The one frontman Bob Dylan thought was trying too hard: “You don’t have to do that”
There’s not a single soul on this Earth that can say that they truly understand what Bob Dylan was all about.
The man is still an enigma to this day, and if you can describe every single aspect of his career in less than three minutes, I’d be willing to pay you, let’s say, at least three dollars. Dylan was the kind of person that no one could really appreciate until you heard his music, but when listening to him sing, it was like he was speaking directly to you every single time he made a new record.
He might be known as a rock and roll god in this day and age, but he didn’t get there without the giants coming before him. Chuck Berry and Little Richard lit a fire in him the same way that Woody Guthrie did, and even though most people wouldn’t describe him as the most animated performer of all time, Dylan did know when to throw down when the time called for it. He was a wild animal once he entered his electric period, but he wasn’t going to go too far into sideshow territory.
Because, really, what Dylan’s version of “performing” is tends to be a lot more subtle. He wasn’t going to pull out any James Brown dance moves, and as funny as it would be to see him play piano like Little Richard, there’s a good chance that people would be confused seeing him throwing it down like Richard did when he was attacking someone on a tune like ‘Ballad of a Thin Man.’
But some of the biggest stars in the world were known for grabbing the audience by the throat, and it’s not like Dylan didn’t take notice. Every single girl in America went wild the minute that they saw The Beatles tossing their hair on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, but if you’re looking for someone who defines what it means to be a frontman, Mick Jagger checks every box. The Rolling Stones were always meant to be more ferocious than The Beatles, but Dylan wasn’t exactly impressed, either.
The whole point of his music was to make people think, and Jagger was the kind of person who was going that one extra mile too far, saying, “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 sh– in what age, from Altamont to RFK Stadium — you don’t have to do that, man.”
He may very well have not had to, but would the Stones have been as interesting if he hadn’t pulled out those dance moves?
The entire point of The Stones was to be a bit too risqué, and if they were going to compete with the Fab Four, Jagger wanted to have that little something extra to make up for their songs. Their tunes weren’t quite as good as Lennon and McCartney’s in the earliest days of the group, and getting the audience’s attention by pulling out the Tina Turner dance moves made a lot more sense than sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar in his hands and a harmonica in his mouth.
Jagger could still take a few cues from Dylan with his harmonica skills, but some of his best moves were modelled after the biggest names in blues as well. He wasn’t going to get anywhere close to his idols, but compared to what every other rock and roll singer was doing, he was at least trying to get the same kind of energy that people were hearing when they heard Howlin’ Wolf for the first time.
Dylan may not have seen the point at the time, but Jagger wasn’t about to dial things back just because the folk icon said so. He had a lot more ground to cover every time The Stones played a show, and being able to run around the stage as he does in this day and age is proof that all of the road miles that he put on his body ended up paying off.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.