Bob Dylan Was ‘Drawn’ to Famous Women With Voices Like This
Bob Dylan is known for his distinctive voice β and heβs attracted to women with distinctive voices. However, the woman whose voices he likes donβt sound much like him. Hereβs a look at the handful of female singers whose voices attract him.

Why Bob Dylan was drawn to the voices of these celebrities
During a 1985 interview with Scott Cohen of Spin, Dylan discussed the type of women he likes. βIβve always been drawn to a certain kind of woman,β he said. βItβs the voice more than anything else. I listen to the voice first. Itβs that sound I heard when I was growing up. It was calling out to me.β
Afterward, he discussed a handful of female artists whose singing he liked.Β βWhen everything was blank and void, I would listen for hours to The Staple Singers. Itβs that sort of gospel singing sound. Or that voice on The Crystalβs record, βThen He Kissed Me,β Clydie King, Memphis Minnie, that type of thing.βΒ
For context, The Staple Singers are most known for R&B hits like βRespect Yourselfβ and βLetβs Do It Again.β The Crystals are probably best known for βThen He Kissed Meβ which has been covered by notable artists such as The Beach Boys, Kiss, and Daniel Johnston. However, they also released other classic Phil Spector songs like βHe Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)β and βDa Doo Ron Ron.βΒ
Clydie King was known both as an artist in her own right and as a backup singer who worked with Dylan and others, including The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Arlo Guthrie, and Ringo Starr. According to Rolling Stone, Dylan described her as the best singing partner of his career and his soul mate. Memphis Minnie is primarily remembered for singing βMe and My Chauffeur Blues.β While Dylan puts all these singers in the same category, they made pretty different music.
Was Bob Dylan more concerned with womenβs voices or womenβs bodies?
Later in the Spin interview, Cohen asked Dylan βWhat happens when the body doesnβt match the voice?β βThereβs something in that voice, that whenever I hear it, I drop everything, whatever it is,β Dylan replied. βA body is a body. A woman could be deafβ¦ and blind and still have soul and compassion. Thatβs all that matters to me. You can hear it in the voice.β
Bob Dylan was impressed with this celebrity even though she wasnβt a singer
Initially, Dylan said he was drawn to women because of their singing voices. However, he also praised Edie Sedgwick, an actor and model who appeared in Andy Warhol productions, for being enthusiastic and exciting. While Sedgwick was a countercultural celebrity, she didnβt release any albums. Dylan was interested in womenβs voices, however, a woman didnβt need to be a singer to impress him.