3 Weird Things You Probably Never Knew About Bob Dylan, Plus 3 Highlights of 2013

Disclaimer: Anyone who has been on the Internet for any length of time has seen those weird banner ads using the word "weird" in them. I have always thought them bizarre, but evidently they must work because advertisers continue to use them and since it is all being measured (clickthroughs, conversions, etc.) you know they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't getting results. So... for the fun of it, I decided to use the word here in the title of my last blog entry of 2013. Weird, huh?

Here are three weird things you probably never knew about Bob Dylan.

1. When she was in school in Hibbing a girl who later grew up to become the mother-in-law of a friend of mine dated young Robert Zimmerman. (I do not have permission to say more than that, so don't ask.)

2. Several years ago I was at Frankie's Tavern on Tower Avenue, Superior and the young fellow next to me overheard some of us talking about Dylan. He said his father beat up young Robert Zimmerman once when they were in school together. (He lamented that he has always been ashamed of this.)

3. When you re-arrange the letters of Robert Zimmerman, it spells ARMOR BRIM MET ZEN, which is the secret password for an underground sect in Sri Lanka. And when you re-arrange Bob Dylan it spells both BLAND BOY and BAD NOBLY, revealing the two aspects of his dichotomous alter ego.

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On a more serious note, here are my three personal Dylan highlights of 2013.

#3: Most of us have been aware of Dylan the painter. Bob Dylan the sculptor was a new revelation in 2013. In November, Dylan's Mood Swings show opened at the Halcyon Gallery in London.

#2: Bootleg Series Vol. 10, Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) was released in August. I can't remember an album I have played this frequently since... well since Dylan's last album. OK, maybe Together Through Life... If you have a choice between the two CD set and the three CD set, and haven't already bought Another Self Portrait, then get the triple set with the Isle of Wight concert. Very special evening captured live, and memorably historic.

#1: Dylan returns to Bayfront Park in Duluth.
Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour continued to rumble along in 2013. For the third time it rolled through Duluth, the second time in Bayfront Park.

Honorable Mention: It created quite a stir when word leaked that Dylan was under consideration for a Nobel Prize for Literature.

What new direction do you think Dylan will take us in 2014?

Happy New Year!  

Sly Stallone the Painter and Other Celebrity Art

"Mask" by Jonathan Winters

The Sylvester Stallone story I remember most was one I heard on Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story about two decades ago. Essentially it was the story of a dock worker who labored all day and wrote Hollywood screenplays at night. After having written ten movie scripts, all rejected, he decided to create a character whose singular attribute was that he never gave up. This eleventh screenplay, of course, ended up as the first of many Rocky films and a career in Hollywood.

What I liked about the story was that Stallone had a day job but made sacrifices to be a writer by night as if to say, "Follow your passion. You never know where it will lead."

To my surprise, Stallone has had another passion this past half century. He wanted to be an artist. In fact, he has been painting an making art all through his career in Hollywood. In fact, if you happen to be in Russia during the next two weeks, you may want to visit The Russian Museum to see his current show there.

I stumbled upon the Stallone-as-Artist connection by means of website called Pop Life Art that featured the artist connections of celebrities. What sent me on my quest was Bob Dylan's Drawn Blank Series which was released this year. Years ago I'd already interviewed Jonathan Winters and Kurt Vonnegut as artists. I knew that John Lennon liked to draw and Ron Wood of the Stones was a painter. Who else were we familiar with who had a secret life as an artist?

Lorrie Davis, host of the Pop Life Art website has assembled an impressive list that includes links to numerous household names including Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Grace Slick, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortenson, Edward Kennedy and more.

The current show of Bob Dylan's sculptures -- Mood Swings at the Halcyon in London -- received mixed reviews from art critics. The suggestion was that a great performer can't be a great artist, that his fame should not interfere with the evaluation of his art.

This raises issues that would be worth discussing at greater length sometime. What makes art significant? How does one artist receive critical acclaim to the extent that his work is worth millions, whereas another's works only sell for ten thousand?

Jonathan Winters said that a woman was once critical of his $25,000 price tag on one of his paintings. "How can that painting be worth $25,000?" He replied, "Because it has my signature on it. If it said 'Red Skelton' it would be worth $40,000."

Is it fame that gives artists' work value? A Jackson Pollock original is worth millions. An identical canvas by an unknown student would be hard-pressed to find a wall to hang it on.

Is it the approval of critics that makes a work important? The endorsements of certain critics are what have made many artists famous. This "fame" increases their value. And when they get really famous, if they can do this within their lifetimes like Warhol and Dali, then they can also be celebrities.

What do you think?

Bob Dylan's Mood Swings and Chris Monroe at the Red Mug

Well, if you're in town this weekend, and by that I mean London-town, you'll want to check out the latest Dylan art opening at the Halcyon Gallery there. The exhibition is titled Mood Swings, and the first image I saw from the show was of a woman standing alongside an iron gate slightly opening. So in addition to painting, the singer/songwriter is now welding. Or at least by means of assistants is assembling three-dimensional works on an impressive scale.

Mood Swings is comprised of three different sections. The first part is the welded sculptures which hearken back to Dylan's Hibbing roots on the Iron Range. The aforementioned gates can be considered decorative or symbolic. Do we read too much into it to think first of the Gates of Eden?

A review by London Telegraph critic Mark Hudson wonders why the iron elements have been prettified instead of being left raw. Of these sculptures he writes:

Given this deep resonance, the resulting works are oddly impersonal. Spanners, horseshoes, large cogs, bits of agricultural machinery are welded into rhythmic arrangements that play with symmetry and asymmetry. Certain elements - a silhouetted dog, a guitar, a treble clef - have been specially created, but it’s difficult to see what purpose they serve, other than to add a whimsical autobiographical element. These pieces aren’t without wit, but the application of a silvery gloss finish blunts their rawness, enhancing their essentially decorative character.

The other two sections of the show feature iconic American magazine covers like Rolling Stone but blown up large and evidently on canvas with surreal images of some sort. (I have not seen them and do not even know what to guess as regards their appearance.) The last section, which Hudson did find effective, was car doors studded with bullet holes and names after Depression-era gangsters. States Hudson, Their battered, rusting surfaces are beautifully recreated, evoking the scuzzily immemorial Mid-West that has inspired some of Dylan’s best music.

Read the rest of Hudson's two star review here.

And see photos from the show here

For Hudson Dylan's foray into the art scene is a hobby. I myself have enjoyed his paintings and would really enjoy seeing this show. As for his significance as an artist, he's not dead yet and has plenty of time to prove himself. Maybe being a celebrity is too much of a handicap to overcome in order to be taken seriously.

Chris Monroe fans are many and growing.

Tonight @ Red Mug

The Red Mug in Superior is having an opening reception tonight from 5:00-7:00 p.m. for Chris Monroe and her exhibit titled Look Again. Monroe, famous for her whimsical illustrations for children's books, has a healthy fan club. The artist will be there and it's my hope to see you there, too.

Till another space in time.