Hey There Robert Zimmerman, I Wrote This Blog For You
So, who watched the first part of the Bobfest tonight? How was it for you? Personally I thought that Mr Zimmerman's involvement humanised him to an extent that shocks - after three decades of wilfull obscurantism, I suddenly feel warm feelings. He's dropped all the daft shite and started telling the truth. I was torn. After all, I've not spoken to him for thirty years. We fell out just after "Blood On The Tracks". Things were said. Looks were cast. To make things worse, he seemed to parody himself wherever he went. It was over.It would have been '64 or '65 when I first registered him. I'd heard "Blowin' In The Wind" but it never really resonated. Mind you I mostly heard it by Peter, Paul and Mary on Two-Way Family Favourites. The acceptable face of political protest. I'd just - at the age of nine - discovered the Beatles and the Stones. Twee shite, championed by the likes of Pete Seeger (ostentatious bearded prick I would've thought at the time - if I had possessed the vocabulary), I could do without. After all, hadn't I and my schoolmates spent an excrutiating three terms listening to a newly qualified teacher who fancied himself as the next Dave Van Ronk? But, the times they were-a-changin'. Newly created - and, indeed, experienced, testerone was cursing through the barely formed nooks and crannies of my pubescent body. Lookin' back - I was more than ready for something totally new.
It was a trip to Scarborough from Manchester. '64 or '65. Quite a trip in those days. Four hours plus. It was a Morris minor. Hand-painted green with yellow wheels as I remember, but I couldn't give a fuck. It was a car and it was a holiday.
The A64. Early summer. One of those days that just shone and shone and shone. Glorious. Petrol stations providing "Premium" and "Regular".
"A shot of Redex Sir"?
I can't remember what radio station was on in the car, but Mr Tambourine Man came on........and I was gone. What a strange song. Dylan, tonight, mentioned a 78 of an old folk song, one that pulled at something deep within him at a really early age. It resonated. I remembered. Within minutes - in my mind's eye - my Mam and Dad were disecting "Mr Tambourine Man" and pronouncing it the biggest pile of shite they had ever heard. I can hear my Dad to this day saying "How the bloody hell can you play a song on a tambourine"? I was disappointed in my parents - but especially my Dad. Wan't he supposed to be the musician of the family?
However, I thought it was the most marvellous thing I had ever heard in my life (after "She Loves You"). One man. One acoustic guitar (forget the shite "vibe" playing), this is essentially one man's voice, guitar and, sadly, harmonica. The day after it was there again, in all its 8 minutes of glory, spurting out of the crappest tranny on the beach. I was sold.
Can't wait for tomorrow now. My head's full of Bob.
9 comments:
I stuck him out until after Desire, I haven't heard a thing he's done since then and I'm not even interested. That programme last night left me mesmerised though. It was so well done I stayed up after my bedtime to see the finish. Evene thewife didn't complain except for the bit where Joan Baez, earth's greatest living singer, duetted and it was so out of tune it was quite funny. I presumed they just couldn't do the same key. thewife thought Bob sang in his own key.
"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow."
I'm sure he must have been thinking of Scarborough.... isn't that just the most sublime lyric. Definitely one of my desert island discs.
this is where i hold my hands up and admit that i just don't get dylan, beyond subterranean homesick blues. isn't he just a bit, well, whiny?
*covers head with arms in anticipation of backlash from rabid dylan fans*
Recorded last night's and looking forward to it.
I didn't get Dylan till last year when I first heard Nashville Skyline. Still not keen on his really early stuff, though.
And yeah, your dad was right. How do you play a song on a tambourine? I'd like to see Liam Gallagher do it.
Been looking forward to it for weeks, been reading about it for weeks. Bloody missed it!
I like Bob, some Bob anyway, but I see what surlygirl means. I think he resonates so well because he represents the inner sneer in us all.
Desolation row and Sad Eyed lady of the lowlands. Two of my favourite Dylan songs. My friend used to work for CBS records he got me his whole back catalogue at £1 a throw. Money well spent. Can't wait for part two tonight (I recorded it last night)
But you're right it's the first time I've ever known Dylan be forthright and not evasive or deliberately obscure. It's about time.
"whiny"?
Well yes, up to a point. It's hard to explain the impact he had (like The Beatles). All you young folk have heard what came after and presumed it was forever thus.
I think Joni Mitchell hit the nail on the head when, after hearing Positively 4th Street, she realised you could write and sing about anything.
"I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you"
The most poetic put down of all time.............probably.
Bob Dylan.
Brilliant songwriter but unfortunately cannot sing.
I can never stand his "whiny" voice.
Sorry folks but I agree with 'surly girl' :(
Lovely post, Steve. Thank you. What a week it's been in blogland, even moreso than I dared hope for.
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