The Rock and Roll Report » Cover Story - Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train Coming”, with artwork by Catherine Kanner

The concept was very concrete as he expressed it to me. As he explained it, this album was to be Dylan’s exploration of Christian ideas through his words and music. I recall being amazed to hear this. The graphic style was meant to have an engraved look - which pen and ink (my specialty) certainly mimics. CLICK HERE to read more

American Poet Genius Bob Dylan First Rocker to Get Pulitzer Nod

Accordingly to Yoko Ono, Lennon’s song, “God,” was intended as a dialogue with Dylan. Lennon spoke of Dylan as changing his writing at a time when the Beatles where bigger than anything the music world had ever seen. CLICK HERE to read more

Religious Forum: What is the role of your faith in the larger culture?

I’ve noticed a growing trend in popular music, that is, a Jewish trend. Of course there’s Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and other Jews in the music business, but none of them were as overtly Jewish as the stars of today. CLICK HERE to read more

AND THE WINNER IS...

I came late to Dylan and for years had been badgered by a friend who raved about the American folk singer with the whine in his voice. Anytime I casually listened I could hear the ‘whine’ clearly enough but little else. That was until one Sunday morning when I heard a track from a new Dylan album on the radio, The song was ‘I Believe In You’ and the just released album was ‘Slow Train A Comin’. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Reconciliation and Atonement

Dylan’s reaction to his Jewishness also is a product of that time, a time of anti-Semitism, when many Jewish performers, though proud of being Jewish, tried to hide their roots. CLICK HERE to read more

Who says what’s ‘Christian’ music?

Who says what is and is not “Christian” music? The Christian Music Trade Association, that’s who!
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Fast Train a' Comin'

On August 20, 1979, Bob Dylan caused a lot of listeners shock when he recorded a profound album that seemed to indicate he had become a Christian. People were asking, "How could such an enigmatic guru accept such a simple-minded message? CLICK HERE to read more

Questions, Answers Still Blowing in the Wind

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago. What are your memories of that day? What impact did it have on you? How is King relevant to you and to us today? CLICK HERE to read more

Sinead O'Connor

She's one of the most powerful singers from the past 20 years, but can she ever shake off that incident? CLICK HERE to read more

Blind Willie Johnson- The Complete

This is beautiful hair-raising music by one of the most influential roots musicians of the 20th century. He has indelibly changed many musicians (such as John Fahey, Bob Brozman, and Blind Willie McTell), who were floored upon first hearing him and forever tried to approach the haunting quality, rapturous power, and effortless virtuosity of Blind Willie Johnson's music. If you liked Washington Phillips (see archives), you'll like Blind Willie Johnson, and vice versa, methinks. CLICK HERE to read more

Rock 'n' Roll All the Way Down to the Pit!

IN 1979, BOB DYLAN regaled a Tempe, Arizona, audience with a show consisting entirely of songs from his two most recent records—the ill-received Christian albums Slow Train Coming and Saved. CLICK HERE to read more

Music On My Mind

The song stands, from the beginning, as a Civil Rights anthem. By 1964, Cooke had been listening to writers such as Bob Dylan, and was so impressed by Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” he felt compelled to write a song with a message that would touch people in the same way he had been touched by Dylan’s anthem. CLICK HERE to read more

Lipa, Lead Belly, and Adar

Huddie William Ledbetter, popularly known as folk and blues sensation Lead Belly, was and remains an important influence on contemporary music. His repertoire was diverse. The five hundred songs he composed can’t be pigeonholed into a single category, but touched on many styles and contexts. He was regarded as the master of the twelve-string guitar, but he played several other instruments as well.

He is also, it turns out, the probable source of the tune most of us will be singing come Shabbos: Mishenichnas Adar marbim besimcha. (The tune itself is an old slave song, but Lead Belly put it on the performance map.) CLICK HERE to read more

Rock and Roll and Jesus

Larry Norman was, by all accounts, an amazing and powerful force. According to an obituary in the Guardian, he claimed to have had the idea of Jesus Rock in 1956 when he was just nine years old, “when he was as excited by the sound of Elvis Presley as he was by the words of Jesus Christ.” CLICK HERE to read more

Believe

The singer/songwriter Bob Dylan once said, “People seldom do what they believe in, they do what’s convenient, then repent.” The world has seen more than it’s fair share of people who can scream what they claim to believe, but most of the world is still waiting to see it. CLICK HERE to read more

Foundations

In 1978, singer / song writer / poet / philosopher and guru of all things hip, Bob Dylan experienced a personal and musical transformation which he attributed to coming to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan: Jokerman or Property of Jesus? (2002)

Are Bob Dylan’s spirit and musical soul still the property of Jesus? Or has the singer/songwriter once again assumed the role of the Jokerman—mockingly reversing yet another stance to which he has been committed? CLICK HERE to read more

Sinéad O'Connor's Theology and 'Theology' (2007)

Why you shouldn't be surprised that her new album is mostly passages from the Old Testament. CLICK HERE to read more

Larry Norman, 'Father of Christian Rock,' Dies at 60

Christian music legend Larry Norman died Sunday of heart failure, according to his brother Charles Norman. He was 60.

Norman, a blonde, long-haired rocker who is often called the father of Christian rock music, was a giant in the Christian music industry, said Chris Willman, senior music writer for Entertainment Weekly. CLICK HERE to read more

Notes on Larry Norman and Bob Dylan

I'd like to offer a few comments re. the connection between Larry Norman and Bob Dylan.

My Introduction to Bob Dylan's poetry began with a Larry Norman record in 1978 - although I did not know that at the time - ONLY VISITING THIS PLANET. (Which was actually recorded in 1972.) CLICK HERE to read more

African American Culture and Bob Dylan: Why He Matters (1997)

Where black is the color, none is the number."

These are the words of songwriter and musician Bob Dylan, written when he was just twenty-one years old. They are from his haunting and beautiful song A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall, released in 1963. CLICK HERE to read more

Preaching the gospel

On his most recent “Theme Time Radio Hour” show ( “DOCTORS”), Bob Dylan made some comments that I think are worth highlighting outside of the usual summaries of that program that appear here. It was right after he played You Done What The Doctor Couldn’t Do by the Five Blind Boys Of Mississippi. He said the following: CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan, Iconoclastically Faithful

In the 1980s, the iconclastic Bob Dylan dared convert to Christianity. His fans panicked because he was no longer preaching to their choirs songs they already knew. CLICK HERE TO read more

Host of church singers serves music of a born-again icon : The gospel truth about Dylan (2003)

Some years later, when I asked him if he still stood by his line: "It's easy to see without looking very far that not much is really sacred," Dylan replied: "'Flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark.' Yes, I stand by that. I find all of that still pretty much true." CLICK HERE to read more

Popular Culture: The Ballad of John and Jesus (2000)

Two books tell the story behind John Lennon's short-lived conversion. CLICK HERE to read more

Pastor by day, rocker by night

Hearing God speak through lyrics of popular music

Call him a renegade or call him enlightened, Rev. Toby Jones of Harbor Springs feels he's onto something mainstream Christianity has overlooked. CLICK HERE to read more

"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," Feb. 27, PBS

"If I Had a Hammer," "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" All three of these familiar folk tunes, together with a host of others, were first popularized by veteran singer-songwriter Pete Seeger. CLICK HERE to read more

You Gotta Serve Someone, Right?

I’ve been working on a message that I’ll be giving at a local university’s “InterVarsity” group towards the end of this month. The topic is “Jesus and Justice,” and the text is outta Luke (chapter 16—vv. 19-31). CLICK HERE to read more

To tell the truth... - Gotta Serve Somebody

It’s not every day that I begin The Source by quoting Bob Dylan, but today it seems appropriate, so let me quote a few lines from his song Gotta Serve Somebody. It’s a simple song in which the chorus is broken up by poetically parallel verses. Here are some of the verses: CLICK HERE to read more

God Said to Abraham,....

This past Sunday, the Sunday School class my wife and I attended had a lesson on the "testing of Abraham" found in Genesis 22. The English Standard Version reads: CLICK HERE to read more

Shared Song, Communal Memory

THEY meet on the first Monday of the month at the Universalist Unitarian Church here, not to worship but to sing. Just to sing. CLICK HERE to read more

Should a Christian listen to Bob Dylan?

I recently received an email from a Christian who read a blog I wrote about a Dylan song. He was previously a Dylan fan, but he stopped listening to Dylan after he became a Christian. He felt that his new found faith in Christ was incompatible with Dylan. Here is a portion of his email: CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan and Christianity, with a passing dismissal of power evangelism

Having just seen the Bob Dylan film I’m Not There and reading John Wimber’s Power Evangelism, Bob Dylan and John Wimber have been on my mind a lot this week. So it was interesting to find a very interesting comment on Wimber in an article about Bob Dylan. CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan Eucharist: Come Gather 'Round People Wherever You Roam

The Dylan Eucharist was a gathering force - bringing together people who love Dylan's music, people interested in a musical liturgy, and people who were curious about hearing the folk/rock tunes of this legend prayed in church. CLICK HERE to read more

Christian Music Groups

Gospel music has often crossed over into the mainstream and many artists, such as Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, have explored their Christian beliefs. CLICK HERE to read more

DYLAN CO-PRODUCER/MUSICIAN 65 TODAY

Barry Beckett, who co-produced Slow Train Coming and Saved with Jerry Wexler, is 65 today. Here's his entry from The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia: CLICK HERE to read more

Church uses Dylan tunes to share God's message

They reflected, prayed and sang to music that had them gently rocking.

Whether thirsting for spiritual renewal or merely inquisitive, 140 worshipers listened to the gospel songs of legendary rock-poet Bob Dylan at Sunday's i-Witness alternative service at United Methodist Church of Geneva. CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan Service Peaks Interest

Thanks in large part to the Dylan Devotional Blog, I have been getting quite a few e-mails from all around the world regarding our service tomorrow, so I thought it would make sense to give some background and clarification here. CLICK HERE to read more

PBS aired a 3 part, 6 hour special on American Jewry, and THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE MENTION OF BOB DYLAN.

They did a lengthy bit on Jews in the civil rights struggle, and NOT A SINGLE MENTION OF BOB DYLAN. ClICK HERE to read more

Dylan Eucharist Service

United Methodist Church of Geneva
Sunday February 3, 2008

211 Hamilton St.

Geneva, Illinois 60134

630-232-7120

Prelude -- Gotta Serve Somebody
Help us to remember, God, that we who gather today may all be different, but you are what unites us in service to you and the world.

Call to Worship -- A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
We - your children - have been many places, doing and seeing many things which draw us to be cleaned in the waters of baptism and transformed.

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