Godlike Bob Dylan

[Sin Agog]

Has anyone here seen him live? I don't know if he's a notoriously awful performer, but every time anyone I know sees him they come away disappointed and feeeel he's taken the piss.

Yep, saw him at O2.  Was focusing my energy on the guitarist and only clocked at the very end that he was actually on the keyboards.  He did his speedrunning thing throughout.

It's funny how his big revelatory eureka moment in Chronicles Vol.1 is when he realises he can expend less energy while touring live by doing the slurry mumbly speak-singing.  He writes about it with the same giddy passion that Einstein and Newton must've had when they came up with their own major contributions to humanity.

I appreciate the troll side of his personality.

[pigamus]

She's Your Lover Now though

I mean fucking hell

And then he just said 'Nah' and put it away in a drawer!

[Sin Agog]

I really, really love Donovan, especially HMS Donovan, but you've gotta love that bit in Don't Look Back when Donovan plays him one of his twee, weedy little early ditties, only for Dylan to smile smugly and unload It's All Over Now, Baby Blue on him.  Very chad.

[Rizla]

I had my Bob epiphany when my lil sister got me the 1985 compilation "Biograph" on CD for xmas one year. This is a challenging comp that pays no heed to chronology or genre, a bit like Neil Young's "Decade", and both of which I'd recommend as an in for any doubters. The live version of "I Don't Believe You" on this doesn't seem to be on YT, but it stripped paint from my soul when I first heard it. Desire and Blood on the Tracks would be my favourite albums (the version of BOTT that has the alternate NYC sessions on it is worth seeking out).

[Pink Gregory]

Love Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks, have no time at all for Blonde on Blonde.  No idea why.

[Jockice]

Any of you lot have any excuses whatsoever for The Mighty Quinn then?

Fucking despise that song and therefore the man who wrote it. And yes it is a personal grudge.

[shagatha crustie]

I love the incredibly stoned sounding, lo-fi Quinn on one of the best of (think it's The Essential).

'But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here, them pigeons'll go to him' is one of his funniest lines.

[Custard]

The Mighty Quinn is an absolute tune, as da kidz say

[pigamus]

It's not my favourite Dylan song but it seems harmless to me.

[Ferris]

Yeah it's quite a good one, hardly a classic but not noticeably offensive.

[Mr Farenheit]

Since this is a comedy forum, an under-appreciated fact is that he is literally the only genuinely funny music legend in history. (The Beatles thought they were funny but weren't. A song like "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" is actually funny.)

That's a good point. Who else is funny? I'd nominate Jonathan Richman, The Coasters/Lieber & Stoller.... no-one else springs to mind. Not in Dylan's league though. Motorpsycho Nightmare is just perfect. Talkin Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues should be a CAB favourite for the part where his day of misfortune is rounded off by ending up bald.


Too many lines to quote but I always liked:

Now I gotta friend who spends his life
Stabbing my picture with a bowie-knife
Dreams of strangling me with a scarf
When my name comes up he pretends to barf.
I've got a million friends!

Edit to add: Forgot The Smiths!

[chveik]

Who else is funny?

Sparks, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Laurie Anderson

[Ferris]

Zappa was a bit curmudgeonly but clearly a funny bloke.

[Jockice]

It's not my favourite Dylan song but it seems harmless to me.

You should try having Quinn as your surname. Like...er....someone I know.

A song much beloved of school bullies and games teachers. Which are much the same thing. Some twat holding me...er...someone with that surname in a headlock going: "You're not so mighty now, eh?"

There are very few things my sister and I are in full and total agreement about and one of them is that the song is shite and the author should be stoned to death. Although, of course there is no reason why. Her surname is ********* after all and has been since even before she got married.

[kalowski]

Well used by City fans in the late 60s.
Come on the blues,
Come on with me,
You've not seen no one like Mike Summerbee

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Twice. The first time was really good, the second was so awful I walked out before the end.

My mate's dad has seen him about a dozen times and reckons there's a 50/50 chance that he'll be shit. I'd have given up the second time I'd seen him turn in a bad performance.

[Ferris]

Seen him 3 times since 2006. Middling at best, and that's with my Bob-tinted glasses on.

[pigamus]

He sings all the songs the same way now as well

With his voice going up at the END

[Ferris]

He sings all the songs the same way now as well

With his voice going up at the END

And the same "by the numbers keyboard/rhythm guitar" nothingy sound, and strangely rushed vocals as if he's desperate to get finished as quickly as possible (which may be the case) leaving lots of space for the band to catch up. It's not representative but good for him for still turning up.

Theanswermy ^frieeeeend.....
Isablowininthe ^wiiiiind.....

[shagatha crustie]

Been listening to the Christmas episode of Theme Time Radio Hour at full blast while cleaning the flat today. Top stuff.

https://youtu.be/NXN0A_htsWY

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Sparks, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Laurie Anderson

Tom Waits is the funniest musician. His interviews are always so entertaining.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Any of you lot have any excuses whatsoever for The Mighty Quinn then?

Fucking despise that song and therefore the man who wrote it. And yes it is a personal grudge.

As much as I enjoy your posts, jockice, you have the weirdest, wrongest opinions.

[Jockice]

As much as I enjoy your posts, jockice, you have the weirdest, wrongest opinions.

So many people have said. But take it from me, I am steadfastly convinced of my own rightness on this subject.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

I like that song, but even assuming you hate it, surely your ire should be directed at Manfred Mann for making it a hit? It's a tossed off novelty that Dylan presumably may have never even put on an official release otherwise.

[Jockice]

I like that song, but even assuming you hate it, surely your ire should be directed at Manfred Mann for making it a hit? It's a tossed off novelty that Dylan presumably may have never even put on an official release otherwise.

Dylan forced them to do it. And if he'd written a song called The Mighty Mann while Manfred was at school I can guarantee Manfred would hate it too.

[Jockice]

A song with a fucking awful tune I must add. Dylan is a cunt.

[Psmith]

It's not his fault you were bullied by others though.

I agree it's not one of his best.

[Mr Farenheit]

How about this version?

https://youtu.be/ebQllt7Nd4k?t=32

[Jockice]

It's not his fault you were bullied by others though.

I agree it's not one of his best.

Perhaps not. But I blame him. And even now, more than half a century after that damned single came out, I can guarantee that several times a year I will mention my surname* to someone and they'll go: "The Mighty Quinn!'' and stand there with a stupid grin on their face, obviously expecting me to say: "Oh yes, just like the Dylan-penned number one hit that is probably only beaten by Dreadlock Holiday in the all-time list of shit chart toppers. Still nice one. Nobody's ever said that before."

*Assuming that my surname is Quinn. Which of course it isn't.

[Darles Chickens]

Bob Dylan criticism ahead!

Lazy, rambling, structureless music.  Take Positively 4th Street - it just goes on and on, repeating the same 8 bar melody for what seems like an eternity, without any signs of evolution or contrast.  No verse, no chorus, no breaks, no relief from the endless dirge.  Maybe its amorphous form is part of its genius, I dunno.

I know people praise his lyrics and that he won some Nobel prize or other, but I think he's a third-rate songwriter, musically speaking.  Unfortunately I also don't really rate him as a performer (e.g. All Along the Watchtower, and that fucking harmonica).

Sorry, as you were.  Bob Dylan, he's great isn't he!