Bob Dylan fans?

Post by **Myth** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 11:12 pm

Did any of you Brits watch the first part of Martin Scorsese's documentary on Bob Dylan "No Direction Home"? Or indeed any none Brits, I have no idea when this was first shown in other countries.

Some of it was really interesting to watch, like the bit where you see Dylan in the car "man, no more booing, I can't tune up when they're all booing like that. I can't understand why the tickets sell out" and all the 60's British toffs "Well I like Dylan playing Dylan, but I'm not too sure about the backing band and his whole pop sound" etc.

Best song footage they played imho was "Masters of War"

Looking forward to tomorrow's part 2 (BBC2, 9pm GMT)

Post by **seremtan** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:49 am

i fucking hate bob dylan. i had a housemate a few years back who played nothing but. i've never felt so homicidal

Post by **R00k** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:52 am

Some of Bob Dylan's good songs are amazingly shitty when he sings them himself.

Post by **Scourge** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 2:51 am

Can't stand his voice, but he wrote a few songs that I like.

Post by **ScooterG** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:24 am

I was just about to post about this! Yeah, it was on over here in the US and I left work and ran home just to see it in its first airing. I really thought it was great...I love to hear the origins of my favorite songs.... I thought the best concert footage was of him singing Desolation Row. I love that whole particular concert: how they shot him from below, how his face was just about the only thing lit, the way he sounded that night, intonations, etc..... *blushes* Can you tell I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan? :icon25:

Post by **mjrpes** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:24 am

seremtan wrote:i fucking hate bob dylan.

You've got a lot of nerve (to say you are my friend).

Post by **ScooterG** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:28 am

Also, props to Martin Scorcese for excellent storytelling on the whole story of folk music parallel w/ story of Bob....

Post by **Hannibal** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:50 am

Great writer but after about five minutes his voice makes me want to crush my neighbor's balls into wine.

Post by **mjrpes** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:55 am

Hannibal wrote:Great writer but after about five minutes his voice makes me want to crush my neighbor's balls into wine.

r u jesus?

Post by **Dave** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:09 am

The effect of Bob Dylan's contribution to Vietnam era American culture is immeasurable... like him or not, that guy represents so much more than the sum of his catalog

Post by **werldhed** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:31 pm

I don't care what anyone says; Hendrix's version of "Watchtower" is not better than the original.

Post by **Ryoki** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:37 pm

R00k wrote:Some of Bob Dylan's good songs are amazingly shitty when he sings them himself.

I find this to be true - but then i never understood his music.

Post by **4days** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:52 pm

seremtan wrote:i fucking hate bob dylan. i had a housemate a few years back who played nothing but. i've never felt so homicidal

same, fucking hippy wanker.

i know dylan did a lot of cool and influential stuff, but the sound of his voice gives me a headache. he's right up there with technohead and oasis as perfectly valid reasons for strangling someone, burying them in the backyard and then building a shed on their grave.

Post by **plained** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:55 pm

his kid had a more mature writing style in a way tho and hes pretty good

Post by **Nightshade** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:58 pm

werldhed wrote:I don't care what anyone says; Hendrix's version of "Watchtower" is not better than the original.

Crack. That's what you're smoking.

Post by **Myth** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:00 pm

werldhed wrote:I don't care what anyone says; Hendrix's version of "Watchtower" is not better than the original.

Apparently the first time Hendrix played that for Dylan, Bob said to him "wow, I'm gunna play it like that from now on!"

I like both versions for different reasons.

Post by **werldhed** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:12 pm

Myth wrote:
werldhed wrote:I don't care what anyone says; Hendrix's version of "Watchtower" is not better than the original.
Apparently the first time Hendrix played that for Dylan, Bob said to him "wow, I'm gunna play it like that from now on!"

I like both versions for different reasons.

I know. That's why I said I don't care what anyone says. Dylan himself admitted Jimi's version was better than his.

Post by **Myth** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:17 pm

Eh?! Make your mind up

Post by **werldhed** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:30 pm

Typically, I do like it when other people sing Dylan's songs (same for Neil Young), but for some reason I think Jimi lost too much of the original in his.

I'm sure part of my problem is the "local boy" connection -- I'm biased toward Dylan because he lived a couple of miles from the house where I grew up. He used to come to my high school occassionally to watch plays and concerts, and his nephew was a friend of my brother's.

(that said, I don't even own any Bob Dylan music)

Post by **Nightshade** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 2:08 pm

Jimi's version was his own. Maybe it's an apples to oranges comparison, but I think Jimi's is superior.

Post by **DRuM** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:48 pm

I just watched the second part of the dylan documentary. Well I never really liked his music and definitely not his voice. I don't really understand what he was about, especially when he denied that he ever sings about anything special. But his interviews were interesting to watch. He looked so trashed all the time which would go a long way towards his reluctance to take an interview seriously. No doubt a sort of genius though, even though he's above a lot of peoples heads, not least mine. Those british fans, lol " We paid to see a folk singer not a beat band!"

Post by **seremtan** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:32 pm

actually to be fair he's a good lyricist, but watching a bit of that scorsese doc i kept thinking 'this would sound so much better if michael stipe were singing it'

Post by **Myth** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:24 am

Well, I started this thread... I guess it's fair to say his voice does grate in a lot of his songs. Some of his songs, he sing perfectly imo.. he has the right style for them if you have the patience to give it the time of day. I'll be the first to admit he hasn't got the voice of an angel, but his voice suits certain styles of his songs (usually the ones where he doesn't yell too much :icon28:)

Haven't watched part 2 of scorsese documentary yet but got it on tape.

Post by **Grudge** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:50 am

I saw him at Roskilde a couple of years ago. I have lots of respect for the man and the songs he has written, he has been a huge part of modern music history. I do like his music when I hear it on the radio, it's just not what I listen to every day - it's not part of my collection.

Post by **ScooterG** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 11:19 pm

That's funny, 'cuz Bob Dylan is about 1/3 of my total collection! He has so many albums out it's unbelievable....

I watched the second half of the documentary last night and my favorite thing he said was, "you can't be wise and in love at the same time" - so fucking true!!!

I agree with your assessment of his voice, Myth...and I like to describe it like this: Dylan's voice may not be perfect for most songs, but it's exactly perfect for his songs. When I think of him singing Sara and Subterranean Homesick Blues and Masters of War, all different but each so perfect...I just love that about him - he's a total chameleon with his artist mood....