The better half of Bob Dylan There was a marked and disturbing contrast between the two parts of the concert given by Bob Dylan, the Ameri- can folk-singer, at the Albert Hall last night. In the first, and infinitely better, half of the evening, Mr. Dylan gave an agreeable solo rendering of some of the songs for which he is best known: in the second half he was accompanied by a thunderous quintet who made it virtually impossible to distinguish a single line of the lyrics. The difficulties in obtaining customs clearance for thc group's electronic equip- ment delayed the start of the concert by half an hour. Once it began, however, the large audience clearly forgot the incon- venience it was caused. In spite of his slender frame. Mr. Dylan has a voice of some power and he used it to particularly good effect in Demolition Ro., with its bizarre sequence of nightmarish images. and Hey. Mr. Tambourine Man, in many ways the most haunting of all his songs. After the interval. however, judgment became difficult as Mr. Dylan's voice to the evident dissatisfaction of a section of the audience, was all but drowned by his accompanists. Bob Dylan is often thought to speak, through his songs. for his genera- tion; it seems all the more unfortunate that for one half of this entertainment the words should have bcen impossible to hear. Mr. Frederick Carter, a director and general manager of Associated Theatre Properties (London) Ltd., is to retire on June 30 after nearly 35 years with the com- pany. The better half of Bob Dylan