Red Ronnie: “Bob Dylan undeservedly exalted, in America he is not a myth”

“I declined the offer to participate in Bon Dylan’s birthday celebrations, because I personally preferred Donovan, who was mistakenly referred to as the British Bob Dylan. Dylan’s songs have never actually been successful, unless performed by others, from the Byrds, from Manfred Mann, from Jimi Hendrix. In short, I don’t participate in this general exaltation of Bob Dylan. ” Red Ronnie, music critic, journalist who with his show ‘Roxy Bar’ has seen many great artists parade, shares with Adnkronos his vision of the American musician, poet and composer who turns 80 on May 24th. “I have never liked Bob Dylan so much and I want to see how many of those who exalt him really listen to Bon Dylan. I think his exaltation is undeserved.” “He had a great influence, yes, but – says Red Ronnie – he is credited with so many merits that he did not have, like that of having electrified the guitar in folk which was a scandal. It happened in Newport. Actually the credit. it was Mike Bloomfield who broke his mind to play the acoustic guitar as a blues guitarist that he was. It was not, therefore, a merit of Bob Dylan who at that time played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in which he c ‘was Mike Bloomfield. ” Not only. “The American poets then went to those New York clubs to declaim their works. Well, the poet Allen Ginsberg said that Bob Dylan would be more successful than them, even though his lyrics weren’t beautiful, just because ‘he put the guitar under ‘. “What if Red Ronnie were to point out a song by Dylan that he liked? “My favorite song was ‘Hurricane’ dedicated to the boxer who ended up in prison, even if it did not serve the purpose: to obtain Hurricane’s release. Bob Dylan lived in Woodstock but refused to go to the city festival because he didn’t “It was enough money. Well, I can’t love an artist like that, apart from the fact that I don’t like his nasal voice. And then let’s remember that the myth of Bon Dylan is more an Italian than an American myth.”