Consider: Jakob (more commonly spelled Jaycup) has himself rebounded from a so-so start with his band the Wallflowers. Back in 1992 their first disc, which was both eponymous and self-titled, sold a shockingly low 25,000 copies, a count Bob probably exceeded on the first day with his Good As I Been To You LP the same year. And the best song on that one was (no kidding) "Froggie Went A Courtin," so you can see that things weren't all that great in Dylanville a mere five years ago.

Now, in 1997, the Wallflowers are a big deal. Their second record, Bringing Down The Horse (featuring guest musicians like Michael Penn, Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers) is multi-platinum. And when they appeared live on the MTV awards, they were joined by no less than Bruce Springsteen, an exciting roots-rock moment that could only be matched by, oh, Counting Crows exploding onstage. You'd have to figure the Dylan-led 'flowers had pretty much left Bob in the dust.

			Bob Dylan - "Blowin' In The Wind"
			Bob Dylan - "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
			The Wallflowers - "One Headlight"

But you'd be wrong. Here comes Senior with a new LP, Time Out Of Mind *, that's not only good, but one he also sings in his native English. (This for the first time in at least a decade.) And on top of that, Bob--now 392 dog years old--one-ups Jake by performing in front of the Pope at Catholic Revival week, and at the request of the John Paul himself! What the hell, they're about the same age. Anyway, today's modern Pontiff Au Go Go enjoyed the musical stylings of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "The Times They Are A Changin'," a couple of real-gone canticles. There were some disappointments, to be sure--Bob didn't swap his cowboy hat for John Paul's pope hat, and grouchy Italian commentator Costantino Muscau grumbled that the week "runs the risk of being remembered only for 'the discotheque in the piazza with the disc jockey pope'"--but overall, the event was quite a success.

So both Dylans are back--thank both the Lord and his representative on earth, Casey Kasem--and the only question now is which one is backer. For his part, Jakob's never pretended to be Bob or even early Donovan. "The baggage doesn't disappear," he said while evidently not at any major U.S. airport. "Everybody lives under shadows; I obviously have one but I don't pretend it's any worse than anyone else's." The low-key Jake, youngest of Bob-o's scads of kids, is in fact the only Dylan young 'un in the music biz. And he admits that he's been influenced by Bob. Exactly how much speed he takes in the recording studio is anybody's guess.

Some Dylan fans are disappointed that the Wallflowers don't sound more like Bob, or anything like Bob, for that matter. (On the other hand, talented Dylanologist A.J. Weberman has pointed out that 'horse' is junkie slang for 'heroin,' so maybe Jakob's at least sending Weberman secret messages, just like his dad has for lo these many years.) Unlike Bob, Jakob seems really committed to the concept of being in a band, while Bob's never even been committed to the idea of being in a genre. But when it comes to not answering questions, the boy's certainly a chip off the old block.

Examples from an interview with Newsweek: Did you listen to the radio a lot while you were growing up? "I didn't not listen to it, but I didn't live by it." OK, did you have a swing set in the backyard? (As an aside, aren't people who work for Newsweek supposed to ask good questions?) Anyway, get a load of the answer: " You know, I can't say I really have fond memories of having one or not having one. But I'm sure I did. I don't see why I wouldn't have." It's kind of amazing the kid can express himself lyrically at all when he can't even answer the always-tricky Swing Set Question. But it sure reminds me of Dad Dylan when somebody asked him, way back when, what he thought about the music business. "I'm not in the music business," Bob replied. "I'm in the show business."

As far as I can tell, Jakob's shown good sense most of the time. In high school, one of his favorite bands was the Replacements, and everyone knows they were the greatest musicians to ever come out of Minnesota. But comparisons with his father are inevitably premature. Despite the Wallflowers' well-earned success with Bringing Down The Horse, Bob's had at least two or three really good albums (I'm including Self Portrait!)...so it may be another five years before we can bring the curtain down on this particular argument.

I guess when Jakob launches into "6th Avenue Heartache" sometime in the next millennium and is joined onstage by the tough-rockin' Pope & His College Of Cardinals, we can start talking again.