On the surface, Bob Dylan and The Who are worlds apart. The UK group emerged from the fashion-focused Mod movement, espousing volume, feedback, and Pop Art in the process. Bob Dylan first found fame in the low-key coffeehouses of Greenwich Village, his cryptic word-play revolutionising the folk scene. Somehow, though, the two have become conjoined over the years – with The Who’s Pete Townshend even earning one of Dylan’s gnomic tweets earlier this week.
The guitarist turned 80, sparking a message from his American peer: “Happy birthday Pete. Who’s the new boss? Is he like the old boss? Have you met him yet? Say hello to Roger.”
Happy birthday Pete. Who’s the new boss? Is he like the old boss? Have you met him yet? Say hello to Roger.
A reference to The Who’s epic rock classic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, the message comes after years of subtle influence on their work.
Speaking to Rolling Stone once, Pete Townshend reflected that Bob Dylan created “a new style of writing” for pop musicians. He said: “Dylan was the one who I think got the message across to The Beatles, that you could write songs about subjects other than falling in love. It was something John Lennon, perhaps most of all, picked up on right away. He quickly ditched the rock tropes of old and focused his expressions into personalised pop songs.”
As for his own work, Dylan’s influence seemingly crept into The Who’s smash hit single ‘My Generation’ – still a cornerstone of their live sets, the refrain “hope I die before I get old” is something octogenarians Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend no doubt laugh at.
“When I started to work on ‘My Generation’, I started to work on a Mose Allison/Bob Dylan hybrid of a talking folk song y’know… That’s a bit Mose and a bit Dylan. You can take any song of his and find something in it that’s pertinent to today.”
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As for Pete Townshend’s own favourite Bob Dylan song, he points to an early acoustic number: ‘Girl From The North Country’, which appears on Dylan’s ‘Freewheelin’ album.
“I had an argument with Bob Dylan about it,” he said. “He said ‘a folk singer is just a man with a good memory’, but I have to give him credit for having reminded me of that song.”
There’s currently no stopping either party. Bob Dylan is on the road right now, and The Who open their North American farewell tour this Autumn.
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