the difference in quality would be only the music itself, and nothing to do with lyrics/literature, about which I'd bet you are correct (I wouldn't know). Cole was a great jazz pianist that was raised and trained and in the African American Jazz tradition before he 'crossed over', much like George Benson did decades later. It would be a mistake to think either were limited to 'light' entertainment.

So while Cole may or not have played with Mingus or Billy Holiday, he certainly could have. Not so with Dylan.

Even the most seemingly inane songs from that era were more sophisticated - musically - than anything from Dylan, et al. I think this applies : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9394176

p.s. sorry, don't mean to rip on Dylan. If you like it, enjoy!