Expecting Rain

I couldn't agree less with the "can't go back" claim. If the music was ever there, it's probably still there. If Keith Richards is serious about doing another Rolling Stones record, the dignified thing for them to do would be to play some blues; don't worry about writing songs. I still remember how amazed I was to hear Dylan's recording of "Pretty Boy Floyd" in the late 80's when he was recording lots of forgettable material. He'd really lost nothing.

I'm still trying to figure out how sonia golden hand gets to be "the decider" in who should tour, who is worthwhile etc. Guess I didn't get the memo. And this rubbish about being a folk, country, or rock singer, but no combination of them - where did that come from?

Also, she claims such a sad experience at his show. I'm not thrilled with the voice of modern Bob, but I'll go see him anywhere and any time. The arrangements are usually superb, as is the musicianship of his band, but most of all the unmistakably "magic" air that surrounds Bob Dylan at all times. Of course, when ones aesthetic antennae have the sensitivity of a rock - this important aspect is missed. Your loss.

isn't that Buddy Guy in the band as well? and if so, he is another PRIME example of the fact that age truly does not matter, the guy is a performing machine as well, saw him once in 2006 and was blown away by the "old man". Jeff Beck was playing that day too and i couldn't be interested less, even though i always loved his early work.

Years ago I saw the king blue grass, Bill Monroe, when he was about 80. He was fantastic.

My biggest problem is my "rudimentary English', it's a bit hard to me to explain things. So often i write it more brusque way then i could, and i'm really sorry.
Why do i think that it is imposible to get back from rock'n'roll to folk? It have nothing to do to be acoustic/electric, it have nothing to do with playig old folk standards, it have so much to do with the perception of the artist by the public, by critics, by scientists, by himself. There are a stereotype o rock'n'roll misician,of folk musician, of country musician, of anything. There are rules, there are people who break rules, as Johnny Cash who wasn't a stereotypical country star, but even when he was breaking rules, he understood very well that rules exist and what those rules mean. You can be a very special rock'n'roll musician, a poet, a genius, anything, but there are rules and you can't forget it even if you're breaking it. Or you'll be a marginal. And Bob Dylan isn't a marginal.
Of course, Bob himself decides what and how to do artisticaly or in any other aspect of his life. But even Bob can't make me love things he's doing if i don't.

Well, it's worth voting for Obama just to avoid the awkwardness of having to watch Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum try to host one of these white house concerts.

Sonia Golden Hand, you just long for Bob in his prime, as you see it. Nothing wrong with that.

If he hadn't broken any rules, he'd not be Bob f*ckin' Dylan!

He broke the rules with his second album, by performing mostly material he'd written himself. I mean, how many first albums can one man have before he starts repeating himself?

Let me say this sonia. If English your second language, you are doing an excellent job! Very impressive, even I don't agree with your ideas. I couldn't imagine posting on a foreign site in another language.

This "rules" thing you have. One of the MANY greatness factors of Bob Dylan is his total disregard of the rules and blazing new paths. His "you adjust to me" attitude, not the other way around, is typical of revolutionary artists, and what great art is all about.

Keep up the good work sonia!

Sonia, baby get on down the road.
Just because you might be giving up please don't expect others to.
They may just see it from a different point of view.

You stop, you die. What's wrong with the keep on keepin' on thing?

Of course, you're right. He broke all the rules. But to break any rule , you have to understand that rule exist and you have to decide to break it. You just can't pretend it doesn't exist.
To stop means to die. You're right too, Still Go Barefoot. Ant this is the reason that is so hard to stop to any human being who is growing old. Nobody wants to die. I'm not an artist, but if it was so hard to me just to cut my hair off because it doesn't conform to my age anymore... i just can't imagine how hard it would be to "cut off" things that always have been sense of your life because you're "too old". And, of course, i can't reproach to anybody to not to do that. I just can to regret it. Nobody is perfect. And Bob is not alone to trying to trick the dead (that's he is actually doing).

Trick the dead? Or simply live life to the fullest?
Is the glass half empty? Or is it half full?

This.
For some people life is just a feast and joy with no troubles. For some other peope it have to do with pain, with sickness, with dead, with all those sad things wich presence, in fact, make us alive. There are just two different points of view at the same life.
On wich side Bob is? " Why don't you ask Bobby?!" (c)

What exactly is he doing that he shouldn't be doing at age 70?
He is not behaving in any inappropriate way on stage (i.e. jump up and down, dance, moonwalk, sexualized gestures, etc).
He does not dress in a way that wouldn't suit his age, or dye his hair, or use tons of make-up, or plastic surgery, or show up with teenage girlfriends.
He pretty much stands still, plays his instruments and sings.
What, exactly, is the problem? I honestly don't understand.

No problem at all.

well, maybe not quite teenage, but not too far from it...

You're confusing Bob and Woody.

Nope. You might be though.

Get on the couch and tell us all about it.

I think that's what she said.

The teenage girl?

I watched the Mick Jagger & Jeff Beck portion tonight. I was pleasantly surprised. Amazing that it's come to this.

sonia, I'm guessing you are somewhere near Russia, from the hints you have given.

The American TV show, "60 Minutes", did a piece many years ago about some part of Russia where people routinely live to be over one hundred years old. They interviewed people to try and find out if there was some type of secret thing that was a key to their longevity. Most of them regularly drank vodka, but too much of that will kill you. At one point, one person was talking about the great attitude they had, as if that were a key. He said -
"We have an old saying - A man who can't sing - dies".

And of course, it was in a famous "60 Minutes" interview that Bob Dylan said the secret to his amazing lyrical and musical output in the 1960's was "magic". And as I pointed out earlier in this thread, the "magic" still surrounds Bob Dylan like heat surrounds a fire. Further proof of this is in the way, throughout his whole career, even before he was a star, people have been totally captivated by his mere presence, sensed his greatness, and automatically captured him on film to document it.

And of course, there have always been a minute minority of blind doubters, like sonia, who simply "don't get it".

I saw the footage of BB KIng at Glastonbury last year. He was really, really shite. Like diluted blues diarrhoea.

Sometimes we can hear those people singing under your window with their drunk voices. It's awful, really.
And what about the magic... i just can't understand why do i get in in old records, in old footages and i don't at a live show in 2008, in the second row of the fan zone? in fact, i have no answer.