Re: RMD's Negativity Towards Dylan

Hello Bobette, may I call you Bobette?

Hope this finds you well.

I think the premise of your question perhaps betrays a slight
ignorance of how Dylan generally affects people. I think Dylan has,
and always will be the cause of many arguments and mixed opinions
amongst even the most fervent fans. The other problem with your
premise is the idea that Bob can't take criticism. That might not be
how you meant the post to sound, but that's how it comes across in my
eyes. Do you think Bob sits at his laptop, tears welling in his poor
old eyes as he reads yet another heretic slagging off his lead
guitarist? I think perhaps, he has got used to this criticism in the
41years since his first guitarist was slagged off (for different
reasons, you understand). I think all the debate regarding what Bob
does, whether good or bad, is something that he and his music really
thrives on, and certainly not something he should be protected from
like some drooling senile old fart, locked away in the museum for
controversial songwriters and musicians.

The folks you saw in the UK Arenas (which, by the by, were not
actually full) were almost definitely people with wildly varying
experiences of Bob, from the casual fan to the dangerously obsessed,
picking up the first timers, the elderly couple who thought they'd try
a rock concert in between Andrew Lloyd Webber shows, the yuppies who
just bought Modern Times last week, the teenagers dragged along by
their dads, the poor, the tired, the sick and the people who got
pissed on by Lou Reed along the way. What I do know is that Dylan's
concerts always bring out a mixture of feelings amongst all these
folks, from the beginning of his career this was true. What one
person thinks is a classic concert, another will think is below par.
I heard a range of comments as I left each show, from 'best show yet'
to 'he can't sing' etc etc. While discussing the shows I've seen with
folks after the event, the most common points raised have been 'Bob's
singing is great at the moment' and 'I miss Larry Campbell & Charlie
Sexton'.

I don't know how many people who see the shows look at rmd, but I'm
sure a good deal of them simply read, and don't contribute. There are
also the folks who have lives outside of the world of Bob and are
unable to check every 15mins for threads that criticise him in a
negative fashion. I don't reckon anyone other than the trolls and the
insane look at rmd for any other reason than that they love Bob Dylan,
in one way or another. They might hate what he does currently, that
doesn't mean they shouldn't say so. I don't think the folks who post
serious comments on rmd need to prove their credentials as fans -
they'd be pretty odd people if they weren't. The Telegraph fanzine,
the great and influential quarterly that died in 1996 was set up by
some of the most devoted Dylan fans in England, and yet was frequently
the place for questioning Dylan's art and often admitting
disappointment with it. This is a healthy and respectful attitude
that not all performers are able to bring out in their audience, and
Bob should (and I'm sure does) appreciate having fans that are able to
distinguish what they like from what they don't, rather than those
that drool and fawn over anything and everything he does.

.

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