Pullout Sep 2, 2010 at 4:00 am

Four people born in the 1990s who'd never listened to Bob Dylan before listen to nothing but Bob Dylan—specifically, his career-spanning, three-disc Biograph—for 72 hours straight. Hereโ€™s what it was like for them.

Comments

104
I kind of want to applaud you, 103.
I'm from the generation in question too, and just because I don't like Dylan's sound doesn't mean it's because I'm brainwashed by some sort of flash-in-the-pan overproduced pop. My generation is no more made up of philistines than the ones before it (C'mon, you guys had crappy music then too, the forgettables have just all been forgotten already), and actually tends to have quite an appreciation for music of the past. When I was in Junior High classic rock was the big cool thing, and when Dylan and Cohen both toured here my senior year of high school there were lots of my classmates in the audience. The "kids these days!" argument is pathetic and has been going around since Aristotle. Culture changes like that.

Try to remember that almost no generation is enitrely defined by the mainstream best-selling music. If we can all be grouped in with Lil Wayne and High School Musical, than the 1960s youth can surely all be remembered for the Monkees and the Sound of Music. I mean, that stuff was infinitely more popular than Bob Dylan!

(all that said, most of my favourite folk bands and singer/songwriters probably owe Dylan a lot, and I acknowledge his importance and skill as a lyricist. )
105
Dylan is the greatest artist America has yet produced, with the possible exception of Walt Whitman. (Whitman, by the way, was controversial too. Emerson called him "the most American genius"; Whittier threw his copy into the fire.) An Irish friend commented to me thirty years ago that "Dylan can't sing, he can't play the guitar, and he can't play the harmonica. That's what makes him so great." Too many great songs to mention. As for best albums, I'd recommend BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME, HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, and BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. No, I can't defend his voice, but it's the voice of the people, "The song of a poet who died in the gutter." Need a one-song recommendation from a lifetime Dylan fan? "Tangled Up In Blue."
106
It would have been more interesting to expose these subjects to a broader swath of music than what Biograph, released in 1985, offers. An interesting stepping stone exercise would have been to give them two weeks and the following albums:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited
John Wesley Harding
Nashville Skyline
New Morning
Blood on the Tracks
The Basement Tapes
Desire
Slow Train Coming
Oh Mercy
Good As I Been to You
Time out of Mind
Together Through Life

Thirteen widly different albums performed over 47 years that would have produced a variety of reactions.
107
I myself am a huge Bob fan and will be seeing him November. I am going to be 17 on October 10th. Born in 1?93 (when the "world gone wrong") I hardly think any age generation or group should be targeted. I do not agree with any of these 4 people who reviewed here. I do agree they started with the wrong compilation. Growing up I only listened and even knew of 2 90s bands, spice girls and Hanson, my father (being a sick child with a heart condition unable to do many physical activities) gave me a gift. He sat me in front of a desk, gave me pencils, paper, and a radio, tuned into the oldies station. I'd stay up all night and write and in return for my tales, I'd learn and perform the songs coming from the radio for my parents. He died when I was 9. I've been through plenty. So maybe just maybe, it does take a certain amount of life experience to understand Dylan. My road to dylan started when I was 12, I got heavily into punk (ramones, pistols, clash, buzzcocks, etc.) And then got into poetry, but especially beat poetry. Then I returned to the music I loved coming from the radio and through that discovered Dylan. From my first listen (Subterranean Homesick Blues) to now, I was in love. I understand all his meant-to-be understood references, and appreciate the wit in those not meant to be. Just a year ago, on my 16th birthday I went to New York City and bought my first harmonica, I since then have started performing and added "musician" to my career along with "published poet." Maybe it takes a certain type of mind or background to understand and appreciate certain artists. Nobody is at blame, and age certainly shouldn't be. I believe age is a number, a malicious number that tries to define and limit you, I don't dig either. I went from not knowing or caring about Bob to now striving to be good enough to play with him (and if I'm lucky enough run my fingers through those gorgeous curls.)
These people gave their opinion. And in return we give ours, it's the beauty of free speech. I may not agree with their opinions and yes I do hope one day they appreciate Dylan and hopefully understand him too. I'm younger than these people, granted I don't feel it considering I grew up quick. With a dead father and a remarried mother with a baby you were expected and at times had no other choice but to care for as she worked or went to bars until 4am maybe that gives me an advantage on more understanding. But that cannot be measured. Stop making silly judgments on each others generations. We're all people. Age or no age. Each with a brain and thoughts. To each its own.
My personal take on Bob?
A blazing star. A true story teller and damn good musician. His voice is, yes, an acquired taste, but any taste can be changed. He's a gorgeous man with talent that exceeds limits! How many 69 year olds can test the fate of time and still come out on top? With new and younger people joining in each second? Not many! He is a peoples person music wise. There must be hundreds of his songs I can relate to. And I've done this test before these individuals, when I first started listening, I stayed up for 3 days and 4 hours and did nothing but listen to Dylan. When I showered? I played him. When I went out? I played him through headphones. Every seconds was spent listening and watching. And I fell more and more into love with this man who blew into my mind like a tumbleweed strolling along the roads of time. And I'll never look back. He's a timeless original who cannot be ignored. Whether you love or hate Dylan? He's a pivotal person, musician, influence, poet, and more.
So, with that being said. Stop trying to blame who and what is "wrong" with these kids, its just a matter of taste.

Love and hate may be four lettered words, but they feel like so much more.
-Mariah "Ry" Wilson-
108
As a Boomer who grew up with Dylan's influence all around, I was quite impressed with in writing and perspectives these four young people showed in their analysis. I was also surprised that the parents comments weren't more insightful.

Dylan's greater contribution is his song writing, not his own performance. I agree with most all the negatives about his "whiny voice," overuse of harmonica, simplistic repetition, etc. but also agree with those who said the "covers" of his songs were almost always better than Dylan's own performances (except perhaps for "Just Like a Woman"...)

In some form or another, someone WILL be listening to something Dylan wrote 100 years from now. I doubt that most current popular performers will be on ANYone's hit list in 2110...
109
Sounds a lot like my initial reaction hearing Dylan's first album when I was fifteen (in 1964). It just sounded too weird. But a lot of people whose opinions I respected seemed to think there was something extraordinary to be heard and I kept going back. I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have chosen "Biograph" as a way of introducing his work. One of the subjects was right. He's great storyteller. Check out "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream," "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" or "Brownsville Girl" for a way in from that aspect of him. Not for everybody, but if you connect it's like finding yourself in Aladdin's cave.
110
Sixto Rodriguez is the true voice of a generation. Bob Dylan is an over-hyped sellout. Listen to ANY of Sixto's songs and it becomes very clear who the trailblazer was that WALKED THE WALK.

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