godthedog 0 Report post Posted December 31, 2003 Personally, I think Dylan is pretty overated. He's touted as the best singer-songwriter of all time, but in my view he just plain isn't. Granted, he had a pretty long purple patch, but he isn't the God people describe him as. I have never heard anyone EVER call Dylan one of the greatest singers of all-time...EVER. As for his songwriting abilities, his use of the English language is about as close to poetry set to music you will get in the last 50 years. Add to the fact that he was protesting the Vietnam War long before any other popular artist. Also add that he did not directly affect Sgt. Pepper. He directly affected the Beatles during the recording of Help! and Rubber Soul. Brian Wilson was so affected by Rubber Soul, and to a lesser extent Revolver, that he created Pet Sounds, which in turn, influenced Sgt. Pepper. but he has been called the greatest singer/songwriter. that doesn't mean best singer and best songwriter, it's a separate category unto itself. about dylan's singing abilities: technically he was not a good singer, but he was an amazing performer. he could take a bad voice and a so-so guitar-playing skill, and somehow put them together into something that sounded beautiful. and it wasn't the songwriting that did all the work. his royal albert hall version of "it's all over now, baby blue" is just heartbreaking. he could captivate his whole audience into silence with just his guitar, his voice & his harmonica, through the entirety of songs that would go on for ten minutes, without getting boring. there's not a whole lot of people who can claim to be able to do that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
