‘Like being busted out of jail”: The artist who convinced Bob Dylan to never work again
Part of the appeal of rock and roll in its earliest days was to not have a traditional job. The idea of working for anyone who told you what to do day in and day out wasn’t the life that awaited people like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and by the time the British invasion took over, some of the biggest names in American music wanted to follow their lead and make a living simply by having fun with their friends. While Bob Dylan took a different route as the voice of the people, he still had an undying respect for rock and roll.
After all, the genre helped give Dylan a second lease on life in many respects. He was always going to be known as one of the standard bearers for what phenomenal songwriting was supposed to look like, but given that his dream was to join Little Richard’s band, he was comfortable boasting some rock records next to his Woody Guthrie albums.
But Dylan never fashioned himself as a wild man in that respect. His role was always that of a mild drifter playing his songs to anyone within earshot, and that wasn’t necessarily the kind of mentality every other rocker had. Mr Zimmerman helped make people think, but the entire premise behind rock and roll was about wild abandon and being able to play to the rafters for the sole purpose of having a good time.
If Dylan used his guitar as a weapon, though, Elvis Presley seemed to be in a fierce battle with his every time he took the stage. There were certainly some great tunes that he could play on it, but the sole purpose behind every one of Presley’s releases was the energy he created, whether it was the soulful aspect of his voice or the massive gyrations going on that either enticed or disgusted viewers around the world.
Even though it was clear that Dylan had taken a different path, there was no way to avoid Presley if you tried back in the 1950s. He was the future of music in many respects, and despite already having a sound all his own, Dylan remembered feeling like the heavens had opened up the minute that he heard Presley play.
For a mild-mannered kid with a guitar in his hand, this was proof that escape from a dismal life was possible, saying, “When I first heard Elvis Presley’s voice, I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.” Even if Presley’s moves didn’t rub off on Dylan, the most important lesson he had to teach was for Dylan to be himself.
When the rock and roll poet crashed-landed onto the stage with an electric guitar, his performances were far more electric compared to everyone else. Pete Seeger could bring people together with his banjo and have entire crowds singing ‘We Shall Overcome’, but Dylan made sure that everyone knew that rock and roll had merit beyond being the kind of noisy music that drove parents mad, and hearing him get animated live on ‘Ballad of A Thin Man’ was the byproduct of Presley rubbing off on him.
While Dylan was bound to become a songwriting legend even if he hadn’t gone electric, following Presley’s model is something that we can all take to heart in many respects. Presley certainly isn’t someone to be idolised in many other aspects of his life, but by being himself onstage, he helped remind everyone to embrace their own individuality.
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