The Times They Are A-Changin : Time magazine s coverage of Bob Dylan throughout his career. Tullia Taylor

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1 The Times They Are A-Changin : Time magazine s coverage of Bob Dylan throughout his career Tullia Taylor Senior Thesis Dr. Williams 11 May 2011

2 2 The Times They Are A-Changin : Time magazine s coverage of Bob Dylan throughout his career At the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Bob Dylan, folk god with a finger on the pulse of his generation, headlined a now iconic event. Anticipation reached fever pitch with the throngs of diehard folk fans. The usually mild-mannered, corduroywearing Dylan sauntered onto the stage wearing a slick leather jacket and sunglasses. His backing musicians hooked up to the offensive amplifiers. The crowd grew nervous at the new persona of their heralded prophet. Dylan jumped into a rocking, electric version of Maggie s Farm, a far cry from his mellow, acoustic protest songs that made him a social icon. The stunned crowd erupted into angry boos and jeering. Dylan played a total of three songs for a mere 15 minutes and left the angry, dumbfounded crowd behind physically and mentally as he stalked off the stage. Dylan biographer Howard Sounes said, Some say he was cocky, giving the impression he did not care that people had booed; others say he seemed shaken by the reaction of the crowd and depressed in the aftermath of the show. The truth is that he probably went through a gamut of emotions. i From that moment on Dylan has undergone a number of career changes, leaving his fans and the media scratching their heads. LITERATURE REVIEW Many scholars have studied Dylan as a musician and cultural icon. For example, Devon Powers explored how the Village Voice newspaper handled the rising popularity of folk music in the late 1950s and 1960s, including the increasing

3 3 star power of a young folkie, Bob Dylan. The publication deemed Dylan a political hero and began to critique folk music as whole and also how it impacted society. Powers said, The enthusiasm that he [Dylan] inspired suggests that folk had suddenly earned the right to be discussed as music; a major piece of the problem was solved, insofar as there were measures to think about in an artistic way, and folk ceremoniously entered the realm of aesthetics. Powers concluded that Village Voice helped shape the way music was presented and paved the way for the oncoming rock revolution. ii In the height of Dylan s folk fame during the 1960s, he recorded his apocalyptic ballad A Hard Rain s A-Gonna Fall for his The Freewheelin Bob Dylan album. Thomas O. Beebee examined how the song imitates such authors as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. However, the song remains uniquely Dylan s. Beebee said, In Hard Rain Dylan was able to achieve, for the first time and almost the last, the critical balance of elements he needed to create innovative songs. Beebee concluded that Dylan, in that one particular song, constructed an unprecedented masterpiece balancing politics, apocalypse, and traditional ballad. iii In a different study, Alberto Gonzalez and John J. Makay examined the rhetorical quality of Dylan s gospel songs. Dylan, raised in a Jewish household, converted to Christianity and tried his hand at gospel in hopes of reaching a new audience while still maintaining his secular fan base. In their study, Gonzalez and Makay pointed out rhythm, cord progression and a focus on love and women that helped Dylan s gospel music appeal to a wide audience range. These authors found that through connecting similar themes and instrumental styles, Dylan blended his

4 4 gospel music with his secular songs, appealing to his pre-conversion fans and new Christian fans alike. iv In another study, James Dunlap placed Dylan in a similar category as American idealists Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Steinbeck. Dunlap studied a number of telltale signs linking Dylan to American idealism. Dunlap said that Dylan s concern for each individual s feelings and emotions and his usage of nature as symbolism, especially in his earlier works, all point to a certain school of American idealism. v Another scholar, Sean Wilentz, keenly observed Dylan s career from the early 1960s up to present time. His book worked through Dylan s repertoire, analyzing different aspects of American culture that influenced Dylan during different periods. Wilentz made the point that Dylan and America are a tightly woven pair, both aiding the other in their development. vi All these studies have examined Dylan from many points of view. Only one, Devon Powers study, dealt with media coverage of Dylan in the quite specialized publication of Village Voice. However, no study has look at how Dylan was portrayed to the general American public through the widespread popularity of Time magazine over four decades. METHODOLOGY This study examined how Dylan was covered in Time magazine starting in 1963 and continuing until Time was a widely circulated magazine throughout Dylan s career. The magazine offered its perception of his many career changes to a

5 5 large audience and, perhaps more importantly, taught a wide range of readers what to believe about Dylan. TIME AND DYLAN S FOLKLORE America was in a state of turmoil in the 1960s. Young Americans were looking for a voice to speak louder than the resonating social chaos of the Vietnam War, assassination of President Kennedy, and nuclear threats. Twenty-something Greenwich Village folkie Bob Dylan burst onto the music scene and quickly was heralded a leader in the counterculture movement, with his cerebral voice conveying answers louder than the doubt. In the beginning, Time Magazine approved of Dylan s message. In a May 31, 1963 article, Time lauded Dylan s early career. An unnamed author wrote: There he stands, and who can believe him? Beardless chin, shaggy sideburns, porcelain pussycat eyes. At 22, he looks 14, and his accent belongs to a jive Nebraskan, or maybe a Brooklyn hillbilly. He is a dime-store philosopher, a drugstore cowboy, and a men s room conversationalist. vii Although Dylan was the newly minted leader of a controversial movement that intertwined music and politics, Time still acknowledged him as a valid voice for all American citizens. The ideas that he was a dime-store philosopher or men s room conversationalist made him seem like a man for all people. For the powerhouse publication Time to praise such a new artist involved in a debatable counterculture movement meant Dylan s name would skyrocket in American households. The author wrote, There is something faintly ridiculous about such a citybilly, yet Dylan is the newest hero of an art that has made a fetish out of authenticity He is an advocate of little men, and if he remains one himself, it only enriches the ring of his lyrics. viii

6 6 Only a few months later on July 19, 1963, Time reported on the rising power of folk singers in politics. And Bob Dylan stood at the top of the heap, with songs such as Blowin in the Wind. Time called the song Dylan s lyrically honest best. It sounds as country-airy as Turkey in the Straw, but it has a cutting edge. How many roads must a man walk down / Before you call him a man? / How many years can some people exist/ Before they re allowed to be free? Time acknowledged folk music was on the rise and Dylan was emerging as a headman. All over the U.S., folk singers are doing what folk singers are classically supposed to do singing about current crisis. Not since the Civil War era have they done so in such numbers or with such intensity, the anonymous author said. ix All folk singers were suddenly compared to the high water mark of Dylan s early career. Time admired Dylan s dedication to the issues he sang about: Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel and Bob Dylan are three of the most sought-after folk singers in the business. But last week they were doing the seeking. At a voter registration rally two miles out of Greenwood, Miss., all three stood on a flatbed truck parked on a dusty field beside Highway 82 and sang the gospel-like We Shall Overcome. The audience, 200 Negro dirt farmers, lustily joined in. x Dylan was a killer combination of musical genius and political activism that Time found appealing. Bob Dylan s music career was in the very early stages when the people of Time made him the apple of their eyes. The unnamed authors of Time s Dylan articles clearly saw something in Dylan that propelled the publication to bring the young folkie s career into the home of everyday Americans. While it usually takes years and numerous albums for a musician to break into the mainstream, Dylan seemed to do it with relative ease, thanks in part to Time s ardent admiration of him.

7 7 ROCKY TIMES Although Time was wild about Bob Dylan, Dylan was no longer so crazy about Dylan. The voice of a generation and leader of a wildly popular counterculture, Bob Dylan gave up his revered status as a folk icon when he suddenly changed musical genres. The aftermath of his Bringing It All Back Home album, which featured rock-type songs, xi and the infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where he played a rock version of a popular folk song, gave fans the headsup his folk career was dead. xii Dylan s shift to the shocking rock n roll genre left the folk world reeling. Time, which had been such an early and thorough Dylan fan, now had to shift its view of the folkie it had cultivated to success. In fact, Time seemed more accepting of Dylan s switch to rock than the avid folk fan did. In a September 17, 1965, article Time covered the rising popularity of rock music with a message. In the article, the unnamed author said this about Dylan: Folk rock owes its origins to Bob Dylan, 24, folk music s most celebrated contemporary composer. Much to the despair of the folk purists, Dylan first bridged the gap between folk and rock six months ago by adding a thumping big beat to the elliptical verses of his Subterranean Homesick Blues. He followed with his biggest folk-rock hit, Like A Rolling Stone, and the big-beat groups were quick to latch on to his songs, most notably It Ain t Me Babe by the Turtles and Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds. xiii However, Dylan and his peers new approach piqued the rock n roll world s interest, and a new style was born, called folk-rock. Time seemed satisfied that Dylan was again in the forefront of the new movement, and the publication realized folk-rock was where the music industry was headed. In the same article the author said:

8 8 Eve of Destruction, as sung by Barry McGuire, is right at the top of the best seller charts. With a dozen more songs of protest snapping close behind, it heralds a radical change of rock n roll. Suddenly, the shaggy ones are high on a soapbox. Tackling everything from the Peace Corps to the P.T.A., foreign policy to domestic morality, they are sniping away in the name of folkrock. xiv Time supported this new music genre and seemed pleased that its musical darling, Bob Dylan, led the charge yet again with his hit song Like A Rolling Stone. The song featured was a little more venomous opposed to his folk songs, How does it feel / How does it feel / To be without a home / Like a complete unknown / Like a rolling stone? xv This proved Dylan added a dose of rock n roll to his existing style and paved the way for songs, such as the anti-vietnam anthem Eve of Destruction, which the September Time article discussed. There ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave Ah, you don t believe we re on the eve of destruction. Get the message? Several million teen-agers do so loud and clear the unnamed author said. xvi While the folk world owed much success to Bob Dylan, the genre had to bid him adieu as he forged on to conquer the realm of rock n roll. In an April 11, 1969, Time article, the author commented on Dylan s rock legacy and how diehard Dylan fans would follow whatever path he chooses: Wherever Bob Dylan goes, his youthful legion gladly follows, and so, usually, does most of the pop world. He came out of Hibbing, Minn., a straightforward folk singer in the Woody Guthrie manner. Then he began composing and singing the brooding social-protest lyrics (Masters of War, The Times They Are- A-Changin ) that epitomized the unrest of a generation. His subsequent fusion of folk and rock transformed the pop scene even more. xvii At this stage of Dylan s career Time also seemed to be Dylan biggest fan and embraced whatever career choices he made. Time could be the driving force that kept American citizens tuned into Dylan s unpredictable career that was now

9 9 shifting into the territory of the country genre. In the April 11, 1969 article, the unnamed author said, Last year s John Wesley Harding, [album] Dylan went to Nashville to get an authentic country flavor thereby kicking off a whole new wave of interest in country music and the Nashville sound. It was not so much a country twang that Dylan seemed after, but rather a simple way to say simple things. The publication appeared to be in awe of what the young Dylan had accomplished in his life and was eager to observe his next move. However, Time quickly discovered it would not be able to pinpoint Dylan for very long. Predicting Bob Dylan is a risky proposition, but the listener cannot help feeling that at 27 married and the father of three he has found some measure of peace with the world, the author said. xviii At this point, Time reporters adjusted to Dylan s dizzying career shifts, and as adoring Dylan fans, they buckled up for the ride. COUNTRY TIME It is a good thing Time decided to embrace Dylan s unpredictable career, because in 1969 Dylan released a full-fledged country album in Nashville Skyline. After the release of the album, an unnamed author in a Time April 11, 1969, article said: Dylan s new album, Nashville Skyline, which was also recorded by Columbia in the country music capital, extends and culminates his return to basic pleasures. It has an unpretentious charm unmatched by any of the eight albums he has recorded since Most of the songs are about the delights of secular love, and the swirl of his social satire has given way to an earthy, sometimes self-deprecating humor. xix The same article also quoted Dylan s song Peggy Day to give readers an example of Dylan s new country style: Peggy Day, stole my poor heart / Away By golly, what more can I say, / Love to spend a night with Peggy Day. xx

10 10 Time reported in September 12, 1969, that Dylan performed in light, relaxed clothes with his famous curly mane tamed. As Time described it, Out he came in a white suit and a yellow open-necked shirt, altogether a more relaxed and assuredlooking figure than the leather-jacketed, unkempt Dylan of old. The hair, once long and wild, was now relatively short. With Dylan s new, soft croon and his manner mild, fans again were left scratching their heads at Dylan s new persona that steered clear of any political notes. In the same Time article, the author addressed the lack of guidance in Dylan s country songs. The real source of disappointment lay in a worshipping youthful expectation incapable of fulfillment. The prophet had brought no cataclysm, no revelation. That was hardly Dylan s fault. He has always been a performer who moved uneasily within his aura. He had never really courted audiences. xxi While some Dylan fans may have been disappointed in Dylan s shift from the political realm, Time understood Dylan couldn t be a political figure throughout his whole career. The publication found Dylan s career shifts permissible. The same article defended Dylan to skeptics: Why should he be impaled forever on the revolutionary edge of his early songs, even if his attacks on the masters of war and the hard rain of atomic fallout did help make him a myth in the first place? Now 28, happily married and the father of four, he seems to want to relax and write new songs about innocent pleasures and the delights of love. xxii Time by now understood Dylan was going to change his musical styles without taking into consideration what his fans wanted. As an ardent fan of Dylan as a whole, not just his folk phase or rock phase, the publication approved of whatever Dylan desired to do. The publication had to adjust its opinion of Dylan as he shifted his focus; however, it always remained positive. The author of a September 12,

11 , article said, Clearly he will do it his way it is, in fact, not only Dylan s way but his ultimate message, the adamant and irreducible core that s left after all the protest and preaching, all the politics and poetry stripped away. xxiii Time thus did its best to help Bob Dylan remain in the forefront of American s minds as he made career change after change. In the 1970s Bob Dylan continued to shop around for a new musical style. Dylan released an album heavy on covers, Self Portrait, and continued to keep to himself. Now Time called him the most reclusive figure in rock today, despite the fact that the magazine covered him receiving an honorary doctorate from Princeton University in an article published on June 22, 1970: For a man who charged his way through the 1960s like an Orpheus in Hades, the Dylan of Self Portrait is in an astonishingly contemplative mood. As with John Wesley Harding (1968) and Nashville Skyline (1969), the old fire of protest burns low. Obviously, there is time now to look around, time to accept tributes and time to bestow them in return. Perhaps the most startling moment is hearing the prophet who once sang Masters of War and The Times They Are A Changin now croon his way like Bing Crosby into a classic from the 1930s. xxiv Time seemed pleased with Dylan s new album, although the music writer did not shy away from alluding to the fact that Self Portrait lacked real depth and was more along the lines of frivolousness. The writer commented, Blue Moon is schmaltzy but fun: a lighthearted and amusing wave at an era that proceeded Dylan s birth. Even better are his versions of Paul Simon s The Boxer and Gordon Light-foot s Early Morning Rain, the one just a shade more punchy than the original, and the other just a shade more dawn-lit. The article never addressed any surging creativity coming from Dylan. The author simply stated certain fans would be disappointed in Dylan for his lack of council for future music trends. All fans

12 12 could do was dissect the new, original material on Self Portrait. The author said, These exercises in nostalgia will be no help for the Dylan faithful, who regularly look to him for an indication of pop music s next move. The best they can do is ponder several of the new Dylan songs that seem to be exploratory sketches. xxv In 1974, Bob Dylan began performing live again, much to the delight of his faithful following who bestowed upon Dylan a status rivaling his 1960s stature, according to a January 21, 1974, Time article. Dressed in an absurd costume, Dylan again mystified and delighted fans with this epic tour, said the unnamed Time author. The erstwhile revolutionary folkie, rock- n roll innovator and countrified cop-out was back after an eight-year absence from concert touring. Perched atop a hotel couch in Philadelphia, Dylan was solidly re-ensconced as the reigning songpoet laureate of young America, said the author. xxvi It seemed, during this tour, that Dylan, Time and his fans had finally found their footing. Dylan was no longer pressured to produce stirring political messages, and fans could appreciate his songs, old and new, in a refreshing light. As the January 21, 1974 article Time put it: For thousands of young Americans, Bob Dylan is one of the very few personalities to emerge intact from the 60s whirlwind. A vindicated Cassandra who, in crystallizing once vague discontents, transformed dissent from an intellectual hobby to a public cause, Dylan sang about the turmoil of a generation. The generation listened. Now it remembers. xxvii Bob Dylan s 1974 tour seemed to have a revitalizing effect on Time and aging Dylan fans. Both realized his older songs could still be poignant and seen in a new light. Both Dylan and his followers have mellowed the arrogance of both poet and pupils is diminished, but the lyrics of songs like A Hard Rain s A-Gonna Fall, Mr. Tambourine Man and Desolation Row have grown in potency. Adult perspective

13 13 make songs like, My Back Pages, more meaningful, said the author. The January 21, 1974, article stated fans and the publication could be enthused about future career moves by the unpredictable Dylan. The tour seemed to ignite a new spark in the legendary musician and subsequently, his fans. The anonymous author wrote, In Dylan s return, illuminated by the slow flicker of thousands of matches, the old spirit seems to emerge anew. At each concert, the hush of anticipation, the buzz of uncertainty and the applause of recognition are extensions of young people again listening to his words and looking for their meaning. xxviii For all its support of Dylan s changing career throughout the years, Time at last seemed to admit that it had been yearning for the old spirit. Faithful as a Dylan booster, Time remembered the original Dylan with fondness, but once again, Dylan was set to change. GOD S TIMING Bob Dylan was raised in a Jewish household in Hibbing, Minnesota. This made Dylan s seemingly abrupt conversion to Christianity in the late 1970s and early 1980s all the more shocking. The 1979 album, Slow Train Coming, featured the lyrics, But you re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed / You re gonna have to serve somebody. / Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord / But you re gonna have to serve somebody. xxix Dylan released two overtly Christian albums that led many to believe he was struggling to find his way in a sea of spirituality, and fans were skeptical. Dylan biographer Sounes said, All indications are that he genuinely believed in what he was singing and, ultimately, he suffered for making his faith so public. Though Slow Train Coming was a commercial

14 14 success, Bob s Christianity conversion had a detrimental effect on his long-term career. xxx At last, Time broke faith with Bob Dylan. Even though Dylan s conversion was a large and shocking part of his career, Time surprisingly covered very little of Dylan s newfound Christianity in fact, it hardly mentioned it at all. Time appeared to want to avoid the controversy that can accompany religion. Or, even though the publication was a long-lasting fan of Dylan s, its music critics perhaps did not enjoy his Christian albums and thus conveyed the negative opinion in a subtler fashion. Time made no mention of Slow Train Coming or the new Christian Dylan. In 1983, Dylan abandoned his Christian albums to release the acclaimed album Infidels. The name of the album alone told his fans he was still struggling with his faith. At last Time chimed in again on the career of its longtime idol. Only in the aftermath of his conversion would the publication discuss the Christian phase in a December 5, 1982, article. Dylan has been undergoing a period of grave spiritual uncertainty, from which bulletins have periodically issued forth like dispatches from some ancient war: Bob has been born again; Bob s Christianity has waned and lapsed; Bob is searching for his roots in Judaism. The news was confusing, Time music reporter Jay Cocks said. xxxi Now that Dylan was back on secular track, Cocks, in December 5, 1983, Time article, bashed Dylan s approach to his religious songs. xxxii With the controversial topic of Christianity now passed, Time began covering Dylan s career and albums with the same zeal as before his religious phase. The publication praised Dylan s new secular work. In the same article, Cocks wrote, On Infidels, he seems

15 15 reconciled to restlessness. He also sounds full of fight and the same kind of lacerating spite that passes through the heart like a spike. Infidels is prime Dylan. xxxiii The implication was that Dylan s time of being a religious follower was not prime Dylan. Time was clearly relieved when its favorite returned to music it could understand, a type of music it felt comfortable talking about. It is interesting Time refused to deal with Dylan in his Christian phase. Since Dylan s Christian album, Slow Train Coming, was generally praised for what it was, it is not likely the magazine felt Dylan had fallen to the status of a has-been. Perhaps Time was afraid of itself crossing into the field of religious flag-waving, or perhaps it did not want to hurt an old friend by condemning his music. Or perhaps Time simply did not know what to do with or how to analyze Christian music, even from someone the magazine deeply admired. TUMULTUOUS TIMES The mid- to late 1980s saw Dylan s star power dwindle. Time reported on Dylan during the recording of the charity single We Are the World in 1985, when Dylan recorded the song with several famous musicians under the famed producer Quincy Jones. On June 10, 1985, Jay Cocks reported on the recording session featured in a documentary. Surrounded by superstars, many of whom have eclipsed him in popularity and record sales, Bob Dylan looks as if he has been dealt out, Cocks said. Time seemed saddened by the reduced authority and respect in Dylan. Cocks elaborated on Dylan s demeanor during the recording of the song: Everyone is used to seeing Dylan as the selfexiled iconoclast, the hipster assassin, lurking darkly and waiting to wound. But here he seems different,

16 16 like an expatriate who is not sure whether to travel on his own passport or sneak back into the country. He frets openly about performing his short solo. He needs coaching; he needs confidence. xxxiv Despite Dylan s lack of confidence in We Are The World, a June 10, 1985, article reported his new album, Empire Burlesque was a good one. Regarding the song Dark Eyes, Jay Cocks said, One of those midnight Poe love poems, filled with grace notes that sound like a cries for help ( I ll live in another world where life and death are memorized / Where the earth is strung with lovers pearls and all I see are dark eyes ). However, Time worried that irreversible damage had been done to Dylan s image. Previous albums, especially the Christian albums, sounded like Dylan was a half delirious cabala student looking for a guest shot on Soul Train, Cocks said. While Dylan could do as he pleased, he would take a beating when it came to holding onto a large fan base, Time reported, due to his trek through various musical genres. Such excursions, meaningful as they may have been to Dylan personally or artistically, took their toll on his audience. Dylan could no longer fine-tune the zeitgeist all by himself, and his records were perceived as too personal or, worse, increasingly marginal, Cocks said. xxxv The early 1980s was a rough phase for Dylan and Time. The publication was disappointed with the path Dylan s career had taken. However, Time still clung to the idea Dylan could be a musician releasing great new material and not remain just an idol. In a June 10, 1985, article, Cocks wrote, What are they playing that guy for? sneered a Manhattan saleswoman recently when a Dylan melody came on the radio. But Cocks warned that Dylan was not dead yet. He went on, One playing of Empire Burlesque and all such questions become academic. Listen up. xxxvi

17 17 Bob Dylan s five-album collection of older material, Biograph, was released in By now Dylan had worked his way back into the good graces of Time magazine since his head-scratching conversion. He is 44 now, and he has been wandering, rankling, challenging and extending the musical margin for more than two decades, said Jay Cocks. The collection was a refreshingly reliable release from the prolific Dylan, According to for Time magazine. Biograph, a handily priced ($30) five-record retrospective of Dylan s career, is a heady reminder of his importance, the sort of overview usually given only to artists entering their eighth decade or ones who have met an untimely end, said Cocks in an November 25, 1985, article. xxxvii Cocks accurately noted that Dylan achieved remarkable fame remarkably fast. Cocks did not specify that Time s support had anything to do with that success, but no doubt it had. Biograph was a collection that offered fans and Time the chance to reflect on Dylan s past and ready themselves for the future. Time seemed encouraged and rejuvenated by the unreleased older Dylan material. Biograph is like a time tunnel, then, a place for reflection and regeneration, and a chance, once again, to ask some familiar questions. Like What s he going to do now? And Should we play just one more time? And What s that mean? Answers may not immediately available. But now you know--again--where to start looking, said Cocks. xxxviii The early 1980s saw Time s uncertainly about certain Dylan s career moves, such as his move into Christianity and his lack of presence at We Are The World. However, Biograph was a ray of light in a dark time in Dylan s career, and Time began to reiterate realize just how iconic Dylan was to the music community but it carefully focused

18 18 on the rock community, not the Christian or the country music communities. In an the April 18, 1985, article Cocks said, The margin. Bob Dylan kept pushing it back, bending it around, like some rock-struck jet pilot always testing himself, testing his craft, punching the outside of the envelope. Dylan took rock n roll way up high where the air is thin and the head gets giddy. Rock has never come back. Bob Dylan has never come down. xxxix But it seemed Dylan had not entirely given up his Christian music themes, and this upset Time. Finally it criticized him for briefly for it. In October 1990, Bob Dylan released Under the Red Sky. Time gave it a less-than-favorable review in a weekly compilation of new released albums, movies, and television. Time s Critics Voices author noted: God knows the secrets of your heart, Dylan sings on this enigmatic new bit of introspection and social speculation. He ll tell em to you when you sleep. Well, he s not talking much here, and Bob hangs back a bit too. Odd, edgy and, for all the slick session talent on parade (George Harrison, Elton John), somehow unfinished. xl This negative statement was a rarely seen feat by Time regarding Dylan. After the inclusion of the brief Under The Red Sky album review in the publication s weekly review feature, Time again avoided publishing any Dylan-centric articles. Much like when Dylan converted to Christianity and Time gave him a wide berth, again Dylan received very little press in Time when Under the Red Sky album was released. This further proved that Time disapproved of Dylan s attempt to play to a Christian audience. The publication simply refrained from publishing any articles about Dylan s Christian songs. It appeared Time was a big enough Dylan fan that its

19 19 writers just turned a blind eye to perceived career missteps rather than publish unfavorable material about Dylan. TIME ON HIS SIDE In 1992, a concert of epic proportion was performed to honor Bob Dylan s 30 th year in the music business. The likes of Neil Young, Johnny Cash, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam paid homage to Dylan by covering his songs. Time published an article discussing the concert on October 26, Longtime critic Cocks wrote: The concert, which lasted well over three hours, was a loose-limbed, dynamic show that didn t waste a second on sentiment or nostalgia. Instead, with Bob himself leading the pack, it trip-hammered through the Dylan songbook, setting free the wild spirit of some of the best tunes written in the past 30 years. xli After two decades of ups and downs in Dylan s career, Time claimed in an October 26, 1992, article that his new album Good as I Been to You was a masterpiece. Jay Cocks raved, It s one of the best things he has ever done. And it is, entirely, a collection of classic folk songs, with a little blues done solo by Dylan with acoustic guitar and harmonica He hasn t recorded an album like this since his debut released in The article went on to discuss the seeming folk music revival that could be caused by government shifts on the horizon with the ending of the Gulf War and the upcoming presidential election. Maybe folk had to age a little to seem fresh again. Certainly everyone on the Garden stage [for the Dylan tribute concert] wore his years well, but the music in the concert and on all these new records -- sounds particularly pertinent, Cocks said. With folk music back on the map of popular music, Time again placed Bob Dylan in the forefront. It might be the prospect of political change in the wind that helps make this new folk sound so

20 20 bracing. Or maybe it s the prevailing staleness of pop and the relentless assaults of rap It has a newer, wider compass, and, as ever, Bob Dylan is magnetic north, Cocks said. xlii In 1997, Bob Dylan released another successful album, Time Out of Mind. In a September 29, 1997, Time article, Christopher John Farley wrote about the album, On Time out of Mind, his first CD of new, self-penned material in seven years and his most consistently rewarding album since the 70s The situation is desperate, but the album is cathartic and ultimately hopeful: there is salvation, and it comes from within. Dylan s fortunes may be changing in the 90s. The article then became nostalgic as it covered Dylan s chaotic career. As listeners, we still miss the freewheelin social commentary of A Hard Rain s A-Gonna Fall; we long for the wild poetry of Like A Rolling Stone. But the old Dylan is gone; we have only the older Dylan, plotted by cartographers onto the cultural map, Farley said. xliii Time realized the roving musician had seemingly found a place for his aging self. Dylan didn t need to be a folkie with all the political answers, an iconic rocker, or a born-again Christian. Dylan simply did as he pleased and that was more than enough to prove his worthiness. Farley noted: Earlier this year, he suffered, and recovered from, a potentially fatal infection of the lining of his heart, we began to miss him in advance. Time Out of Mind s best songs -- like the nakedly yearning Make You Feel My Love -- remind us why. Dylan has found purpose in his inner battle to reignite his imagination. Turning the quest for inspiration itself into relevant rock--that is alchemic magic. xliv In a June 8, 1998, Time article Jay Cocks discussed Bob Dylan once again. But this time Cocks article did not cover any wild career change or dissect a new album. It was an article solely focused on Dylan and his accomplishments. Cocks said, Bob

21 21 Dylan couldn t wait for the music to change. He couldn t be only part of the change. He was the change itself. The snake and the hurricane. The article went on to describe Dylan s life and career in a reverent manner. Dylan has been consistent only in one thing: he has never stopped making great music, or being cagey about it. And funny, when he feels like it. And hip, without peer or precedent, said Cocks. It seemed Time and its music writers glamorized Dylan s legacy despite turning a blind eye to less favorable phases of Dylan s career at the time they happened. Now the magazine mentioned them as parts of Dylan s legacy. It was folk music, deep within its core Rhythm and blues, too, and juke-joint rock n roll, and hymns from backwoods churches and gospel shouts from riverside baptism. He put all that together, and found words to match it, said Cocks. xlv Dylan had indeed battled a life-threatening condition in 1998 before the release of his Time Out of Mind album. Dylan s mortality and the idea of losing him made people and Time realize his impact. Cocks put it this way in a June 8, 1998, article: Time Out of Mind brought Dylan safely back home again in the hot center. It was if everyone suddenly woke up and figured it was Dylan who had been asleep all these years. In fact, as always, he was the only one with his eyes open. To know that, all you had to do--still, and ever--is listen. And ask yourself the same question he flung at us. How does it feel? xlvi In spite of Time dreading the final nail in the coffin of Dylan s career, he released yet another impressive album. Christopher John Farley wrote in a September 17, 2001, Time article about Dylan s new album, Love and Theft, and his autobiography that was in the works. Farley again declared Dylan on the top of his game and seemed relieved Dylan was still recording music. Dylan is back He s

22 22 all the way back so far back he s up front once again making music that s worth talking about, not because of what he did 10,000 yesterdays ago but because of what he s doing today, Farley said. Time no longer yearned for a return to yesterday, but instead lauded a career still in process. Farley said, Dylan is wandering around his history, making changes as he sees fit. The veteran folk-rocker says his inspiration comes directly from God. Farley then quoted Dylan, I ve had a God-given sense of destiny. This what I was put on earth to do. xlvii At last Time seemed to have forgiven Dylan s interest in God and religion. Perhaps Dylan had at last hit the right balance of that aspect of his life, in Time s eyes. On May 24, 2006, Bob Dylan turned 65. Time magazine s Richard Corliss paid homage to Dylan s career in a lengthy article published on Dylan s birthday. Corliss went into great detail about the ins and outs of Dylan s long career and how it was integrated into his own life. Corliss said, The switch to rock was fine with this Dylan fan; I loved rock n roll as much as folk and was exhilarated to think of the impact Dylan could have in bringing an adolescent musical form to maturity. While the article painted Dylan s career in a positive light, the author did acknowledge the early 1960s were the pinnacle of Dylan s career. Corliss said: But four decades of post-crash Dylan [Dylan was in a motorcycle accident in 1966] can t come close to matching what he accomplished between the ages of 19 and 25. The change he s put himself through are less radical and notable than the ones he achieved in his first years in the Village. xlviii Corliss nostalgically ended the article by saying Dylan had followed a path set out for him, and fans were lucky enough to be a part of the monumental journey. Corliss said:

23 23 So to celebrate his 65 th birthday, do not bust out your dusty tambourines. Skip the Zimmerman bus tour of Hibbing. Instead, play those early songs again. You ll shiver at their stark profundity at the way of words, simple chords and a stray mutt s voice could combine to form an immediate and lasting legacy of pop poetry. Dylan was destined, as the beautiful lyric to Mr. Tambourine Man has it, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free. In following that fate, he taught the rest of us to dance with him. xlix Despite the nostalgic spin on the end of the career type profile Time published, Bob Dylan was still at work. In 2009, Bob Dylan released his Together Through Life album. Time s Joe Klein wrote about Dylan s staying power in a May 11, 2009, article. A half-decade older than the oldest baby boomers, 68 on May 24, he has predicted their maturation marriage, divorce, finding and losing religion, midlife crisis and regeneration, a second wind, a third, Klein wrote. Time s opinion of Dylan now shifted, as his career was inevitably ending sooner rather than later, due to Dylan s age. Time s disappointments of years past with various Dylan career moves appeared to be replaced with the forgiveness of icon status. Klein wrote: Each new album became an exploration he went country, he went bluesy, he became a Christian, he re-became a Jew. His mature work of genius, Blood on the Tracks, came out of nowhere in There were other albums that were not so good but it was all fascinating, all infused with Dylan s lacerating intelligence. l After many tries at summarizing Dylan s career, this time the publication simply gave up on the attempt and expressed to its readers the hope that Dylan s career would go on. The end of the May 11, 2009, Time article implored Dylan to continue doing what he does best. Klein said, But it s not over yet, is it, Bob? The creative arc s not complete. You ve got one more trick, right? Bob? li In 2010 Sean Wilentz, Princeton University professor, wrote a book entitled Bob Dylan In America. Time s Claire Suddath interviewed Wilentz about the book

24 24 and his opinion of Dylan in an article published October 21, As Suddath related it to Time readers, Dylan was seen in the book as a living legend with a long list of accomplishments. Wilentz said, I never wanted to write a biography of Dylan, because there are so many good ones already out there. This [his book] focuses on his influences and the way he had drawn from different aspects of American culture. lii Wilentz did not sugarcoat Dylan s whole career. Wilentz was quoted as saying, Over the years, his style changes in seemingly dramatic ways that often disturb or unsettle his loyal fan base he hits a kind of barren period in the 1980s. However, Wilentz still spoke of a musical artist that transcended the ordinary in a grand fashion with every step. Wilentz was quoted as saying: There are some artists who stay the same their whole careers. Their paintings or their songs never stray much from one sound or look. But then there are artists who take these sharp turns into uncharted territory. Picasso is one of them, and Dylan is one of them... He sings about the human experience. That s why he s a poet. liii CONCLUSION Time s coverage of Bob Dylan from rising folkie to grizzled cultural and musical icon looked at a wide range of music but almost without fail praised Dylan despite his many changes. The magazine curiously refused to comment on Dylan s Christian phase until it was long over, but in the end, the magazine embraced all of Dylan s changes as part of his musical genius. The publication s articles about Dylan gave readers conscious and subconscious ammunition to judge and attach their own perception of Bob Dylan. Time reached a wide range of readership. The magazine s love of Dylan and continual coverage of his career most likely helped Dylan achieve such a legendary

25 25 status among the masses. Without such a popular publication s support, it is quite likely Dylan would be nothing but a 1960s cult hero. Instead, he is today lauded as one of the most influential artists of all time who had great cultural and political impact. Surely without Time s early and persistent adulation, it would have been very, very hard for Dylan to have risen to national prominence for so long in an industry that regularly tosses away its spent stars. Interestingly, however, it is doubtful that Dylan ever gave Time the credit it deserved. Seen in D.A. Pennebaker s documentary Don t Look Back, Dylan blew up at the media during an interview for a popular publication. Dylan said: It s a class of people that take the magazine seriously. Sure, I can read it. I read it on airplanes. But I don t take it seriously. If I want to find out anything I m not going to read Time magazine. I m not going to read Newsweek. I m not going to read any of these magazines because they got too much to lose by printing the truth. liv While Dylan may view what magazines print with disgust, whether he likes it or not Time was necessary for him to reach the level of success he has achieved. i Howard Sounes, Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. (New York: Grove Press, 2001), ii Devon Powers, "The Folk Problem " Journalism History 33 no. 4 (2008): 211. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost.

26 26 iii Thomas O. Beebee, "Ballad of the Apocalypse: Another Look at Bob Dylan's 'Hard Rain' Text & Performance Quarterly 11 no. 1 (1991): 32. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. iv Alberto Gonzalez and John J. Makay, "Rhetorical Ascription and the Gospel According to Dylan," Quarterly Journal of Speech 69 no. 1 (1983). Retrieved February 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. v James Dunlap, "Through the Eyes of Tom Joad: Patterns of American Idealism, Bob Dylan, and the Folk Protest Movement," Popular Music & Society 29 no. 5 (2006): Retrieved February 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. vi Sean Wilentz, Bob Dylan In America (New York: Doubleday, 2010). vii Folk Singers: Let Us Now Praise Little Men, Time, 31 May Page numbers will not be listed since all Time articles were obtained from Time s online database. All articles can be found at Time magazine s authors in featured articles remained anonymous until the December 5, 1983, article. viii Folk Singers: Let Us Now Praise Little Men, Time, 31 May ix Folk Music: They Hear America Singing, Time, 19 July x Folk Music: They Hear America Singing, Time, 19 July xi 500 Greatest Albums: Bringing It All Back Home, rollingstone.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, xii Howard Sounes, Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 181. xiii Rock n Roll: Message Time, Time, 17 September xiv Rock n Roll: Message Time, Time, 17 September xv Like A Rolling Stone, bobdylan.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, xvi Rock n Roll: Message Time, Time, 17 September xvii Recordings: Back to the Roots, Time, 11 April 1969.

27 27 xviii Recordings: Back to the Roots, Time, 11 April xix Recordings: Back to the Roots, Time, 11 April xx Recordings: Back to the Roots, Time, 11 April xxi Music: Poet s Return: It s What I Do, Time, 12 September xxii Music: Poet s Return: It s What I Do, Time, 12 September xxiii Music: Poet s Return: It s What I Do, Time, 12 September xxiv Music: Dr. Bob Sums Up, Time, 22 June xxv Music: Dr. Bob Sums Up, Time, 22 June xxvi Music: Dylan: Once Again, It s Alright Ma, Time, 21 January xxvii Music: Dylan: Once Again, It s Alright Ma, Time, 21 January xxviii Music: Dylan: Once Again, It s Alright Ma, Time, 21 January xxix Gotta Serve Somebody, bobdylan.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, xxx Howard Sounes, Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 335. xxxi Jay Cocks, Music: Tripping Through Old Times, Time, 5 December xxxii Jay Cocks, Music: Tripping Through Old Times, Time, 5 December xxxiii Jay Cocks, Music: Tripping Through Old Times, Time, 5 December xxxiv Jay Cocks, Music: Here s What s Happening, Mr. Jones, Time, 10 June xxxv Jay Cocks, Music: Here s What s Happening, Mr. Jones, Time, 10 June xxxvi Jay Cocks, Music: Here s What s Happening, Mr. Jones, Time, 10 June xxxvii Jay Cocks, Show Business: Hellhound on the Loose, Time, 25 November xxxviii Jay Cocks, Show Business: Hellhound on the Loose, Time, 25 November 1985.

28 28 xxxix Jay Cocks, Show Business: Hellhound on the Loose, Time, 25 November xl Critics Voices: Oct. 1, 1990, Time, 1 October xli Jay Cocks, Bringing Folk Back Home, Time, 26 October xlii Jay Cocks, Bringing Folk Back Home, Time, 26 October xliii Christopher John Farley, Music: Dylan s Lost Highway, Time, 29 September xliv Christopher John Farley, Music: Dylan s Lost Highway, Time, 29 September xlv Jay Cocks, The Folk Musician, Time, 8 June xlvi Jay Cocks, The Folk Musician, Time, 8 June xlvii Christopher John Farley, Legend of Dylan, Time, 17 September xlviii Richard Corliss, Bob Dylan at 65, Time, 24 May xlix Richard Corliss, Bob Dylan at 65, Time, 24 May l Joe Klein, Bob Dylan: Time For One More Change? Time, 11 May li Joe Klein, Bob Dylan: Time For One More Change? Time, 11 May lii Claire Suddath, Historian Sean Wilentz on the Mysterious Bob Dylan, Time, 21 October liii Claire Suddath, Historian Sean Wilentz on the Mysterious Bob Dylan, Time, 21 October liv Don t Look Back. DVD Directed by D.A. Pennebaker. New Video Group.

29 29 Bibliography 500 Greatest Albums: Bringing It All Back Home, rollingstone.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, time /bringing-it-all-back-home-bob-dylan Critics Voices: Oct. 1, 1990, Time, 1 October Gotta Serve Somebody, bobdylan.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, Folk Singers: Let Us Now Praise Little Men, Time, 31 May Folk Music: They Hear America Singing, Time, 19 July Like A Rolling Stone, bobdylan.com, accessed 2 May, 2011, Music: Dr. Bob Sums Up, Time, 22 June Music: Dylan: Once Again, It s Alright Ma, Time, 21 January Music: Poet s Return: It s What I Do, Time, 12 September Recordings: Back to the Roots, Time, 11 April Rock: A Folk Hero Speaks, Time, 14 November Rock n Roll: Message Time, Time, 17 September Beebee, Thomas O. "Ballad of the Apocalypse: Another Look at Bob Dylan's 'Hard Rain'." Text & Performance Quarterly 11 no. 1 (1991): Retrieved March 1, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. Cocks, Jay, Bringing Folk Back Home, Time, 26 October Cocks, Jay, Music: Here s What s Happening, Mr. Jones, Time, 10 June Cocks, Jay, Music: Tripping Through Old Times, Time, 5 December Cocks, Jay, Show Business: Hellhound on the Loose, Time, 25 November Cocks, Jay, The Folk Musician, Time, 8 June Corliss, Richard, Bob Dylan at 65, Time, 24 May 2006.

30 30 Don t Look Back. DVD Directed by D.A. Pennebaker. New Video Group. Dunlap, James. "Through the Eyes of Tom Joad: Patterns of American Idealism, Bob Dylan, and the Folk Protest Movement." Popular Music & Society 29 no. 5 (2006): Retrieved February 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. Farley, John Christopher, Legend of Dylan, Time, 17 September Farley, John Christopher, Music: Dylan s Lost Highway, Time, 29 September Gonzalez, Alberto, and John J. Makay. "Rhetorical Ascription and the Gospel According to Dylan." Quarterly Journal of Speech 69 no. 1 (1983): Retrieved Febuary 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. Klein, Joe Bob Dylan: Time For One More Change? Time, 11 May Powers, Devon. "The Folk Problem." Journalism History 33 no. 4 (2008): Retrieved February 9, 2011, from Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost. Sounes, Howard. Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. New York: Grove Press, Suddath, Claire, Historian Sean Wilentz on the Mysterious Bob Dylan, Time, 21 October Wilentz, Sean. Bob Dylan In America. New York: Doubleday, 2010.