I just finished watching the PBS special of Bob Dylan, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Bob Dylan is so full of sh@t. I wouldn’t trust one thing he says. I think he is very arrogant and pretentious. But don’t get me wrong, I think he was the greatest songwriter in recent history. I think of him sort of as Mozart in the movie Amedeus. Spoiled and selfish, but a genius. Once he got a lot of money and fame, most of his songs turned to sh@t, in my opinion.
It was great to see Izzy Young. He is the opposite - not full of sh@t at all. He is blunt and knows what he is talking about. I interviewed him once over the phone in Sweden - he agrees with me about Dylan. He is a nice guy.
Pete Seeger - what is he, about 100 now? I have also met and spoken with him a few times. He is a nice guy. It’s hard to dislike someone who loves Woody Guthrie so much. I’ve heard some people say they don’t like him because he is Jewish, but “tries to hide it.” He doesn’t really write anything, but sings a lot of good songs. He is very goodie-goodie, but I like him anyway.
Harold Leventhal is pretty cool. He is honest and not pretentious at all. He is a businessman. His business just happens to be folk music. I spoke with him one day at the Woody Guthrie Archives. He told me about how he is the last living Westerner who has met Gandhi. He met him one day when he was stationed in India as a soldier. Gandhi would take one day of the week off from speaking. He would do it as penance. Anyway, this happened to be the day Harold came to see him. Gandhi would communicate to him by writing on a piece of paper.
In conclusion, Scorsese did a sh@tty job because he, like all the other biographers and fans, made Dylan out to be a hero. I guarantee Izzy Young gave Dylan hell, but you don’t see any of it on the show. I wish for once someone would show Dylan as he really is instead of how they want him to be. The best documentary on Dylan, in my opinion, is D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back. Pennebaker also did Monterey Pop, which I have mentioned here before.

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