The Never Ending Pool

willie mctell wrote:

QUOTE:
It doesn't matter to me if Dylan faces the audience or not.
I am there for the music.
There is a huge difference between being a artist and a entertainer.
Dylan is a artist. There are may musicians who are entertainers
with witty stage banter and gimmicks. For me, that is more annoying than anything. Anything that doesn't have to do with the music detracts from the music.
One of my major pet peeves is when musicians say things like "Hello, Pittsburgh"(or whatever city that they are in.) How exciting that the musician knows where he is. Saying things like that from the stage will get a easy cheer from the crowd. A Pavlonian response, IMO.

Dylan is an entertainer, artists don't bring out deluxe greatest hits sets every couple of years and artists don't try to squeeze every last penny from the hands of their followers.

Let me rephrase that, Dylan is not an artist, he is a businessman first and foremost

grainofsand79 wrote:

QUOTE:
I saw a 68 year old man play only a few weeks ago..he performed with utter brilliance his own breathtaking songs, some 46 years old and some from the modern time. He gave his all, he'd travelled worldwide to please his fans and himself in countless countries and stood to face us at the end, to accept us and to accept our warmth. If i was to make a complaint that he likes to face his musician's during the songs i would possibly be an unappreciative lunatic.

Yes basking in the fact that his fans are falling over themselves to fill his already bulging pockets with more of their hard earned cash

mightyflynn wrote:

Dylan is an entertainer, artists don't bring out deluxe greatest hits sets every couple of years and artists don't try to squeeze every last penny from the hands of their followers.

Let me rephrase that, Dylan is not an artist, he is a businessman first and foremost.



mightyflynn,
With all due respect, i must disagree with you.

According to Websters dictioany "artist-noun: a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination"

Also from Websters dictionary: "entertainer-noun: a person who tries to please or amuse"

Ergo, your claim that Dylan is not a artist is inaccurate.
At least i have usually found that his "creative work shows sensitivity and imagination".

i am not saying that Dylan is not a businessman but if he is one, that does not disqualify him as a artist. From what you wrote, it sounds to me like you are saying that a real artist must take a vow of poverty.

i always thought he was a song and dance man

> I saw a 68 year old man play only a few weeks ago..


Ftr, 67.

grainofsand79 wrote:

QUOTE:
I saw a 68 year old man play only a few weeks ago..he performed with utter brilliance his own breathtaking songs, some 46 years old and some from the modern time. He gave his all, he'd travelled worldwide to please his fans and himself in countless countries and stood to face us at the end, to accept us and to accept our warmth.

who was it?

I pressed an 8 instead of a 7 on my internet keyboard...what with this and bob facing his band members when he plays music i'm not suprised you are all so miserable !!

Bob's concerts are full and the fans are happy..and i know how old he is. I'm sorry if this gives you all less to complain about !


Come back to europe Bob, we love you more than you're own

> I pressed an 8 instead of a 7 on my internet keyboard...

Your post said 68, which was inaccurate. So, I simply pointed out that, for the record, he is 67. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jeez, what a worthless and insensitive thread. (Ed: so, why you replyin'?).
Bob does what Bob does. It's about the music - good or ill.
All this business money talk is complete bollox (Ed: sp.)
He was a millionaire over 40 years ago.
He pleases himself. Always has. Jealousy is a terrible emotion.
You Yanks and your dollars..........(Ed: racist, delete)
Enjoy the music or don't. Go see or don't.
This has been an Englander rant! Apologies.
(Ed: praps Bobby is tired of all the eejits staring at him, all the time, all over the years)
(Jeez, Ed: are we having a private conversation. Are is it the voices in my head?). Ed. resigns.

willie mctell wrote:

QUOTE:
mightyflynn wrote:

Dylan is an entertainer, artists don't bring out deluxe greatest hits sets every couple of years and artists don't try to squeeze every last penny from the hands of their followers.

Let me rephrase that, Dylan is not an artist, he is a businessman first and foremost.



mightyflynn,
With all due respect, i must disagree with you.

According to Websters dictioany "artist-noun: a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination"

Also from Websters dictionary: "entertainer-noun: a person who tries to please or amuse"

Ergo, your claim that Dylan is not a artist is inaccurate.
At least i have usually found that his "creative work shows sensitivity and imagination".

i am not saying that Dylan is not a businessman but if he is one, that does not disqualify him as a artist. From what you wrote, it sounds to me like you are saying that a real artist must take a vow of poverty.

You are being very selective here I think, here are some more definitions

Definition of entertainer (noun)
form plural: entertainers
host; performer; comedian

Dylan is an entertainer, he may have been an artist at certain moments in his life but so what, a painter is only a painter when he paints, a poet is only a poet when he writes etc etc, on the other hand just because a poet sits down and starts writing doesn't mean that what he is writing is poetry,
A lot of people would say that it is poetry but their judgement would be clouded by the poet's previous work, if Picasso had put down his brushes and started spraypainting his bedroom there are people out there that would have said his spraypainting was art, not true, not true, not true

If anyone comes in and starts mentioning Bob's drawings I may put a metaphoric bullet in my head, ha ha. If some college kid had done those drawings no one would have gave it any notice. According to your definiton of artist the guy down the street penning love songs to his best friend's wife is an artist.

You are only a bricklayer when you're laying bricks.

Terms like artist and poet have grossly been misused over the years, some people call Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears artists but I know you mean artist as William Blake or Michelangelo, Bob is a writer of songs that entertain, they may calm the soul for 5 mins, they may allow you to meditate on an object on your coffee table but so what, some people find listening to The Spice Girls does those same things for them, are The Spice Girls favourably comparable to John Keats or Gerard Manley Hopkins, I also find that Bob's lyrics over the years have been overrated, yes he is a great lyricist but there are also people out there whose lyrics do more than rival his, look at Paul Simon's stuff or Leonard Cohen's stuff, he is not the only one who has written great lyrics. Just because a song has elements of poetry within it don't make it a poem, a lyric is not a poem in the same way a poem is not a lyric, a poem has to fill the spaces that a lyric leaves open for the music, if you put a poem to music, for the most part it would not work, it would be overkill. Bob is a great lyricist but he is not a great poet

ever think the modern bob doesn't face the audience cause he'd rather get hit with rotten cabbages and tomatoes in the back than in the face

bob is a,

miserable old git who doesn't like his fans and who has a trillion dollars,

i think he's great

grainofsand79 wrote:

QUOTE:
Come back to europe Bob, we love you more than you're own

pffft. this is AMERICAN music. get real.

According to folktales, Robert Johnson turned his back to people when he was playing. I think Bob got it from that.