Tom Petty on Dylan :
We're all just lucky that we live in this particular time when we get to have Bob's great influence, and that he's still out there performing and coming out with great music. Bob is really sort of supernatural in the way he can keep writing these great songs.
I spent a couple of years with Bob, on the road with the Heartbreakers and in the studio with the Traveling Wilburys, and I got a sense of songs from him. He has a vast repertoire and an incredible knowledge of other people's music. He can draw a lot of material off the top of his head, and every song is a jewel.
What drives Bob? I think he really is a kind of roving-minstrel type, like from the medieval period, or, if you want to update it a bit, like a Dust Bowl Woody Guthrie type. Despite the trappings of success, he seems to be a dedicated guy who goes around and plays his music everywhere and, through that, shares what's on his mind. I most value Bob's honesty - he's a very upfront person and a true gentleman. The truth is that I and everyone else are forever in his debt. He opened the door to a multitude of things, and you can only compare him to the Beatles, or maybe Elvis. Hey, I wish him sixty more years and all the best.
