Dylan courts black singers

[Nano]

Read this piece from Slate.com (a "citizen journalism" site). Ruminates on le grand Bob relationships with several black singers from Mavis Staples (who said in The Washington Post that he proposed to her!) to Alicia Keys, named in his upcoming CD.

http://www.slate.com/id/2147487/

I would add to that list the name of Aretha Franklin, which appears several times in his poetry book Tarantula (yes! I'm one of the few that read it in its entirety).

Hey Bob, lose the harmonica and put on an afro! :D



Is she just like a woman for Big Ol' Bob? :roll:

[Videoskooter]

I don't care very much about Bawb but....
Alicia MMMMMH Keys will do nicely for me, thank you :lol:

[DiscoMan]

I could never stand Dylan... Good song writer but that "voice"! Jeeziz, I'd rather listen to Shrillary rant like a fishwife!:o

What a f**kin' puss on that sonofabitch, **** if I woke up next to the likes of that I'd swear I'd died and gone to hell!:o

[buckaroo]

Dear Alicia,

Please listen to ol' Buckaroo when he says to ya, don't go near that dirty old man...As if ya would anyway. I have faith in ya.

Bye.

[Mr.Ree]

Dylan's right up there with Lennon/McCartney, Smokey, Stevie, Bacharach and a select few others as being among the most respected and covered songwriters in music history....but wow, that voice of his is definitely an acquired taste. I've never heard him interact much with other singers one on one, but there's an interesting variety of singers from different genres covering his songs on his "Bob Dylan's 30ieth Anniversary Concert" which oddly is out of print, not available on DVD and very tricky to find, at least in my area. And did you know that the hip hop production ensemble Full Force sang back up on one of his records? I haven't actually heard it but really can't imagine a more bizarre combination. I can't make it through more than 2 or 3 or his songs back to back, that's how grating I find his voice. But there are some VERY gospel-ish voices backing him on "Precious Angel" from "Slow Train Coming"....my second favorite Dylan composition (after "If Not For You", which George Harrison did a wonderful job with).

[Nano]

Well finally I could see le grand Bob in concert in Buenos Aires about a year ago. I have to say his voice has gone really down to a whisper that makes him sound like Tom Waits' cousin, so it's not so whiny like years ago. The problem was that in order to keep singing, most classic tracks are scaled down an octave or two, disguised as "new arrangements" that of course critics would never dare argue against, it's Dylan after all. So suddenly in the middle of a song you would realize he was singin' "Just like a woman" or "All along the watchtower" and for several minutes the audience didn't get it, kinda funny. Not that the songs had very catchy choruses anyway :icon_lol:

But all in all it was an honor to see Mr. Dylan at least once. No black singers doing backup, though.