Who is the greatest singer alive, and why is it Bob Dylan?

The only rock star to get a Nobel Prize wrote some of the best songs in the English language and also happens to be the best singer alive.

If you’re just coming across this Substack, welcome. I’m Rodney. I have strong opinions about many topics, but I choose to write about music.

If you’ve read any articles in my ongoing Anthology Revisited series, or happen to know me in real life, you’re likely aware of my appreciation for Bob Dylan’s work. Today, I want to get into Dylan a little bit, but I’m gonna try to dial back the verbosity, and share some music to support that grandiose statement with which I titled this article.

To support my claim, I’ve selected five performances from throughout Dylan’s career, in the order they came to mind. I chose this random style because it gives me plenty of room to share further evidence in the future.

Without further ado….

Mr. Tambourine Man - July 10, 1981 - Drammenshallen - Drammen, Norway

The video contains the whole show. The whole show is great. Hell, the whole tour is great. But this Mr. Tambourine Man deserves special attention because it is unlike any other version. The song’s musical arrangement was the same throughout the tour, but on this particular evening, Dylan gave himself completely to the song, and turned in a transcendent performance that begs to be heard. The video is cued to start at Mr. Tambourine Man, but if something goes amiss, and you need to scroll to find it, the song starts about 1 hour and 4 minutes into the video. This is dynamite.

That Lucky Old Sun from the 2015 album Shadows in the Night

The twenty teens were Dylan’s “Sinatra” phase. He didn’t exclusively do songs performed by Old Blue Eyes, but over the course of three albums (the third of which was a triple album), Dylan dug into the Great American Songbook and gave us his versions of the classics. This particular performance stands out to me because Dylan give it everything he’s got. I know…. “gives it everything he’s got” is a lame, generic description, but that’s exactly what he does. Listen all the way to the last note, listen to his voice as the song is fading out. The man inhabits this song.

When He Returns - April 20, 1980 - Massey Hall - Toronto, Canada

After Dylan’s much-publicized conversion to Christianity, he put out one stellar album (Slow Train Coming), and delivered some of his most heartfelt and emphatic performances. You don’t have to be a believer in Christ to appreciate the conviction with which Dylan sings this song.

Forever Young - Shadow Kingdom - Recorded in 2021, released in 2023

In the hazy days of the early twenties, concerts stopped for a while, and we didn’t know if or when Dylan would return to the stage. Then, one day, out of the blue, an announcement drops from Dylan HQ that this sort of concert film “Shadow Kingdom - ‘The Early Songs of Bob Dylan’” would be available to stream. It features mostly older Dylan songs, performed somewhat differently than they originally appeared. The whole thing got an official release in 2023, and is worth watching all the way through. I just wanna bring your attention to this performance, which may not even be the best performance from Shadow Kingdom, but I like it a lot. He removes the chorus, and in doing so, breathes new life into this song.

Cold Irons Bound - June 11, 2004 - Bonnaroo - Manchester, TN

I’m gonna leave you with a smoking performance of a song from Dylan’s 1997 album Time Out of Mind. Like many Dylan songs, this one evolved a bit from its studio form once it showed up in the setlist. From its first appearance in 1997, it was always a highlight. Here, 7 years after its premiere, the song is a roaring blues rock guitar extravaganza with Dylan laying down some astounding vocals.

That’s it for now. I’ll revisit this theme in the future, and share another handful of performances to prove my simple point. No person alive can use their vocal instrument with as much skill as Bob Dylan.

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A Note

Bob Dylan is on tour again, but when isn’t he on tour? This time, he’s part of the 10th Anniversary Outlaw Music Festival Tour with Willie Nelson and a cast of other performers that will change throughout the summer. If they’re gonna be in your town and you don’t have anything better to do, check him out.

By the way, whenever Dylan is on tour, the setlist will appear at Boblinks.com shortly after the show ends. Bill Pagel, who runs the site, has been doing this for over 30 years, and the Internet has been a better place because of it.