Joni Mitchell: Bob Dylan Is A “Plagiarist” And A “Fake”
By Travis Woods
Yesterday, in an interview with the L.A. Times, Joni Mitchell dropped a bomb (well, for classic rock/ folk fans it was bomb, to everyone else it’s probably more like distant thunder or that noise your new MGMT record makes when you turn it down super-low out of embarrassment when people pass by your car) in insisting that Bob Dylan—you know, that guy who wrote some of the greatest rock songs and lyrics in the American canon—is nothing but a liar and a fake.
In the interview, Mitchell was discussing how members of the ‘60s folk music community would adopt stage names (Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson, Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman), and the haughty Mitchell tossed out this reply:
“Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I.
As for my name, my parents wanted a boy, so they called me Robert John; when I came out a girl, they just added two letter A’s to that. Then I married Chuck Mitchell; I wanted to keep my maiden name — I had a bit of a following as Joni Anderson — but he wouldn’t let me.”
Huh. Ok, then. Glad we cleared that one up (but Blood on the Tracks still totally trumps Blue).
Moving on, when questioned for a response, Dylan wheezed: “Whatjacallinameeeeeeeforuhboutthis, Idoneveeeeeeeeeeeencare.”
What do you think of Mitchell’s comments about Bob Dylan?
Saturday, April 24, 2010 10:57AM
Joni is correct. Dylan's catalogue is full of songs stolen from other folk and blues artists.
Sunday, April 25, 2010 4:55PM
Blood on the Tracks was inspired by Blue – that's common knowledge and Dylan ha said he was listening a lot to Blue when writing it ( hence Tangled Up in Blue) The sad truth here is that Mithchell never got the credit she deserved and this latest statement sounds really bitter. For people in the know, she moved much further than Dylan musically and artistically in a short period of time. She started in the Dylan camp of folk and quickly achieved a unique sound which (being a woman in a male dominated arena) was never given due credit. Dylan and Mitchell are the Benchmark for all the good men and women songwriters who followed and it's their art we should be interested in – not their personalities or egos.
Monday, April 26, 2010 1:56PM
she does unfortunately sound bitter. perhaps she is. she lives her music like religion her voice her own instrument. her perspective is esoteric, it's not dismissable. people are foolish to think her inferior to him,but perhaps she lacks the distance needed to see what he projected to us. your comments were well taken gerry, thank-you for those insights
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:59PM
Alistair, I agree with you completely. To quote another great artist (Igor Stravinsky): "Good composers borrow; great composers steal." It's just how the arts work.