24 maj 2021 – On the occasion of Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday

Congratulations to Mr. Bob.
My main guitar teacher in the beginning was Bob Dylan & The Band.
Before I got to receive teaching, I had taken matters into my own hands
and played along records. The album that got me hooked was Bob Dylan & The Band; Before the Flood.
A double album where Bob Dylan plays solo, The Band plays some, and then a big part where they play together.

The album is a goldmine of great songs, effective guitar strumming and a fantastic orchestra.
In fact, it took a few years before it really dawned on me that Bob was Bob and The Band was something else.

I strummed my guitar and sang along and loved lines like “but she breaks like a little girl” and “Do you Mister Jones?” og “I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin ‘about half past dead”
It was the sound, the mood, the seriousness in the way it came across. When I later started reading lyrics, it was not a revelation of poetry or great literature. It was to put into words what the music expressed.
I’m ok with Mr. Bob received the Nobel Prize if anyone should ask.
But what makes today special for someone who has not been invited over for cake is that Mr. Bob still exists – is active both on stage and album and still focuses on writing a good song, at least a song.
His current band is not as intoxicatingly original and organic as The Band. Instead it’s good for creating space and lifting an ok song up to a good sound.
My last concert was in Herning, where we were chased around by security who did not want us to stand up. Mark Knopfler played first and consistently referred to Dylan as Mr. Bob.
Knopfler’s own set was well played boring, but he was featured in two to three tracks at the start of Mr. Bob´’s set and added a fair bit of originality to the band, reminiscent of the way The Band rocked Dylan.
May he not rest in peace for this until he dies.