Joan Armatrading has been number one for 25 years with me. I've seen her in concert many times and we are now growing way too old together. Saw her last year in Dallas at House of Blues and we are both older...okay...just plain old!
Love Bob Dylan, Van Morrison but can't escape heavy metal because my son is a heavy metal guitarist.
I recently saw the Martin Scorsese documentary on Bob Dylan and there was a quote from an old folk singer friend of Dylan's from his Greenwich Village days -- to paraphase -- "I give no credit to Dylan himself because the man is obvously filled with the Holy Spirit."
Dylan himself refuses to even talk about what his songs mean and people have been putting deep meaning into them since the first. He truly is a poet and songs like "A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall" are just plain scriptural. I also have loved Dylan's attitude towards his own fame and his fans. He wrote in his autobiography that he purposefully made bad albums just so they would quit following him around calling him "the voice of our generation" and other such foolery.
Interesting thing I discovered in the documentary was that Dylan was right behind Dr. King during the "I Had a Dream" speech and sang "When the Ships Came In." But then when Joan Baez and the other folk/protest singers tried to stick Dylan forever in that box -- he refused and turned electric. They boo-ed him on stage for years after that and Dylan just didn't care. I admire that
Looking at Dylan's prolific talent, and understanding God's sovereignty, there is no arguing that Dylan was filled with the Spirit. Even went from Jewish rebellious kid, to Pentecostal gospel singer and now, well I don't know. I think he has "backslided" from Pentocostalism probably because it's an illogical and confusing theology for a thinker like Dylan.
Well, didn't mean to go on and on...been listening to a lot of Dylan lately. I put Joan on the back burner every once in awhile and then bring her out again only to love her still.
carol v
To any Dylan fans in the forum I highly recommend the movie "I'm not There." Great flick. Cate Blanchette is actually the only actor playing Dylan who in any way resembles him. Very interesting and a terrific overview of his music.