Library Rock's Backpages

Bob Dylan: Love And Theft (Columbia/Sony)

Martin Colyer, Rock's Backpages, September 2001

BOB DYLAN turned up unannounced at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto in 1972, looking for Leon Redbone. Redbone was a singer and guitarist who was mining an eccentric seam of music from the '30s and '40s, mixing Fats Waller, show tunes and songs like Little Jimmy Dickens' 'May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose'. He was famous in a small way for his mysterious demeanour – no one knew what his real name was or where he came from, or even how old he was. He was just there, in his dark glasses and bowler hat and moustache, and Bob Dylan was looking for him.

Total word count of piece: 662

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.