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Everyone's been noting it for what seems like a few months, but now we can finally say today that Bob Dylan is turning 70. Naturally, it's a good time to spin a few records and reminisce a little bit about the icon. And the web, in turn, has rolled out exclusive features, new "darker side" scandals and even an enthusiastic tribute in AARP magazine to mark the occasion.
As media saturation officially commences, we've filtered out our favorite Dylan tributes and miscellanea. Here's what we thought was worth reading or clicking on as the icon becomes a septuagenarian:
Read:
- The First Interview - Rolling Stone has a complete package of Dylan birthday features--if you had to pick one, this is more essential than Bono and Marcus Mumford's musings on his legacy.
- The Birthday Listicle - For sheer length and dedication, we'll recommend the Independent's "70 Reasons Why" Dylan is the most important pop-culture icon. Reason number 4: "Because he invented folk-rock." Sounds about right.
- The 'Long Ago Encounter' Article - The Telegraph's rock critic Neil McCormick has probably been saving this anecdote for the last ten years: "I didn’t actually recognise him at first, perhaps because he bore so little resemblance to the skinny beatnik with the tangled psychedelic curls whose poster adorned my bedroom wall..."
- The 'All My Favorite Artists Are Getting Old' Essay - So, you grew up listening to Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed and Brian Wilson. They all have just turned or will turn 70 within a year. New York Times op-ed contributor David Hadju spins it positively: "Forever Young? In Some Ways, Yes."
- Archive: Rapturous 'Important Person' Profile - As we wrapped up the previous century, Time named him one of the most noteworthy people in the last 100 years with this description: "A series of dreams about America as it once and never was. It was folk music, deep within its core, from the mountains and the delta and the blacktop of Highway 61. ...He put all that together, and found words to match it."