FOLK LIES: Joni Mitchell Outs Bob Dylan

Big Hollywood ^ | April 28, 2010 | Jonny Whiteside

[EveningStar]

“Bob [Dylan] is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I.” — Joni Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2010 

Caterwauling Canuck “folk singer” Joni Mitchell got just about everybody riled up with that sweet morsel of self-serving insight, but the real shock is not that Mitchell is absolutely correct but that someone finally came out and said it. After decades of carefully manicured deification by Columbia Records, brain-dead rock critics and the slimy elite institution that elevated such barely able snake-oil salesmen as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger to celestial heights, it’s high time to flout indoctrination and examine Dylan’s track record as a Grade-A phony. 

[dmz]

Dylan listened to lots of old 78s of rural groups to come up with his sound.
He admits it.

All honest musicians admit they borrow from what came before.

The dishonest ones pretend like their music was immaculately conceived.

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Well and truly stated.

[bboop]

EPB, I totally agree. You can find ‘lifting’ all through classical music. There are only 12 notes, really, to work with. And each human’s fingerprints add something distinct (good and bad).

The bitterness underlying this article makes me wonder about its source.

[ETL]

"his name and voice are fake. "

Ha, I knew it! How could such an awful "voice" be for real!

[Elle Bee]

if Dylan had only recorded Blood on the Tracks he would still be an icon ... he continued to change throughout his formidable body of work

.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Must be a slow news day.

[ColdWater]

There are only 12 notes, really, to work with.

But infinite variations in tone and timbre.

[allmendream]

So a bunch of songs that Dylan sings or has sung that nobody has ever really heard of might be too similar to other recorded music.

Whatever.

The guy is a great songwriter and a lousy performer.

And he hasn't written a decent song for decades.

You may as well go after Led Zeppelin as “phonies” because they covered or “re” arranged - “You Shook Me”, “You Need Love” (sung as “Whole Lotta Love”), “Killing Floor” (sung as “The Lemon Song”), “Bring it on Home”, “Shake em on Down (sung as “Hat's off to Roy Harper”), “I Can't Quit You Baby”, and “Traveling Riverside Blues” from Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and Robert Johnson.

Whatever.

[evets]

She looks pretty good for 70...

It's a Joni Mitchell concert, sans Joni (interview with Joni and a male Joni Mitchell impersonator)

[AngelesCrestHighway]

When old hippies go bad......

[RobRoy]

Well, I’m 56 and a musician as my main hobby. I’ve never understood why people liked Dylan. But, art is subjective so I just figured there were hooks in his persona and musical style that they liked that I didn’t.

Heck, some people like rap. ;)

[4yearlurker]

“All musicians are magpies & thieves.”-Elvis Costello.

[PowderMonkey]

No kidding! Who pee’d in Whiteside’s wheaties that morning?

[GOPJ]

Dylan listened to lots of old 78s of rural groups to come up with his sound. He admits it. All honest musicians admit they borrow from what came before. The dishonest ones pretend like their music was immaculately conceived.

We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us... does Joni think everyone needs to invent the wheel to be authentic? She made the same accusation against Leonard Cohen years ago - seems he used ideas out of the Bible...

[safeasthebanks]

Yeah, “neighborhood bully” really made the lefties’ heads explode! Great song, though.

[Sivad]

My opinion prior to this read:

Bob Dylan is terrible.
Joni Mitchell is terrible.

My opinion after this read:

Bob Dylan is terrible and is likely a phony.
Joni Mitchell is terrible and possibly a phony.

And now, back to my life........

[Mr. Blonde]

And he hasn't written a decent song for decades.

I feel pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but have you listened to Time Out of Mind (1997), Love & Theft (2001) or Modern Times (2005) which are all uniformly excellent? Or Together Through Life (2009) which while not as strong as his other recent albums still has some very good songs on it. Even his most recent volume of the Bootleg Series has a few previously unreleased songs that are excellent in addition to the alternate takes most presented.

[RobRoy]

>>Dylan listened to lots of old 78s of rural groups to come up with his sound.

He admits it.

All honest musicians admit they borrow from what came before.

The dishonest ones pretend like their music was immaculately conceived.<<

I think that nails it.

I got an A+ for a ceramic piece I created in the 7th grade. The piece was on display in the schools trophy cabinet and the whole thing. I told the teacher that I felt like a fraud because I ripped off something I saw in a magazine. I showed him the picture and he laughed. He said I didn’t copy or rip off the other piece. He said it “inspired” my own creativity. He explained to me the concept of art, like technology, building on inspiration from the works of those that came before us.

It’s why I remember it so well.

[major-pelham]

He’s pretty good - who cares if he copied styles from folks we never heard of ? Isn’t all music 2.0 of what’s come from before?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdtU0o1O_0o

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

[Mr. Blonde]

Probably just looking to drive traffic and attacking someone a lot of people like is a good way to do it. Much easier than actually saying something enlightening.

[kbennkc]

Maybe Zimmerman will beat Joni , like he did Joan .