Peter Stone Brown, a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter and writer, has followed Bob Dylan’s life and work for 46 years. He has frequently written about Dylan, and on Tuesday night was guest speaker at Nina Goss’s new Bob Dylan class at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
One of the fascinating things about Dylan is that nearly every serious student of the man’s life and work has something unique to say about him. Brown had many views, but two stood out. One is that Bob Dylan is one of the most Internet-ready musicians of our time; and second, many people misunderstand the outwardly dour Dylan’s incredible sense of humor.
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Peter Stone Brown at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Photo by Frank Beacham
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Brown said there are so many aspects to Dylan—his music, lyrics, poetry, religion, privacy and all the interconnections—that he’s “perfect” for the Internet. When it all started, Brown noted, there were no instant set lists or databases to compare Dylan’s works. All the Dylan websites are a rather recent phenomenon. Now there are dozens of communities of Dylan fans — from the “Slow Training Coming” site, to the “Tangled Up in Blue” site to the popular “Expecting Rain.”
All things Dylan are now categorized, from the set lists to his sidemen to the newspaper stories written about him. “Every single aspect of Dylan is now on the web,” Brown noted.
Perhaps because of Dylan’s sullen public demeanor, many people overlook the man’s incredible sense of humor. “There is no artist in the history of the world who has messed with the minds of his audience like Bob Dylan,” Brown said. “And he does it on purpose. Dylan is incredibly funny.”
Take the new Christmas album, which Brown has just reviewed. “Just the whole notion of Bob Dylan doing a Christmas album. Just the songs that are on it. It's so totally bizarre on one level. As one of his musicians said, there’s no ‘why’ to Bob Dylan.”
As to understanding Dylan, Brown said no performer is more unpredictable. “Dylan is a street cat at heart. He's an old beat. That's where he's coming from. In any of the Dylan movies — Renaldo and Clara, Eat the Document, Masked and Anonymous, any of them — he shows a love for lunatics. He will always go to lunatics on the streets. That’s important to know.”
