May 12, 2009

Bob Dylan, unrecognized, took an ordinary tourist tour of John Lennon's childhood home.

"He could have booked a private tour but he was happy to go on the bus with everyone else."

IN THE COMMENTS: There's some talk about running into celebrities and Palladian says:
I once ran into Woody Allen. Literally. He was coming out the in door at Lincoln Center and I smacked right into him. He was wearing Woody Allen clothes, his trademark glasses and a fishing hat. I didn't knock him over or anything but he was obviously shaken up. The funny thing was, I automatically, instinctively reacted to him in a Woody Allen way. I started mumbling and saying "My God! I'm... I'm sorry, I'm really... My G-god, are you alright? Wow, I'm... shocked... shocked? I'm... surprised. I-I- are you ok? I mean, can I... can you... are you alright? Geez!" He mumbled right back in a Woody Allen way as he composed himself and then he took off into the plaza. It was really, really surreal because for a brief few moments I was basically in a scene from a Woody Allen movie.
Then this Trooper York comment slips in next:
I do think it is a shame and a crime that he has not yet been elected to the Overrated Hall of Fame.

Well maybe the veterans committee will correct that injustice.
He adds:
Oh and that goes for the Woodsman too.
And Palladian's all:
It's the Academy of the Overrated, along with such notables as... Gustav Mahler and Carl Jung and Isaac Dinesen... and Van Gock.
With video:

50 comments:

ricpic said...

He also puts his pants on, one leg at a time. Amazing.

Bissage said...

I once didn’t notice I was seated next to David Cassidy so that just goes to show you!

Jordan said...

Everybody knows Dylan doesn't wear any pants!

traditionalguy said...

Dylan and Lennon meet together in a moment of time...Could this be a sign of the end? If they came along today, Dylan could not get to the second round of AI, but Lennon might reach the finals.

Quasimodo said...

"If they came along today, Dylan could not get to the second round of AI, but Lennon might reach the finals."

So, I'm sitting here thinking ...
AI? AI? Artificial Intelligence? What is traditionalguy talking 'bout?

I don't watch the show.

And Dylan shouldn't get to the second round

Amexpat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amexpat said...

There was a post here of something similar he did at Neil Young's boyhood home. Dylan, in a recent Rolling Stone interview, said that he likes to go to the childhood homes of people he admires to get a better sense of the environment that formed them.

Hibbing is on my list.

John said...

I wonder how many other celebrities, letalone ones of his stature, could blend in well enough to pull that off. Very few I would suspect. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dylan and a few others could do it. But most would either have to call attention to themselves or would absolutely freak out being that close to ordinary people.

John said...

"If they came along today, Dylan could not get to the second round of AI, but Lennon might reach the finals."

I don't know about that. Lennon could really sing, but I have little faith in a crapwesal like Crowell's judgment of real talent versus bullshit. I have often wondered what would happen if a truly great singer, like Marvin Gaye or Sam Cooke walked into on of those cattle calls, if Crowell would even know what he was listening to.

chuck b. said...

It's like that song from the 1990s, What If God Was One of Us.

Modern Otter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Modern Otter said...

Dylan must really be able to blend when necessary. Another such story involving him and Leo Kottke.

Jeremy said...

"The second round of AI?"

As if that would be an indication of Dylan's or any really talented poet/songwriter's abilities?

How many of the AI winners does anybody think will even be employed as entertainers in oh, let's say...40 years from now?

How many are even successful right now?

The previous "winners" have racked up an astounding total of 7 Grammy Awards, with Carrie Underwood accounting for 4.

rhhardin said...

Childhood neighborhood toured, just not by anybody famous.

traditionalguy said...

Jeremy... You are correct about AI's popular singers standards. That's my point about Dylan. Dylan is from another place than popular singers are from. Yet Lennon might get an Idol award. They were both great in their own ways. Creativity in words and music is a gift that we can all admire, whether we are defenders of traditions or debaters for progressive ideas.

Cardboard FLOTUS said...

I remember reading years ago that Bob Dylan turned the Beatles on to weed, which, if true, is another way of saying, “No Dylan, no Beatles,” because without hemp they would have never got past “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Unfortunately, they did so much weed (and other hallucinogens) that they reduced themselves to “Love, love, love . . . . All you need is love.”

But to the point of this post: it’s not ironic that Dylan played a character named “Alias” in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Larry J said...

I wonder how many other celebrities, letalone ones of his stature, could blend in well enough to pull that off. Very few I would suspect. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dylan and a few others could do it. But most would either have to call attention to themselves or would absolutely freak out being that close to ordinary people.Frankly, I'm more impressed with what David Lee Roth is doing. Several years ago, he quietly became a paramedic. He's still at it and taking it very seriously. Not long ago, he pulled a 12 hour shift with my son, a Navy ER nurse, to get more trauma experience. Being a paramedic is a tough gig - you're exposed to people on the worse (and often last) day of their lives. I'm seriously impressed with Roth for doing it, and I admire him even more for not drawing attention to himself. He does it because he wants to, not to promote himself.

knox said...

How do you not recognize Bob Dylan??

Especially with no pants. I mean, you'd take extra notice wouldn't you?

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Stodder said...

We all think of Dylan as a songwriter and performer.

I think he thinks of himself as, broadly speaking, a folklorist. John Lennon and Neil Young are just two of hundreds of performers in which Dylan has an almost obsessive interest. From the very beginning, his performing career was a by-product of his worshipfulness. I love that about him.

sakredkow said...

I think BD once said that of the Beatles George was his real buddy.

BTW, it was 46 years ago tonight that Bob Dylan DIDN'T play "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Palladian said...

I once ran into Woody Allen. Literally. He was coming out the in door at Lincoln Center and I smacked right into him. He was wearing Woody Allen clothes, his trademark glasses and a fishing hat. I didn't knock him over or anything but he was obviously shaken up. The funny thing was, I automatically, instinctively reacted to him in a Woody Allen way. I started mumbling and saying "My God! I'm... I'm sorry, I'm really... My G-god, are you alright? Wow, I'm... shocked... shocked? I'm... surprised. I-I- are you ok? I mean, can I... can you... are you alright? Geez!" He mumbled right back in a Woody Allen way as he composed himself and then he took off into the plaza. It was really, really surreal because for a brief few moments I was basically in a scene from a Woody Allen movie.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cedarford said...

Trooper York said...
Dylan Thomas once threw up on me at the White Horse and I didn't recognize him.
But I did realize he had shepards pie for lunch.
Excellent!

Reminds me of a small brass plaque inlaid into our table top by English operators of a bar in Hong Kong. That we were three beers and an order of dim sum into, before noticing. "Richard Burton projectile vomited in this very booth, April 4th, 1966. He even helped clean it up. A true Welshman."

Of course, we personally missed it by 30 years. The only one who ever vomited on me was an officer girlfriend who drank too many Harvey Wallbangers and then tried screwing...No celebrity...but she did get some "1st Female Award" from her post-military employer for something she did..

Palladian said...

"I do think it is a shame and a crime that he has not yet been elected to the Overrated Hall of Fame."

It's the Academy of the Overrated, along with such notables as... Gustav Mahler and Carl Jung and Isaac Dinesen... and Van Gock.

Jen said...

Palladian:

I ran into (again literally) Christopher Reeve.

I was outside of my sister's place on West 66th in NYC. I wasn't looking where I was going, talking to someone, and plowed right into him, fell over, he caught me and I, like a complete idiot, said, "It's. . . .superman."

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark O said...

Neither Dylan nor Lennon would ever try out for AI. Nor would they join an online dating service.

I know, let's make a list of the things they would never, ever do.

For Dylan, I am certain he would never play an electric guitar.

Who's next?

Beldar said...

Dylan is the most overrated celebrity of all time, IMHO.

I'm ambivalent about Woody Allen, whose work includes both the tedious and the brilliant and a lot in between, but whatever.

I am not ambivalent, however, about Mariel Hemingway's performance in "Manhattan" -- which I thought was utterly captivating in 1979, and which I think is still utterly captivating in 2009 (even though I now am obliged to feel guilty when I watch it).

Buford Gooch said...

OK, Trooper, that comment about Sarah Jessica Parker was just mean.

Not to her. I almost choked on my own saliva when I read it.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I liked Woody Allen when he was on Cheers, but he kind of creeped me out in Anger Management.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
knox said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
knox said...

I think he thinks of himself as, broadly speaking, a folklorist. John Lennon and Neil Young are just two of hundreds of performers in which Dylan has an almost obsessive interest.

Ugh, Lennon, Dylan and Young. I'm not even saying they aren't all amazingly talented, but what a quintessentially Boomer trio. It's making ME want to puke, and I haven't even had shepard's pie.

*hugs, boomers!*

ricpic said...

I don't think Van Gock is overrated. Overexposed, maybe.

Ron said...

Is it ok to say France is overrated?

TMink said...

I find Jung very interesting, if difficult to read. The most interesting and clinically useful portion was his work on archetypes. Some of the men's movement writers did some wonderful work with archetypes that I used for years when working with adolescent boys.

A friend of mine was working as a neighborhood watch guy in a ritzy neighborhood in LA. He was up on the top of a hill burning one when a figure came out of the darkness below him. "It's the coyOtes, they are KILLing my chIkens. You gotta DO something. Oh, hi, I'm Bob Dylan, but you gotta DO something."

My friend almost fell on the ground laughing then managed to say "I am on the case Mr. Dylan. Those coyOtes don't stand a chance with me sir."

Trey

rcocean said...

Good lord - Bob Dylan is overrated.
And like many boomers, Althouse seems fixated on the alleged "greatness" of Dylan. What is this Bob Dylan post number 1,420?

Let it go. But thanks for the clip from "Manhattan". Keaton was hilarious.

KCFleming said...

I collided with Prince when he was attending a Seventh-day Adventist meeting down the street from my house, and tried to leave out a side door that spilled onto the sidewalk. I apologized and my then-11-year-old daughter said Hi Mr. Prince.

I said nothing because I was staring at the woman he was with, some Apollonia clone, but an absolute vision. God is truly good.

Jeremy said...

Wow, this reminds me of the time I ran into the street, and it was a really famous street, and I mean, well, I mean...it was really, really surreal because for a brief few moments I thought I was on the sidewalk, and than, and this also surreal, I felt like I was basically in a street in a city.

And then there was the time I collided with and asteroid on the way to a Seventh-day Adventist rap session that was down the street from my house, and when I tried to leave out a side door, I spilled onto the sidewalk.

It was really cool.

Jeremy said...

Oh, and I saw Pogo and Trooper whining about something.

Cool.

Largo said...

"""Frankly, I'm more impressed with what David Lee Roth is doing.
"""
Thanks for that new one Larry. I am also impressed by celebrities who follow other, less glamorous vocations. Not that it should be expected of any, but it evinces a roundness of character (and discipline) that is refreshing to see.

John Travolta's penchant for piloting 707s comes especially to my mind as pretty cool (notwithstanding his connection with emotionally distressed clams! *ducks*)

KCFleming said...

Oh, and Prince was really, really small.

His bodyguard was not, in directly inverse proportions. Like the anti-Prince.

I was afraid that should they accidently bump, all of existence would be destroyed.

TMink said...

Jeremey, you are really the toilet paper of this blog.

Used in fact.

Trey

KCFleming said...

Like Beavis and Butthead combined.

Beavhead.

Tank said...

Allen's movies are kind of hit and miss, but his standup routines were excellent.

Unlike many, he actually had MATERIAL, well-written stories that were laugh out loud funny.

He did not do a show consisting of dirty words or asking the audience where they came from. He had a real act.

Ann Althouse said...

Aw, come on, give Jeremy a break. He's finally trying to be creative and funny instead of boring.

Ann Althouse said...

And there are only 118 Dylan posts.