Popmartijn
Blue Crack Supplier
the word "washed up" can't apply to somebody who a) never had any great musical talent (other than his writing) in teh first place, and b) has never really cared about being commercialy succesful at all.
dylan isn't a fucking legend because of how great a singer he was, or how great a guitar player he was.
I do take issue with your statement that Dylan never had any great musical talent. He's a great performer and also a great singer. True, his current voice is an acquired taste, but he has always been a great singer. Dylan's great singing his songs in his early days (the early Sixties) was of a big influence on music (not just folk, but also rock and soul). It maybe wasn't the prettiest voice, but it was a great voice.
Sam Cooke commented that when he heard Dylan sing he knew that the times were indeed a-changin'. It was no longer necessary to have a pretty voice to sing, but it would be more important to really mean what you were singing. Because he heard Dylan sing the truth.
And for that, you do need musical talent.