Stephen Colbert To Author Sean Wilentz About Bob Dylan: 'He's No Britney' (VIDEO)

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Author Sean Wilentz, professor of history at Princeton, has written books on Jefferson, Jackson and Reagan, but he most recently tackled the topic of another famous American of a different sort: Bob Dylan. Wilentz discussed his new book, "Bob Dylan In America," with Stephen Colbert last night, where the two debated whether Dylan is the "greatest American songwriter of the last 50 years," as Wilentz claimed on the show.

"What's the big deal? We hear him and we go, 'eh,'" Colbert said. "He's no Britney. Can he pop that coochie? I don't think he can."

The son of a Greenwich Village bookstore owner, Wilentz explained that his "strange background" clued him in to the importance of Dylan to American culture.

"Bob Dylan's music meant a lot to me as a young man, growing up, as it did for many men of my generation," Wilentz said, who is currently 59 years old.

"So, what is it about Dylan that people of your ilk and age get all weak about?" Colbert asked.

Wilentz explained the significance of the fact that Dylan, unlike many other singers of that era, wrote all of his own songs and can be considered "a poet as well as a songwriter."

With that, Colbert asked, "For the young people out there, if they had to get into Bob Dylan with a single album, would you go to 'Blonde On Blonde' or 'Blood On The Tracks' or go straight to his new Christmas album?"

Find out what Wilentz had to say, WATCH:

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Comments

[floater]

09:08 AM on 09/18/2010

I also saw Dylan in concert a few years ago and went with someone who knew nothing of his songs and I did a lot of apologizing and laughing over the fact that he can't sing a lick. She said she enjoyed it but I have since thought there is some interesting psychology involved. Why a hundred dates a year when you sound like you are singing agggehhaghagh though out every song. Does this have anything to do with running from the inevitable – old age and death.

On a somewhat lighter note my 3 favorite albums: BbackHme, Blond, and Slegal.

[BrimstoneAshe]

05:18 PM on 09/16/2010

I wasn't in his generation, which I think is what is needed for me to truly appreciate him. I do respect him. I enjoy reading his lyrics, and they are brilliant, but I'm not a fan of his music. I will read this book however. For me, connections with musicians are often about timing just as much as they are about the message of the song.

I have a question for you long time fans of Dylan. Are there any modern day folks singers whom you respect and listen to?

[Fabini]

09:12 AM on 09/16/2010

1. Listen to all Dylan's albums. They are all easily available.
2. Read Bob Dylan In America.
3. Re-listen to all the albums or listen to all the songs with "shuffle" on in iTunes.
4. Take the lyric test: Dylanology AP!
Yes, there is a test to become a Dylanologist. http://www.amazon.com/1449508596/

"I can provide for you no easy answers."

[Fabini]

09:15 AM on 09/16/2010

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1449508596/ - This link works.

[JW Harding]

10:37 PM on 09/15/2010

If Sean Wilentz struggles to get Dylan's genius across in this interview, it's because Colbert is an ego-centric dope. Why doesn't he shut up and listen when he has asked a question?
Funny man? I don't see it.
The real question is why would Sean Wilentz waste his time with this plod?
Dylan doesn't need Colbert's approval.
And, by the way, just for the record, Dylan has written several hundred songs, most of them great. Elvis never wrote anything, and Buddy Holly wrote "Peggy Sue". So, yeah, Colbert, you like to be right... Right?

[robotfog]

11:01 PM on 09/15/2010

Colbert was joking. Usually his timing is great but he was a little off in this interview.

[ChelleAgain]

01:12 AM on 09/16/2010

Stephen Colbert goes back before the show and tells hims guests that he plays an idiot and their job is to disabuse him of his idiocy. They know going on that they're dealing with the fictional character who is a blowhard and they're in on the joke.

[ChelleAgain]

01:21 AM on 09/16/2010

Hims? Lord help me.

[WeWon]

07:10 PM on 09/15/2010

" I said goodbye to the howling beast on the borderline that separated you from me"

It's always been about his brilliant metaphoric language for me.

[Victoria Cline]

03:02 PM on 09/15/2010

yeah, i'm a moldie oldie and absolutely LOVED dylan. blonde on blonde was one of my favs. it's time he is given some proper current attention.

[HBHB]

03:51 PM on 09/15/2010

He pretty much sells out all his shows. Those with their eyes and ears open are giving him plenty of attention.

[The Third Way]

05:59 AM on 09/16/2010

Saw him a few years ago in concert -- he cannot sing anymore and doesn't try to follow the melody of the original version. If I had not recognized the lyrics of some of the songs, I doubt I would have know what they were. He was the greatest voice of the 60s generation and a case could be made that he was he greatest American songwriter ever. The two best albums (the use of the term album shows Colbert's age) -- Highway 61 or Blood on the Tracks.