Saturday, February 7, 2015

Bob Dylan Steals His Own Show

++Musicares honored Bob Dylan as person of the year with a two-hour concern with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Neil Young, both Graham and Nash, and Bonnie Raitt and more. 

++But the biggest Dylan concert since Bob-Fest in New York in the early 1990s produced the rarest of moments. Bob Dylan, with a typed speech, surprised and pleased his audience with a 40-minute speech that was a tutorial in songwriting. He explained songwriters he didn't care for--most of whom today's audiences wouldn't know--and those he did and more importantly why. 

++At 73, he thanked those artists who recorded his work and made him popular. He did this straight. He recognized Peter, Paul and Mary's contribution to his career when they recorded "Blowing in the Wind" and other songs before he was known. He touched on his impressions of Nina Simone and her recording his songs. The Staples Sisters and their father. Sonny and Bono. And, of course, he was gratuitous and glowing about Joan Baez, his former lover, and praised her integrity and strength. He was right that fans poured out to see her and hear her amazing voice and he got to tag along.

++I don't remember ever Bob Dylan speaking for such an extended period of time and especially about music--not only his but others.

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