How to Listen to Dylan

Our site has been up and running for about a month now and so far it’s been a lot of fun. We just made it to the 1st page of Google for our keywords: Bob Dylan Discography. Thus, the traffic has been pouring in at a steady pace and we’ve met a lot of interesting characters via the web. One added benefit of starting your own niche site is that you meet others that are interested in the same thing. We’ve discovered an amazing amount of Dylan related sites that we didn’t even know existed. There are sites dedicated to his live shows, his lyrics, the banter he says between songs at live shows and even a “family tree” of all his musical friends and contacts. One of the best sites we’ve found is a webcast radio station called TANGLED UP IN BOB.  You can tune in for free at: http://radio.thewalrus.ca/ .

This broadcast runs 24-7 and is all Dylan all the time. We’ve heard rare Dylan live songs, Dylan covers and all the Dylan standards you know and love. Trust me, we have no financial interest in the site or affiliation with it—other than a link to them on our site. We just thought you’d want to know about a place that pumps out Bobby for free all the time. We have it on at the office constantly and hope you give it a listen too. If nothing else it warms the cackles of our Dylan hearts to know someone is out there audibly spreading the love. Enjoy!

Vice President of Public Relations
www.howtolistentodylan.com worldwide headquarters

If you’re a Dylan fan, you’ve probably seen her for most of your Dylan-listening career.  However, you probably never even knew who she was—until now.   Suze Rotolo, the not-so-famous woman locked in Dylan’s arm on the infamous “Freewheelin’” album cover, has written a book about her relationship with Bob Dylan.  The book–A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties—is getting mixed reviews.  Some say it’s boring and reveals nothing new about the enigmatic Dylan.  Others are praising the book as a sensitive page-turner that gives the Dylan fan a much-needed female perspective on his life. 

Meanwhile, many are scoffing at Rotolo’s memoir dismissing it as just another attempt by someone mildly involved in Dylan’s life to cash in on his fame.  We at howtolistentodylan.com disagree with this sentiment.  Granted, it does seem strange that she’s writing a book more than 45 years after the famous picture was taken.  But can anyone really blame her for giving us a perspective on one of the most recognizable album covers of all time.  Heck, the Freewheelin’ album cover was even re-enacted in Cameron Crowe’s blockbuster Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz.  From what we understand Rotolo wasn’t even paid for the shot.  So, what’s the harm in her making a few bucks after 45 years of infamy and millions of re-prints.  After all there’s only two people on the album cover, one is already a multi-millionaire.  Why shouldn’t the other person make a little coin too?  Suze was definitely at the right place at the right time in the 1960’s and in 2008.  So buy the book and help Suze get what’s been coming to her for almost half a century.

Vice President of Public Relations
www.howtolistentodylan.com worldwide headquarters

Wow!  What a first week.  We launched last Thursday and have since had over 2,000 visitors.  First, thanks to everyone who has taken minutes out of their lives they’ll never have back to view our little hunk of cyberspace.  The responses have been all over the board (no pun intended).  Let me give you a few positive highlights from e-mails and forum posts we’ve received:
 
“Thanks so much for putting up this site.  I’m a new Dylan listener and this is helfpul.”
 
“Nice Site.”  (well put, I might add)
 
“Great Idea!”
 
“I love what you’re doing with your web site. Both my son and myself have made up tapes or play lists to convert the skeptical to the genius that is Bob Dylan. I think your sequencing is about right.”
 
Ok, now for some of the negative…we don’t ignore the critics and we knew there would be some:

“I gotta say, I don’t care for the concept in the least. It is presumptuous, at best, to think that Dylan can appeal to any one person in a uniform fashion. Hopefully I’m not the only one who found the apparent hierarchy of albums completely offbase. Frankly, if anyone felt the need to map a course in listening to Dylan, they would do so on a song-by-song basis. Just as an extreme example, who would play a newcomer On The Road Again before they played Brownsville Girl–certainly not I.”
 
“it’s a piece of pure crap :angry:” (well put too, I might add)

“One thing I might also do is add some live and bootleg albums. The first album i started listening to was MTV Unplugged and that really got me hooked. Albums like bootleg series 1-3 and live 66 deserve their spot in a ranking like this cause albums like these get you to really admire dylan.”
 
So, you can see the responses have been varied and that’s ok with us. We’re certainly not preaching our listening plan as gospel to the cult of Dylan.  We’re just glad people care enough to love and hate us. Please keep giving us feedback as we read every word and are planning to implement some of your suggestions.  Also, remember we have a forum where you can say whatever the heck you want.
 
Meanwhile, I plan to keep this blog fresh and let you know what’s going on. We’re also adding a Dylan news feed so you can stay up with all that’s Dylan.
 
I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts…
 
VP of Public Relations
howtolistentodylan.com Worldwide Headquarters