Will Dylan be blowin’ in the Ramat Gan wind?

April 22, 2011 - 4:10 PM by David

One of the most anticipated concerts of the summer in Israel is Bob Dylan’s return to the country after 18 years for a show on June 20 at Ramat Gan Stadium. One of the most anticipated for sure, but possibly one of the most potentially disappointing.

The legendary songwriter and rock & roller offers nothing along the lines of crowd pleasers who have previously graced Tel Aviv’s stages, like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Leonard Cohen. They offered up pleasing career overviews of songs that sounded like the records, replete with repeated salutations to the crowd about how great it is to be in Israel, and in Cohen’s case, a priestly blessing in Hebrew.

Don’t expect any of that from Dylan – he doesn’t address the audience, he doesn’t play the hits, and if he does, he turns in renditions that most listeners wouldn’t recognize. He’s a musician, not an entertainer, and placing him in Ramat Gan Stadium and charging a bundle for tickets is setting him up for a big fall.

In a tongue in cheek look at the dilemma, my friend Alan Abbey wrote a wonderful essay for JTA called Tangled up in (Israeli) Jews, in which he whimsically but knowledgeably advised Dylan on what songs to play in order to win over the diverse but uniformly tough to win over crowd.

Here’s some of his suggestions:

Secular, leftist Israelis

“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” : This song’s anti-nuke message has even more prophetic impact now in the wake of Japan’s crisis. As a bonus, Dylan should bring up to the stage Israeli rocker Aviv Gefen, who has done a popular Hebrew version. Chances Dylan will do the song? Very good. It’s on the current set list in Asia.

Religious fans (open-minded)

“Highway 61 Revisited”: (“Oh God said to Abraham, ‘Kill me a son’ / Abe says, ‘Man, you must be puttin’ me on.’ ”) Chances? Excellent. It’s on the current set list.

Religious fans (yeshiva/haredi)

“A Satisfied Mind”: This obscure ditty paraphrases the Talmudic epigram about who truly is a rich man (“It’s so hard to find / One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.”) Chances? Slim to none. The song has been performed exactly once in Dylan’s 50-year career.

How about “Man in the Long Black Coat”? Just kidding.

Religious fans (knitted kipah)

“Forever Young”: Dylan’s reworking of the priestly/parental prayers includes a reference to Jacob’s ladder thrown in for good measure. Chances? Very good. It’s on the current set list.

There’s more, but don’t count on the gravelly-voiced Dylan to heed any of the advice. He plays what he wants and how he wants. The question is if that’s what Israelis are going to want.

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