At 68, Bob Dylan is still busy being born

Susan Whitall / Detroit News Music Writer

The beauty of being a Bob Dylan fan is, no matter when you jumped aboard his train, the ride is diverting, it takes countless unexpected turns and the subject lends himself to endless study and interpretation.

When in the '60s they tried to pin Dylan down as the next Woody Guthrie, the voice of his generation, he took refuge out in the country and woodshedded on roots music with The Band.

We may resolve to quit him like a fickle lover after he's delivered a lackluster live show, but we know that the next time he might blast us out of our seats, he's so good (from all reports that's the Dylan we'll see Friday night at the Fox Theatre).

Here, using his own words as a guidepost, we explore the world of Dylan today.

"I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn" ("Shelter from the Storm").

You may have heard that Dylan has a new album out of Christmas songs, "Christmas From the Heart." It's no dark, folkie take on the holiday either. He sings mainstream jingle-bell tunes like "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Winter Wonderland." He's singing it straight, with no sense of irony, with backing vocals from a chorus channeling the Ray Coniff Singers. Some critics panned the album (the Chicago Sun-Times deemed it a "miserable listening experience"), but we like the warmth of his raggedy baritone. Dylan was a child of the '40s, raised on radio, and while he loved the rough side of blues and R&B, he loved all the crooners -- Bing, Dino, Sinatra -- as well.

Dylan has pledged all his royalties from U.S. sales of the album to the charity Feeding America, foreign royalties will go to various overseas charities.

"I had no songs in my repertoire for commercial radio anyway. Songs about debauched bootleggers, mothers that drowned their own children, Cadillacs that only got five miles to the gallon, floods, union hall fires, darkness and cadavers at the bottom of rivers weren't for radiophiles." (from his 2004 memoir, "Chronicles Volume One").

Ah, but Dylan had plenty of songs from other artists to play on his "Theme Time Radio" show on Sirius XM these past few years, a delightful hour of Dylan spinning his favorite records going back to the '40s and hitting roots music, R&B and the blues heavily. Each show had a theme ("Baseball," "Divorce," etc.), and the songs were interwoven with Dylan's pitch-perfect storytelling, gruff laughter and cooking tips. He isn't taping any new shows, but Sirius XM airs his archived shows 8 p.m. Mondays on XM 40, Sirius 14. For the many other airings, go to www.xmradio.com/bobdylan/.

"Oh my name it is nothin' My age it means less. The country I come from. Is called the Midwest ..." ("With God on Our Side").

He is from the upper Midwest. He was born in the spring of 1941 in the Iron Range of Minnesota, but his name is more than nothing. Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman, and called himself several things before introducing himself as "Bob Dylan," borrowing Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' first name. "Dylan" is now the name of countless male and female offspring of baby boomers, but alas he can't draw royalties.

"She was born in spring, and I was born too late..." ("Simple Twist of Fate").

Last July, a young New Jersey police officer picked up Dylan in Long Branch, N.J., on suspicion of being a vagrant. The 24-year-old cop had heard of Dylan, but she didn't believe the scruffy "older man" wearing two raincoats, black sweatpants and rain boots was the music icon. In her defense, even a security guard at the venue was adamant that the man in the back seat of her squad car was not him, although a tour manager finally identified him.

Dylan had been loitering near the lawn of a house for sale, "looking suspicious," prompting a homeowner to call the police. Some Dylan watchers believe he was sleuthing out a house where Bruce Springsteen lived when he was writing "Born to Run." Dylan recently toured the house Neil Young grew up in, in Winnipeg, Canada, giving rise to the conspiracy theory.

"He not busy being born is busy dying." ("It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding")

Unlike most touring artists, Dylan doesn't map out a setlist and stick to it mostly for an entire tour. The one man agent of change has had the usual flexible setlist lately, with the only constants being that he usually starts with "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat" or "Cat's in the Well" or "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking," and usually ends with "Like a Rolling Stone," "Jolene" and "All Along the Watchtower." What comes in between, depends upon the phases of the moon and the whim of Mr. Dylan. He has surprised audiences with the love song "To Ramona," which dates back to 1964. You can find setlists for all past Dylan shows posted at his Web site, bobdylan.com.

"Here's to Cisco an' Sonny an' Leadbelly too, an' to all the good people that traveled with you." ("Song to Woody")

It's good news that hotshot guitarist Charlie Sexton is back with Dylan's band on this fall tour, which just launched (if Dylan is ever actually off tour). Sexton joins drummer George Recile, guitarist Stu Kimball and bassist Tony Garnier. Whether or not Dylan plays more keyboards than guitar these days due to arthritis issues (hard to stand up so long) is unknowable in our universe, but it was noted by a reviewer that when Sexton rejoined the band last summer, Dylan actually seemed to be playing more guitar.

"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."("My Back Pages")

Dylan is now 68 and, if his Christmas album is any indication, is more of an iconoclast than ever. Those lucky enough to encounter him personally know he's a world-class wit and jokester.

In "Chronicles," one of the more startling revelations is that he drives a station wagon with the bumper sticker, "World's Greatest Grandpa."

When I recounted one of my favorite Dylan anecdotes to a music writer friend, he noted, "Well of course you know it may be totally made up, he spins fables about his life all the time."

Perhaps after a while, even Dylan doesn't remember where the boundary is between fact and legend. As one of our master shapeshifter/storytellers, he can do that.

Music Writer swhitall@detnews.com (313) 222-2156