* Songwriter says quotation in folk, jazz is rich tradition
* Dylan's makes first public rebuff of accusations
* Says critics can 'rot in hell'
NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (Reuters) - Bob Dylan has angrily
responded to charges he plagiarized some of his lyrics, calling
critics "wussies and pussies" and saying musical appropriation
is "part of the folk tradition."
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine for its Friday
edition, the influential singer-songwriter made his first public
comments on the accusations, saying that in folk and jazz music
"quotation is a rich and enriching tradition."
"Everyone else can do it but not me," he complained. "There
are different rules for me."
Rolling Stone released excerpts of the interview on
Wednesday and Reuters obtained a complete transcript.
In 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that lyrics from
Dylan's 2001 record "Love and Theft" were remarkably similar to
phrases in an obscure 1995 biography of a Japanese mobster.
A line from the biography, "I'm not as cool or forgiving as
I might have sounded" was compared to Dylan's "I'm not quite as
cool or forgiving as I sound." Twelve such similar phrasings
have been identified.
In 2006, the New York Times made similar claims about a
Civil War era poet's phrasings and Dylan's 2006 record "Modern
Times."
"I'm working within my art form," the 71 year-old singer
told Rolling Stone. "It's that simple. ... It's called
songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after
that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it."
"These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas
on me," Dylan added, referring to bitter 1960s folk fans who
decried his move into electric guitar blues and famously
compared the singer to the Biblical apostle who betrayed Jesus.
"Judas - the most hated name in human history!" he
exclaimed. "If you think you've been called a bad name, try to
work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For
playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way
equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be
crucified. All those evil ... can rot in hell," he said.
ART DIFFERENT FROM WRITING
Musical appropriation - using familiar cultural references
or language in a new context - is different from non-fiction
writing or journalism, said Sean Wilentz, a Princeton University
professor of American history who has written extensively about
Dylan.
"Of course it's legitimate," Wilentz told Reuters on
Wednesday of Dylan's use of others' material. "Dylan's frame of
reference is so much larger than most songwriters' - more
literary, historical and philosophical."
Wilentz said crediting bits and pieces of another's work is
scholarly tradition, not an artistic tradition.
"Creating art is different, and always has been, especially
the kind Dylan creates," he said.
Dylan, who released "Tempest," his 35th studio album this
week, has been scrutinized throughout his 50-year career, at
least in part because he has proven so unpredictable and defied
convention at virtually every turn.
In 2006, he stunned fans when he appeared in a sensuous
Victoria's Secret commercial. In 1990, he released an album made
up largely of children's nursery rhymes. In the late 1970s, the
Jewish-raised Dylan embraced Christianity and sang only
religious-themed music for several years.
In a 50-year career, he has won 11 Grammys, an Academy
Award, a Pulitzer Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom
and numerous other awards.
"I'm not like you," he told the Rolling Stone interviewer at
one point.
(Reporting By Chris Francescani; editing by Jill Serjeant and
Todd Eastham)