william_miller

You could not have a Bob Dylan today. And it's not because his is a genius that could be left unmatched for many centuries or anything; it's merely because today's musical environment processes nothing long enough for him to actually have a chance to grow from what he was in '61 to what he was in '65. He wouldn't be able to play the places today where he played back then; he wouldn't have a fanbase or a support group the likes of that he had back in 1961. He wouldn't be able to crash places, steal records, and do the things he became famous for locally in NYC. Fandom would be lesser than you could think of; because the moment he would become popular with one group of people that wasn't in that initial crowd, some of that crowd would disperse and begin to badmouth him. It happens today; people get angry that one band or artist gets themselves a little bit more fame and they begin to spit on the breakthrough artist's jacket. Proof: The Von Bondies + The White Stripes. If people talked about Dylan as he was just starting out, if there was an internet back then, they would end up with someone going "there's better artists that nobody notices because everyone's shining their fucking light on this Bob Dylan kid. What a waste of media attention."

This would, of course, lead to artistic insecurity. Those of you in the world who have ever wondered why some bands refuse to change their sound (Blink 182): it's because the backlash at actually making a movement forward is quite a frighteninjg proposition. Some bands (Radiohead) don't care and simply plow through because they don't care about the fan response. However, more performers are more intimately in touch with their fanbases today, and to believe that the infamous codginess that Dylan has today is just a natural growth is kind of difficult. He spent 30 years of his life being told by everyone (between Blood On The Tracks and Time Out Of Mind) that his career was fading and he was over. That killed the good spirit he had about fans and the music industry. This codginess would probably set in immediately today. He would be told by an executive, "I don't hear a car commercial in this." Fans would make anti-Dylan sites because Joe And The Domes weren't getting enough attention from the media. He'd see that the moment "Blowin' In The Wind" reached radio, he'd be a sellout.

Dylan's first two breakthrough albums were albums 5 and 6 in his catalog. Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. The chances of him being able to get that far in his career today are slim to none. He'd have been kicked off the label after turning in three albums without ever breaking through. Even if he had the crazed support of his record label (as Columbia has been known to do with a band or artist they truly believe in), he wouldn't be able to build the steam that he should.

It's sad.