At 63, Bob Dylan sat for his first television interview in nearly 20 years, speaking to CBS two months after publishing the opening volume of his autobiography. He gave brief, often elliptical answers throughout.
Dylan said his early songs arrived with an ease he cannot re-create. He pointed to "It's Alright Ma," the 1964 track, as an example: that kind of writing belonged to a different period, and he has no expectation of returning to it.
His reason for keeping a punishing tour schedule, he said, was fidelity to a bargain struck long ago with destiny, which he called "the chief commander." He considers himself bound to honor it.
Dylan was unimpressed by Rolling Stone magazine ranking "Like a Rolling Stone" as the greatest song ever recorded, and visibly uncomfortable with the 1960s label of generational prophet. He said he never sought that role.
He also discussed his divorce from Sara Lowndes, which he attributed to the incompatibility between family life and life on the road, and credited that rupture as the seed of the 1975 album "Blood on the Tracks." His name change from Robert Zimmerman, he added, was a straightforward act of self-determination.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.