[Dixielandjazz] Mike Royko on Bob Dylan: 1974

[Don Ingle]

Royko was a gem. I still have a copy of his book on King Richard the First
(Dick Daley), "Boss." He was the Mark Twain of Chicago, witty and acerbic,
funny and able to punch idiot politicos with a right jab out of his
typewriter that took of the wind out of most windbags.
Shame we lost his voice. Things aren't what they used to be without him.
Don Ingle
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Hooks" <charliehooks@earthlink.net>
To: "DJML Dixieland Jazz" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 7:30 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Mike Royko on Bob Dylan: 1974


>
> Some weeks back Jim Beebe wrote a note in which he referred to Bob Dylan
as
> somewhat less than perfect, and I chimed in caliming there was indeed less
> there than met the ear.  But Royko, as usual, got to the heart of the
matter
> back in 1974 in a column for the Chicago Daily News, a well written and
well
> edited newspaper now, alas, defunct.  Here....s Mike..!
>
>
>                         DYLAN THE GREAT 1/30/74
>
>     The first time I ever heard Bob Dylan sing I knew he would be a
success.
>
>     He sounded exactly like Woody Guthrie, an earlier folksinger, and I
> figured that if he added a few more imitations--maybe Bette Davis and
James
> Cagney--he would have an even funnier routine.
>
>     Then I found out he wasn't kidding around.  He wanted people to take
his
> Woody Guthrie style seriously.
>
>     So I changed my mind and decided he would not be a success after all.
> People would hoot and jeer, I assumed, when they heard Dylan, the former
> Bobby Zimmerman, a middle class youth, trying to sound like Guthrie, an
> authentic, callus palmed, Depression-Era dustbowl Okie.
>
>     But I was wrong.  Most of Dylan's fans had not heard of Woody Guthrie.
> They assumed that Dylan, and other suburban style guitar jockeys, had
> created folk music.
>
>     Dylan became a great success and made millions, which proves that it
is
> better to sing about hard work than to do it.  He became so rich that in
> 1966, while still a lad, he retired.
>
>     When I saw what Dylan accomplished by imitating Woody Guthrie, I
really
> kicked myself.  I used to do a helluva imitation of Al Jolson.
>
>     Now I am filled with even more regret because I was on vacation when
> Dylan came to Chicago to launch his out-of-retirement concert tour.
>
>     For one thing I wanted to see if he still did Woody Guthrie, or if he
> had switched to someone else, like maybe Mario Lanza.
>
>     But more than that, I have learned that I missed one the greatest
> cultural events in the history of the world.
>
>     At least, that's what I gather by reading the papers and magazines.
>
>     NEWSWEEK magazine, for instance, put Dylan on the cover and quoted a
> record company executive as saying: "This event is the biggest thing of
its
> kind in the history of show business."
>
>     That is a lot of history, going back to the first Stone Age man who
> juggled a few rocks to amuse his cavemates.
>
>     NEWSWEEK also quoted a young woman as saying: "I think he (Dylan) is
the
> most important musician who ever lived--more important than Beethoven."
>
>     (In fairness it should be pointed out that Beethoven lost his hearing.
> Had he not done so, he might have been as important as Dylan.)
>
>     And Ralph Gleason, the noted West Coast columnist and musical
authority,
> wrote:  "The impact that Bob Dylan has had upon the culture of the past
ten
> years in the English-speaking world...is extaordinary and comparable, at
> least in terms of concepts and additions to language, only with
Shakespeare
> and the Bible."
>
>     It is hard to argue with that, especially when you consider such Dylan
> lyrics as:
>
>         It's never been my duty
>         To remake the world at large,
>         Nor is it my intention
>         To sound the battle charge.
>         I love you more than all of that
>         With a love that doesn't bend
>         And if there is eternity
>         I'll love you there again.
>
>     Now admit it.  You've never read anything like THAT in Shakespeare or
> the Bible.
>
>     Most of the Dylan admirers also offer the ticket sales as evidence of
> his his historic return from Malibu.
>
>     They expect more than 650,000 people to attend his concert tour.  They
> say another 5 million pleas have been turned down.
>
>     As one critic raved: "There may not be another performance in the
world
> can draw like that!"
>
>     At this point I must offer a mild disagreement.  While Dylan may be in
> the same class as Shakespeare and the Bible, there are other popular
> performers around.
>
>     Take Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus.  About 9 million people
> saw it last year.
>
>     The Illinois State Fair drew 662,895 people, and most of the farm
> creatures didn't sound as good as Dylan.
>
>     Billy Graham, without levis and boots, preached to 1,046,750 people.
>
>     But figures aren't important.  What's important is that Dylan has
> returned, which means that those who missed seeing Beethoven can now see
the
> very best.
>
>     I was interested in reading one of Dylan's reasons for coming out of
> retirement.  (I knew it couldn't be money, because great artists don't
give
> a damn about such things.)  Dylan said, "Saturn has been an obstacle in my
> planetary system.  It's been there for the last few ages and just removbed
> itself from my system.  I feel free and unburdened."
>
>     I'll bet.  And it must have hurt.
>
>     As for the future, Dylan said: "I am not looking to be that new
messiah.
> That's not in the cards for me."
>
>     I don't know if that is modesty or just a lack of ambition.
>
>
>
>
>
> charliehooks@earthlink.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
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