -- Robert Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota. If you have not seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. I generally hate biopics - with an extra dose of animus towards those depicting a musical subject. I’ve seen A Complete Unknown twice so far and will likely go again before the end of the theatrical run. The movie competently captures Dylan as a virtuosic troubadour enamored by roots music and tall tales, and his self-discovery as a songwriter and creative artist. As fame barrels down his door, Dylan almost simultaneously spurns the folk-traditionalist, New Left, spokesman of a generation, blah blah blah labels cast upon him by the cadre of insufferable, self-proclaimed “purists” and poseurs that jealously guarded the gates of the Greenwich Village scene. For more on the latter, see Stalin-apologist and Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact supporter, Pete Seager and his laughable axe fetish.
Dylan once told a credulous journalist, “All I can be is me, whoever that is.” Exactly. There are so many eras; pivots; personas; zig and zags. Dylan the folkie. The punk. The cowboy. The born-again. The messianic Jew. The crooner. The fabulist. The arc of Bob Dylan is the arc of life – and we have 65 years to take measure. Looking back, the quote from 24-year-old Bob Dylan was something of a prophecy and a prelude. Attempting, perhaps, to hide the ball, he told us everything. And still to this day, Dylan remains undefeated in the interview chair. Expectations and labels…, nope. Bob continually reminds us that the best artists can’t (and shouldn’t) be leashed or emulated (even by a Beatle). I’d argue that Bob invented the diss-track and mastered cultural trolling (and here, here, here, and here) long before social media. He won a Nobel Prize for Lit and skipped the ceremony. He lambasted the dignitaries at the 1963 Tom Paine dinner for being bald, out of touch, and “busy dying.” And, as captured in the recent movie, when told to stay in his lane, he simply said, “play it fucking loud!” Note that this incident actually happened in Manchester a year later, along with the famous “I don’t believe you” retort. I could go on. And on. And on. Sorry...
Generally, I don’t think it’s possible to rank my favorite 50 (or even 100) Dylan songs. But I can create a pretty cool short-ish (even 15) list:
Visions of Johanna (Live 1966) -
Slow Train -
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall (Live 1963) -
Idiot Wind -
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright -
Isis -
Mississippi (outake) -
Tangled Up in Blue -
Just Like a Woman (from The Concert for Bangladesh w. George Harrison, Billy Preston, and Leon Russell backing) -
Positively 4th Street -
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands -
You Ain’t Goin Nowhere -
One More Cup of Coffee -
It Takes A lot to Laugh, A Train to Cry -
Trying to Get to Heaven -
If you feel so inclined here is my personal Spotify playlist – Wilson’s Dylan Anthology (22 hours and 39 minutes of glory). And for bonus joy, here is Dylan’s wonderfully aloof participation in the “We Are the World” project. Dylan’s legacy is long and genre-spanning. Oscars, Grammys, a Medal of Freedom and a Nobel Prize. I mean, the dude perfected the marble-mouth, mumble vocal long before Lil Wayne was born. And he’s still touring at 83. Catch him at your local Holiday Inn swimming pool.
I am reminded of a bumper sticker message (shared by Jeremy Ware), that some of us (olds) were lucky enough to walk the planet at the same time as Jerry Garcia. We all can and should say the same about Bob Dylan.
Enjoy!