How Does It Feel Bob... To Be 72?
After over 50 years as a recording artist, Bob Dylan celebrated his 72nd birthday on Friday doing what he's always be doing... moving on to the next big thing.
So why is he still out there?
"It goes back to that destiny thing," Dylan coyly told CBS' "60 Minutes" Ed Bradlee. "I mean, I made a bargain with it, you know, long time ago. And I'm holding up my end ... to get where I am now."
Dylan has released over 35 official albums, including countless bootlegs, and has brought in a legion of new fans, and his considerable impact on the arts, politics, culture and society remains immeasurable.
Just last year's "Tempest" garnered considerable praise, with some known critics citing it as one of his best in quite some time, and perceptive writers seeing it as a microcosm of today's dangerous world.
"Dylan at 72" finds a creative artist who is still recording, still painting, and still writing, all the while finding new and creative ways to mystify and astound his fans. As a man, he continues to receive the highest accolades from political and artistic institutions.
Just last week, Dylan was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters:
"For more than 50 years, defying categorization in a culture beguiled by categories, Bob Dylan has probed and prodded our psyches, recording and then changing our world and our lives through poetry made manifest in song - creating relationships that we never imagined could exist between words, emotions and ideas," the citation given to him read.
"I feel extremely honored and very lucky to be included in this pantheon of great individual artists who comprise the Academy of Arts and Letters. I look forward to meeting all of you some time soon," he responded.
Such is the Dylan mantra: "I'm still on the road, headin' for another joint..."
AmericanaramA Festival of Music is this summer's tour for Dylan, which includes additional guests joining him at select venues. These guests include Bob Weir, Richard Thompson Electric Trio and Ryan Bingham, the performer who won an Oscar for the song "The Weary Kind," from the film "Crazy Heart."
Dylan at 72 is much like Dylan was at 24, with "no direction home."
