Countdown to Bob Dylan's Birthday: Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen

I found an interesting article, written many years ago, comparing and contrasting the works of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. The essay in reference is titled "Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan: Poetry and the Popular Song" by Frank Davey:

"Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen represent two highly contrasting directions from which the attempt to restore significance and integrity of vision to the popular song can be made. Bob Dylan is the child runaway who became a professional songwriter by deliberate hard work, and whose emergence as a poet of some talent seems to have been accidental, almost as if he had unconsciously realized that good songs have to contain reasonably good lyric poetry. Leonard Cohen is a university-educated formalistic poet who has moved in an opposite direction with his recent discovery that a good lyric poem could equally be a good song. Dylan brings to poetry a spontaneity of rhythm and a resourcefulness in imagery that had long been qualities of American folk music, as in that of Huddie Ledbetter or of Dylan's own idol, Woodie Guthrie. Cohen takes to the poem as popular song a scholarly precision of language and an obsession for extemal form." Read the entire article here.

Countdown to Bob Dylan's Birthday: Dylan at Newport

The New York Post published a brief article by Larry Getlen, "Bob's rock 'n' roll riot," about a film which documents Dylan's break with the acoustic folk music scene:

“By 1964, Bob Dylan was so revered at the Newport Folk Festival that he freely walked the festival grounds with his girlfriend, Joan Baez, while randomly cracking a bullwhip. One year later, the festival whipped him back.”  Read the entire article here.



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Heads Up: Dylan Turns 70 This Month

Bob Dylan will turn 70 on May 24th. eHow has the following suggestions found at http://www.ehow.com/how_13461_celebrate-bob-dylans.html

How to Celebrate Bob Dylan’s Birthday

(Things you’ll need: harmonicas, CD players, VCRs, Bob Dylan CDs, Bob Dylan videos)

     
        1.  Write a private birthday card addressed to Robert Zimmerman, Bob Dylan's original birth name.

2.    Play a little harmonica in tribute to the man who made a name with this unique instrument.

3.    Break out your CD collection and play Bob's first hit original album from beginning to end. "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" was released in 1963 and was his first step on the path to international fame.

4.    Bust out your dusty tambourine and make some noise in celebration of one of Mr. Dylan's most famous ditties, "Mr. Tambourine Man."

5.    Rent the films, "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Don't Look Back" and "The Last Waltz," Bob's claims to fame on the movie circuit.

6.    Do something that makes you feel free. Bob Dylan is known for his timely, poetic lyrics and his ability to speak to our need for freedom.

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(Look for more Dylan entries between now at May 24.)



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