A series of short, personal reflections on Dylan were wonderfully woven together with old interviews
Archive On 4: Bob Dylan and Me (Radio 4, Saturday) is one of a slew of suitably cool, clever programmes in the Dylan at 70 season. And this edition of Archive on 4 was quite something: a series of short, personal reflections on aspects of Dylan's music, style and career, linked together by some brilliant snippets of old interviews, many broadcast for the first time. The individual elements, old and new, were all fascinating, but it was the creative melding of them that made this a distinctive listen.
Michael McClure, describing his discovery of Dylan as "a kinda nodal experience", had glittery beat poet anecdotes to share, but focused on Dylan's lyrics as poetry ("it was the grail we were all secretly after"). Christopher Ricks analysed religious aspects to the songs ("all great religious art risks blasphemy") and this was juxtaposed with a drawled interview clip (Dylan: "We're all spirit, dressed up in a suit of skin").
Greil Marcus deconstructed guitar parts on one track, blending rigorous analysis with silly noises ("doodly, doodly, doodly, do"), while Cerys Matthews played her guitar to show Dylan's connectedness to the roots of music. My favourite contributor was Natasha Morgan, who saw Dylan's first UK performance. What she recalled was just his startling youth and ordinariness: "He looked like one of my mates."
Shakara Ledard Vanessa Marcil Rachel McAdams Kristin Cavallari Brittany Murphy
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