This is a two part confession or possibly a declaration. Part one...... I am no longer gong to be embarrassed of my Rolling Stone magazines. I have had subscriptions to hipper magazines to-wit, Paste, Blender, Spin, Mojo, they didn't make me cooler. I didn't find out anything cooler,harder or faster. They didn't make me lose weight, they didn't make me muscley or tan. That was just for me, no comment is necessary.....that being said we can move on.
BOB DYLAN INTERVIEW IN ROLLING STONE 40th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE - This is the best interview I have ever read. Not the best Dylan interview, the best period. I know I haven't read them all, but I have read quite a few and none have struck me like this struck me. In this interview we start with the _Don't Look Back_ Dylan, ambiguous, vague, basically a smart ass.
EXAMPLE: Wenner:Do you think[the times] are gloomy on the horizon? Dylan: In what sense do you mean? Wenner: Bob, Come on....
Cut the crap in other words Dylan. Quickly after this Bob starts to open up about where we are at today, about why society and music is just not the same as it used to be. One of the things that is most striking to me is his mention that back then(1950's mainly)you had to possess God given talent. He references mostly the Sun Records stable. Jerry Lee, Johnny Cash. These guys had something different, they were something different. THey had to have something different just to get into the game. Today the right genre, the right hair, eye liner, the right place, the right time, the right hook will get you a million selling record. Not so then. He points to Jimmie ROdgers. WHo was doing that he asks? I would offer nobody...His point is that people had to be different then. Culture is becoming uniform.
DYLAN:Well America's a different place than it was when those other records were made. It was more like Europe used to be, where every territory was different-every country was different, every state was different. A different culture, different architecture, different food. You could go 100 miles in the states and it would be like going from Stalingrad to Paris or something. It's just not that way anymore. It's all homogenized. People wear the same clothes, eat the same food, think the same things.
Dylan has his finger on humanity so well it is almost frightening. What people do changes, how they act transcends millennia. If you have an interest in Dylan, music, life I would strongly urge you to read this interview. I sat down and read the whole thing in one shot even though my bum began to ache. Which leads me to the ultimate question...why weren't padded toilet seats more popular?
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You are a brave, brave man to defend Rolling Stone on THIS site, so kudos for that Mr. Balls-Of_Brass. I am one of its many knockers (and isn't RS just FULL of knockers these days?).
Havin said that, I am a huge Dylan fan and this sounds interesting. Now if only I could somehow read it without putting any shecklels in Jann Wenner's pockets....
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Mostly because they're ugly.
As for the rest, I don't subscribe to RS and I'm not a Dylan fan. But, the articles I've read about him make me think an interview with him, especially one that cuts through bs, would be a fascinating read.
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this is a great interview, for dylan at least, who (as you say) is a historically lousy subject
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this is really a great post, thanks for sharing
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Which leads me to the ultimate question…why weren’t padded toilet seats more popular ?
Because they cracked and the jagged pieces would scratch your ass (and not in a pleasant way).
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I like how Bob describes his process for making each show different:
"It's based on an infinite system where you don't necessarily have to feel good to play it, but if you follow the rules, you can do different things every night." . . . "Astrologically, you're dealing with a different day every day of the week. Every day is a different color, a different planet rules it. You could say the same thing, you could feel the same way, you could write the same thing, but if it's on a Tuesday, it's going to be different than if it comes out on Friday. That's just a fact. You can ask any astrologer."
That's part of why I have seen him almost 100 times, and I want to see him 100 more! I love his songwriting, and his performance. . .
"To me, the relationship between a performer and the audience is anything but a buddy-buddy thing, any more than me going in and admiring a Van Gogh painting and thinking that me and him are on the same level because I like his painting."
I don't need to be pals with him, although I'd love to get a chance to meet him, but seeing him play is really something! He also has a very wry sense of humor:
(talking to Wenner about Rolling Stone's 40th anniv) Bob: You've seen more music changes than me. JW: Oh Please. Bob: No, No please. You please. You've seen it all from the top. I've seen it maybe from . . . also near the top.
haahaha!!