Dylan Xmas album review in The Weekly Standard
Rockinghorse Winner
http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/144saagx.asp
*R* *H*
--
The 19th-century clown Joseph Grimaldi, when old and incurably depressed,
visited a doctor. The physician advised him to cheer himself up by seeing
the great comedian Grimaldi. Whereupon his patient told him: Doctor, I am
Grimaldi.
Dr_dudley
Thnaks for posting, I hope this finds you well.
On Nov 3, 2:19 am, Rockinghorse Winner <rockingho...@deadtime.com>
wrote:
> For your perusal:
>
> http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
>
> *R* *H*
> --
>
It's long been a passion of mine, in my Spare Time, to read articles
posted on the innernest about CitH.
If you go to the front page of http://www.expectingrain.com , you'll
find them in embarrassing quantities; go to the archived pages for
even more.
Positive or negative they're all cut from the same cloth: if bob dylan
didn't exist we wd've had to invent him, just so these folks cd make a
lousy buck.
I can't find a one that doesn't reveal more about the writer than it
does about bob.
As to this particular peckerwood's "contribution", i won't dignify it
with a blow-by-blow; let me say this about that:
}
He[dylna]'s saying, Okay, this is what it's come to: You've got two
options. You can cover your ears and go running from the room in
horror, or you can call me an enigmatic genius who's daring to plumb
heretofore unexplored archetypes of the American imagination. But you
can't do both.
{
That's likely not what "he's" saying; it might be, i have no way of
knowing for sure.
I am sure that that's what this knucklehead is saying, and i say
"Don't every give me two options, because i'll counter with two other
options: finding my own option, or shoving yr option up the hole in yr
'culture' ".
Like "Vote or die".
If you see St. Annie, please tell her thnaks a lot.
Or not.
Blessings on yr head,
rdd
___
mebbe i'll start a blog where i reveal the "real meaning" of CitH.
Phoooey.
Just Walkin'
> Dear *R* *H*,
>
> Thnaks for posting, I hope this finds you well.
>
> On Nov 3, 2:19 am, Rockinghorse Winner <rockingho...@deadtime.com>
> wrote:
>
> > For your perusal:
>
> >http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
>
> > *R* *H*
> > --
>
> It's long been a passion of mine, in my Spare Time, to read articles
> posted on the innernest about CitH.
>
Thanks for the great review review, dear doctor. You surely know how
to dance about architecture with the best of them. But methinks when
those peckerwoods get their heads in a knuckle, it's "Vote or fish"
cause they saves the "dyin" part for those who vote incorrectly.
rwalker
<rockin...@deadtime.com> wrote:
>For your perusal:
>
>http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/144saagx.asp
>
>*R* *H*
Hmm. I guess he didn't like it.
Mr Jinx
wrote:
> For your perusal:
>
> http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
>
> *R* *H*
> --
>
> The 19th-century clown Joseph Grimaldi, when old and incurably depressed,
> visited a doctor. The physician advised him to cheer himself up by seeing
> the great comedian Grimaldi. Whereupon his patient told him: Doctor, I am
> Grimaldi.
This article falls into just about every bear trap of lazy-minded
criticism. I can't even be bothered to take issue with it. It is yet
another example of someone who wants Dylan to be just one thing and
can't handle him being lots of things all at once. Just because we
now have the Christmas charity album it does not mean we don't have
everything else Dylan has done and is doing. We have it AS WELL as
his other work, not instead of. It is scary to think how many great
chunks of Dylan's art would have been erased it blockheads like this
man had their way.
Mr Jinx
Upbeat & Cheerful Martin
> It is scary to think how many great
> chunks of Dylan's art would have been erased it blockheads like this
> man had their way
Am I making a giant leap of faith to guess he didn't suggest erasing
chunks of Dylan's 'art', but just didn't like the album? (I didn't
read the review)
Janice
>
> http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
From the article:
"Dylan fans are like Baby Huey dolls, those inflatable figures with
the big red nose and the rounded bottom, weighted so that when you
punch them--punch hard, punch with all your might--they bounce right
back, grinning the same frozen, unchangeable grin.... But not since
Don Rickles at the height of his powers--the second greatest artist of
the past 50 years, some believe--has a performer taken delight in
actively abusing the people who pay money to."
I have no doubt that the author of this article is reading this
newsgroup, and especially this thread. So (to borrow a dudley-ism) hi
hello and may I just say boy do you have an ax to grind. I have to
wonder how come.
More:
"Robbie Robertson, who with The Band backed Dylan off and on for many
years, takes the most judicious and accurate position toward his
friend's stuff. He'd always been puzzled by the overwrought encomiums,
he once said. "I heard some great lines, sure. But a *poet*?" "
I've learned a new word here (encomiums)... It is difficult to imagine
Robbie would actually say this about his "friend," but I'll take the
author's word for it. What is a little boggling is that Robbie or
anyone else at this late date is still questioning Bob's viability as
a poet. Disparage Bob's vocals, denounce his melodies -- even his
(us) Baby Huey fans have been known to attack these forms -- but to
continue to complain about Bob as a poet is at the very least
anachronistic and ill-informed.
And again:
"Dylan not only copyrights his stuff, he publishes it under the
auspices of the particularly ruthless copyright enforcer BMI, and then
without apology he cashes the royalty checks from songs that depend on
lyrics that aren't his and melodies he didn't write. He must reckon
that a shared cultural heritage is all well and good, but a man's got
to make a living."
Hmmm. He has a point. Good thing the CitH album is a charitable
contribution with all profits going to national and international
charity organizations whose agendas are to end hunger. The author
failed to mention this, maybe because it did not suit his purpose, or
perhaps because he failed to do his research.
And still more:
" Boomers are particularly vulnerable to the same conceit, with an
overlay of pompous allusions half-remembered from our American Studies
class. We spy, in every cultural event we've witnessed and in every
figure we've admired, the greatest, the biggest, the most . . .
whatever. It looks like sophistication but it's really insouciance.
Even as Dylan continues to sneer at them, his boomer admirers will
refuse to believe it. They forget that the Poet warned us himself, so
many years ago, with such prescience: "Something is happening here,
but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Poet Laureate?" "
Ah. So here's the crux of it - another boomer-hater.
There's a concurrent thread running here on rmd about the meaning or
meaningless-ness of art, the function of art, the definition of art,
etc.. and treadleson summed it up nicely when he wrote:
Then, speaking pragmatically, the question arises: does the art
'work'?
His music will be here for generations to come. Bob's still workin'.
~`~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
rwalker
<jan...@dixoncreekstudio.com> wrote:
snip
>
>More:
>"Robbie Robertson, who with The Band backed Dylan off and on for many
>years, takes the most judicious and accurate position toward his
>friend's stuff. He'd always been puzzled by the overwrought encomiums,
>he once said. "I heard some great lines, sure. But a *poet*?" "
>
>I've learned a new word here (encomiums)... It is difficult to imagine
>Robbie would actually say this about his "friend," but I'll take the
>author's word for it.
snip
Robbie Robertson is egomaniac enough to have said it.
frinjdwelr
"Dr_dudley" <dud...@cloud9.net> wrote in message
news:ecb52a03-9fc8-473e...@d21g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 3, 2:19 am, Rockinghorse Winner <rockingho...@deadtime.com>
wrote:
> For your perusal:
>
> http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
>
I can't find a one that doesn't reveal more about the writer than it
does about bob.
As to this particular peckerwood's "contribution", i won't dignify it
with a blow-by-blow; let me say this about that:
}
He[dylna]'s saying, Okay, this is what it's come to: You've got two
options. You can cover your ears and go running from the room in
horror, or you can call me an enigmatic genius who's daring to plumb
heretofore unexplored archetypes of the American imagination. But you
can't do both.
{
That's likely not what "he's" saying; it might be, i have no way of
knowing for sure.
I am sure that that's what this knucklehead is saying, and i say
"Don't every give me two options, because i'll counter with two other
options: finding my own option, or shoving yr option up the hole in yr
'culture' ".
Like "Vote or die".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I considered the past opinions of the source and didn't wish to waste any
time on their drivel, since of course it would be uninformed and rude. But
I have no doubt your summary is accurate and agree with you.
Mr Jinx
> Mr Jinx <vernon__bris...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Lately, all your posts are the same.
Ha ha. Good one. Haven't you said that before, though?
Mr Jinx
Mr Jinx
> On Nov 3, 2:19 am, Rockinghorse Winner <rockingho...@deadtime.com>
> wrote:
>
> > For your perusal:
>
> >http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/...
>
>
> Bravo. One of the better lines: "Yet I've seen fans weep in
> gratitude as he garbles his most famous lines. The ovations are
> deafening. Forget Baby Huey: Dylan fans are the battered wives of the
> music industry."
>
> Like this review or hate it, I don't find anything unfair or dishonest
> here. The Bob dylan of this article is very recognizable.
>
No, the caricature of the Bob Dylan of this article is very
recognisable.
It is the same old tired baloney that has been peddled by dim-wit baby
boomer hacks for years. It bears no resemblance to what is actually
going on. It is just a bunch of prejudices dressed up as opinions.
But, of course, if you recognise the Dylan described in the article
then fine.
Mr Jinx
Upbeat & Cheerful Martin
> It is just a bunch of prejudices dressed up as opinions
Yeah, I wouldn't settle for that if I were you
Dr_dudley
My friend, and fellow sentient being. May your suffering, if any, be
alleviated.
On Nov 4, 11:43 am, treadleson <treadl...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Bravo. One of the better lines: "Yet I've seen fans weep in
> gratitude as he garbles his most famous lines. The ovations are
> deafening. Forget Baby Huey: Dylan fans are the battered wives of the
> music industry."
>
> Like this review or hate it, I don't find anything unfair or dishonest
> here. The Bob dylan of this article is very recognizable.
>
I won't even touch the "battered wives" reference.
Look, this guy's got a write to make a living, don't get me wrong (if
i split like light refracted).
Nor is he alone in his shtick, feeding off bob. Name me someone who's
not a parasite, etc.
I can't really counter yr suppository, since that wd require going
back and re-reading the piece; i've got better things to waste Time
on.
He can say anything he wants about dlyan; so long as it's neither
slanderous nor humiliatin'.
What i object to is his portrait of dylna fans; i mySelf might be one,
tho' i've yet to receive my Certification.
There are many among us, or useta be, who are bobFans precisely
because he left us free of idolatry & heroWorship.
Why shd i let some shit-for-brains waste precious oxygen when i know
for a fact i've never pulled my chin.
Why doesn't he analyse Andy Williams, or better yet, Mr. Frank (Albert
Francis Sinatra), whose fans towards his later years felt his voice
was shot & he should stop performing?
Sheesh.
Bob was just an older brother; so was Phil and a few others. Here's
what bob once typed:
}
Woody Guthrie was my last idol
he was the last idol
because he was the first idol
I'd ever met
face t' face
that men are men
shatterin' even himself
as an idol
an' that men have reasons
for what they do
an' what they say
an' every action can be questioned
leavin' no command
untouched an' took for granted
obeyed an' bowed down to
forgettin' your own natural instincts
(for there're a million reasons
in the world
an' a million instincts
runnin' wild
an' it's none too many times
the two shall meet)
the unseen idols create the fear
an' trample hope when busted
Woody never made me fear
and he didn't trample any hopes
for he just carried a book of Man
an' gave it t' me t' read awhile
an' from it I learned my greatest lesson
you ask "how does it feel t' be an idol?"
it'd be silly of me t' answer, wouldn't it . . .?
{
If anyThing i'd suggest it's the nonBoomers who haven't learned the
Lessons. Yet.
Not that i consider mySelf a Boomer.
Peace be with you,
and with thy Spirit,
rdd
+++
Groom's Still Waiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVqaLtX2mmw
Jesus Christ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDS00Pnhkqk
Slow Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgSnczPPfaQ
Jesus Was Way Cool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUrqaJZH-04
Jesus, the Missing Years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ1LC7AotNE
Farewell, Angelina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmWRnbxACH0
Rockinghorse Winner
Mr Jinx <vernon_...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> It is just a bunch of prejudices dressed up as opinions.
Yes, yes. That is what I took away from it. It can also be said to be
ignorance dressed up as common sense, the kind of logic often
heard from students who take it upon themselves to put their professors
in their place, and so show they can think independently.
The problem here is that a little knowledge is worse than none at all.
It's obvious that the reviewer did not get any pleasure out of the CD.
But it is also obvious that many, many more people who bought the CD
did like it.
But to take the occasion of a single CD, and use it as a cudgel to
disparage the entire musical career of one of our greatest living
songwriters is an exercise in hubris and grandstanding.
*R* *H*
--
Rockinghorse Winner <rwi...@microsoft.com>
Dr_dudley
> On Nov 5, 6:06 am, Dr_dudley <dud...@cloud9.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Dear Bro. Treadles,
>
> > My friend, and fellow sentient being. May your suffering, if any, be
> > alleviated.
>
>
> > What i object to is his portrait of dylna fans; i mySelf might be one,
> > tho' i've yet to receive my Certification.
>
> sworn I recognized some of them. did I wince a wee bit for myself?
> it'd be silly of me t' answer, wouldn't it . . .?
>
I can shirley conjoin with you on the wincing part, but my point is
that the guy is so over-the-top in his pseudoCritique, he's not
painting with a broad brush, i wdn't object to that; he's using one of
those power paintsprayer devices.
That's fine if you're painting a house; if want a subtly nuanced
canvas, not so fine.
I'd rather be included, warts & all, in the community of Dylan fans
deligned with more painterly detailed strokes.
>
> > There are many among us, or useta be, who are bobFans precisely
> > because he left us free of idolatry & heroWorship.
>
> consider me a member. but will you consider me a member with a mind,
> too?
>
This troubles me, since i can't in this medium detect the kind of
facial cues and vocal intonations & body language that informs
face2face intercourse, determine what yer at here.
Of course i will you know i will. Generally speaking i don't address
someOne as a "fellow sentient being" if'n i don't recognise their
Mind.
Unless you are, like me, a flawed human being.
Or is it just me?
My fumfery regarding the issue was addressed to the nincompoop who
wrote it, not yrSelf kind Sir.
& as well I've exhausted me innerest in that suchlike, being as i am
getting too old for such nonsense.
>
> ...
>
> > Why doesn't he analyse Andy Williams, or better yet, Mr. Frank (Albert
> > Francis Sinatra), whose fans towards his later years felt his voice
> > was shot & he should stop performing?
>
> They don't have a new Xmas album in the racks?
>
That speaks to my point. There seems to be a cottage industry of dylna
referential writing (or mansion on the hill industry), where it is
currently "kewl" to bounce subpar thinking off the monolithic dylan
industry.
Check out expectingrain.com for leads.
There's a lotsa stuff there, pro and/or con, where ill-informed people
display their iggerance on a massive scale.
Some might nameCheck Andy Williams, but i'm thniking they've never
heard him.
If someOne of 'em every posted a critical, intellectually honest,
analysis of the sources of bob's CitH, i'd be impressed.
Heeeerrrre's Andy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4R24jx7QfM
Please note: i will be out of the office from 06nov09 thru 09nov09,
and will have limited access to the InnerRest.
Kumbaya my lordly,
rdd
Dr_dudley
>
> Meaning, can't I discriminate?
Of course you can, you know you can.
At the same time may i point out the concept of non-discriminatory
mind?
> The writer goes after some fans as
> being indiscriminate to the point of drooling over sheer dreck, being
> punished and asking for more. I'm saying that I hope I can separate
> the wheat from the chaff, especially when a goodly amount of chaff has
> been tossed out to the groundlings over the years.
>
Well said; my beef is with the bottom-feeders who try to make a living
snarkily.
Yr point is well taken, threshinglyWise.
> >
> > Please note: i will be out of the office from 06nov09 thru 09nov09,
> > and will have limited access to the InnerRest.
>
> By the by--glad to see you looking so feisty! (I'm doing synaesthesia-
> lite today.)
>
Whatever. I'm finished with this guy who wrote the piece that started
me off.
I'm going to visit my Ma this Sunday afternoon.
She's alright, given she's ninety. The arthritis is an issue for her,
but she's pretty much in control of her facultys.
I'm sorry for the brevity of this post, since i get paid by the word,
but i'm being charged by the character in this cheap motel.
L8R,
rdd
Just Walkin'
Dear Dr,
I hope your Ma is feeling OK. We got arthritis around our house too
and it isn't much fun. My sweetheart cries in pain nearly every night;
she can't imagine what it must be like to live to 90 in such agony.
The only good thing about it is that it makes sure that I'm there for
her all the time.
Good thing your Ma has a sonny boy like you!
Y'all be well; as they say in ancient Chinese, "zeit gezundt,"
JW
Dr_dudley
Thnaks kindly for taking the time to reply, and i apologise for the
tardiness of this response.
On Nov 8, 4:48 am, treadleson <treadl...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> At least you're not on the lam.
Don't be so sure of that, if only in the existential metaphoric sense.
There was that episode in Syracuse some time back, and even if the
Statue of Limits has expired, i'm not sure if it applies to my alleged
offence.
Perhaps you saw my picture in the Post-Standard, captioned "A man with
no alias".
As bob himself writ:
}
If you ever see me comin', and you know who I am,
don't you breathe it to nobody 'cause you know I'm on the lam
{
(is it just me, or is this song missing from bobdylan.com? Is it in
Lyrics? I'm pretty sure it was in this big huge "songbook" i have
around somewhere.)
> Defend yourself! Here is a vid of
> some people defending themselves:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NKrxGdRM8g&feature=related
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJxB3t5vKQ
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KyjaESlQ6U
>
Interesting efforts. I'm partial to Jack Teagarden, renowned kazooist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVObfmOSNGg
(rudimentary research indicates the earliest recording was from Guy
Lumbago & the Royal Canadians)
Great tho', that that Great State changed the motto on their license
plates to reflect that song title, reducing to smaller type the
previous "Segregation Forever!".
> And just to show my good will, I send you the most exquisite, nay--
> the greatest, song ever recorded. Greater even than "Do Not Forsake
> Me, Oh My Darlin" ":
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd_nopTFuZA
>
Yuh know, i had a Supervisor not long back who said "& NOOOooobody
likes the French".
I thought that was kind of chauvinistic, but it's this kind of
appropriation of American culture that sets some folk to that mind.
Imagine the gaul of them copping Walden Cassotto's pop hit and
claiming it as their own.
But that's neither hear nor they're; it's the "DNFM,OMD" reference
that's caught my eye.
That seems like a cross-thread to someplace where you guys were
discussing "High Noon".
Rudimentary research indicates the song was a hit for Frankie Laine,
but the film version was sung by Tex Ritter, best known for his cover
of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plK_eXfO06Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha_YXOb0hDg
>
She brings me everything and more, and just like I said
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my
bed.
You ever get my email?