Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Happy Birthday, Mr. Dylan!

So, Robert Zimmerman turns 70 today. Everyone's writing about it. I'm sure he doesn't like that very much (or maybe he does; one can never tell with Bob Dylan). I could (and tried and then deleted my efforts) to go on and on about why his music is important to me, but it's just too complicated to explain. It's been a very long love affair--from the first time at Monica Ros (pre-K-3rd grade) that Seabury Gould, our wonderful music teacher, had us sing "Blowin' in the Wind."

So, instead, two videos. The first, from D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 documentary Don't Look Back, a young Bob Dylan (with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth lurking in the background) with placards on a New York street for "Subterranean Homesick Blues." The second, his Oscar-winning "Things Have Changed," with a fun set of celeb cameos--the cast from "Wonder Boys." Fun fact: both times I saw Dylan live (and presumably, ever since March 2001), he's had his Oscar on stage with him. Fun fact #2: according to Rolling Stone, the last year in which he didn't appear in public was 1977--that's someone who's kept working hard. And if you want a really good, recent live appearance, check out his suite with Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers at the Grammys here.





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