I was not trying to be apologetic. The last time i saw Dylan, over ten years ago, the cd, Time Out of Mind had not been made and he ran up a long list of faux pas’ on stage…playing too loud and too long, pounding on some “hits” and reworking some material into indecipherable rock messes. So, when i heard Time Out of Mind I was blown away by his understanding and his ability to make manifest codependent and failed love relationships. The next cd caught me off guard with its “country stylings” and the last one, Modern Times, seemed nicely patterened and easy. The most recent, the live renderings of some trad folk songs and live plays of some of the tunes off the aforementioned cds. made me realize, once again, his real genius. So, I wandered out into the abyss of a new experience by writing about it here without knowing anyone etc.etc.
It might be mentioned here that I think when we think of rock music we tend to think of youth. And while this is apparently not rock music, it is nice to see a 67 year old man formerly associated with rock and folk, making timeless, popular americana. And rather than dwell too much on a man that others have already mined as the mother lode, I might also mention the unique and timeless quality of these last cds. I find him a perfect fit here in this style of music.
