First time I heard Hard Rains Gonna Fall, was Pete Seeger, Toronto, Massey Hall, I forget the year, never heard it before, so didn't know it was Dylan, but was stunned at its beauty and depth. Later, it occurred to me that Dylan transformed it from an anonymous poem, Lord Randal, that I had studied in high school. At least I got something out of school. But contributing to my greatest education was Bob Dylan through the years.
Wow, this interview is amazing! I love Clinton Heylins books as well, I just picked up the new book on Dylan and I'm psyched about it. Look forward to hopefully seeing another discussion with Clinton soon.
I really like his accent humour unique style. Passionate speaker.gonna get new book based on how good THIS was. Was gonna get it but was in no hurry.i am now🎸
What a joy that was to listen to! A well- prepared, knowledgable interviewer plus Clinton Heylin on Dylan - stellar! The book is excellent, too! Looking forward to Vol 2.
I saw Bob in august of 94 in Pittsburgh. Tambourine Man literally stopped a train. The public transit elevated train runs through the outdoor venue - during tambourine man the train stopped and the doors opened an the people stood awestruck frozen in the moment. The whole venue did the same - it was like all time had stopped. Dylan laid each line down like gently falling leaves.
Precisely said, in Dylan style, "we just lay there by the juniper, while the moon is bright ..... If you see her say hello she might be in Tangiers she left here last early Spring isn't living there I here, say for me, that I'm all right,....you're gonna make me lonesome when you go, Blue river running slow and lazy, I can stay with you forever and never realize the time, flowers on the hillside blooming crazy, crickets talking back n forth in rhyme...This man will forever live on he has left an indelible print upon us, one of true grit, love minus zero, and mysteries were search long for. God Bless him and his fans all say, at one time or another connecting with his music, his stories spoke to us, as saviors often do. I'm forever grateful to be among the generation that finishes my sentences and gets Dylan an icon a man who truly knows when to hold em knows when to fold em and walk away. He reigns high among his contenders Willie Nelson, The Highway men, Traveling Wilbury's, Kristophersen, Glen Cambell, George Harrison, Neil Young, Clapton John Lee Hooker, and his circle of blues men,
there is a third cover Clint, its called all along the watch tower, by hendrix. great interview; speaking of hair coming up on the back moments at dyalan concerts; there are so many but there are those that you don't forget. one for me was in Melbourne in 98 when he picked up his harp and did a solo and it brought tears to the whole house..I'm with you about blood on the tracks; i could never forget the hour i first heard it in 1979. That made me a dylan fan for life.
I'd have to say that "She belongs to me" by Rick Nelson and "Tomorrow is a long time" by Elvis Presley. GREAT interpretations by incredible artists singing genius lyrics.
Chatted with a guy from Minnesota. He often went to bobs uncles hardware store where bob would sometimes be, just sitting in a chair. His English teacher said bob said that bob would have liked to have been an English teacher if he had not been an artist. 19:10 mark says bob worked at becoming bob dylan. I don’t agree. He knew he was gifted but i think he saw himself as blue-collar. He toyed with most interviewers because they couldn’t get out of routine-standard-vanilla questions. Bob is not vanilla or shallow, but he is more ‘ordinary’ than we think. He’s gifted. He IS a gift. He knows that. But he also knows he puts on his clothes every day just like everyone else. He’s a human not a god.
I've followed Bob since 1975. I have all his records up to date Rough and rowdy ways. Hmmmmmm. I wonder as he approaches 81 in May if he will soon retire from touring and just paint
I thought the Uncut covers CD was pretty solid! If nothing else, the Cowboy Junkies' take on "I've made up my mind to give myself to you" isn't frisbee material.
Love Clinton despite the haters, but he just cannot grasp Make You Feel My Love @48:00 It's a Bob reimagining of Welcome To My World by Jim Reeves, a huge country hit in 1964. Put the lyrics side by side. Bob knew exactly what he was doing, as usual. Clinton not so much.
Heylin has a angle on bob with his answers but I dont agree with all the answers...I see bob doing something different one day. Like Retirement before it's to late. Kris Kristofferson hung up his rock n roll shoes
“Dylan worked at being bob dylan”….i don’t think so. He never like others creating him and I really think he did NOT consciously create himself. His songs especially his early ones, came outta him if he wanted them to or not. EVERYONE is an artist. Our art is us. Dylan is simply a more visceral artist, more out-there on his sleeve artist. From Hibbing to today i think he honestly WAS all those ‘faces’ he SEEMED to be.
I totally disagree that Television cover of Knocking on Heavens Door is better than Dylan's original. I personally hate it, it must be one of the worst covers ever. I have enjoyed the interview very much though, I'm 71 and ı lived my whole life with Dylan songs. As to his voice; he doesn't have one voice.
This guy is a dedicated researcher and prolific; he claims to be a great scholar. But he is too self-opionated. Television’s cover of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” is a great masterpiece of a cover. Not in my opinion. Nice guitar but too loud and drowns out the words and hence the meaning. He doesn’t like “Help”. Why? Because he cares more about lyrics than music. I don’t. And the great fallacy- Dylan is as good as Shakespeare! He doesn’t even come close to Shelley or Byron. And the award of the Nobel - that is despite the protestations of Dylan’s epigones, remains distinctly controversial! The problem with good pop music is its inherent duality -- words or is it music? Or is it music or is it music? The music is a bit repetitive but look at the words! The lyrics are crummy but what an amazing riff! The truth is that Dylan gets away with a lot of sloppy undisciplined lines because it’s always suggestive of some hint of potential profundity. No proper poet or composer could get away with that!
Remove the continual insertion of the inane expression "you know" from everything Clinton Hammond says here....and you'd get rid of as much as 20% of this interview that is dead air. I wonder if he's conscious of doing it? "You know..." Well, what if the listener *doesn't know?* Hmm? What about that, Clinton? 😄 As for the book, yes, it's very good. I read it a few months ago. There are no unnecessary "you know"'s inserted all through the book, fortunately! If there were, I'd have given up by the 2nd chapter.
A student in a creative writing class was adamant that writers should write just like people talk. A lot of students agreed. The instructor replied, "Well, in that case, from what I've observed listening to most of your conversations, every fourth or fifth word you write would have to be 'like'."
If Bob Dylan is trying to get as far away from people (and from himself), then why has he been touring non-stop around the world for decades? There are many paradoxes surrounding the life of the elusive and disingenuous Mr. Dylan.
