Dylan at the Bangladesh concert 71

After the Beatles broke up, George Harrison's first big move was to put on a concert to raise money for Banglaesh relief (after one of the many floods in that country had ruined the land and killed tens of thousands, maybe more). So he recruited his best buds to play and here's a photo of BD during the concert. The album is still available.

Dylan at Woodstock 69

four years after making his electronic debut at Newport, at Woodstock.

Dylan when he first arrived in New York 1961

the mischevious cherub

Dylan's religious conversion

HERE'S a series of articles on the spiritual journey of BD from the 60s through the 90s (you have to type in "Bob Dylan" in the search functiion). It's interesting to look at the Dylan career from a spiritual perspective, since I started this blog by saying that Dylan is in the prophetic tradition. Another point of interest is the role of his publicist. In the "1970s" article, you can see how this person works hard to "craft" the image of Dylan at a time when many people were very critical of him for the religious work he was producing and his refusal to play earlier songs.

celebritizing Dylan

Here's the place where Dylan is just another celeb (click here). This is either the ultimate in trivialization or, in Gamson's way of thinking, the ultimate in democratizing the famous. Yes, we all list the people we've dated just like Dylan (even if his list is more famous). Does it all make you feel closer to the great man? Hey, here's a good site to find dish for your celeb!!

the real thing

here

is the link for the previous post.

celebrity life for an icon?

This article gives a really good flavor of what it means to be a fan who encounters the object of their adoration. It's also a very good appreciation of Dylan's biography. Dylan is an interesting case of someone who has always rejected the idea of being a "celebrity". He has an agent but primarily for booking tours and negotiating record deals. As far as I know (and I'm still searching) he has no "celebrity team", no publicist, no PR people. So can you be a celebrity if you never act like one and reject the label? What would it mean to "not act like a celebrity?" Is this an oxymoron? Isn't acting "not like a celebrity" acting like a celebrity? Comments gratefully received.