Dylan and the Ferry
New Generation Thinker and Bob Dylan fan Dafydd Mills Daniel investigates the story behind the iconic image of Bob Dylan boarding a ferry between England and Wales.
New Generation Thinker and Bob Dylan fan Dafydd Mills Daniel investigates the story behind the iconic image of the singer/songwriter that appeared on the poster for the documentary No Direction Home.
It's a black and white photo of Dylan on a small car ferry. The ferry was called The Severn Princess and it transported drivers across the River Severn, between England and Wales. Dylan was using the Aust Ferry to convey his new electric guitar and sound into Wales – a sound that for audiences at the end of that ferry ride was perceived as new and destructive, signalling the end of traditional folk music and culture – just as, ironically, the old ferry Dylan was travelling on was itself under threat from something new that was about to replace it: a new bridge and roadway that would make it and its ethos obsolete.
Dafydd returns to the scene of the photograph in the company of Tim Ryan and Sue Kingdom who are running a campaign to preserve the Princess, which is now docked on a beach near Chepstow. He also talks to Richard F. Thomas, author of Why Dylan Matters, about the so-called "Judas Tour".
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Sun 29 May 2022 19:15Â鶹Éç Radio 3
- Sun 30 Apr 2023 19:15Â鶹Éç Radio 3
Featured in...
New Generation Thinkers—Free Thinking
From prison breaks to VR dinosaurs: insights from the AHRC & Â鶹Éç's scheme for academics.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Classical music in a strongman's Russia – has anything changed since Stalin's day?
What composer Gabriel Prokofiev and I found in Putin's Moscow...
Six Secret Smuggled Books
Six classic works of literature we wouldn't have read if they hadn't been smuggled...
Grid
Seven images inspired by the grid
World Music collector, Sir David Attenborough
The field recordings Attenborough of music performances around the world.