Althouse: For Dave and for Bob, it's "The Late Show," and the hour is getting late.

May 20, 2015

For Dave and for Bob, it's "The Late Show," and the hour is getting late.

A sincere delivery of "The Night We Called It a Day," and a nice intro by Dave.

I doubt if much of the audience understood what Bob Dylan was trying to do here. Letterman's intro included the statement that Bob is the greatest songwriter, but the song performed was written by someone else — from Bob's new album of cover songs, Frank-Sinatra-related cover songs. Bob looked a tad tormented, and I wondered if he might be thinking that people wouldn't understand why he was doing this and I retreated to the position that the mind of Bob Dylan is simply an unknowable phantasmagoria. When Dave came over to thank Bob, after the song was over, Bob accepted the handshake and then wandered off as if... well, I really don't know. Like there was too much confusion and he was looking for some way out of here.

For Dave and for Bob, it's "The Late Show," and the hour is getting late.

16 comments:

Heartless Aztec said...: Well it could have been worse. He could have been stuck in Mobile with a bad case of the Memphis blues...again.; 5/20/15, 8:29 AM
Etienne said...: I hate to say this, but I think he was a good songwriter, but a lousy singer. I say this as a non-singer myself, expert in the failure of vocal chords that do not resonate.

So anyway, calling someone a great songwriter, is to say, maybe, they can't sing worth a damn.

Seems an accurate introduction.; 5/20/15, 8:34 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: As a wit once noted - Anybody can sing to Bob Dylan and everybody can dance to the Grateful Dead.; 5/20/15, 8:38 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The last episode of Mad Men was superb, IMHO.

That said, there was a part of me that was sort of hoping that the final episode would be done in real time. The bus pulls up. Don Draper gets on. Pays his fare. Takes his seat. And we watch whatever happens.

I thought the way The Graduate ended was brilliant.; 5/20/15, 9:26 AM
LarryK said...: Dave was muttering small talk at the wall, while Bob was in the hall; 5/20/15, 9:48 AM
Anonymous said...: The band played fluidly with a notably good guitar solo. Bob doesn't smile & looks nervous, but he sang better than I've heard him sing in decades, which may not be saying much by itself. I understand that only one album cover photo of his has a pic of him smiling- Nashville Skyline. Maybe also New Morning.; 5/20/15, 10:07 AM
Conserve Liberty said...: Bob's just Bob. And that's as God intended it.; 5/20/15, 10:10 AM
LarryK said...: BTW, here is a great article on Dylan's first Letterman appearance way back in 1984

http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/strange-saga-of-dylans-first-letterman-gig.html; 5/20/15, 10:11 AM
dustbunny said...: I loved the introduction, he said a lot in few words. The whole thing was quite dylanesque. I've read he has arthritis and can't play the guitar anymore. The wandering around looked like frustration to me, like a singer who always had props, never got used to just standing there, alone with a mic. Althouse did a nice job summing it up. Is the extra mic for the absent Sinatra?; 5/20/15, 10:12 AM
Amexpat said...: I thought Dylan sang very well. He was skittish, perhaps because he was at a venue where he didn't have his usual level of control.

As much as I like Dylan, I found his hair dye job to be creepy.; 5/20/15, 11:14 AM
Mark O said...: "Bob looked a tad tormented."

That cat was higher than a kite.; 5/20/15, 11:36 AM
mikeski said...: Whatever happened to that Soy Bomb guy?; 5/20/15, 12:06 PM
mikee said...: Thank the gods of entertainment that Dave is finally off the air - only one, maybe two, decades past his prime.; 5/20/15, 12:33 PM
Fritz said...: surfed said...
As a wit once noted - Anybody can sing to Bob Dylan and everybody can dance to the Grateful Dead.

Then sing and dance to Dylan and the Dead: http://www.openculture.com/2012/08/bob_dylan_and_the_grateful_dead_rehearse_together_in_summer_1987_listen_to_74_tracks.html; 5/20/15, 1:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Letterman is done? Great! Nasty prick.; 5/20/15, 4:43 PM
RecChief said...: When I read, "The hour is getting late," all I heard in my head was Jimi Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower; 5/20/15, 8:47 PM