“Unfulfilled, empty feeling”: The tour that Bob Dylan refused to play
Bob Dylan did not garner his reputation as one of the greatest songwriters of all time by bending to the wants and desires of music industry executives. From his early days in the folk clubs of New York City, the songwriter has always been determined to do things his own way, even if that practice has attracted criticism from audiences and executives alike. For dedicated fans, however, it is Dylan’s dedication to artistic integrity which places him above many of his contemporaries.
It did not take long for Dylan to establish his rebellious streak. During the 1960s, after the songwriter had been adopted by America’s folk music community, he grew tired of the restrictive nature of the genre, looking to incorporate diverse influences of blues, R&B, and rock into his distinctive sound. Further, his decision to ‘go electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, betraying the historical obsession of folk to reflect the period at hand, astonished and offended audiences. Throughout it all, though, Dylan was determined to remain true to himself.
At his commercial peak, during the latter part of the 1960s, Dylan once again subverted the expectations of his audience by releasing the much-maligned album Self Portrait, which was unlike anything he had recorded prior. Although this decision was met with animosity at the time, it was an essential moment in the musical development of the songwriter.
Throughout his career in music, the most prevalent and recurring instance of Dylan subverting the wants and desires of industry executives has been during his live performances. For decades, the songwriter has often refused to play his best-known hits, opting to reinterpret or change the arrangements in the rare case that he does play them.
Clearly, this practice has been disappointing for fans hoping to hear tracks like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ or ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ the way that those songs were originally recorded. Nevertheless, Dylan has repeatedly shunned requests for his old hits to resurface in his live shows, with the songwriter instead preferring to create new material and expand his musical repertoire.
According to the performer, he has repeatedly turned down lucrative offers to perform live shows in the style of his beloved shows from back in the 1960s. During one interview, Dylan revealed that he cannot, in good faith, churn out anniversary tours or greatest hits setlists. “I was offered, you know, certain amounts of money to do the old songs, or the old show we used to have with the old songs done in a new way, but I couldn’t do it,” he shared. “My heart wasn’t in it.”
Commercial appeal doesn’t seem to have any allure for Dylan; he is in the game solely for his own artistic expression rather than personal gain. “Commercially, it would have gone down well, I guess,” he admitted. “But you can do things as an artist and know you’re slipping, but the audience will buy it. It will leave you with a very unfulfilled, empty feeling.”
This is not a particularly popular view among artists in the modern age, many of whom would jump at such a lucrative offer to tour the songs that first made them famous. Dylan, on the contrary, has always been forward thinking and concerned with the future rather than wallowing around in the past.
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