Old folk and the 21st century … Bob goes down to cyber town as Pablo finds success in foggy ruins of time

Less than a decade ago Dylan’s rapper grandson was becoming the wild-eyed cherub of the internet while grandad Bob was going around the world rasping out the likes of Things Have Changed, Love Sick and She Belongs to Me.

They were both doing well … in his early 70s Bob was still capable of filling places like London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Tempodrom in Berlin.

At the same time 15 year old Pablo was somersaulting round cyber space like a chubby faced enfant terrible wearing a Bob Dylan wig.

But, in a way, both of them were reaching crossroads.

Pablo had been quite unprepared for the fame game – and for the scrutiny he’d received as the grandson of the greatest songwriter of the 20th and 21st centuries.

For his part Bob was churning out his back-catalogue and grinning like the Joker at his adoring audiences … a river boat captain in a polka dot shirt and a thunder-clap broad-brimmed hat.

And it took almost seven years for them to make create a whole new world for each other.

Yep, things had changed.

Pablo Dylan — the son of Bob’s oldest, Jesse — has said: “My grandfather, I consider him the Jay-Z of his time, I love him to death.”

The comparison might have grated a little with Ol’ Grandad Bob. Jay-Z – real name is Shawn Corey Carter, born December 4, 1969. He is an American rapper, songwriter and record boss executive.

Oh no! It’s definitely not in the genes for Levi Dylan who won’t be banging the drum for rock’n’roll…

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But Bob was already looking at the new cyber world to launch yet another strand to his mercurial career and as clocks struck midnight on March 27 2020 as the world wrapped in lock-down sheets, he released Murder Most Foul, a 16:57 minute opus on the internet.

Little information was given except for a brief statement from Dylan himself: “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting.”

Not long ago Pablo released his EP .The Finest Somersault

And it showed that his rapping days are gone, ay leat for now, and he is now well and truly in to folk-rock.

And it demonstrated that just like grandpa, he is well steeped in historical figures like Homer, Edgar Allan Poe, Hank Williams, Charley Patton and Ulysses S. Grant.

“I loved The Clash as a kid and they were also my dad’s favorite band. Me and my cousins and little sister grew up listening to “London Calling,” “Train in Vain,” Jimmy Jazz.” All those songs really meant something to me as a kid.
“When I started doing hip-hop records, the Clash really made sense to me, because when you sample stuff you’re kind of doing the same thing that the Clash did. It’s like, “OK, let’s just put all these different elements together and together they make a piece that is unique.

“I grew up in a house with music playing all the time. The Clash and then Robert Johnson and Charley Patton. There were a lot of folk songs too.

“And then when I was six, I heard Eminem for the first time and it just blew my mind. It was so aggressive. I’ve never seen the difference between genres. That never really made sense to me. And now people call me a folk artist because I’m playing acoustic guitar. You know, Shakespeare wrote plays and sonnets and it was the exact same to him. It didn’t matter.

“People like to simplify things. That’s part of being a human, but I want the songs to speak for themselves. It’s something I debate a lot. Does any artist actually matter? Does Edgar Allan Poe matter? Does Shakespeare matter? Does Homer matter? Or is it just the work they made? I think it’s probably just the work.”

And Bob’s new work – released on YouTube – certainly worked hitting No. 1. on the US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard). His first-ever No 1 single.

Sadly, Pablo didn’t do so well but it is a major work from last year and deserves some real attention.

Bob has 11 grandchildren, and he drives a van with the bumper sticker saying World’s Greatest Grandpa.

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