American Analogs of Vysotsky

[mulchortoast .]

In some aspects Tom Waits.
On Feb 7, 2014 7:50 PM, "Sentinel76 Astrakhan" <thysentinel at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear All, I have a question for discussion
>
> In the process of explaining my "Vysotsky in English" project to
> Americans, I frequently have to explain who Vysotsky is and what is his
> place in the Russian culture.  Many times I have heard the term "Russian
> Dylan" thrown around.  In my opinion, there are more differences than
> similarities.
>
> Both Vladimir Vysotsky and Bob Dylan were exceptional singer-songwriters,
> who rose to fame in the 60s, played guitar, and brought on social change
> with their tremendous body of work.  Both wrote highly intelligent and
> politically charged poetry.  But in my opinion this is where the
> similarities end.
>
> Vysotsky destroys Dylan in terms of sheer impact and popularity:  even
> though both can be reasonably called "Voice of Their Generation," Vysotsky
> was also one of five most important cultural figures in 20th Century
> Russia, while Dylan never really reached that level. As far as I can tell,
> Dylan mostly awed American intellectuals, while Vysotsky was adored by
> everybody, from President Brezhnev to the last bum in the street.  And, of
> course, Dylan was no match for Vysotsky's performing skills:  Vysotsky
> would blow him off the stage without breaking a sweat.  Vysotsky also gets
> a benefit of not having the "tail end of a career" that many rock musicians
> fall victim to.
>
> Naturally, I think it's wise to limit this discussion to their respective
> countries to even the playing field (otherwise, Dylan's English language
> makes him far more international than Vysotsky).
>
> So is there anybody in American culture who would match Vysotsky's
>
> a.  Songwriting skills
> b.  Performing skills
> c.  Success
> d.  Cultural status
>
> ?
>
> Would it be correct to rank the podium of *relevant* American music as
> (1) Elvis
> (2) Dylan
> (3) Cash?
> Or would Springsteen and Morrison crawl in there somewhere?
>
> What do you think?
>
> Vadim Astrakhan
> www.vvinenglish.com
>
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