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

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Dylan wasn't a good guitar player, - Strike 1
singer, or harmonica player - Strike 2, Strike 3

Don't let this deter you. Keep posting.

Are you suggesting he’s exceptional at those things? He isn’t. He’s an artist deluxe. And in music, he uses the guitar and harmonica and voice as tools.

 

[protectionist]

Are you suggesting he’s exceptional at those things? He isn’t. He’s an artist deluxe. And in music, he uses the guitar and harmonica and voice as tools.

I'm not suggesting it, I'm saying it, and anyone who would say something as absurd as Dylan not exceptional on the harmonica, is either tone deaf, or hasn't listened to many Dylan songs.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

I'm not suggesting it, I'm saying it, and anyone who would say something as absurd as Dylan not exceptional on the harmonica, is either tone deaf, or hasn't listened to many Dylan songs.

I play harmonica as a job.
Hohner, the company that makes the Marine Band harmonica, the quintessential and seminal instrument of American roots music, used the phrase Just Breathe as their marketing slogan. It included a picture of Dylan because that’s how he plays.
When people request Dylan when they see me play harmonica, I tell them to stick a harp in their mouth and breathe and then they can play Dylan.

 

[protectionist]

I play harmonica as a job.
Hohner, the company that makes the Marine Band harmonica, the quintessential and seminal instrument of American roots music, used the phrase Just Breathe as their marketing slogan. It included a picture of Dylan because that’s how he plays.
When people request Dylan when they see me play harmonica, I tell them to stick a harp in their mouth and breathe and then they can play Dylan.

I also play the harmonica (and 5 other instruments), and have played professionally for 50 years. Dylan is the best harmonica player I've ever heard, because his playing fits the melodies of his songs, and is very blusey & soulful. And he doesn't overplay the instrument, as many harmonica players foolishly do.

PS - I have 2 Marine Band harmonicas (G & D), and have had them since 1965, and they still play as good now as when they were new..I keep them in their little cases.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

I also play the harmonica (and 5 other instruments), and have played professionally for 50 years. Dylan is the best harmonica player I've ever heard, because his playing fits the melodies of his songs, and is very blusey & soulful. And he doesn't overplay the instrument, as many harmonica players foolishly do.

You don’t play the harmonica. If you did, you’d know that Dylan doesn’t. You may play in the most rudimentary style but you don’t really play it. You likely play it like an autoharp.

 

[protectionist]

You don’t play the harmonica. If you did, you’d know that Dylan doesn’t. You may play in the most rudimentary style but you don’t really play it. You likely play it like an autoharp.

I dont need coaching from you, or anyone, about any music that I play on any of my instruments. I am a longtime musician and music teacher, and I have never heard a more assinine comment than being told that I don't play the harmonica. Sounds like someone has filled your head with a lot of jibberish.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

I dont need coaching from you, or anyone, about any music that I play on any of my instruments. I am a longtime musician and music teacher, and I have never heard a more assinine comment than being told that I don't play the harmonica. Sounds like someone has filled your head with a lot of jibberish.

I’m only basing this on your posts. If you don’t recognize that Dylan doesn’t really play harmonica, your own take loses credibility. Do you play in multiple positions? If you did, you’d realize that Dylan doesn’t.

 

[protectionist]

I’m only basing this on your posts. If you don’t recognize that Dylan doesn’t really play harmonica, your own take loses credibility. Do you play in multiple positions? If you did, you’d realize that Dylan doesn’t.

Again, I dont need coaching from you, or anyone lame enough to say that Dylan wasn't a good harmonica or guitar player. I've hardly ever heard anything so ludicrous.

You think you could duplicate his fingerpicking on "Don't think Twice, Its All Right", or "Girl from the North Country" ?

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Again, I dont need coaching from you, or anyone lame enough to say that Dylan wasn't a good harmonica or guitar player. I've hardly ever heard anything so ludicrous.

You think you could duplicate his fingerpicking on "Don't think Twice, Its All Right", or "Girl from the North Country" ?

I can’t Travis pick. Those who can — and there are many — do so with ease. Something innate. That doesn’t make Dylan exceptional.
The bottom line is that he’s an exceptional artist and is so with limited musical skills.

 

[Failzero]

He is only 4 Spots ahead of Richard Pryor on the top 100 list

 

[CrusaderFrank]

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

• inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame.
• a Kennedy Center Honor in the East Room of the White House
• May 2000, received the Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI
• In June 2007, received the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category
• In 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power".
• received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012. President Barack Obama, presenting Dylan with the award
• November 2013, Dylan was awarded France's highest honor, the Légion d'Honneur,
• February 2015, Dylan accepted the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, in recognition of his philanthropic and artistic contributions.
• In 1996, Gordon Ball of the Virginia Military Institute nominated Dylan for the Nobel Prize in Literature,
• On October 13, 2016, the Nobel committee awarded Dylan the Nobel Prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
• Bob Dylan Center | Tulsa, OK
• View attachment 1164167

Bob Dylan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Related videos >>

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

Dylan was a pioneer and major, influential artist!

But..,

 

[rightwinger]

Can’t sing a lick

 

[Failzero]

Dylan was a pioneer and major, influential artist!

But..,
View attachment 1165092

Frank was a Titan

 

[rightwinger]

Dylan was a pioneer and major, influential artist!

But..,
View attachment 1165092

Zappa was great if you were a teenaged boy

 

[Failzero]

Zappa was great if you were a teenaged boy

That was Cheech & Chong , FZ was as cerebral as Shostakovich .

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Zappa was great if you were a teenaged boy

Still am

 

[protectionist]

I can’t Travis pick. Those who can — and there are many — do so with ease. Something innate. That doesn’t make Dylan exceptional.
The bottom line is that he’s an exceptional artist and is so with limited musical skills.

Obviously his mastery of poetry with rhyme, is his top talent, but I wouldn't diminish his musical skills. They masterfully compliment his great lyrics.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Obviously his mastery of poetry with rhyme, is his top talent, but I wouldn't diminish his musical skills. They masterfully compliment his great lyrics.

No argument there.

 

[protectionist]

Can’t sing a lick

The clear sign of cluelessness regarding Bob Dylan.
Actually quite a few people think his voice fits the songs he sings quite well (see the videos in this thread). I'd agree with that.

 

[Blaster]

I rate Neil Diamond over Bob Dylan.