fig. a: great hair day
Bob Dylan turned 80 years old yesterday.
I’d been aware of the impending anniversary for a while, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it, aside from continuing to listen to his astounding, unparalleled body of work semi-obsessively, and trying to learn the occasional Dylan tune on my guitar.
So I grew my hair out.
fig. b: dece hair day
And I went out and picked up two bottles of Beaujolais, inspired by a passage from Nat Hentoff’s “The Crackin’, Breakin’, Shakin’ Sounds,” his New Yorker profile of the young phenom from 1964.
fig. c: Yea! Heavy and two bottles of wine!
I have no idea what “Beaujolais” signified at the time. Beaujolais Nouveau? Beaujolais-Villages? All I know, is that we’ve always been partial to wines from the Beaujolais region, especially crus from Morgon, and honest, light-bodied, inexpensive Beaujolais quaffers have been pandemic staples around here over the last several months—things like Christophe Pacalet’s Beaujolais les Marcellins 2019 and 2020. So when I saw that passage from the Hentoff piece, I knew exactly what I needed for the occasion.
Michelle outdid me, of course. Inspired by some friends of ours in Vancouver who baked Bob a birthday cake, she went ahead and did the same—she baked a strawberry shortcake she’d been wanting to make, and one she assured me Bob would appreciate, especially if he was still drinking Beaujolais.
We took it to a park, brought our bottles of wine, and had an impromptu 80th birthday picnic for Bob.
figs. d, e, and f: strawberry shortcake & Beaujolais for Bob
Of course, Michelle’s cake was modest in comparison with some of the birthday cakes Dylan has had in the past.
fig. g: Bob’s cake for his 25th birthday party, 1966
But Michelle’s strawberry shortcake was supremely delicious, and—she was right!—it paired very well with Beaujolais. We felt quite confident that Bob would have approved.
One of my favourite “Bob Dylan’s 80th Birthday” articles was this one from The Guardian that asked a whole host of prominent musicians to pick their favourite Dylan tunes of all time. The selections were shockingly conservative at times (really? “Blowin’ in the Wind”?)—a lot of them came from his very earliest albums, 1963-1965, and many of them were pre-electric. Luckily, the article contained a lot of great stories about encounters with Dylan and with his music, and the all-too-predictable choices were balanced out by some gonzo ones.
No one asked, but if I had to pick my “favourite” Dylan song, the tune that’s mesmerized me the most for the longest period of time, it would likely be “One More Cup of Coffee” from Desire, neither of which got mentioned in the Guardian piece. Is it that bass? Scarlet Rivera’s violin? The drums? That delicate bell sound? Those haunting vocals? That duet with Emmylou Harris? I have no idea. “All of the above,” in all likelihood. All I know is that it’s a song that hooked me the first time I ever heard of it, it’s never let go, and I’m quite sure it never will.
We didn’t have any coffee at our picnic—only Beaujolais—but it wouldn’t have been the worst idea. Probably would have been great with the shortcake.
Happy birthday, Bob! Thank you for the music. Thank you for the artistry. Thank you for the hair.
aj