Category Archives: Bob Dylan

Jeff Buckley covers Bob Dylan

jeff buckley text

Jeff Buckley covers Bob Dylan

Here is a 1993 clip of Jeff Buckley at a poetry event, reading an apology letter he wrote to his idol Bob Dylan. The reading is included on a CD accompanying the  book The Spoken Word Revolution Redux.

“Dear Bob,
And I don’t know what purpose this will serve at all.

I don’t know how to start. Last Saturday, my man, Steve Burkowitz, broke it to me that you were told of something I said from the stage and that you’d felt insulted. I need for you to listen to me. I have no way of knowing how my words are translated to you, if they’re whole meaning and context are intact, but the truth is that I was off on a tangent, on a stage, my mind going where it goes, trying to be funny, it wasn’t funny at all and I fucked up, I really fucked up.

And the worst of it isn’t that your boys were at the gig to hear it. It doesn’t really bother me. It just kills me to know that whatever they told you was what you think I think of you-

not that I love you, not that I’ve always listened to you and carried the music with me wherever I go, not that I believe in you and also that your show was great. It was only the separate club crowd that I was cynical about and that’s what I was trying to get at when I said what I said.And I’m sorry that I’ll never get to make another first impression. You were really gracious to me, to even allow me backstage to meet you. I’ll never forget you, what you told me for as long as I live. He said “Make a good record man” and I’m very honored to have met you at all. He said some other shit too,

I’m only sad that I didn’t get a chance to tell you before all this intrigue, the intrigue is not the truth. Lots of eyes will read this letter before it gets to you, Bob, which I accept. Someday you will know exactly what I mean, man to man.

Always be well,
Jeff Buckley

And you know who’s going to read this? The President of Sony Records, my A&R man, my manager, his two managers, his friend Ratzo, and this is my personal plea of love to Bob Dylan, and this is what happens when you’re not nobody anymore.”

Here are the songs that Jeff Buckley sang and Bob Dylan wrote.

Just Like A Woman – Jeff Buckley, Live at Palais Theatre, Melbourne on February 27 1996:

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Ben E. King and Bob Dylan

Ben_E_King bob dylan

Ben E. King passed away April 30, 2015.

In this post I will connect Ben E. King to Bob Dylan.

  1. Ben E. King
  2. Ben E. King covering Bob Dylan
  3. Ben E. King & Bob Dylan together on stage
  4. Bob Dylan mentions “Stand By Me”.. a couple of times

Ben E. King

Birth name Benjamin Earl Nelson
Also known as Ben E. King
Born September 28, 1938
Henderson, North Carolina
Origin Harlem, New York
Died April 30, 2015 (aged 76)
Hackensack, New Jersey
Genres Soul, R&B, pop, doo-wop
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano,keyboards
Years active 1958–2015
Labels Atco Records
Atlantic Records
Ichiban Records
Associated acts The Drifters
The Five Crowns
Website www.beneking.info

Benjamin Earl King (September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015), professionally known by his pseudonym Ben E. King, was an American soul and R&B singer. He was perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of “Stand by Me“—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later in 1986 (when it was used as the theme to the film of the same name), a number one hit in the UK in 1987, and #25 on the RIAA’s list of Songs of the Century—and as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group the Drifters.

Stand By Me

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Bob Dylan’s best songs from the 1960s

672225d Bob Dylan

[on songwriting] The song was there before me, before I came along. I just sorta came down and I sorta took it down with a pencil that it was all there before I came around. That’s how I feel about it.
~to Pete Seeger, Broadside Show, WBAI-FM Radio, May 1962

Anything I can sing, I call a song. Anything I can’t sing, I call a poem. Anything I can’t sing or anything that’s too long to be a poem, I call a novel.
~Nat Hentoff quoting Dylan, jacket notes Freewheeling Dylan

“It’s hard being free in a song – getting it all in. Songs are so confining. Woody Guthrie told me once that songs don’t have to do anything like that. But it’s not true. A song has to have some kind of form to fit into the music. You can bend the words and the meter, but it still has to fit somehow. I’ve been getting freer in the songs I write, but I still feel confined. That’s why I write a lot of poetry – if that’s the word. Poetry can make it’s own form.”
~Nat Hentoff Interview, June 1964

“A song is anything that can walk by itself, I am called a songwriter. A poem is a naked person, some people say that I am a poet”.
~Jacket notes Subterranean Homesick Blues

Saturday (April 12 – 2014) I asked the question – What’s your top 5 Bob Dylan songs recorded in the 60’s ? – over at our Facebook page. As of writing 72 people (all Bob Dylan experts)  have uttered their opinions.

If you’re not on Facebook, or do not “like” our page.. you can use the comment section to post your 5 favorites.

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Bob Dylan: Quinn The Eskimo, London 2003

bob dylan london 2003

Ev’rybody’s building the big ships and the boats
Some are building monuments
Others, jotting down notes
Ev’rybody’s in despair
Ev’ry girl and boy
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Ev’rybody’s gonna jump for joy
Come all without, come all within
You’ll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn

Shepherds Bush Empire Theatre
London, England
23 November 2003

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & piano)
  • Freddie Koella (guitar)
  • Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Recile (drums & percussion)

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Bob Dylan: Tangled Up In Blue, Glasgow 2011 (video)

bob dylan glasgow 2011

Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through
Tangled up in blue

Braehead Arena
Glasgow, Scotland
9 October 2011

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & keyboard)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Receli (drums & percussion).

Continue reading Bob Dylan: Tangled Up In Blue, Glasgow 2011 (video)