As Bob Dylan’s Appreciation for John Lennon Went Up, Lennon’s Appreciation for Dylan Went Down
In 1964, Bob Dylan met The Beatles and showed an immediate interest in John Lennon. According to The Beatles’ road manager, Dylan viewed Lennon as the leader of the band. They began spending time together, likely to Lennon’s delight. He was a huge fan of Dylan and took inspiration from him. As time went on, though, Lennon’s opinion of Dylan shifted. He grew more critical of the American artist at the same time that Dylan started showing more appreciation for him.
John Lennon and The Beatles were early fans of Bob Dylan, but Dylan didn’t want to admit he liked them
Even before The Beatles met Dylan, they admired his music. Dylan was an early influence on them.
“For three weeks in Paris, we didn’t stop playing it,” Lennon said of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, per The Atlantic. “We all went potty about Dylan.”
Lennon’s songs like “Norwegian Wood,” “Yer Blues,” and “In My Life” took inspiration from the American artist, which Lennon recognized.
“I went through my Dylan-esque period a long time ago with songs like ‘I Am the Walrus’: the trick of never saying what you mean but giving the impression of something more,” he told Playboy in 1980.
Dylan also liked The Beatles, but he said that he didn’t want to admit it at the time.
“But I just kept it to myself that I really dug them,” he told Rolling Stone in 1972. “Everybody else thought they were for the teenyboppers, that they were gonna pass right away. But it was obvious to me that they had staying power.”
He also admitted that it rubbed him the wrong way that “Norwegian Wood” sounded so much like his music. He wrote the song “4th Time Around” to parody Lennon.
John Lennon’s opinion of Bob Dylan shifted
Later in his career, Lennon grew critical of many artists, Dylan included. He first started showing signs of irritation when Dylan spoke about how much he inspired The Beatles.
“Dylan liked to say how much the Beatles learned from him,” the band’s road manager Neil Aspinall said, per the book John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman. “John used to mutter, ‘He learned a bit from us, too.'”
By the end of his life, Lennon’s opinion of Dylan had shifted considerably. He said he no longer listened to the other artist’s music despite having been such a fan. Eventually, he began looking at Dylan’s music with outright scorn.
“I was listening to the radio and Dylan’s new single or album or whatever the hell it is came on. ‘Everybody’s got to be served.’ I mean, what was it? ‘You’ve got to serve someone’… ‘You’ve got to serve somebody.’ So he wants to be a waiter now? A waiter for Christ,” Lennon reportedly said on a recording from 1979 (via Rolling Stone). “Backing was mediocre … the singing really pathetic and the words were just embarrassing.”
With disdain, Lennon referred to Dylan, McCartney, and Mick Jagger as “company men.”
“So here we sit, watching the mighty Dylan and the mighty McCartney and the mighty Jagger slide down the mountain, blood, and mud in their nails,” he said. “[They’re] all company men in various disguises, but basically company men.”
As Lennon grew increasingly disgusted with Dylan, the American artist became more vocal in his appreciation of Lennon.
“I like Lennon though,” he said in 1971, per The New York Times. “I dig him a lot; he’s given me a lot of insight. Don’t ask me how. It’s just good that he’s around.”
Bob Dylan wrote a song about John Lennon
Dylan may never have spoken as highly of Lennon as Lennon did of him; it wasn’t in his nature to be this candid. Still, he showed, over the years, that he had a growing appreciation for the former Beatle. In 2012, he released the song “Roll on John” as a tribute to Lennon, proving that the other artist was still on his mind.
“From the Liverpool docks to the red-light Hamburg streets/Down in the quarry with the Quarry men/Playing to the big crowds, playing to the cheap seats/Another day in the life on your way to your journey’s end,” Dylan sang.
Lennon grew increasingly disenchanted with Dylan over the years, and Dylan became more vocal in his appreciation of Lennon. Still, it’s clear that both artists found each other fascinating.
