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Is Bob Dylan a folk singer?
Results so far:
| Yes | 71% | 533 votes | Total: 756 votes | |
| No | 29% | 223 votes |
Yes
by Paul Schingle
Created on: December 05, 2009
Having debated this among friends, it would be easy to write for either side. I understand anyone who wrote for the no side of this argument. With one word added to the title, I would have. If the title were worded, "Is Bob Dylan exclusively a folk singer?" the answer would be an obvious no. Simply worded the way it is, I'd have to say the answer is, "Of course." I suppose the term "folk singer" can mean a lot of different things. And, depending on interpretation, one could answer this question about Dylan (and almost any other singer/songwriter) for either side of the debate.
If a person composes and sings his own material, could he ever be considered a true "folk singer?" That could present a valid argument on the no side of this debate. In the strictest sense, a "folk song" is a song handed down from generation to generation in the oral tradition. Most true folk songs were "written" by unknown authors-scores, even hundreds of years ago. But, even if this was your argument against Dylan's being a folk singer-it doesn't hold up. Look at some of Dylan's early work. He did hundred or more year old songs like "Peggy-O" and "House of the Rising Sun." In his book he talked about performing at the clubs in Greenwich Village and doing songs such as "Matty Groves." Every one of these songs is a "traditional" or a song in the "public domain." This is the very definition of folk music. Dylan is, unfortunately to some, guilty of singing folk songs.
Now, taking the question the way I re-worded it, it's a whole different ball of wax. Probably since about 1964-65, or so, Bob Dylan has almost exclusively written his own material. The stuff he writes varies from the folky to some pretty hard rocking stuff to country to gospel to blues, ad infinitum. Bob Dylan may be one of the greatest poets and songwriters of his, or even the next, generation. He can do it all. He writes, plays guitar and keyboards (though I understand, lately, he has more or less quit playing guitar-at least in concert) and sings-albeit, not very well. More than anything, Bob Dylan is an eclectic singer-a renaissance man, if you will.
If the original question had been worded slightly differently, I could understand writing for the other side. But, looking at the question worded exactly the way it is, "Is Bob Dylan a folk singer?" there is only one way to answer. Since, at least historically, Bob Dylan has sung folk songs, by definition, Bob Dylan is a folk singer.
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No
by Kim Remesch
Created on: February 03, 2009 Last Updated: February 27, 2009
The person at the top of the list stating that Bob Dylan is NOT a folk singer would be Dylan himself. Anyone who classifies Bob Dylan as a folk singer is clearly not a fan of Bob Dylan. The very thing that came out of his music, that time, is that labels are damning and restrictive.
The last time I saw Dylan (of the dozen or more times I've seen him), he came out in Johnny Cash black attire and lit into set after set. I watched the faces on the crowd in the Atlantic City room. Rick Nelson's Garden Party echoed in my head. As I looked at the faces of the people, I heard Nelson's words: "They didn't hear the music. We didn't look the same."
During that concert, Bob was on a country binge...not Wilbury, not renegade, not railing, just some pure country. Seriously not my cup of tea, but as a fan of Dylan, I loved it. He can pull it all off. The only other artist who falls into that genre is Paul Simon. By the end of the night, Dylan had played two songs, one of them "I Shall Be Released" which I'm positive no one recognized.
My first Dylan concert came after years of reading his writings and hearing what the outside world deems as folk music. He was surrounded by what I call "do whop" girls or his version of Ray Charles' Rayettes. He was going through is Born-again-Bob phase.
That is the beauty of the body of music that belongs to Dylan. It transcends genres. He uses his music to speak to stages in his life. He's no different than the rest of us-except that he has this wonderful talent for putting into words what so many of us are thinking as we go through those changes in our lives.
Folk music is certainly a facet, a huge facet. People were annoyed during his 60 Minutes interview in which Ed Bradley asked him if he would be capable of writing Blowin' in the Wind Again. He said he really didn't think so. People were devatstated. Why? They called him the voice of a generation. Again, that's a label WE gave him, not one he wears well. And from a personal standpoint, I think of him as the voice of a generation-or at least me-the ever-changing me. As I've gone through stages my life, I've found a Dylan song to correspond. As a teen, Masters of War fit, as did Positively Fourth Street. During the Born-again Bob stage, I was in my 20s, and I had lots of question. Gotta Serve Somebody fit the bill. Now I'm coming back to a classic as I'm approaching 50-"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." Dylan fan, folk fan, whatever, I know a lot of people my age who relate to this sentiment.
He's a man of music. Good music. You can't/shouldn't label music. You either like it or you don't. You don't need to call it something. That's for the money makers who produce the music, not the artists who create it.
All that said, there is one thing Bob Dylan is that he has never been recognized for: a poet. When the Nobel committee convenes, Dylan's name comes up again and again. Still, they stay what he does are lyrics, so don't qualify. I would argue that the words Bob Dylan has written had moved more people than the poets given the Nobel prize. So, folk singer, no, poet/writer extroidinaire, yes.
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