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The Two Dylans: Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation |
An Audio Visual Extravaganza, with discussions and readings David Boucher, Mike Jones, Jeff Towns Following the success of ‘The Two Dylans’, at venues and festivals throughout England and Wales, including ‘The Lincoln Festival’, ‘Bob’s Birthday Bash’ Cardiff University, ‘The Do Not Go Gentle Festival’, The Dylan Thomas Festival, and the Taliesin, Swansea, The Two Dylans will be presented at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Thursday 10 April, 7.45pm. A group of celebrated authorities on the works of Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan will illustrate and discuss these legendary icons of the twentieth century in the context of the Beat Generation poets and writers, including Rexroth, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti and Bukowski. The Beat Generation was emerging at the time of Dylan Thomas’s death. The raison d’être of their existence was to be famous and successful, and they wanted everyone to be like them. Dylan Thomas was the exemplification of fame, having toured America in 1950, 1952 and twice in 1953. Thomas was everything they wanted to be -- bohemian and famous -- and through the Beats, Bob Dylan was captivated by his notoriety and fame. When Bob Dylan came on the scene Dylan Thomas was a recording star. His Child’s Christmas in Wales and Four poems had sold half a million copies, and his life was being portrayed on the Broadway stage by Alex Guiness in Sidney Michael’s Play Dylan. Dylan Thomas and many of the Beat Generation were victims of their own fame. The Beat poet of Belmont Avenue (Leonard Cohen) said of Dylan Thomas: '‘Dylan Thomas was the great voice of poetry when I was at college. We (all the young poets) were all intrigued with his fame, his genius, his drinking, his unconditional sense of social irresponsibility.’ The show has an accompanying professional audio visual backdrop, with images and sound from the era. Jeff Towns chairs the discussion, and the various contributors talk and illustrate facets of the life and work of the two Dylans and the Beats. Mike Jones (the author of The Music Industries), for example, will discuss how revolutionary Albert Grossman was as a manager and how he transformed the representation of his artistes, and the music industry. David Boucher, author of Dylan and Cohen: Poets of Rock and Roll, and The Political Art of Bob Dylan and articles in The Journal of Contemporary Music and The Journal of American Studies on Dylan: and, Jeff Towns, the owner of Dylan's Bookshop, famous collector and authority on Dylan Thomas and author of Dylan Thomas’s Pubs. Mike Jones is a lecturer in the Institute of Popular Music, Liverpool and the author of The Music Industries and numerous articles on popular music and the lyricist with Latin Quarter. Huw Davie, is the technician with years of experience in The Dylan Thomas centre and Swansea Museum. To book contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s ticket office 01970 62 32 32 or go online www.aber.ac.uk/artscentre |
| Aberystwyth Arts Centre web site: www.aber.ac.uk/artscentre |
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Tuesday, March 18, 2014 |
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