Posted on 04/29/2022 1:34:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Frank Zappa was not a man who had many heroes. He was wary of the ways of the world and had the wherewithal to view his peers for what they were rather than celebrating them like idols and sinking into the past of their output. Zappa was all about pioneering the future and he felt hero-worship was a hurdle that got in the way of that.
Nevertheless, he was only human, and some tracks seem so heaven-sent that it would be a sin not to revere the ground that their sound resides over. This is the case with the defining American rock ‘n’ roll anthem of ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan.
In the song, Dylan crucifies the crux of counterculture’s exposed achilleas heal—and he does it with such disdain that the world would never truly be the same when his cutting intellect, stirring poetry and the brilliance of the soaring melody all mingled into one pop culture opus.
Bob Dylan’s rage: Exploring 10 of his most cutting, nasty, caustic lyrics Read More
Zappa’s appraisal of the track is pretty much that. “When I heard ‘Like a Rolling Stone’,” Zappa told the writer Clinton Heylin, “I wanted to quit the music business.” That is quite a statement considering that when it was released in July 1965 Zappa was yet to release an official studio album and he would go on to unleash 62 of his own.
He continued: “I felt [that] if this wins and it does what it’s supposed to do, I don’t need to do anything else.” The song heralded the same sort of iconoclasm and societal incision that Zappa would champion throughout his career, but much like the moustachioed guitar God, Dylan’s anthem is actually more cult than you might think.
While the track is revered as a masterpiece and is rightfully recognised as one of it not the greatest song of all time, it somehow only wound up only reaching 41 on the US Billboard end of year charts. As Zappa wearily continued, “But it didn’t do anything. It sold but nobody responded to it in the way that they should have.”
While the brilliance of the anthem might not have been fully reflected in its reception, it has a legacy as rich as any that proves befitting of the masterpiece itself. Commercially it might not have accrued great masses and the revolution hidden in the welter of the words might not have fully materialised, but as Paul McCartney once said, with the song “he showed all of us that it was possible to go a little further.”
In truth, there is an unrelated quote from another iconoclast named Serge Gainsbourg that helps to define the legacy of the grisly, thistle-grabbing anthem. “Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty,” he once said, “because it lasts.” ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is still yet to gather any moss as it blazes a trail of just what rock ‘n’ roll music can be, and with that timeless intent in mind, Dylan went electric, embraced charged particles, and changed the world for a second time in a matter of years… Thankfully, it didn’t sell so many copies that Zappa hung up his hat before we had even seen it.
Huh?
A four and a half-minute lead break with a horn section that was not particularly notable IMO?
How is that “heaven sent”?
Not sure, probably. Is that sears pancho or a mexican pancho? So Many good good phrases from these two greats. Very surprising some here dont get it. But that is art.
I miss Frank.
L
Hard to get someone who's trying to be anyone else other than himself.
Amen!
Others offer up this version:
Following her estrangement from Warhol's inner circle, Sedgwick began living at the Chelsea Hotel, where she became close to Bob Dylan. Dylan and his friends eventually convinced Sedgwick to sign up with Albert Grossman, Dylan's manager. According to Paul Morrissey, Sedgwick had developed a crush on Dylan that she thought he reciprocated. She was also under the impression that she and Dylan would star in a mainstream film together. Unbeknownst to Sedgwick, Dylan had secretly married his girlfriend Sara Lownds in November 1965. Morrissey claimed that Sedgwick was informed of the marriage by Warhol (who reportedly heard about it through his lawyer) in February 1966. Friends of Sedgwick's later said that she saw the supposed offer of doing a film with Dylan as a ticket to a mainstream film career. Paul Morrissey claimed that Dylan likely never had plans to star in a film with Sedgwick, and Dylan "hadn't been very truthful.
Wow!
Could almost hear Dylan’s voice as I read your quotes from that song.
Thank you!
Hear hear!
That's what I thought. The story has to be about Edie Sedgwick.
“Blood On The Tracks” is my favorite Dylan album. Though there is much to appreciate in all his output.
Very interesting. Thanks for that.
I had never heard of Bob Dylan until 1966. He wasn’t played on our local Top 4o stations KRLA, KFWB or Boss Radio 93 KHJ in 1964-1965 although some of his songs such as “Blowing in the Wind” and Mr. “Tambourine Man” done by other artists got plenty of airplay.
Dylan himself apparently made the Top 40 playlists in the latter part of 1965. At the time, I was in Germany, where the only American station we could get, AFN (Armed Forces Network) Frankfurt played mostly Adult Contemporary tunes as well some programs featuring Hawaiian music, polkas and Oldies. But his records did show up on the juke boxes in our local cafeteria and snack bar. Not having heard his name spoken, I thought it was pronounced “die-lan.”
Big time Musicians are pretty bad people for the most part. They tickle your ears but fry your soul. Fortunately they tend to die young so they hurt fewer people.
She also did not die homeless. She was married and died of an overdose at age 28.
Thanks; very interesting. I still think it’s a crap song.
Yuck! Horrible writing. Even worse spelling—i.e. Achilles' heel.
Easily the most hateful song ever aimed an an individual women... Then again, Bob Dylan was never unfaithful in any of his relationships, so who am I to judge?
Seems high art often deals with the unpleasant/depraved parts of being human.... this song qualifies.
Hint: He is not a liberal.
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Neither was Zappa.
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