March Music Madness: Bob Marley vs. Bob Dylan

[mad rhetorik]

I'm backing Jay all the way on this one. Dylan is one of my favorite artists so I'm biased on this, but people who dismiss him just because they don't like his singing pitch are short-sighted to say the least. He's an amazingly influential and original songwriter that reinvented popular music (by being one of the first performers to write his own music); has dabbled in just about every genre short of heavy metal, punk, and rap; has a boatload of classic albums; has played and collaborated with many other important artists (Johnny Cash and Al Kooper, just to name two); his level of poetry within the music world is second to none; is a fairly skilled multi-instrumentalist (not the best, but then again he doesn't have to be); pretty much started the entire singer/songwriter genre from scratch; was the first major folk artist to go electric, etc. etc. etc. I won't disparage or debate the great influence that Bob Marley has had on the music world; however, he just can't stand in the same company as Dylan.

Those who dislike Dylan for his history as a protest songwriter fail to note that was only for a short period in his career, and like Jay noted he rarely recorded anything political after 1965. And besides, wasn't Marley a protest songwriter too? I can name a few Marley-penned songs that are quite openly so, or had an implied political base.

And then you have the "issue" of Bob's voice. As Jay pointed out, he is emulating the style of older folk artists to a degree, and when he wants to he can actually sing quite well. I cite most of Nashville Skyline and Blood On The Tracks for examples. All that aside, I like his voice. It's unique, and its lack of polish is part of its charm. Same with Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, but I hardly ever hear anybody bi-ching about how their voices sound.

Yes Bob can be a pretentious git sometimes--I watched his recent movie Masked And Anonymous, a movie he scripted himself, and the level of self-indulgence is almost painful. But given his storied history and his general insistence on staying out of the media spotlight, I guess he's entitled to a little pretension once and a while. It's not like he's Eddie Vedder or anything, for chrissakes.

And on a final irrelevant note, I like Dylan for two other reasons: 1) He hails from Woodstock, NY (not exactly local for me, but close) and 2) He comes up with the coolest damn song titles. "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream," "Obviously Five Believers," "Visions Of Johanna," "Tombstone Blues," "I Shall Be Free No. 5," "All Along The Watchtower," "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding," "Queen Jane Approximately," "From A Buick 6"....I could go on and on...

[Worf101]

I'm old enough to have some perspective here... In the 60's some young Freedom Riders went south with some of Dylan's lyrics on their lips... for the times they were a changin....

In the 70's and 80's... I was part of the anit-apartheid movement here in the States... soldiers all over Africa fought colonialism with Marley's words on their lips... for it was time to "get up, stand up"...

To choose between the two is to ask one to choose between air or water... you need both to live... As for me... I'd choose Marley... why? Cause it has a catchy beat and I can dance to it... no just jokin (extra points if you catch the reference)... I choose Marley because while Dylan rocked a generation... Marley shook the world... he was truly a Prophet of our times...

Da Worfster

[dph1965]

how could it not be? Can't vote in this one. To tough a choice. This poll almost tainted by the fact that Dylan still living and able to perform.
8 to 10 years ago, I think I would have voted for Marley, by a slight margin though. His live "No Woman No Cry" has always been near the top of my list as one of the most passion felt songs. But lately, Dylan's voice has actually been stronger, his live performances "loose" and he seems to really be having a good time performing (not that he never did). It's hard to deny the influence of either - and of the top of my head, I would be willing to bet Marley covered more of Dylan's songs at some point than the other way around. Songwriting - Dylan
Passion in Performance - Marley And the tiebreaker Better Artist -
BOB......

[dph1965]

if it's a tie - Worf's response says it all......

[Worf101]

if it's a tie - Worf's response says it all......

Thanks for the love...

Da Worfster