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Marqusee argues that in spite of himself Dylan did make the world a better place with his music. Early on Dylan seemed to be torn between emulating Little Richard, on the one hand, and Woody Guthrie, on the other. He reconciled that dilemma by achieving a synthesis. The interesting part is the reaction he got from the hard-core folkies. The level of hostility directed toward him was simply beyond belief. When he took the Band on his electric tour, he would start with an acoustic set, playing from his early protest repertoire, and in the second set the Band would come on stage and plug in for the electric part of the show. But even that was not enough for the hardcore folk fans addicted to "form". In this clip from "No Direction Home", a fan calls him Judas from the audience. You can see Dylan's reaction. He then turns to the Band and tells them to "play it fucking loud". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGPhzWWgco In another scene from the same film, his coterie discusses what to do in response to a death threat. Both Dylan and the Beatles were receiving a multitude of death threats. Dylan had set up residence with his wife Sara and her child in Woodstock. When Dylan caught word of the festival which was to be organized just down the road, he lit out for the Isle of Wight because he was concerned about people wandering around on his property. Any crazed and disillusioned folkie with a gun could do him harm. Look what happened to Lennon. So much for music "making the world a better place". What does one do with a Judas after all? You murder him. Music seemed to be bringing the worst out in people, not the best. Here he is at the Isle of Wight. He was relaxed and in good spirits. The Beatles were in the audience. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but Altamont was just around the corner. http://www.jambase.com/article/watch-rare-footage-bob-dylan-band-isle-wight-1969 In "The Last Waltz", Robbie Robertson was asked why the Band decided to call it a day. Look, he said, we've been on the road for 16 years. Three members of our group are already junkies. The new wave of artists seemed to be more interested in breaking things up, but we were not really interested in all that so we began to destroy ourselves instead. In an earlier interview with the press after going electric, a reporter asks Dylan if his new interest in rock music meant he was selling out, and if so, what was his choice for achieving fame and fortune. Dylan responded, "ladies garments". One of the first commercials in which he allowed one of his songs to be used was an ad for Victoria's Secret, about a million years later. Greg _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
