Bob Dylan ASCAP speech 1986

The setting alone provided some culture shock Monday night: Dylan, for years the symbol of a defiant, questioning spirit, and the West Hollywood restaurant, a longtime citadel of the show-biz establishment.

As longtime ASCAP songwriters stood by in suits and ties, Dylan--wearing motorcycle boots, leather pants and a white T-shirt under his loose-fitting black sport coat--accepted the Founders Award from ASCAP President Hal David.

To millions of rock fans in the ‘60s, Dylan represented a break from the traditional songwriting mold epitomized by an industry power like ASCAP.

Yet Dylan sought graciously to bring the two eras together in a brief acceptance speech.

“I’d like to feel like I’m (accepting this) for a lot of people who started out in rock . . . and folk music,” he said standing at a podium, squinting in the glare of TV lights and flashbulbs. “We never claimed to be as good as Johnny Mercer or Hal David or Jerome Kern or any of those people. We just used that medium to write what we were feeling.” He then quoted the lines from a 1929 song that one of his own heroes, Elvis Presley, once cited in accepting an award:

Without a song, the day would never end.
Without a song, the road would never bend.
When things go wrong, a man ain’t got a friend, without a song.
But what is a Dylan public appearance without a few sparks?

Though publicist Norman Winter instructed the assembled writers and TV crews that this was to be a presentation, not a press conference, reporters couldn’t resist shouting questions at Dylan. One caught Dylan’s ear: Is music as meaningful today as it was in the ‘60s?

“Not really,” Dylan responded softly.

Warming up to the topic, he added, “But I think it’s going to change.”
Asked to explain why, he said, “People are going to get sick of it.”
And, there was a flash of Dylan humor.

The curly-haired songwriter just stared into the bank of TV lights when someone asked him about “the future . . . where do you go from here?”
Finally, he smiled slightly and quipped, “I’m just going home.”

Asked what he meant when he said he was accepting the award for other writers, he explained, “People like Hank Williams . . . Jimmy Reed . . . Muddy Waters. They should have gotten awards like this too.”

Dylan also made it clear he meant it when he praised the traditional ASCAP writers. “I really respect what those guys did,” he said, sitting at his table. “They wrote some great songs . . . What song on the radio today is better than ‘What a Difference a Day Makes’ or ‘Strange Fruit’ . . . I’ll give you a million dollars if you could find a better song. . . .”

On a roll, Dylan snapped that most record makers today think that all they need to know about music is how to “push a button” on a rhythm machine.

There were so many music and movie celebrities at the reception before the award presentation that it seemed like backstage at one of the current rash of all-star benefit concerts. The guests ranged from musicians, such as Richie Havens and Leonard Cohen, who go back years with Dylan, to those who have simply admired his work for the last quarter-century.

Among others on hand: Neil Young, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Whoopi Goldberg, George Michael, Donny Osmond, Michael McDonald and Chrissie Hynde.

Just back from a well-received tour of Japan and Australia with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dylan appeared relaxed and said he was already looking forward to going out on the road this summer in the United States. He’s expected to do some dates with Petty and others with the Grateful Dead.

By 9 p.m., most of the guests had headed for home, but a couple dozen people sat cloistered around Dylan and Havens as the pair passed a guitar back and forth and reminisced about their old club days.

Finally, Havens began softly singing “Just Like a Woman,” one of Dylan’s best-known tunes. Dylan closed his eyes and swayed gently from side to side as Havens repeated the lines from so long ago:

Then, Havens surprised Dylan by singing one of Dylan’s most recent compositions, “License to Kill.”

When the song was finished, Dylan said, “I didn’t know you had heard that.”
Havens flashed a quick smile, “Oh, I’m always out there listening.” For all the talk about Dylan as the controversial spokesman and mercurial force, two things have remained constants: his love for music and his ability to express himself in songs. During a quiet moment, Havens delivered what may have been the most touching tribute of the evening.

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