Welcome to the Bob Dylan 70th birthday countdown.
As you may have noticed, just about everyone is writing their various tributes to Bob Dylan as he approaches 70.
More than 30 year ago, Richard Belzer was one of the first entertainers to contemplate what Dylan would be like in his later years.
These days, Belzer is an author and actor, probably best known for his portrayal of the character John Munch in the police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Munch is the only fictional character, played by a single actor, to appear on ten different television shows.
"The Belz", however, got his start as a stand-up comic, and toured as the opening act for Warren Zevon during his Excitable Boy tour.
Back in the 1970s, Belzer did an imitation of what Dylan would sound like at the age of 86. In his act, he would say:
"No matter how old Dylan gets, he'd continue to perform."
Whether he actually believed that Dylan would be going on concert tours into his 80s, or said it for comedic effect, this must have been one of the first "tributes" to Dylan as an older gentleman. You can watch Belzer's take on Dylan's "Bar Mitzvah Tapes", as well as Belzer's impression of what Dylan would be like 16 years from now, in the embedded clip on the left.
Belzer updated his Zimm-itation for the 1997 album, Another Lone Nut, with the song, "The Ballad Of Bob Dylan".
Enjoy !
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