MetaChat - How many Bob Dylan fans are there out there really?

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01 October 2012

How many Bob Dylan fans are there out there really? I have been wondering lately in this modern day and age how many Bob Dylan fans still exist.→[More:]The bf (28) is more of a fan of the newer Dylan (uugh) and I (37) have had 60's Dylan on repeat for days now (have had the house to myself :) (We were both lucky...like so incredibly lucky that we felt like "we will tell our kids about this" to see him in concert when it was great and he actually played guitar.) We also both (him a lapsed Catholic, me a Jew) love the creepy Christmas album. So, are there any Bob Dylan fans left these days and if so, new or old Dylan?

post by: Twiggy at: 22:40 | 17 comments

I'm a huge fan of almost all Dylan: new, old, pretty much everything but the mid-eighties stuff. I just bought the new one and like it a lot.

posted by octothorpe 01 October | 22:47

octothorpe, do you like the Christian Dylan? Cause I have a huge soft spot for that stuff.

posted by Twiggy 01 October | 23:12

I listen to old Dylan through Before The Flood occasionally. I don't know much of what he has done since. I had that live album Hard Rain that I listened to a lot in the late 70s, but I switched to cassettes in 1980 and never got around to replacing it. I see Spotify has it. I am putting it on as soon as I post this.

posted by Ardiril 01 October | 23:28

Oooh, I am listening to Hard Rain on Spotify right now, Maggie's Farm is way different.

posted by Twiggy 01 October | 23:53

How do you define 'fan?' Bob Dylan wrote some of the greatest songs of the century. He's an icon, he'll last a long time. I don't line up for tickets to see him or read about him much or anything, but I do learn and play and listen to his songs. I suppose I'm everything up to Blood on the Tracks kind of fan. My SIL and her father are actual fans, though, who run out to buy every new album and parse it endlessly. And I can see there's a difference. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but an appreciator.

posted by Miko 01 October | 23:55

Appreciator sounds about right. I love most of his early songs and listen occasionally to him sing them and listen to others sing them. But anything early 80s or later I haven't twigged to. As for going to see him I had a chance to see him and his son perform at a private party in 2000. I passed on it and went dancing with friends instead.

posted by arse_hat 02 October | 00:02

Hard Rain has an edge to it that the traditional fans can't seem to get over.

posted by Ardiril 02 October | 00:28

Yeah, more of an appreciator here, too. Early stuff only, as far as I can tell, given that I pretty much stopped listening to new music about a couple of decades or so ago. When I'm in the mood for it, though - some of those songs send a shiver up my spine. Not completely sure whether it's entirely the music or some mis-remembered 'better days' and my mind wishing I could go back to 16 and start again.

posted by dg 02 October | 03:55

Up through Desire and Blood on the Tracks. Since then, I don't know much of his stuff and apparently do not have enough interest to listen hard to it.

posted by danf 02 October | 09:29

Fan here. Old stuff, new stuff. I've seen him in concert five time or so. "Blood on the Tracks" is the best breakup album ever.

posted by ColdChef 02 October | 09:41

I pretty much stopped listening to new music about a couple of decades or so ago.

Yeah, this too. Once my son was born, my life changed completely and anything requiring a time investment, particularly music, took a big hit.

posted by Ardiril 02 October | 10:09

"Blood on the Tracks" is the best breakup album ever.

Better than the Thompsons' "Shoot out the Lights"?

posted by octothorpe 02 October | 10:40

I went through a period of not listening to new music but ever since I got a smart phone with access to Amazon Music, I've been buying a lot of new albums. Dylan is one of the few "classic rock" artists who's old stuff I can still stand to listen to these days.

posted by octothorpe 02 October | 10:44

Giant fan here, though I'll cop to not being as familiar with his more recent stuff, like you know, the last 20 years or so...

Blood on the Tracks - the new york sessions, is one of greatest bootlegs the internet ever gave me.

Also, fwiw, I LOVE Bob singing his own songs. I know I've said so many times here, but he's one of my favourite singers. Honestly.

posted by richat 02 October | 13:34

I have to say I just don't get Bob Dylan. I don't hate his music necessarily: I do like the songs he does where he actually carries a tune (Lay Lady Lay(ancient), Most of the Time (newish). Everything else has been played to death by radio, & I never really found his lyrics or what people call his protest songs all that protesty or profound.

Maybe I'm wearing the wrong glasses.

posted by chewatadistance 02 October | 16:55

I can't stand Bob Dylan. Worst. Singer. Ever. Yeah, and I include Steve Earle in that category. Also vastly overrated as a songwriter, although there are a few good songs in there.

posted by Senyar 03 October | 08:42

Wow. Senyar and chewie are just PLAIN WRONG.

heh heh.

posted by richat 03 October | 12:22

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