Why did everyone make a fuss when Bob Dylan turned sixty

A.� The fact that Bob Dylan is officially an 'old man' means that the 'protest generation' which Dylan single-handedly kick-started in the early 1960s is getting older as well, and they took a long look back at what had happened since those halcyon days.

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Q.� What has happened

A.� People who look back at popular music will realise that the impact made by Bob Dylan has made him one of the most influential musicians in modern times.

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Dylan was the first hugely successful artist who sang without the aid of what was considered to be a 'good' voice�- his own particular vocal style opened the doors for generations of singers who's success depended on their compositional skills, and the charisma they used in performance, rather than their ability to sing with perfect pitch. Dylan's writing style popularised the idiom of American folk music, which he took from the roots of his idols, Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams, and adapted to his own requirements.

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Q.� What adaptations did Dylan make

A.� His biggest change in musical style, and his most controversial, came when he switched from the acoustic style on which folk music is based, and adapted it with electric instruments and amplification, following the style of The Byrds who had taken Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man and given it an electric arrangement which in turn gave them a huge hit. From his early beginnings on the New York folk circuit, supporting legends such as Joan Baez, Dylan was evolving as an artist at a rate more rapid than some of his fans could understand or appreciate.

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Q.� Surely everyone makes albums or changes in direction that some fans don't like

A.� That's true, but no one could have been prepared for the hostility�that greeted Dylan's embrace of rock instrumentation, and his subsequent moulding of the rock and folk styles. In 1965, following the release of his Bringing It All Back Home album, Dylan played the Newport Folk Festival with an electric backing band, and received a reception of such dismay and hostility, that a lesser artist may well have reverted back to the formula that made him successful, that of acoustic folk musician.

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Q.� But Dylan was made of sterner stuff

A.� Most definitely. The thread that runs through Bob Dylan's career is his unwillingness to compromise his writing or recording, what ever the critics or audiences may say or do. Dylan has delighted and frustrated his huge army of fans in almost equal measure over a career of nearly forty years, with directional changes that appear almost deliberately contrary to what is expected or desired from him.

Having broken the 'three-minute single' formula by enjoying a hit single with Like A Rolling Stone clocking up six minutes, Dylan forged ahead with his new folk-rock style, adopting Ronnie Hawkins's backing band The Hawks who changed their name to The Band and toured the UK with Dylan.

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Q.� So Dylan was all set to embrace super-stardom

A.� Possibly, but fate intervened in the shape of a motorcycle accident. Details of how serious Dylan's injuries actually were are varied, but he took the opportunity to retire from commercial recording and touring, and concentrated on raising his family and living quietly with his wife Sarah. Dylan continued to experiment musically, recording a large selection of material with The Band, which was not intended for release, but became the world famous bootleg recording Great White Wonder plus various other releases.

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When Dylan returned to the music scene, it had evolved into bona fide 'rock' music�- Dylan responded by releasing John Wesley Harding, a folk album which returned him to the peak of commercial and critical acclaim. In 1971, Dylan returned to live performance, playing George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh. Listeners to the live album from the show hear George Harrison introducing 'A friend of us all, Mr Bob Dylan,' and the edited sections of the ten minute standing ovation Dylan received as he walked on stage�- proof of his stature as an artist and genuine social commentator.

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Q.� Did Dylan embark on any other original projects

A.� He did, writing a film soundtrack and appearing in the movie as an actor, both virtually unknown before. Dylan wrote the music for Sam Pekinpah's western Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid. Dylan's acting skills may leave something to be desired, but the single from the album, Knocking On Heaven's Door became a massive hit for Eric Clapton, and has been covered by Guns 'n' Roses and sampled by Gabrielle, proof of Dylan's ability to produce consistent and enduring songs.

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Q.� What do legends of Bob Dylan's stature do when they seem to have done everything

A.� In Dylan's case, he continued to plough his own artistic furrow, regardless of the trends around him, and indifferent to the commercial or critical reactions his projects received. Having embarked on what has become a virtually continuous touring schedule that carries on today�- commencing with the Rolling Thunder Revue, a modern medicine show-style fluid line-up of musicians including Woody Guthrie's son Arlo, beatnik poet Alan Ginsberg, and former Bowie sideman Mick Ronson, Dylan underlined again his love for the unusual and the eclectic aspects of musical performance.

In 1979, Dylan stunned his fans, and the world at large, by announcing himself as a born-again Christian, releasing a series of religion-based albums which were commercial successes, and critical failures, not that Dylan was especially bothered about either strand of reaction to his work.

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Through the 1980's Dylan continued to tour, taking both Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, and The Grateful Dead on the road as his 'backing' bands. In 1997, Dylan released Time Out Of Mind, his first album of original material in seven years. Any thoughts that maybe the sixties folk revolutionary was past his best were eliminated by the album's Top Ten chart placing, and Dylan appearing on the cover of Newsweek magazine. The album went on to win three Grammy Awards and propelled Bob Dylan into the stuff of genuine musical legend, a label he thoroughly deserves.

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Q.� What's next for Bob Dylan

A.� Based on his penchant for doing the unexpected, it's impossible to predict the musical or personal direction Bob Dylan will take as he moves into his sixties, but it's unlikely he will sit back and let the plaudits roll in. Taking the easy way never has been Bob Dylan's style, he's unlikely to start now.

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