American Masters on PBS: Bob Dylan. 2 thoughts.

[hippiechick]

<putting on asbestos undies now>

He was - and is - quite an asshole, and
Joan Baez' singing voice was - and is - like nails on a chalkboard.

Carry on ....

[tigereye]

1. oh

yeah, he has some of those qualities. But you can't argue with the songs. Great show - great history of the folk scene and how he created a distillation of it, almost. He is so funny, too. Just manages to piss off and confuse people. I love it.

[evlbstrd]

2. Not so much asshole as iconoclast.

Frank Zappa was very similar in his attitude toward the press and outside expectations.
And, yeah, I never really liked Joan Baez, either.

[kwassa]

3. I disagree on both of your points

I never thought him an asshole, simply someone marching to his own beat that no one understands but himself. He didn't suffer fools, like the reporters who asked stupid questions about him, and he felt no need to explain himself, which he has no responsibility to do.

He really is a genius, and the most influential musician in modern popular music. His early songs were just incredible.

As to Baez, I like her voice, though I have never been a huge fan of her music.

Another great, great movie about his first acoustic tour of England is "Don't Look Back" which really shows much more detail about their relationship with each other. You can see that they are about to break up as Dylan loses interest in her. Parts of it were excerpted in this documentary.

[theboss]

4. He's always been pretty self-centered

His relationship with Baez has always been fascinating to me. She obviously worshipped him...and is still pretty clearly in love with him. And he pretty much treated her like shit over and over.

Though, I have to disagree about her voice. I've always liked it.

[XNASA]

5. I disagree with your first statement.

I loved it when he was evasive to the Press especially.

[Jim__]

6. Heartily disagree on both points

While I don't think I would want to sit down and have a beer with Dylan, he was, and is, an artist. He touched his time. "The Times They Are a Changin" and "Blowing in the Wind". It's what artists do, they show us the things all around us that we can't quite see.

I love Joan Baez' singing voice.

The only thing I didn't like about the show, seeing all those people so young. It seems like just yesterday.

[jane_pippin]

7. Eh, I'll meet you halfway

I don't think Dylan is an asshole. As others have mentioned already, he's an artist--a man confident in his own vision for his work. I mean really, when the reporter asked him to suck his glasses for a photo? Should he have done that for the photograph? Of course not. Why should he put up with that kind of nonsense from people who don't get him at all. Why shouldn't he fuck with them?

The halfway point--I don't care for Joan much either. I'm sure she's a good person, but her voice doesn't do it for me.