Derbyshire on Dylan

I can't believe it! A positive take on Dylan at NRO! Never thought I'd see the day. And from Derbyshire, who last I heard was accompanying Jay Nordlinger to the Met. Here's Derbyshire on his first impression of Dylan:

As artistic first impressions go, I think that was the deepest I ever experienced. I still recall the strangeness of that voice and the things it was saying, the strangeness. It sounded like nothing else at all. Of course, I had come late to Dylan. This was his fourth LP, and in the earlier ones, which I went out and bought more or less immediately, he did sometimes sound like other people, though it took me a lot of background listening to appreciate the fact.

Dylan, in fact, had done what all great artists do. He had begun by attempting dead-on imitations of his own idols: 1950s pop singers like Johnnie Ray, country singers like Hank Williams, the black blues and gospel singers, early rockers like Gene Vincent and Little Richard (the caption to Dylan’s high school yearbook photo declared his ambition “to join Little Richard”), and of course the older line of gritty folk and protest balladeers — Cisco Houston, Woody Guthrie.

And from one of Nordlinger's Impromptu's a couple of years ago, here's one of the funniest things I've ever read at NRO:

Finally, the HILARITY OF THE WEEK. A couple of days ago, amid the fan mail (thank you, dear ones), there was . . . er, some non-fan mail. This guy was ripping me six ways to Sunday for offensive remarks about Bob Dylan, the musician (or whatever). It was a scalding, sarcastic, seriously personal letter.

I couldn't for the life of me remember ever writing about Bob Dylan. So, intrigued, I did a search, and discovered that the man had read an interview conducted by me with the composer Ned Rorem — who did, indeed, rip Bob Dylan six ways to Sunday.

In a mischievous mood, I wrote back — just slightly disingenuously — "Excuse me, sir, I don't know what you're talking about, having never written about Bob Dylan, to my knowledge. Do you perhaps have me confused with someone else?"

And he sent me back the following note:

"My apologies. It was someone you interviewed. The other day, a kid was throwing rocks at a turtle in a creek in my yard. I called out to him, 'Hey! Don't do that to that turtle!' He looked at me and then at the turtle, then back at me. 'That's my hat!' he said. I must be on a roll."

I'll say!