Farber Had A Huge Effect On Me

Rock 'n' Roll Is A Combination Of Good Ideas Dried Up By Fads, Terrible Junk, Hideous Failings In Taste And Judgment, Gullibility And Manipulation, Moments Of Unbelievable Clarity And Invention, Pleasure, Fun, Vulgarity, Excess, Novelty And Utter Enervation.

Listening Is Like Running Down A Mountain On A Switchback Trail, The Sound Of Surprise Generating Its Own Momentum. There’s A Punk Glee Inside The Bluegrass Craft–and A Punk Vehemence Inside The Bluegrass Smile.

I Learned That When Something Just Has To Be Said To Move The Discussion Along, Or Broaden It Or Deepen It, If I Can Just Keep My Mouth Shut For Five Minutes A Student Will Say It. So For Me A Lot Of Teaching Is About Keeping My Mouth Shut.

I Am A Critic Who Is Pulled Toward History. But Bob Dylan Himself Is A Great Historian. He Is An Historian Who Acts Out History. So It Always Has A Personal Stamp. It Always Has A Particular Timbre. It Always Has A Particular Howl, Or A Moan, In That Voice.

The Sixties Are Most Generously Described As A Time When People Took Part - When They Stepped Out Of Themselves And Acted In Public, As People Who Didn't Know What Would Happen Next, But Who Were Sure That Acts Of True Risk And Fear Would Produce Something Different From What They Had Been Raised To Take For Granted.