Bob Dylan on the three greatest musicians of the 20th century
‘Always keep them guessing’ has been one of the hidden mantras at the centre of Bob Dylan’s work. In his new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, he chose not to dedicate the work to one of the musical heroes who inspired him, but rather to “all the crew at Dunkin’ Donuts.” He might have been wry on this occasion, but keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to his admiration is a core tenet of his engineered mythmaking.
As Sam Shephard observed when he was touring with Dylan on the Rolling Thunder Revue: “Myth is a powerful medium because it talks to the emotions and not to the head. It moves us into an area of mystery. Some myths are poisonous to believe in, but others have the capacity for changing something inside us, even if it’s only for a minute or two. Dylan creates a mythic atmosphere out of the land around us. The land we walk on every day and never see until someone shows it to us.”
“Dylan has invented himself,” he continued. “He’s made himself up from scratch. That is, from the things he had around him and inside him. Dylan is an invention of his own mind. The point isn’t to figure him out but to take him in. He gets into you anyway, so why not just take him in? He’s not the first one to have invented himself, but he’s the first one to have invented Dylan.”
Evidently, part of inventing Dylan was keeping his cards close to his chest and praise was part of the hand he was willing to show. Therefore, you can delve into the depths of what the original vagabond has said, and you won’t find too much in the way of discerning his fellow artists. However, there have been a few figures who he has been moved to heap the highest praise upon. We’ve curated the glowing testimonies on an esteemed trio deemed worthy below.
Bob Dylan on the three greatest musicians of the 20th century:
Stevie Wonder
As someone usually shy of dropping superlatives, when he spoke to Rolling Stone in 1989, the ‘G word’ proved more noteworthy than Dylan’s awkward shuffling amid smiling faces of ‘We Are the World’. When asked about Stevie Wonder, he remarked: “If anybody can be called a genius, he can be. I think it has something to do with his ear, not being able to see or whatever.”
When Dylan first emerged in 1962 with his self-titled debut album, Stevie Wonder was a child star on the rise and soon he would release his own hit single in 1963 at the age of 13. While others dismissed his tender age as a Motown gimmick, the ever-open-minded Dylan listened with a keen ear. “I go back with him to about the early ’60s when he was playing at the Apollo with all that Motown stuff,” Dylan explained. “If nothing else, he played the harmonica incredible, I mean truly incredible.”
While the pair operated in different circles, in 1966, when Wonder disavowed the usual poppy Motown stance enforced by executive Berry Gordy and entered the civil rights movement head-on with a cover of a Dylan classic, the folk star took notice. As he explains: “I never knew what to think of him really until he cut ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. That really blew my mind, and I figured I’d better pay attention.”
“I love everything he does. It’s hard not to,” Dylan continued. “He can do gut-bucket funky stuff really country and then turn around and do modern-progressive whatever you call it. In fact, he might have invented that.” He then concluded: “He is a great mimic, can imitate everybody, doesn’t take himself seriously and is a true roadhouse musician all the way, with classical overtones, and he does it all with drama and style. I’d like to hear him play with an orchestra. He should probably have his own orchestra.”
Paul McCartney
When Paul McCartney first met Bob Dylan, he famously recalled: “I could feel myself climbing a spiral walkway as I was talking to Dylan. I felt like I was figuring it all out, the meaning of life.” And while Dylan might never have been public with his affection for The Beatles, he has since made his love for ‘Macca’ very clear.
“I’m in awe of Paul McCartney. He’s about the only one that I am in awe of. But I’m in awe of him,” the usually reticent Dylan told Rolling Stone in 2007. “He can do it all and he’s never let up,” he continued. “He’s got the gift for melody; he’s got the rhythm. He can play any instrument. He can scream and shout as good as anybody and he can sing the ballad as good as anybody, you know so… And his melodies are, you know, effortless.”
The folk troubadour concluded: “That’s what you have to be in awe… I’m in awe of him maybe just because he’s just so damn effortless. I mean I just wish he’d quit, you know? [Laughs] Just everything and anything that comes out of his mouth is just framed in a melody.”
Howlin’ Wolf
“Howlin’ Wolf, to me, was the greatest live act,” Dylan explained to Rolling Stone, “Because he did not have to move a finger when he performed — if that’s what you’d call it, ‘performing.’” This adulation has seemingly been ratified by just about everyone who ever saw the wailing blues monolith, who took to the stage at well over six foot and a hefty 300lbs. As fellow bluesman Cub Koda testified, “No one could match Howlin’ Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits.”
Dylan went on to add, that he was impressed by the natural way that Howlin’ Wolf could rattle the rafters without ever trying to summon any gimmicks or affrontery. “I don’t like people that jump around,” Dylan added. “When people think about Elvis moving around — he didn’t jump around. He moved with grace.”
He saw Wolf as the live act that a lot of his peers would do well to strive towards. As he rather cuttingly added: “I love Mick Jagger. I mean, I go back a long ways with him, and I always wish him the best. But to see him jumping around like he does — I don’t give a shit in what age, from Altamont to RFK Stadium — you don’t have to do that, man.”
“It’s still hipper and cooler to be Ray Charles, sittin’ at the piano, not movin’ shit. And still getting across, you know? Pushing rhythm and soul across. It’s got nothin’ to do with jumping around. I mean, what could it possibly have to do with jumping around?”
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