Saturday, February 10, 2007

Bob Dylan:

Genius songwriter. I really can't listen to anything he's sung on since about 1980. Rock or folk singers don't necessarily need to be "good" in the technical sense but have to have some kind of cool sounding voice and able to carry a tune (this used to annoy my classical guitar teacher who once remarked to me that rock singers all sound like guitar players filling in for lead vocals). Dylan had this up until about 1980, which, after that, I think his voice got so bad that it's unlistenable. Even in his prime, I'd much rather listen to better musicians -- better players and better singers -- do his material: From Hendrix, to Neil Young, to Joan Baez, to The Byrds to The Band, the list goes on and on of people and groups who have done versions of Bob Dylan songs better than the man himself.

Here is a great, all star version of "I Shall Be Released."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Aaah yes, from the Last Waltz film.