Bob Dylan, have an opinion?

First there was Robert Johnson and then there is Bob Dylan. These two men, like Shakespeare, said everything worth saying about living life. I'm a big fan, revisted and otherwise. BTW, "Shakespeare's, he's in the alley..."

I went to the 1971 or 1972 Philadelphia Folk Festival. David Bromberg was playing and who should just pop in unexpectly but Bob Dylan. He sat in with Bromberg for a few cuts and proceeded with a 45 minute acoustic solo set. A very memorable experience especially since no one knew he would be there. A great musician and the poet laureate of a generation.

I was at a party where they were playing Andrea Bocelli. Someone said: "Imagine being able to sing like that". I thought to myself: Imagine being able to do anything that well.. inspired, near perfection, with nothing in the way.
That's how I fell about Dylan's poetry. What astounds me, even more,is that he is so prolific.

Iv'e seen him in concert many times, from The Concert for Bangladesh, to the recent tour with Paul Simon. Some great shows and some bad. I saw him do "I shall Be Released" so poorly that I didn't recognize it, until the song was almost over, no melody whatsoever.

Guess I'm the only naysayer in this thread. I was in my 20's during the 1960's and listened to a lot of singers and groups. Of all the artists from that period, I never understood why Bob Dylan was so idolized. There were many other artists who also wrote great lyrics and had infinitely better singing voices. I also have a number of good friends who can't stand Dylan. As the French say,
chacun a son gout...........

If you rate Dylan by his voice, rather than what he does with it, you can miss the whole point. Sure, Lightfoot or
Don Mcclean or... have 'better' voices, but few if any, singer/songwriters can go straight through to your gut like Dylan. BTW, Nashville Skyline, Blood On The Tracks and Desire show off his voice, versus just his interpretation, a little better, but the Dylan I love best is the
hard-edged Dylan of Blonde on Blonde or Highway Sixty-One Revisited. OK, you got me, I like all of it. Hey there are a lot of Manilow-smooth vocalists out there. Who cares. Give me grit and soul any day. There are more good lyrics in one decent Dylan composition than in any hundred other albums. and that's counting the better albums, IMHO.
His voice these days sounds like they dug him up to record, but his inner voice is undeniably still there. If they are going to give every hack for miles around an award, it was about d*** time they gave an Oscar to America's greatest troubador.