by The question of whether you should separate the art and the artist is an interesting one.
Obviously, if that artist is an abuser and an active danger with a platform, the art has to be impacted. But how about if the artist simply lets you down, like when Bob Dylan suddenly didn’t live up to Pete Townshend’s expectations?
This is exactly why they say that you should never meet your idols. That bubble-burst feeling can be earth-shattering if someone you’ve deeply admired turns out to be a person who doesn’t deserve that, or merely can’t match up to the god-like image you’ve built in your head.
There was definitely some of that at play for Townshend. Dylan was his hero, especially when it came to songwriting. He called the artist a “master”, saying that for him, Dylan’s recall and references were fascinating and inspiring.
“A folk singer is someone with a good memory, basically. He had a wealth of American folk songs and Irish, Scottish folk songs. If you’re an expert folkologist, it is infuriating to be a Dylan fan,” he said, adding, “You know, someone like Roy Harper is always banging his head against the wall saying that ‘Masters Of War’ was written in Scotland in 1706!”
That was part of the issue, though. Townsend clearly saw Dylan as his sage, full of worldly intelligence and almost limitless knowledge. He wanted to dig deeper into the mind of the man and learn more about him. “When I was a kid. Well, not a kid, but younger and listening to Dylan. I couldn’t wait for the day when somebody would get to him and do that in-depth interview. (It would be) where everybody would find out what really was in the back of his head,” he said, desperate to know him better and hear more from behind the public persona.
But as anyone who has ever read a Dylan interview knows well, that isn’t what you get. Instead, the average Dylan interview is full of short, empty answers, or even straight-out lies, as he’d often completely fabricate stories to further avoid telling the truth.
“When I discovered that there was nothing there at all. Nothing, I must say I was incredibly disappointed,” Townshend said as he had to admit that the man behind it all wasn’t quite as smart as he’d thought. “From that day onward, he ceased to be my hero,” he said, straight up dethroning him then and there.
However, the music did remain untouched by the letdown. “He remained somebody who wrote music that I loved. I still love the earlier stuff for the pure nostalgia of remembering how stimulating he was,” the guitarist said, managing to hold onto that at least. But had to sadly admit, “He wasn’t quite the gladiator I had expected.”
