Movie A Complete Unknown (Timothy Chalamet plays Bob Dylan) (2 Viewers)

[Madmarsha]

A far better introduction to Dylan is to play other people/bands playing his music. About 99/100 times, I will listen to the cover versions of his songs rather than him performing them because they are better, and there certainly is no shortage of those. just a few:
Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower
Manfred Mann: The Mighty Quinn
The Byrds: Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, All I Really Want to Do
Nina Simone: I Shall Be Released
Peter, Paul, and Mary: Blowin' in the Wind
Tom Petty: My Back Pages
Leon Russel: Masters of War
Flatt & Scruggs: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Johnny and June Carter Cash: It Ain't Me, Babe

Miley Cyrus: You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

 

[Saintman2884]

I agree with you I like musician biopics but never have gotten Dylan. To me, Dylan is a poet and not really a singer or really a musician. He's voice is terrible and his music is meh. I think his talent lies in writing poetry which I don't think translate to be great songs.

I also tend to think his words speak more to the Boomer generation than later generations.

FWIW, my daughter (age 21) found out about this movie and asked who is Bob Dylan? So, I put on some Dylan songs and she was like "people really listen to that?"

Yeah, that's why I think singer-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp appealed more to my generation (Gen X) than the Boomers because Gen X was the first generation of Americans whose overall GDP average, incomes, quality of life, good jobs, income gap was going to be a lot bigger then their Boomer parents. Gen X was more of "Well, you Boomers had a lot more to work with then we did and had your mini-revolutions (anti-Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement) but here we are 10-15 years later and the world doesn't seem much safer, happier, or richer, in fact in some respects, if feels more dangerous, chaotic so what happened and at what point did you screw it all up"?

That was the generation that produced punk, hardcore punk, heavy metal, the first creative aspirations of what would become rap and hip-hop, and then rock's most recent and sort of last-gasp original sub-genre, PNW's grunge/alternative scene. IMHO, Grunge is the quintessential, authentic Gen-X musical and social outlet experience and because it was essentially a genuine an American version of punk. It was our musical interpretation of punk rock with long hair, torn sweatshirts and jeans, jangly loud, hard, and fast guitars with decent melodies with great existential lyrics to wonderful songs.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Yeah, that's why I think singer-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp appealed more to my generation (Gen X) than the Boomers because Gen X was the first generation of Americans whose overall GDP average, incomes, quality of life, good jobs, income gap was going to be a lot bigger then their Boomer parents. Gen X was more of "Well, you Boomers had a lot more to work with then we did and had your mini-revolutions (anti-Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement) but here we are 10-15 years later and the world doesn't seem much safer, happier, or richer, in fact in some respects, if feels more dangerous, chaotic so what happened and at what point did you screw it all up"?

That was the generation that produced punk, hardcore punk, heavy metal, the first creative aspirations of what would become rap and hip-hop, and then rock's most recent and sort of last-gasp original sub-genre, PNW's grunge/alternative scene. IMHO, Grunge is the quintessential, authentic Gen-X musical and social outlet experience and because it was essentially a genuine an American version of punk. It was our musical interpretation of punk rock with long hair, torn sweatshirts and jeans, jangly loud, hard, and fast guitars with decent melodies with great existential lyrics to wonderful songs.

which has what to do with Dylan?

 

[Saintman2884]

which has what to do with Dylan?

Sort of a thought experiment or a series of "after-thoughts" when another poster said that Dylan's music meant more to 60's Boomers generation then later generations like mine, Generation X. And in many respects, that's true because later artists like Springsteen, Mellencamp, and others that followed Dylan spoke to a younger, different generation then the one Dylan, Baez, Seeger represented and spoke too mostly on socio-political "civil rights issues".

 

[superchuck500]

A far better introduction to Dylan is to play other people/bands playing his music. About 99/100 times, I will listen to the cover versions of his songs rather than him performing them because they are better, and there certainly is no shortage of those. just a few:
Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower
Manfred Mann: The Mighty Quinn
The Byrds: Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, All I Really Want to Do
Nina Simone: I Shall Be Released
Peter, Paul, and Mary: Blowin' in the Wind
Tom Petty: My Back Pages
Leon Russel: Masters of War
Flatt & Scruggs: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Johnny and June Carter Cash: It Ain't Me, Babe

Great list.

With a few exceptions in favor of the Byrds (their Back Pages is so good), I prefer Bob.

He’s a juggernaut. Take a song like Tom Thumb’s Blues, just run the YouTube search and everyone from Neil Young, Nina Simone, Grateful Dead, Brian Ferry and Tom Waits have covered it.

But none comes close to Dylan’s IMO - it’s perfect

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

What the line from Chasing Amy that Silent Bob says to Jay: “Mother ****** what you DONT know about me i could just about fit into the Grand ***ing Canyon “…..







Oh i see - yeah youre right, i dont really see the point of that type of behavior .


.


ETA the Chasing Amy scene.. warning language

.

gross

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Great list.

With a few exceptions in favor of the Byrds (their Back Pages is so good), I prefer Bob.

He’s a juggernaut. Take a song like Tom Thumb’s Blues, just run the YouTube search and everyone from Neil Young, Nina Simone, Grateful Dead, Brian Ferry and Tom Waits have covered it.

But none comes close to Dylan’s IMO - it’s perfect

yes but tangled up in blue
someone earlier said all covers of Dylan songs are improvements - I've made that argument about Leonard Cohen. LC deliberately under performed his songs bc he wanted the words/poetry to be foremost
When someone covers Dylan they don't make a better song, they make a different song

 

[superchuck500]

yes but tangled up in blue
someone earlier said all covers of Dylan songs are improvements - I've made that argument about Leonard Cohen. LC deliberately under performed his songs bc he wanted the words/poetry to be foremost
When someone covers Dylan they don't make a better song, they make a different song

Yeah, I agree.

The thing about Dylan in this whole discussion is that he never saw himself as one of these songwriter types happy to let others shine the light on his work. He was a freakin superstar and while he certainly wasn’t always comfortable with that, he made his music first and foremost to be recorded and performed by him on stage. The covers are just homage.

Some don’t like his style or can’t get over his voice (I love his voice) - but in his time, he was iconic. The jester who stole the king’s crown.

 

[Mamba]

Regarding his voice, there are like six different Bob Dylans. From decade to decade he almost sounds like a completely different person. I prefer his singing in the 60s-to-mid 70s (although there’s substantial variation in this era), and then again from the late 90s-to-present day. His voice from the late 70s through early 90s is…blech

While there are certainly more gifted musicians & singers*, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t like his poetry chops. He’s a lyrical giant.

* FWIW, though, he’s won two Grammys for vocal performance.

 

[Nisey55]

We had Christmas early and one of the gifts for our granddaughter, (10 yrs) was a new record player, (hers' is a hand me down) she is naturally a Swiftie and has all of the vinyl. For shirts and groans we also bought Bob Dylan's Christmas in the heart album to listen to.
Now I do love Bob but he doesn't shine at Christmas, it was hilariously bad.
Needless to say our little Sweetie happily made off with all of her bounty but left Bob behind with Papa and Maw Nise.