The singer Bob Dylan said was cooler than Mick Jagger
Bob Dylan has always known what it is to be cool.
Famously (thanks in part to Timothée Chalamet), he was ridiculed by fans and the press during his 1956 to 1966 “electric” period, his abrupt shift from acoustic folk to electric rock and roll. After a substantial lag, everybody would eventually catch on. It wasn’t quite cool in the moment, but, then again, isn’t that what cool is: to be ahead of the crowd, one way or the other? To push the mainstream into new territories, into an expansive future?
In 1987, when the press and the world had finally learnt to listen to the musician icon, Dylan had more of his wisdom to give when it came to the fashionable, the classy, the groovy, the stylish. He was also willing to put a friendship on the line, in the coveted print of Rolling Stone, by pitting against his long-time friend, Mick Jagger.
When Dylan admitted that he was in awe of Howlin’ Wolf, the “greatest live act” he’d seen at the time, Dylan went on to laud Elvis, who “didn’t jump around” but, instead, “moved with grace”. Naturally, this led the interviewer to suggest an artist who didn’t have the same skill, who was known for jerking, gyrating, and panting up there behind the lights. Dylan agreed.
“I love Mick Jagger,” he clarified, adding, “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…”
For a moment, with dramatic flair, Dylan let the silence fill in the blank before continuing, “I don’t give a shit in what age, from Altamont to RFK Stadium — you don’t have to do that, man.”
Instead, the flowers owed to the ‘Gimme Shelter’ singer were passed to a different musician: “It’s still hipper and cooler to be Ray Charles, sittin’ at the piano, not movin’ shit. And still getting across, you know?” We see this ambient stillness repeated across Dylan’s current tours, where the star sits at the piano and bustles through a random cover or two, a hat usually obscuring the lines on his face. All fans might expect to get is Dylan’s hand on his hip as he soaks in the applause night after night.
Dylan lets the music, not his body, do the talking, and that’s exactly what he loves about Charles, too: “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?”
Dylan, it appears, is not a fan of the spectacle. Forget the outfit changes, the routine dances, the audience engagement: all Dylan wants to do is sit still and let the music fade in and out of him. “What about showbiz?” the interviewer asks of him. Four simple words from the voice of a generation: “I don’t dig it.”
Simple as.
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.