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That MusiCares speech is a great read if you have 30 minutes to spare. A few favorite bits: On Dylan's immersion in classic folk: >If you sang "John Henry" a

That MusiCares speech is a great read if you have 30 minutes to spare. A few favorite bits: On Dylan's immersion in classic folk: >If you sang "John Henry" as many times as me – "John Henry was a steel-driving man / Died with a hammer in his hand / John Henry said a man ain't nothin' but a man / Before I let that steam drill drive me down / I'll die with that hammer in my hand." If you had sung that song as many times as I did, you'd have written "How many roads must a man walk down?" too. On what's often missing from rock & roll: >The other half of rock & roll has got to be hillbilly. And that's a derogatory term, but it ought not to be. That's a term that includes the Delmore Bros., Stanley Bros., Roscoe Holcomb, Git Tanner and the Skillet Lickers... groups like that. Moonshine gone berserk. Fast cars on dirt roads. That's the kind of combination that makes up rock & roll, and it can't be cooked up in a science laboratory or a studio.

duaneb 10y ago
>The other half of rock & roll has got to be hillbilly. And that's a derogatory term, but it ought not to be. That's a term that includes the Delmore Bros., Stanley Bros., Roscoe Holcomb, Git Tanner and the Skillet Lickers... groups like that. Moonshine gone berserk. Fast cars on dirt roads. That's the kind of combination that makes up rock & roll, and it can't be cooked up in a science laboratory or a studio. Considering that most of the rock & roll I listen to comes from Britain, I have no idea what he considers rock & roll to be. It's certainly not american folk music.
- geebee 10y ago
  I'd encourage you to investigate the link between Clapton and American folk music. I could post links, but I'd just be doing what I'm encouraging you to do - research this a bit.
  - duaneb 10y ago
    I mean I realize the link—assuming you're calling american blues "folk", that is—but it's just that, a link, not an identity. Clapton certainly sounds unique. I'm more interested in the fact that he thinks rock & roll is actually a discrete genre rather than a band format. I'm also not a huge fan of Clapton sans Cream OR the Stones, so maybe I just don't like american flavored rock & roll. It didn't really click for me until Iggy Pop showed up. It didn't feel right to be caught halfway between him and Woody Guthrie—both ends make sense, but the middle sounds terrible to me.
    - abakker 10y ago
      I'd love to highlight Lynyrd Skynyrd as a prime example of American Rock. I think the link in their music is much clearer.
- anamoulous 10y ago
  Do you like Wilco?
  - duaneb 10y ago
    I can't say I'm a huge fan; I prefer the, erm, Iron & Wine style of soft crooning.
- pjmorris 10y ago
  Keith Richards and his school buddy, Mick Jagger, bonded by nerding out over American folk music ('Life' is a fun read), including both rhythm and blues and the kind of hillbilly stuff Dylan refers to. So did Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It's kind of amazing how rock and roll became so much greater when it was exported and imported.
  - duaneb 10y ago
    > So did Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Do you hear this in any of their work? I only hear it in "Rocky Racoon", which is one of my least favorite beatles songs as a result. I can't say I'm a fan of Stones-style rock and roll. I'd prefer Led Zeppelin; much less caterwauling and more music.
    - geebee 10y ago
      "What goes on", from the British release of Rubber Soul, is pretty country sounding. I like the song, but it certainly isn't one of their more famous, though.
      - duaneb 10y ago
        That is a great song.
    - abakker 10y ago
      Well, you hear it in Led Zeppelin, too. While the members were heavily influenced by the blues artists of the time, songs like "gallows pole" and "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and "Hey hey what can I do?" show that influence. They also have a variety of songs heavily influenced by the Rockabilly genre, which also has a folk-roots influence. "Hot Dog", "boogie with stu", and "Candy Store Rock" all count in that regard. Rock and Roll has key influence from both the folk traditions, and the blues ones. And in many ways, baroque and early music which influenced bluegrass.
    - throwawayrocker 10y ago
      The same Led Zeppelin that borrowed all those American blues and country riffs throughout their career? If you educate yourself on American music from the 20s-50s you'll realize the true extent of the influence on the British music of the 60s and 70s. It's a lot more than Rocky Raccoon but if you're ignorant of country music you're not going to hear the guitar licks, drum patterns and vocal inflections that show up in many of the recordings by the Beatles. There's no shortage of literature on these influences so how about we just leave any additional education on the matter to personal study, eh?
hackuser 10y ago
The MusicCares speech is great; thanks. An interesting excerpt: I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs. And I played them, and I met other people that played them, back when nobody was doing it. Sang nothing but these folk songs, and they gave me the code for everything that's fair game, that everything belongs to everyone. Does Dylan allow bootlegging? Are his songs libre? Does he limit their use or charge royalties? Can I sample one without his permission? EDIT: The very last line of the speech, as printed: Copyright 2015 Bob Dylan
- the_gipsy 10y ago
  The labels that distribute his works control that.
- dev360 10y ago
  I think hes talking mostly about the folk song tradition. If you look in both blues/folk there are a lot of songs that are very similar, with almost interchangeable lyrics by many different artists. The song Little Sadie is one example - its been known under a variety of names, with variations of lyrics. All the John Henry songs - they have been sung by blues and country players alike for almost a century.
  - hackuser 10y ago
    > I think hes talking mostly about the folk song tradition. He says he's part of that tradition, and at length talks about how he benefited from it. Does he give back?
    - dev360 10y ago
      Yes, he goes into length explaining how he created his own versions of Ballad of John Henry and "Key to the highway". You are missing the point. "Hey Joe" is thought to be inspired by Little Sadie. Its not about ripping off, its about telling the same story in a different way - story telling.
      - 10y ago

duaneb 10y ago

>The other half of rock & roll has got to be hillbilly. And that's a derogatory term, but it ought not to be. That's a term that includes the Delmore Bros., Stanley Bros., Roscoe Holcomb, Git Tanner and the Skillet Lickers... groups like that. Moonshine gone berserk. Fast cars on dirt roads. That's the kind of combination that makes up rock & roll, and it can't be cooked up in a science laboratory or a studio. Considering that most of the rock & roll I listen to comes from Britain, I have no idea what he considers rock & roll to be. It's certainly not american folk music.

geebee 10y ago
I'd encourage you to investigate the link between Clapton and American folk music. I could post links, but I'd just be doing what I'm encouraging you to do - research this a bit.
- duaneb 10y ago
  I mean I realize the link—assuming you're calling american blues "folk", that is—but it's just that, a link, not an identity. Clapton certainly sounds unique. I'm more interested in the fact that he thinks rock & roll is actually a discrete genre rather than a band format. I'm also not a huge fan of Clapton sans Cream OR the Stones, so maybe I just don't like american flavored rock & roll. It didn't really click for me until Iggy Pop showed up. It didn't feel right to be caught halfway between him and Woody Guthrie—both ends make sense, but the middle sounds terrible to me.
  - abakker 10y ago
    I'd love to highlight Lynyrd Skynyrd as a prime example of American Rock. I think the link in their music is much clearer.
anamoulous 10y ago
Do you like Wilco?
- duaneb 10y ago
  I can't say I'm a huge fan; I prefer the, erm, Iron & Wine style of soft crooning.
pjmorris 10y ago
Keith Richards and his school buddy, Mick Jagger, bonded by nerding out over American folk music ('Life' is a fun read), including both rhythm and blues and the kind of hillbilly stuff Dylan refers to. So did Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It's kind of amazing how rock and roll became so much greater when it was exported and imported.
- duaneb 10y ago
  > So did Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Do you hear this in any of their work? I only hear it in "Rocky Racoon", which is one of my least favorite beatles songs as a result. I can't say I'm a fan of Stones-style rock and roll. I'd prefer Led Zeppelin; much less caterwauling and more music.
  - geebee 10y ago
    "What goes on", from the British release of Rubber Soul, is pretty country sounding. I like the song, but it certainly isn't one of their more famous, though.
    - duaneb 10y ago
      That is a great song.
  - abakker 10y ago
    Well, you hear it in Led Zeppelin, too. While the members were heavily influenced by the blues artists of the time, songs like "gallows pole" and "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and "Hey hey what can I do?" show that influence. They also have a variety of songs heavily influenced by the Rockabilly genre, which also has a folk-roots influence. "Hot Dog", "boogie with stu", and "Candy Store Rock" all count in that regard. Rock and Roll has key influence from both the folk traditions, and the blues ones. And in many ways, baroque and early music which influenced bluegrass.
  - throwawayrocker 10y ago
    The same Led Zeppelin that borrowed all those American blues and country riffs throughout their career? If you educate yourself on American music from the 20s-50s you'll realize the true extent of the influence on the British music of the 60s and 70s. It's a lot more than Rocky Raccoon but if you're ignorant of country music you're not going to hear the guitar licks, drum patterns and vocal inflections that show up in many of the recordings by the Beatles. There's no shortage of literature on these influences so how about we just leave any additional education on the matter to personal study, eh?

hackuser 10y ago

The MusicCares speech is great; thanks. An interesting excerpt: I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs. And I played them, and I met other people that played them, back when nobody was doing it. Sang nothing but these folk songs, and they gave me the code for everything that's fair game, that everything belongs to everyone. Does Dylan allow bootlegging? Are his songs libre? Does he limit their use or charge royalties? Can I sample one without his permission? EDIT: The very last line of the speech, as printed: Copyright 2015 Bob Dylan

the_gipsy 10y ago
The labels that distribute his works control that.
dev360 10y ago
I think hes talking mostly about the folk song tradition. If you look in both blues/folk there are a lot of songs that are very similar, with almost interchangeable lyrics by many different artists. The song Little Sadie is one example - its been known under a variety of names, with variations of lyrics. All the John Henry songs - they have been sung by blues and country players alike for almost a century.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > I think hes talking mostly about the folk song tradition. He says he's part of that tradition, and at length talks about how he benefited from it. Does he give back?
  - dev360 10y ago
    Yes, he goes into length explaining how he created his own versions of Ballad of John Henry and "Key to the highway". You are missing the point. "Hey Joe" is thought to be inspired by Little Sadie. Its not about ripping off, its about telling the same story in a different way - story telling.
    - 10y ago