“All those evil mother******s can rot in hell.” Harsh words there from Bob Dylan; a message to his critics, both present and past and in particular, a reference to those that labelled him ‘Judas’ when he dared to use an electric guitar. It was a move that many saw as the troubadour betraying the roots of the folk tradition through which he had made his name. Looking back, though, Dylan remains angry that his detractors felt it necessary to compare the plugging in of the electric guitar to the betrayal of Jesus Christ.

“Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff,” says Dylan in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. It's an old thing – it's part of the tradition. These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me. Judas, the most hated name in human history! 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.” Dylan also had a word to say to those who criticize him for employing other writers’ work in his lyrical content. “Oh, yeah, in folk and jazz, quotation is a rich and enriching tradition. That certainly is true. It's true for everybody, but me. There are different rules for me.”

Let’s hope that Bob isn’t a frequent Twitter user, then, or he may have read Ian MCNabb’s (former singer of The Icicle Works) critique of his latest album, which simply read “Dear Bob Dylan, any chance of clearing your throat before you make another rambling album about how we're all going to hell in a bucket?” Best run for cover, Ian, just in case.