Is Bob Dylan the Greatest American, Artistic Genius of the 20th Century ?

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To classify someone as the greatest genius of a particular century, in any category, is a quite massive notation. One needs to look over the accomplishments of various highly lauded people in that category. You would have to examine the quality & quantity of what they produced (in this case in the arts), +the recognitions & awards granted.

In the 20th century, there have been a number of significant artists of various art forms. In American popular music, there is Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc. In worldwide graphic arts, there was Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso (both Spaniards) & Warhol. In literature, there was Steinbeck, Hemingway, O'Neill, Margaret Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis & William Faulkner. Poets Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg.

Wow. Lots of competition at high levels. And this is a very abbreviated list.

There is much to be said however that Bob Dylan by both quantity (63 years up to now) & quality is to the arts what Thomas Edison was to science. Incomparable genius.

Judge for yourselves >> In addition to the
  • 40 albums recorded (containing about 500 densely packed poem-songs).
  • Invented rap music 10 years before it is claimed to have started. Examples > Its All right Ma..., Subterranean Homesick Blues, et al

  • hundreds of paintings which have been displayed in various art galleries & museums across Europe, in the US, and in China.

  • sculptor, Dylan has had various exhibitions of his welded metal sculpture displayed in England, France & the US.

  • with books, Dylan has published Tarantula, a work of prose poetry; Chronicles: Volume One, the first part of his memoirs; several books of the lyrics of his songs, and ten books of his art. Dylan's third full length book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, which contains 66 essays on songs by other artists, was published on November 1, 2022. Dylan has also been the subject of numerous biographies and critical studies, including the recent

  • movies - most recently the biography "A Complete Unknown" (which surely does not describe Bob Dylan)
Accolades

Related videos >>

Earliest recording with Martin Luther King at the 1963 March on Washington >>







 
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protectionist No living and few past artist can hold to Dylan.

He is the Son of the Son...here to save modern music.


View attachment 1164160
Interesting how young people, heretafore bored with their bland 2020s "music" are discovering Bob Dylan (especially his many 1960s albums/songs), and they are flipping out, as in the videos above.
 
To classify someone as the greatest genius of a particular century, in any category, is a quite massive notation. One needs to look over the accomplishments of various highly lauded people in that category. You would have to examine the quality & quantity of what they produced (in this case in the arts), +the recognitions & awards granted.

In the 20th century, there have been a number of significant artists of various art forms. In American popular music, there is Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc. In worldwide graphic arts, there was Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso (both Spaniards) & Warhol. In literature, there was Steinbeck, Hemingway, O'Neill, Margaret Mitchell, Sinclair Lewis & William Faulkner. Poets Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg.

Wow. Lots of competition at high levels. And this is a very abbreviated list.

There is much to be said however that Bob Dylan by both quantity (63 years up to now) & quality is to the arts what Thomas Edison was to science. Incomparable genius.

Judge for yourselves >> In addition to the
  • 40 albums recorded (containing about 500 densely packed poem-songs).
  • Invented rap music 10 years before it is claimed to have started. Examples > Its All right Ma..., Subterranean Homesick Blues, et al

  • hundreds of paintings which have been displayed in various art galleries & museums across Europe, in the US, and in China.

  • sculptor, Dylan has had various exhibitions of his welded metal sculpture displayed in England, France & the US.

  • with books, Dylan has published Tarantula, a work of prose poetry; Chronicles: Volume One, the first part of his memoirs; several books of the lyrics of his songs, and ten books of his art. Dylan's third full length book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, which contains 66 essays on songs by other artists, was published on November 1, 2022. Dylan has also been the subject of numerous biographies and critical studies, including the recent

  • movies - most recently the biography "A Complete Unknown" (which surely does not describe Bob Dylan)
Accolades

Related videos >>

Earliest recording with Martin Luther King at the 1963 March on Washington >>








Probably the best song writer ever,
 
Dylan's whiney vocals are annoying. He sucks.
Gotta expect a few clueless posts among the mix. Never fails.
Actually, for the songs he sings (and talks), he voice fits quite fine.
 
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Not a good voice or great performer, but as a songwriter he maybe second to none.
I'd say playing 5 different instruments (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, organ), and playing 2 of them simultaneously, is a pretty good performance.
 
I'd say playing 5 different instruments (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, organ), and playing 2 of them simultaneously, is a pretty good performance.
Yes he plays several instruments, but he plays them all poorly at a very basic level. Then when he tries to sing it gets worse.
 
Tastes differ. Personally, I think he's singing the same song over and over occasionally changing the lyrics slightly, but then again there are people who saw their first love while there was his song playing somewhere in the background. Apparently, I'm not one of them.
 

Is Bob Dylan the Greatest American, Artistic Genius of the 20th Century ?​


Let me guess--- you're a Bob Dylan fan? :SMILEW~130:

Me, I can take him or leave him, but I always liked having him around. Folk guitarists only take me so far, but Bob had a distinctive voice, and I have to say that while I have no idea of his politics, I thank him for that! Far better than having Bruce Springsteen or the like ramming his politics down my throat!

Actually, if there were only one folk/country acoustic guitarist out there I could listen to, it might be Harry Chapin.
 
Yes he plays several instruments, but he plays them all poorly at a very basic level. Then when he tries to sing it gets worse.
Beat this:


A lot of his songs were covered and many don't know he composed them.
 
Subterranean Homesick Blues was the first "rap song" ever and it was fantastic.
I don`t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
If that's rap, then he can't rap worth a shit either. Just add it to the list of things he sucks at.

  • rapping
  • singing
  • piano
  • acoustic guitar
  • electric guitar
  • harmonica
 
15th post
Beat this:


A lot of his songs were covered and many don't know he composed them.
Quite a few of his songs I heard first by local folk/pop group The Seekers. I liked his songs but I preferred them done like these:









Tell me the difference between these two:



- YouTube

As a singer I didn't particularly like Dylan especially after he went electric.

So who?

Woody Guthrie

Pete Seeger

Joan Baez.............................................who helped Dylan no end. And wonderfully so.

Malvina Reynolds





Please don't get me wrong; I liked Dylan but he wasn't my first contact with a lot of his songs. As a folkie I must admit a lot of his tunes I think came from a folk base and he adapted them.

NOT that there's anything wrong with that.

AI says:


It's impossible to give an exact number for how many of Bob Dylan's songs were old folk tunes, as he drew from a vast tradition, but his early work in New York's folk scene was heavily influenced by artists like Woody Guthrie and incorporated many traditional folk elements and melodies into his original compositions. He eventually grew beyond the constraints of the genre, but folk tunes formed the foundation of his early career.

I did not like his songs much after he went electric: prove me wrong!!!

Greg
 
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