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Credit: Alamy \/ John Barrett<\/p>\n
Sat 5 September 2026 21:30, UK <\/p>\n
Rock and roll\u2019s archetypal frontman, Mick Jagger<\/a>, has amassed a rather distinctive stagecraft over his many decades of rooster-dancing across the globe\u2019s biggest stages. The spectacle of Jagger is key to the enduring success of The Rolling Stones, but that didn\u2019t stop Bob Dylan from handing some advice to his rock and roll comrade.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like Jagger, Dylan has his individualistic stagecraft, even if it has never quite reached the same energy levels as the Stones\u2019 frontman. During the heyday of \u2018electric Dylan\u2019, admittedly, the folk star\u2019s shows cultivated a similarly unpredictable, trailblazing quality, but with both cultural icons of the 1960s<\/a> now in their twilight years, Jagger is still darting around stages like a runaway bouncy ball, while Dylan is resigned to a stripped-back, seated performance style, altering many of his most iconic tracks to fit that atmosphere. <\/p>\n Seemingly, though, that laidback spirit is something that he has long since maintained as a superior form of live music performance. During a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, which goes to show just how long both Dylan and Jagger have been in the later days of their careers, the songwriter shared, \u201cI love Mick Jagger. I mean, I go back a long ways with him, and I always wish him the best. But to see him jumping around like he does\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n Dylan was quick to qualify that it wasn\u2019t Jagger\u2019s age that he had a problem with. If anything, jumping around onstage post-40-years-old is an endorsement of the rock and roll lifestyle adopted by the Stones. \u201cI don\u2019t give a shit in what age,\u201d Dylan went on, \u201cFrom Altamont to RFK Stadium, you don\u2019t have to do that, man\u201d. <\/p>\n There was a time, very early on in the career of the blues rock outfit, that The Rolling Stones didn\u2019t jump around, but within the saturated rock and roll scene of the 1960s, it took that wild performance style, itself inspired by the likes of James Brown<\/a>, to help set the Stones apart from the rest. In doing so, the energy of the performance inspired the sound of the songs in a cyclical trend of pure rock energy. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, Dylan reckons it would be a lot cooler if the frontman took his cues from an altogether different kind of performer. \u201cIt\u2019s still hipper and cooler to be Ray Charles, sittin\u2019 at the piano, not movin\u2019 shit,\u201d he declared, \u201cAnd still getting across, you know? Pushing rhythm and soul across, it\u2019s got nothin\u2019 to do with jumping around. I mean, what could it possibly have to do with jumping around?\u201d<\/p>\n While it is impossible to denounce the incredible performance style or groundbreaking material of Ray Charles, being the greatest R&B artist who ever lived<\/a>, Bob Dylan\u2019s suggestion that Jagger should adopt his style is rather easy to poke holes in. <\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n For starters, Charles didn\u2019t sit stoically behind a piano all the time; there was definitely movement and energy in his performance, but ultimately, he had to remain behind the piano. Jagger, not being tethered to any instrument, let alone one as cumbersome as a piano, is not restricted in that way. <\/p>\n Perhaps, had Ray Charles not been a pianist, he would have been jumping around in a Jagger-esque way; there is no telling. Either way, though, Bob Dylan doesn\u2019t seem likely to adopt Jagger\u2019s performance style anytime soon. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Classic Rock Newsletter<\/p>\n