Dylan is asked about seeing Cohen in concert...

[yopietro]

An excerpt from the new Rolling Stone interview of Bob Dylan:

Do you get any time to sit in on concerts? Like would you go see someone like Leonard Cohen?

Dylan: I know what Leonard does. I wouldn't need to go see him. I still go see plays. I go to the symphony because I'd be hearing threads and things that are new to me that maybe would influence me in some kind of way. ... I mean I would hear things harmonically that I might think, "Oh, well that's not such a bad idea" or maybe that kind of thing. But I wouldn't go see anybody.

[mnkyface]

Sheeeeeesh. Jealous much, Bob?

[MaryB]

I thought I had read somewhere on the forum that LC had been to see Dylan in concert, but Dylan doesn't 'need' to go see LC? A bit full of himself. Sorry Ken, but I kind of understand why you can't sway Henning.

Warmest regards,
Mary

Yes Marsha, sheeeeeesh!

[table top joe]

Bobs been a bit cranky in this latest interview(you know,more so)he dismissed Johnny Cash's later records as well......i think Bob doesnt "need" to see Leonard because Leonard plays his songs the way they sound on the record,in Bob world this is ludicrous,why would anyone do that?? ......Hes a cranky bastard but i love him anyway,im going to see him next week in fact,hes going to murder his songs,i just hope he doesnt murder them too much....maybe just a little*fingers crossed*

[Puddingdale]

Hmmm, that answer of Dylan's is really strange. What does he think why people go to his concerts then? It sounds as if it is not exactly normal to be part of an audience.

Anyway, I don't agree Cohen's songs in concert sound the same as on the record. In fact he is much more expressive, improvises and the arrangements are often different too.

[howthelightgetsin]

I love most of Dylan's music, especially these lyrics:

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

and many other of his songs like 'Mixed-Up Confusion'

I saw Dylan in Hyde Park at a Princes Trust gig about 14 years ago and he couldn't remember his words and just mumbled much more. In the past when you see documentaries he was unpredictable but at least entertaining, from what I've read of his recent gigs they were not even that. I prefer to sit back and watch him at his best in the past on DVD, whereas I think Leonard only gets better all the time and his live performances are just 'perfection' and I'm a harsh critic

I can't think why some would be surprised at his answer in that interview, he has always answered questions in his own way and I do respect him for the fact he has his own opinion and doesn't sway from it, even if it does differ from ours.

[ladydi]

I thought I had read somewhere on the forum that LC had been to see Dylan in concert, but Dylan doesn't 'need' to go see LC? A bit full of himself. Sorry Ken, but I kind of understand why you can't sway Henning.

Warmest regards,
Mary

Yes Marsha, sheeeeeesh!

Hi Mary,

I believe that was in St. John's, Newfoundland. Leonard was in the beginning days last spring of the "never-ending tour". Bob was playing I believe the night prior, and Leonard did indeed attend the concert. Somewhat "disguised" if I remember correctly! Interesting, but not surprising comment from Bob.

All the best,
Diana

[Eskimo]

Leonard telling the story of the Dylan concert and talking about Bob in an interview with Brian Johnson that can be viewed here

Q: You and Bob Dylan were in St. John’s at the same time, playing consecutive shows.

A: I went to his concert. It was terrific. I’ve been to many Dylan concerts. This one, there was a walkway from the hotel to the auditorium, so you could enter into this private area, the people who had boxes. We were in one of those boxes. First of all, I’ve never been in a private box in an auditorium. That was fun. And a lot of members of the band came. But it was very loud. Fortunately, Raphael, our drummer, had earplugs, and he distributed them. Because our music is quite soft and that’s what we’ve been listening to for three or four months.

As Sharon Robinson said, Bob Dylan has a secret code with his audience. If someone came from the moon and watched it they might wonder what was going on. In this particular case he had his back to one half of the audience and was playing the organ, beautifully I might say, and just running through the songs. Some were hard to recognize. But nobody cared. That’s not what they were there for and not what I was there for. Something else was going on, which was a celebration of some kind of genius that is so apparent and so clear and has touched people so deeply that all they need is some kind of symbolic unfolding of the event. It doesn’t have to be the songs. All it has to be is: remember that song and what it did to you. It’s a very strange event.

Q: Back in the ’60s, there was talk of you being a Canadian Bob Dylan. Didn’t you make that analogy yourself at the time?

A: No. That got into the press. I’d never say that any more than I’d say I want to be the next William Yeats or the next Bliss Carman. You know how that arose? There was a party at Frank Scott’s house. I had a record of Bob Dylan, and I brought it to this party. There were all these poets, Layton, and Dudek and maybe Phyllis Webb. It was probably Bringing it All Back Home. It was one of his early records I said, fellas, listen to this. This guy’s a real poet. I put the record on, and it was greeted with yawns. They said, ‘That’s not a poet.’ I said, ‘No, I insist, let me play it again.’ They said, ‘Do you want to be that?’ That’s how it arose. But it’s not my syntax. Anyway, they didn’t like it. But I put it on a few more times, and by the end of evening they were dancing.


From an Uncut interview with Roscoe Beck:

Q: Talking about the loud thing – I read a report today when you went to see Bob Dylan recently and Leonard was wearing ear plugs…

A: That was in St John’s [Newfoundland], and, yeah, Bob Dylan was playing the venue right next door to the hotel. We could go to the venue without even leaving the hotel, you just walk through a corridor and you were there. It was a large venue, 16,000 seats, and the sound system was kinda loud. We had a box and it was fairly near the stage. And the sound was a little loud for us, and we were all trying to protect our ears, so we had to wear earplugs. I did, I think Leonard did as well.

Q: Did he and Leonard hang out after..?

A: They’ve known each other for a long time, and I know there’s a lot of respect for each other. Jennifer Warnes told me a story once that there was a BMI [Broadcast Music, Inc] dinner once, they were honouring Bob Dylan. And Leonard was there and Jennifer was there. And at one point, Bob Dylan took Elizabeth Taylor by the hand and said, “Come, let me introduce you to a real poet…”

Some more quotes from LC on Bob:

"Most music criticism is in the nineteenth century. It's so far behind, say,
the criticism of painting. It's still based on nineteenth century art--cows
beside a stream and trees and 'I know what I like." There's no concession to
the fact that Dylan might be a more sophisticated singer than Whitney Houston,
that he's probably the most sophisticated singer we've had in a generation.
Nobody is identifying out popular singers like a Matisse or Picasso. Dylan's a
Picasso--that exuberance, range, and assimilation of the whole history of
music." (Musician, 1988)

"Dylan is not just a great poet, he's a great man" (Robert Shelton's No Direction Home)

[lizzytysh]

As Sharon Robinson said, Bob Dylan has a secret code with his audience. If someone came from the moon and watched it they might wonder what was going on. In this particular case he had his back to one half of the audience and was playing the organ, beautifully I might say, and just running through the songs. Some were hard to recognize. But nobody cared. That’s not what they were there for and not what I was there for. Something else was going on, which was a celebration of some kind of genius that is so apparent and so clear and has touched people so deeply that all they need is some kind of symbolic unfolding of the event. It doesn’t have to be the songs. All it has to be is: remember that song and what it did to you. It’s a very strange event.

So spot-on in his insight and so gracious in his response ~ First Class .


~ Lizzy

[owenepstein]

Dylan has the right to see other musicians or not! He's a human being just like any other human being and possesses no special obligation to mold his personal habits to serve anyone but himself. It's to easy to forget that our artistic icons are mortal: I say "Live and let Live." Relax and enjoy what Bob has contributed to the world through his musicianship and his "voice."

-Cheers.

[yentek]

I attended Leonard's concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in 1994 or 1995 - the I'm Your Man Tour. Dylan was there. My companion and I saw him leaving about 20 miniutes after the show ended.

[Steven915]

I was flipping around the TV channels the other night and I came across the documentary film "Don't Look Back." Dylan was singing "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," beautifully.

I would pay to see that Dylan. I don't need to see the present Dylan. I know what Bob does. I don't need any secret codes.

[John Etherington]

Thanks to Sue Merlyn, I managed to get a ticket for Dylan at the Roundhouse last Sunday. We got wrist-banded at about 11am then immediately joined the second queque to get in. Quequeing for 8 hours was an amazing experience, and I had lots of good conversations with people, including some about Leonard (hi there Roy and friend!). When we finally got in, we managed to get a place in the front row, albeit next to the speakers, on the left. I can understand Roscoe Beck's story above, because I thought I was going to damage my ear-drums at first! (though somehow I adapted). The band were good as ever, and Dylan was...well, Dylan. Virtually everything he sang or said was almost almost indecipherable. I didn't recognize "Blowin in the Wind" till half way through, let alone "Tryin' to Get to Heaven Before they Close the Door". I've never missed a UK Dylan tour (since the Isle of Wight) and have seen the good and the bad. However Dylan could certainly learn a few things from Leonard in 2009.

All good things, John E

[jdhayes]

Who the hell is this Bob Dylan guy?

[Cate]

Then question's kinda like asking the waitress at Pizza Hut if she'd like to go to Boston Pizza for dinner.