In Praise of Bob Dylan - Page 4

As time went on, Dylan became seemingly less and less relevant – he put out a record of country songs sung in a smooth, Bing Crosby croon, astonishing everyone, sending critics into apoplexy and some seriously misguided people, lead by Dylanologist/Garbologist A. J. Weberman, into forming the Dylan Liberation Front, which intended to free Dylan from himself, force him out of his life as a father of a brood of kids in the countryside of Woodstock, N.Y. and get him back onto the front of the protest lines, where he never was in the first place.

All the while Dylan continued to do what he always did, the only thing he knew how, “to keep on keepin’ on” writing songs. He wrote several albums full of born-again gospel songs, once again righteously blowing everyone’s minds, though not in what was considered to be a good way. Later, in retrospect, those gospel songs have come to be regarded among of the best written in modern times. He released albums during the 80’s which not many people listened to, and in the nineties, he was at such a standstill that he released two CD’s of covers of traditional tunes or old blues songs that he loved. Both were excellent works, but something wasn’t flowing. The well had gone dry.

Dylan credits several factors with freeing his blocked creative spirit – one being his experience playing with Jerry Garcia and the Dead, another being seeing a jazz band play when he snuck away from rehearsals, and hearing the singer phrase songs in a certain way. Maybe it was just time to remerge, but whatever it was, it brought to light a succession of creative triumphs, beginning with Oh Mercy and culminating in the trilogy of  Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and the most recent, Modern Times.

It's come to light that Dylan often liberally borrows from older sources in the writing, the constructing of his songs. Modern Times paraphrases a civil war poet, Love and Theft a Japanese novelist, Time Out of Mind the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Much has been written about this, but it’s nothing new. Back at Woody Guthrie’s hospital bedside, the young disciple asked Woody about songs and writing, and the masters advice was this – take a song that’s been done, a good song, and change it around some, turn the melody on its head, borrow the chords of the chorus, whatever it takes to disguise it and make it your own. Dylan took this advice to heart and has been practicing it since his very beginnings. It is indeed a case of lifelong love and theft, recycling from the storehouse of an inexhaustible American culture, which most modern musicians neglect. It’s the work of every artist, incorporation of what went before with what is now, the respectful nod, the reintegration by collage, the loving reference, the all-out steal of something long forgotten, discarded, lost. Until Bob comes along to resurrect it.

Article Author: Will Brennan

Will Brennan lives in Salem, MA with his love Andrea, their dogs Chloe and Raven, and their cats Jake and Roxy. His first novel, Love in Vain Blues, is being considered by several publishers. Along with writing, he really likes music.

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