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Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy \/ Album Cover<\/p>\n
Mon 5 October 2026 1:45, UK <\/p>\n
Simon Cowell once confessed that had\u00a0Bob Dylan<\/a>\u00a0rolled through the shiny doors of his TV show\u00a0American Idol,\u00a0he probably wouldn\u2019t have put him through to the next round.<\/p>\n I, personally, was relieved to hear this admission, <\/a>for it sealed everything we needed to know about the TV show, Simon Cowell and all of the nonsense he was responsible for in the bleak cultural period of the commercial 2000s. But more than that, it lifted the lid on a very important discussion around Bob Dylan\u2019s voice and how it fits in the conventional model of music.<\/p>\n For so long, even before the days of Cowell, commercialism sold the idea that musical greatness aligns with perfection, where instruments are played at precisely the right times, and voices barely move outside of the designated pitch. But as a matter of fact, that\u2019s the complete opposite of great music, for art thrives best in areas of imperfections, where the uniqueness of its creator shines through.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Dylan, along with the likes of Neil Young and Bj\u00f6rk, is so vitally important to culture, despite having what many conventionalists would describe as a weird and unappealing voice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the duty of musicians and music lovers to protect the idea that artistry comes in all shapes and forms, and if anything, some of the most vital and important art has come from those without the sort of voice Cowell would have given a thumbs up to. Everyone who saw Dylan play live during his radical \u201860s pomp<\/a> could see that, for they understood the power of the culture they were living in. Well, everybody but David Crosby.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first heard Dylan in New York didn\u2019t like his singing,\u201d he remembered, adding, \u201cI thought, \u2018Why doesn\u2019t everybody like me more?\u2019 But then I went to see him perform and I got it\u2026 his songs!\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s worrying that a songwriter with such experience adopted the Cowell approach initially. As a founding father of the counterculture movement, he should have known perfectly how an artist like Dylan would captivate a crowd. But it shows just how little a recording can do for an artist, and how even in times of changing culture, the live performance is still the most authentic portrayal of someone\u2019s art. <\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter<\/p>\n