First off, I generally don't post anywhere else, not even on Facebook. So hopefully you will indulge this post.
Although my recent history consists mostly of lurking, I just thought I'd post this in support of an artist who has entertained me, inspired me, confounded me and amazed me. Even though he sang "Don't follow leaders, watch your parking meters", I have always be a loyal fan.
Congrats to Bob Dylan, the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the first American to receive the award ($900,000 and a gold medal) since Toni Morrison in 1993. This honor, which he was rumored to have been in the running on and off since 1997, set off a storm of congratulations, along with overly enthusiastic New York Times ÛÏBob-StockÛ group of articles and predictably, a handful of sour notes.
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.Û In DylanÛªs case, while many have been supportive of the decision, several major authors have written critiques from gentle to scathing.
Admittedly, DylanÛªs work does not fit into the traditional literary form of novels, poetry and short stories that the prize has traditionally recognized. However, the prize also usually goes to a writer who is well into a long career whose work often reflects a social conscience. Dylan has already won numerous honors, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Pulitzer Prize, two honorary Doctorates of Music (Princeton U. and St. Andrews U.), nearly 40 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been given the Legion of Honor and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and the National Medal of Arts.
Numerous American and ex-pat American authors have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, including Sinclair Lewis, Eugene OÛªNeill, Pearl S. Buck, T.S. Eliot (famously name dropped in DylanÛªs ÛÏDesolation RowÛ), William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Isaac B. Singer, Joseph Brodsky, Derek Walcott and Toni Morrison.
Non-winners include such giants of literature as James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Marcel Proust, Henrik Ibsen, and Henry James to name but a few. Great American authors such as Philp Roth, Cormac McCarthy, J.D. Salinger have also not yet been honored.
Although Dylan does not need me to defend him, I feel I have to vent at those who scoff at him being deserving of this honor.
I offer the words of the Nobel Prize Committee themselves, as they honored the past American writers. These phrase from their inductions indicate what qualities the Nobel prize Committee is looking for:
Sinclair Lewis: ÛÏfor his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.Û
Eugen OÛªNeill: ÛÏfor the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy.Û
Pearl S. Buck: ÛÏfor her rich and truly epic descriptions (of peasant life in China) and for her biographical masterpiecesÛ?.presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight.Û
T.S. Eliot: ÛÏfor his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry.Û
William Faulkner: ÛÏfor his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.Û
Ernest Hemingway: ÛÏfor his mastery of the art of narrative, (most recently demonstrated in ÛÏThe Old Man and the SeaÛ), and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.Û
John Steinbeck: ÛÏfor his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.Û
Saul Bellow: ÛÏfor the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work.Û
Isaac Bashevis Singer: ÛÏfor his impassioned narrative art which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal human conditions to life.Û
Czeslaw Milosz: voicing ÛÏmanÛªs exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts.Û
Joseph Brodsky: ÛÏfor an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity.Û
Derek Walcott: ÛÏfor a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.Û
Toni Morrison: ÛÏnovels characterized by visionary force and poetic import,Û giving ÛÏlife to an essential aspect of American reality.Û
DylanÛªs own citation from the Committee credits him ÛÏfor having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.Û
Without taking up too much bandwidth, it seems to me that DylanÛªs work can be described by almost every word of each of the above citations.
He started out following his idol Woody Guthrie, and soon turned to writing ringing protest songs that served as anthems for the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements with such songs as ÛÏBlowing in the WindÛ, ÛÏMasters of War,Û ÛÏThe Times They Are a-ChanginÛª,Û and ÛÏA Hard RainÛªs a-Gonna FallÛ. His move to introspective writing (probably fueled by drugs, alcohol and the pressure of touring) coincided with his move to electric instruments and eventually recording in Nashville, producing three classic albums with songs like ÛÏSubterranean Homesick BluesÛ, ÛÏDesolation RowÛ, ÛÏLike a Rolling StoneÛ, ÛÏJust Like a WomanÛ, ÛÏPositively 4th StreetÛ ÛÏVisions of JohannaÛ and the side-long epic, ÛÏSad Eyed Lady of the LowlandsÛ.
After his motorcycle crash, he spent over a year in relative seclusion, recording the ÛÏBasement TapesÛ with his backing group, soon to be known as ÛÏThe BandÛ, which would not be officially released for years. When he came back, he released several of quieter, folk/country oriented albums, which included a rare duet with Johnny Cash, some songs he wrote for a movie soundtrack (ÛÏPat Garrett and Billy the KidÛ), and a number of cover version of other peopleÛªs songs. After Columbia Records angered him by putting out an album of inferior outtakes (which has never been released on CD or re-released in any format), he reunited with The Band, went on tour, and wound up releasing a masterpiece of revelations, confessions, heartbreak and anger.
After a wild ÛÏRolling ThunderÛ tour, and a dip back into social justice songs (ÛÏHurricaneÛ), Dylan again changed course, espousing his newly-found Christianity though most of the 1980Ûªs. While his albums during that period may not have had reached the same level of popularity as his earlier work, subsequent ÛÏBootlegÛ volumes showed that there was plenty of great writing going on that for one reason or another, was not making it onto his albums.
Starting in the late 80Ûªs, the ÛÏNever Ending TourÛ developed, where, with a few select musicians, Dylan averaged over 100 concerts a year, touring both in and out of the United States. Over the years, his songs have been re-arranged to the extent that it is often hard to tell what is being played until he sings the first line of lyrics. One of the best examples of his penchant for changing the music is ÛÏAll Along the WatchtowerÛ, which started out as a pleasant melody for guitar and bass, but soon became a whirling rock anthem, styled after the Jimi Hendrix version, with screaming guitars and pounding drums, until recently, the traditional show closer. Even today, covering Frank Sinatra songs, Dylan continues to explore and re-define the meaning of American music.
Taking the Hendrix style is only one instance of DylanÛªs constant use and appropriation of other artists, whether it be the old folkies (Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronk, Odetta, Doc Watson, Jean Ritchie Tim Hardin and Tom Paxton) or traditional blues artists (Son House, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson), or even pop idols like Little Richard and Bobby Vee.
I just finished reading Bruce Springsteen's autobiography (an interesting read if you are into his work), and he tells the story of the Kennedy Center Honors, where he performed when Bob was honored. Springsteen writes, ÛÏWe were alone together for a brief moment walking down a back stairwell when he thanked me for being there and said, Û÷If thereÛªs anything I can ever do for youÛ?Ûª I thought, Û÷Are you kidding me?Ûª and answered, Û÷ItÛªs already been done.'Û
At the risk of going on any longer, I leave you with the words of Bob Dylan himself:
If you take whatever there is to the song away - the beat, the melody - I could still recite it."
Bob Dylan 1965
"It's the sound and the words. Words don't interfere with it. They punctuate it."
Bob Dylan 1977
"I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet."
Bob Dylan 1978
Congrats to a true American original, Bob Dylan.
Good post. Thanks. I miss seeing more Sicilian Cowboy posts.
Bob Dylan invented rap...
I can remember back in the 60s when the DJs would spend more time talking about Dylan with guests and callers than they would playing his music.
Drove from Salt Lake city to Denver through a blizzard in February of 1974 to see Bob Dylan & the Band (box seat tickets).
Been a fan as long as I can remember (and then some).
There are VERY FEW musicians of his era who will be remembered 100 years from now, but Dylan will be one of them.
Loyal
:clink: solid.
SC
As a HS kid in the city, it was an such an experience to learn the lyrics to Subterranean Homesick Blues with a few friends and sing it aloud on a bus headed to the City or anywhere.With a few harmonicas too.
A lot of the signing inscriptions from friends in our yearbooks were Dylan lyrics too.
He's had a never ending career and has done almost every genre of the American songbook.
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles
Robert Hill, post: 395297, member: 378 wrote: SC
As a HS kid in the city, it was an such an experience to learn the lyrics to Subterranean Homesick Blues with a few friends and sing it aloud on a bus headed to the City or anywhere.With a few harmonicas too.
A lot of the signing inscriptions from friends in our yearbooks were Dylan lyrics too.
He's had a never ending career and has done almost every genre of the American songbook.Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin'
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don't want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don't work
'Cause the vandals took the handles
Subterranean Homesick Blues (if I'm remembering right)?
"Dylan is a goddamn phenomenon, pure gold, and as mean as a snake."
- Hunter S. Thompson
ÛÏto Bob Dylan, for Mister Tambourine Man.Û
- Hunter S. Thompson's dedication in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
Thanks Angelo
Is this invention of rap music:?
[MEDIA=youtube]0DG3ijkd8oE[/MEDIA]
I saw him on the 74 tour with the Band. In the audience was the Georgia Govenor who latter went on to be President. I wonder if he ever thought about having "to stand naked".
Dylan was not about the performance. It was the words. I believe he was deserving of the award.
From SUBTERANNIAN HOMESICK BLUES:
keep a clean nose, watch the plainclothes
You don't need a WEATHERMAN to know which way the wind blows
The radical wing of the Students for a Democratic Society chose that for their name, later called the Weather Underground.
A meterological service used the shortened WUNDERGROUND.
They were recently bought by THE WEATHER CHANNEL.
I would love to sit with him at a BBQ some time...
