Portrait : Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan

Mike Lécuyer invites you to discover a special “Portrait” episode dedicated to Bob Dylan, a towering figure in music and Nobel Prize laureate in Literature. Rather than yet another biography, he draws on a unique portrait: the “Rock Declarations” collected in the 1970s by critic Jacques Barsamian.

From 1958 to 1971, Bob Dylan tells his story through his own words, taken from the American, British, and French press. From his beginnings in the shadow of Woody Guthrie to the heights of Highway 61 Revisited or Like a Rolling Stone, we discover an elusive artist—by turns lucid, provocative, poetic, sometimes disarming.

A few memorable quotes:

“I’m going to be bigger than Elvis Presley.” (1961)
“I’ll never be able to make a better record than Highway 61 Revisited.” (1965)
“Songs can’t save the world.” (1966)
“In my songs, the lyrics are just as important as the music.” (1968)
“I believe that at certain points in life it’s vital to make a change so you don’t sink.” (1971)

Through these declarations, an entire era comes back to life: the 1960s, counterculture, commitments, revolts, but also the doubts and visions of a poet who refused to be confined to the role of leader.

📻 Listen to Mike Lécuyer’s show

PORTRAIT 8 – BOB DYLAN, part 1 – Mike Lécuyer

1ère partie (1962-1965) Robert Zimmerman dit Bob Dylan est un artiste américain, auteur-compositeur-interprète, musicien, peintre, sculpteur, cinéaste et poète, né le 21 mai 1941 à Duluth (Minnesota). Il a reçu le prix Nobel de littérature en 2016. Jacques Barsamian s'est amusé à retrouver quelques-unes de ses phrases les plus significatives. Ces citations proviennent des principaux journaux anglais et américains ainsi que de revues françaises de l'époque.

A tribute to Jacques Barsamian

This show also pays tribute to Jacques Barsamian, who passed away in 2024, and to his unique perspective on music. Journalist and critic, he was one of the first in France to treat rock seriously in the 1960s and 70s. A contributor to numerous specialized magazines, he penned incisive, passionate portraits of the greatest artists of the era—from Dylan to the Rolling Stones, as well as the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. He authored many reference books with François Jouffa, including Histoire du rock (Tallandier, 2005) and L’Aventure du Rock (1989).