Re: Dylan's harp style

[Kevin Patrick <kpatrick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 1 Oct 1994, Ken Ficara wrote:
> I love Bob Dylan, I think he's a fantastic songwriter and singer and a
> better musician than he's often given credit for. 
> 
> However, he is a terrible harp player. He's melodically inventive but he
> has no tone, no technique, and he makes so many amateurish mistakes --

At the risk of initiating a flame war, wasn't Dylan more of an "idea" man 
than a musician (in the classical sense of that term:  i.e., being 
extremely proficient with your musical instruments)?  By that I mean, his 
singing was not what most would call acceptable then or now, and his guitar 
playing was not overwhelmingly technical; but he had a firm grip on 
delivering concepts in a passionate manner.  In some ways, audiences 
overlooked the fact that his singing and harmonica playing were so 
unusual, because of the concepts he tried to communicate.

As usual IMHO,
Kevin