The singer Bob Dylan called a “guiding light” of songwriting
Bob Dylan was never one to give out compliments lightly.
He was always talking out of both sides of his mouth in his prime, and even though he has become far less caustic as he has grown older, he’s not exactly going to be reaching out to every single artist to say that they are one of the best in their field by any stretch. He made an entire career out of being brutally honest, but he knew that there were core foundations of songwriting that were never going to go away.
Then again, Dylan was never looking to make the most pristine record ever made whenever he got behind the glass. He knew that the performance was all that mattered half the time, and even if not everything was perfectly in tune and things sounded a little bit off every now and again, that was hardly a gripe when people were believing every single word that came out of his mouth.
And looking through his history, there are more than a few times where he sounded like he was ready for war with a guitar in his hand. He could be cutthroat when he wanted to, and even if a lot of his songs could have been considered modern fables at the time, each of them had a bitter critique on what the human race had come to and what would happen if it went too far.
But being a wild critic isn’t going to get you to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The main objective behind any great writer is being able to tell someone a story throughout the course of a song, and there’s no better place for anyone to start than listening to country music. This was the foundation of Americana storytelling, and Dylan knew that we could compare it to what Jimmie Rodgers had done.
While Rodgers would be singing songs that were passed down through generations of artists, his delivery was half the reason why people thought he was among the greatest of all time. Long before people had heard of terms like ‘heartland rock’, Rodgers was painting the picture of America for many people, telling stories about down-to-earth citizens who are working every day trying to make a living and embracing the beauty of everyday life along the way.
Although Dylan had far greater plans for his writing, he had to admit that Rodgers helped knock down doors that no one else could have, saying, “Jimmie Rodgers of course is one of the guiding lights of the Twentieth Century whose way with song has always been an inspiration to those of us who have followed the path. A blazing star whose sound was and remains the raw essence of individuality in a sea of conformity, par excellence with no equal.”
And it’s not hard to see that kind of influence rub off on Dylan now and then. He may have retired the same critic that wrote ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, but his turn towards country on albums like Nashville Skyline do sound a fair bit similar to what Rodgers had been doing, if only for how organic the instruments sound and Dylan’s delivery sounding a lot less caustic than he normally was.
What Rodgers created was a far cry from what modern country music has turned into, but it’s not like Dylan wanted to draw comparisons between him and modern-day Nashville. The latest version of country might want to be talking about drinking beer and partying the night away, but somewhere in between the bouncing chords on Rodgers’s tunes is the blueprint for how to become a master storyteller.
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.