Bob Dylan vs Van Morrison

Which artist do you like more?

Bob Dylan

Ooooo tough chose.. again.. Dylan get's crap for his lousy singing voice but his voice works with his lyrical masterpieces, Van Morrison has a few hits that stand out..

I'll just vote for Dylan..

Van.

I tried to listen to dylan once, and I couldn't make it all the way through.

More often than not I see no point to these "contests". Just go with whatever you are listening to, why compare? But here it just has to be Dylan. He has been such a part of my life. I still rate "Blonde on Blonde" as the best album ever. His lyrics are beyond "good" and to those who decry his voice, I think it is simply an integral part of each song. Good grief, have you heard "Any Day Now" by Joan Baez, a double album of Dylan covers? Baez has a great voice but she sings each song as if a psalm from the Bible and all the grit and enigma of the words are stripped away leaving a mush of nothing.

I’m going with Van the man.

Both are wonderful iconic artists with great tunes and a lot to say.
For listening pleasure I pick Van The Man.....for cultural impact and influence on other musicians I pick Dylan.
I like the first 15 or 20 lps by both man equally though I think overall I have more Morrison lps and play them more.

dr wu said:

For listening pleasure I pick Van The Man.....for cultural impact and influence on other musicians I pick Dylan.

Click to expand...

There's a good book by Richard Thomas, "Why Dylan Matters". Thomas does a course every four years at a US University on Dylan, and it is always over-subscribed.

Thomas goes right down to the influences on Dylan himself, going back to the Roman poets. He quotes lines from Dylan's "Lonesome Day Blues" which echo lines from Virgil...

I’m gonna spare the defeated—I’m gonna speak to the crowd
I’m gonna spare the defeated, boys, I’m gonna speak to the crowd
I’m goin’ to teach peace to the conquered
I’m gonna tame the proud.

T.S.Eliot once said that immature poets imitate but that good poets steal...

"....bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds their theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, different from the feeling from which it is torn"

Anyway, whatever, I have well over 20 Dylan albums, some of the volumes.of the official bootlegs. The bootleg of the "Blonde on Blonde" years has what must be (IMHO) the worst alternative version of any song, "Visions of Johanna" - a fast version that to my ears is pure hell on earth!

But, thanks, my knowledge of Van Morrison is very limited. I never knew he had such an output. Every week I do a four hour stint at the local Oxfam Book & Music shop, up with the vinyl and CD's. I'll try to pick out a Van M album and give it a listen. Thanks.

​

I really like Van, but I vote for Bob Dylan..

I really like Dylan but overall I prefer Van. I like a lot of his albums, recently listened to Hard Nose the Highway