The crops are all in and the peaches are rott’ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They’re flying ’em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again
…. a numinious ‘Deportees’—the best duet Joan Baez ever managed with Dylan.
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)
Hughes Stadium Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 23 May 1976
Dylan is one of the performers at the Washington Civil Rights March. Photographs of the historic march show him perched on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, singing with Baez. He also accompanies folk revivalist Len Chandler on the traditional “Hold On,” as well as performing solo versions of “Only a Pawn in Their Game” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” “Only a Pawn in Their Game” appears in bastardized form on the Folkways’s We Shall Overcome documentary album, largely obliterated by some ill-considered polemic superimposed over the song.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
But I thought Kennedy, both Kennedy’s – I just liked them. And I like Martin…. Martin Luther King. I thought those were people who were blessed and touched, you know? The fact that they all went out with bullets doesn’t change nothin’. Because the good they do gets planted. And those seeds live on longer than that.
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder, March 1984)
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom or “The Great March on Washington“, as styled in a sound recording released after the event,was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States historyand called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C..Thousands of Americans headed to Washington on Tuesday August 27, 1963. On Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech in which he called for an end to racism.
Joan Baez has recorded many Dylan songs. Her unique and beautiful voice carries some of them to different places. For many Dylan enthusiasts, Joan Baez’s interpretations are the only tolerable ones, besides Dylan’s own 🙂
Baez first met Dylan in 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
Classic song: Bob Dylan & Joan Baez Never Let Me Go (Johnny Ace)
Just let me love you tonight.
Forget about tomorrow.
My darling, won’t you hold me tight,
And never let me go.
Dry your eyes, no tears, no sorrow.
Cling to me with all your might,
And never let me go.
The music of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s when music was at that root level—that for me is meaningful music. The singers and musicians I grew up with transcend nostalgia—Buddy Holly and Johnny Ace are just as valid to me today as then.
~Bob Dylan (to Maureen Orth, Jan 1974)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece. It is often used to describe a composition involving two singers. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo section rather than performing simultaneously.
Bob Dylan has done a lot of duets, we have collected some of our favourites and will present them in batches of three. Today we present three songs about how hard the life in America can be for people who struggle with poverty and tries to create a new life for themselves and their family. These are heartbreaking songs. Continue reading Bob Dylan – Great Duets part 6: American Depression→