Bob Dylan on 60 Minutes

so Dylan made his first Television interview almost 20 years.. by my count his last one was for an Australian program back in 1986.... the interview ran on 60 minutes this past sunday... as usual he says very little!... if you missed it you can check it out- and i'm not sure for how long- at http://radio.weblogs.com/0123486/2004/12/06.html#a1828

On a related topic i've gotten about half way Dylan's recently issued book "Chronicles Volume 1"....to me its fascinating reading... you can look at the book in different ways... the writing itself (the style if you will) is interesting... dylan's is a great writer in whatever medium he chooses.. wether a song lyric or a book... as far as what he is writing about i find some of the observations revealing.. to get his extended take on harry belafonte for example (particularly knowing- bob does not mention it in his book- that his made his debut on a recorded album playing harmonica on a belafonte record).... to read that he believes woody guthrie sent him out on an ill fated trip to his wife's home from his hospital where he lay dying to pick up a box of discarded lyrics which subsequently became the mermaid avenue project boggles the mind.. what if he had got his hand on the lyrics?.... all i know is the book is what dylan is willing to write for us to read........ its one version of history.. the fact that he's put it out there makes it of interest.. at the very least, and if you're as distrusting as i am of his motives, we know this is what he wants us to think and we can wonder why..obviously for someone like myself its a bit dissapointing to read his constant attempts to distance himself from the 60s...in the 60 minutes interview for example he makes it quite clear that if people attached political meanings to his songs such as times they are a-changin' they were not listening to the songs.. that seems hard to accept...even for me, someone, perfectly happy to have followed his songwriting arc as its evolved over the past few decades...

then again we have to keep in mind that dylan has always used his interviews to confuse rather than clarify the matter so why would 60 minutes have been any different?