3 Musicians Bob Dylan Gave Compliments To

Bob Dylan has always been a man of few words. Had used few words when it came to speaking publicly, though he had plenty when it came to writing songs. That being so, it seems one could count the times Dylan complimented another musician on one hand. And frankly, he didn’t do this because he was a grump. He seemingly did it only because he meant it. That is refreshing in a world where many celebrities throw compliments around willy-nilly.

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Given that Dylan rarely gave public compliments about other artists, the musicians on the receiving end knew it was a sincere compliment. Those compliments were not just things he said to bolster his public image, as we all know he’s never cared about that to a certain degree. With all that in mind, let’s look at three times Bob Dylan sang the praises of other musicians.

Neil Young

Funny enough, Bob Dylan has praised and criticized Neil Young. Though, the positive outweighs the negative in this instance, given the sincerity of Dylan’s compliments. Also, Dylan and Young were rivals to a certain extent, so Dylan didn’t have to go out of his way to say anything nice, even if he did believe it. Nonetheless, Dylan knows where to pay credit and where credit is due.

Dylan divulged his praise for Young in 2007 when he told Rolling Stone, “Neil is very sincere, if nothing else. He’s sincere, and he’s got a God-given talent, with that voice of his, and the melodic strain that runs through absolutely everything he does. […] Neil’s the only one who does that. There’s nobody in his category.”

Willie Nelson

Frankly, this one isn’t too surprising. Who doesn’t respect and admire Willie Nelson in some fashion? Though again, Dylan has always been very sparing with his superlatives, so any compliment from him is a compliment well deserved.

During Willie Nelson’s Big Six-O – An All-Star Birthday Celebration, Dylan told a reporter, “[Willie] gets to the heart of it in a quick way, gets it out, and it’s over, and it just leaves the listener to think about it. His guitar playing is really, pretty phenomenal. I don’t really ever see anybody giving him any credit as a musician, but in my book he’s pretty up there in the top.”

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra is one of the greatest musical influences of all time, and so is Bob Dylan. So, it makes sense why Dylan has such an affinity for the man and had a lot of praise for him. This might be the most vocal Dylan has ever been about another musician, too.

Bob Dylan profoundly told The Guardian, “[Frank] is the mountain. That’s the mountain you have to climb, even if you only get part of the way there. He had this ability to get inside of the song in a sort of a conversational way. Frank sang to you — not at you.”

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