When Dylan performed in Hawaii in the 90’s, the University crowd hung over all sides of the encircled concert area in the open air. The music made memories of the 1960’s, fused with some of the modern sounds Dylan can also play, as the crossover folk, country, blues, pop and all folks appreciate. Entertainment reporters, like Ed Masley of the
Arizona Republic, maintain he can still do that.
Masley quotes Douglas Brinkley as saying about Dylan, “He's probably been our most consistently great recording artist over the last 50 years in America. And I think the last few albums are just masterpieces, particularly
'Modern Times, which seems to me to be almost flawless." In May this year, his new album,
Together Through Life, was No. 1 on Billboard's album chart.
These days, like some of the old time folk musicians like Buffy Sainte Marie and Joan Baez, the latter once a lover, Dylan’s concert
schedule is full. Also like other major performers Dylan has his own news page, so he’s current every day. In world of 24/7 news it seems everyone has to be on the news at all times to get a show heard or a story told. Dylan does that well, in other words he keeps
busy enough to be news.
Dylan was reviewed also by Ed Hurtt of the Phoenix New Times who wrote about one of Dylan's songs talking about being unable to even get a drink in his wife’s hometown. This, the reviewer considers, reflects on Dylan’s ability to capture being just another guy. The reviewer intimates Dylan may sometimes be ponderous at times, but the latest album in total continues to bring the same magic that made Dylan a standout as the
troubadour of the 1960’s, the almost-heir to Woody Guthrie, with plain clothes and simple singing.
Dylan, age 68 like Buffy Sainte Marie and Joan Baez, set the country ablaze with music that were anthems of a generation. He no longer sings the songs of protest, but the everyday woes of everyman in
Together through Time. Indeed he feels the changes coming on expressed by others of his generation. His three top tunes still played include
Like a Rolling Stone,
the Times They Are A-Changin’,
Blowin’ in the Wind and
Mr. Tambourine Man.
Bob Dylan and his band will be touring the Western United States in October, covering Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Berkeley with other cities to be announced. Ticket pre-sales started Monday.
I’ll be there in October in Portland, taking a front seat with other fans, listening to Bob Dylan once more bringing the music of generations past as he sings about the present in his famous troubadour style.