“There isn’t any Beatles”: When Bob Dylan disputed the existence of rock and roll
Fathered by Chuck Berry and reigned over by Elvis Presley, rock and roll has produced some of the biggest names in music. It spits out countless artists who would transform the industry in its entirety, from the pioneering recording techniques and all-time anthems of The Beatles to the soft rock stylings and behind-the-scenes dramas of Fleetwood Mac. It’s one of the most respected and revered genres in music history, but if we’re to take Bob Dylan’s word for it, perhaps it doesn’t even exist.
Dylan himself has never fully inhabited the rock and roll sphere. He’s a much bigger fan of a harmonica than he is of hard rock, and he’s far more comfortable with an acoustic guitar in his hand than an electric. Though he ventured into rock instrumentation occasionally and certainly had a rebellious streak like his rocker peers, he usually opted to channel it into twinkling and tender songs of protest rather than into thudding drums and energetic vocal delivery.
Rather than rock, he Minnesota-born musician found his success in the folk world, becoming known as one of the greatest songwriters of all time for his poetic observations and opinions on the world around him. While The Beatles spent the 1960s revolutionising rock and sparking Beatlemania, Dylan had pen to paper, weaving rhymes and imagery into social and political commentary.
Though he was a folk rocker rather than a rocker and roller, Dylan was in touch with his more raucous peers. He was the first person to introduce fellow songwriting giants the Beatles to marijuana and he has shared his appreciation for bands like the Eagles and the Rolling Stones. He influenced and interacted with the rock and roll sphere, but that didn’t necessarily mean he believed it existed.
During a conversation with Playboy in the mid-1960s, the celebrated songwriter was asked to consider the worldwide phenomenon of the genre. His response seemed to dispute its existence. “I can’t really think that there is any rock ‘n’ roll,” he commented, “Actually, when you think about it, anything that has no real existence is bound to become an international phenomenon.”
Dylan went on to consider the meaning ascribed to the words, listing off names like the Beatles and Bobby Vinton as potential indicators, but he concluded that “There isn’t any Beatles” and “there isn’t any Bobby Vinton.” It’s a strange response to the question, one that seems to agree on the global impact of the genre while also bringing its very existence into question.
Perhaps Dylan, like many artists, was reluctant to give in to the idea of genre. Rock and roll certainly is a man-made concept, a grouping of artists with similar ideas and interests, attracting the same audiences and sitting side by side on playlists. We brought it into existence, and we made it an international phenomenon, whether the artists liked it or not.
Genre is a necessary part of the music industry, but it’s easy to understand why artists sometimes reject the idea of it. Bands don’t always set out to write rock and roll or to pen folk music; it simply flows out of them when they pick up a pen or a guitar. Perhaps rock and roll doesn’t exist, but the Beatles and Bobby Vinton and Bob Dylan certainly do, despite the latter’s protests. Their impact is tangible beyond the genres we place them into.
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