Monday, May 24, 2021

The Songs of BOB DYLAN

‘60’s FLASHBACK:

This piece first ran back in May of 2004, spread out over an entire week in Forgotten Hits.  With a little bit of editing, we’ve been able to get the whole thing whittled down into just a few days for this special “rebroadcast.”

Much has happened in Bob Dylan’s world since 2004 … so please keep this in perspective as best you can and read these words in the proper context of sixteen years ago!  (I can’t believe it!)

The Songs Of BOB DYLAN

No matter what you may think of BOB DYLAN, there is NO denying the fact that his was one of the most influential, inspirational and prolific voices of our generation ... a true POET of our times.

That having been said, perhaps the biggest, most common complaint regarding BOB DYLAN is the fact that MOST people simply can't stand the sound of his voice! They will acknowledge that he's written some really great and timeless songs ... they just can't stand to listen to him sing them!!!

As such, several other artists have had HUGE hits over the years covering DYLAN's tunes ... songs that, had he released them as singles himself quite possibly may have failed ... yet, thanks to these cover versions, have gone on to become classics in the process.

This week, we're going to look at the music of BOB DYLAN ... without actually having to listen to BOB sing any of them. Instead, we'll check out some of the other artists who placed DYLAN high on the pop charts during the 1960's. (That's not entirely true ... in fact, BOB DYLAN's voice will bookend this feature ... but in between, we'll hear some GREAT cover tunes ... some you know ... some you may not know ... and, hopefully, some you haven't heard in a long, long time.)

In fact, we'll kick things off by giving you a little DYLAN tune that you actually CAN listen to ... we'll ease you into the sound of DYLAN's voice with a near all-humming instrumental from 1970 that snuck into Cash Box's Top 40 ... and has always been one of my FORGOTTEN HITS favorites. It's from his SELF PORTRAIT album and, although we've featured it before in FH, it ties in perfectly with this week's tribute.

TODAY'S MUSIC: WIGWAM (#28, 1970) by
BOB DYLAN

 

BTW: About six months ago, I asked the rhetorical question wondering if in our current world of AMERICAN IDOL singing stars, could BOB DYLAN secure a recording contract today. That very question is now the subject of an article running in a major magazine ... unfortunately NOT written by me ... damn, missed my calling again!!!