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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan other

April 7: Bob Dylan won Honorary Pulitzer Prize in 2008

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Jesse Dylan (right) accepts the 2008 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation to Bob Dylan, from Richard Oppel, co-chair of The Pulitzer Prize Board.

April 7: Bob Dylan was awarded Honorary Pulitzer Prize in 2008

Bob Dylan was awarded with the special citation on Monday, April 7, making history as the first rock and roll artist to be honored. Singer, songwriter, author, musician, and poet was  recognized for his:

“… profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.”
– Pulitzer Price Official site

“We didn’t just look up one afternoon and say, ‘Why don’t we give this to Dylan?’  There’s a history there, and a lot of deliberation and effort to figure out who would be truly worthy.”
Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzers.

“There’s something unsettling about Mr. Dylan being awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but why do we want to be settled?”
Christopher Ricks (author, Dylan’s Vision of sin)

Well, he deserved it. Fans, critics and academics have obsessed over his lyrics since the mid 60s. Thanks to him Rock’n Roll got the attention and reckognition worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

“His songs include countless biblical references and he has claimed Chekhov, Walt Whitman and Jack Kerouac as influences. His memoir, “Chronicles, Volume One,” received a National Book Critics Circle nomination in 2005 and is widely acknowledged as the rare celebrity book that can be treated as literature.”
– Billboard

 

Bob Dylan: Honors and Inductions:

 President Barack Obama presents Dylan with a Medal of Freedom
Year Title Results
1963 Tom Paine Award Honors
1970 Princeton University, New Jersey Honorary Doctorate of Music
1982 Songwriters Hall of Fame Inducted
1990 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres Honors
1997 Kennedy Center Honors Honors
1997 The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Recipient
2000 Polar Music Prize Winner
2002 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Inducted
2004 St. Andrews University, Scotland Honorary Doctorate of Music
2007 Prince of Asturias Awards Winner
2008 Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards Winner
2009 National Medal of Arts Honors
2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
2013 Officier de la Legion d’honneur Recipient

– Hallgeir

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan other, Bootleg

My favourite Bob Dylan bootleg from 1962 : The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Outtakes

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My favourite Bob Dylan bootleg from 1962 : The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan Outtakes

When Dylan released his landmark album The Freewheelin’ in 1963 he had something special. Out of the 13 songs on this his second album 12 were written by Bob Dylan, and about half of the tracks became all-time classics. This very good outtakes bootleg, which was first released on CD in 1994, includes several great tracks that until today remain officially unreleased or has a very limited release. The cover photography is from the same photo-session as the official cover .

Other entries in this series:
My Favourite Bob Dylan bootleg from 1969: The Dylan / Cash Sessions
My Favourite Bob Dylan bootleg from 2011: Funen Village Odense, Denmark June 27
My Favourite Bob Dylan bootleg from 2012: The Day of Wine and Roses, Barolo, Italy July 16

 

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Hearing the songs that didn’t make the album, does not show us a weaker Dylan, but rather, other roads taken and other views. He was already then looking at different angles and ways to present a song. If you can find this album (and it is quite easy) get it and witness the beginnings of Dylan as we know him today. This is fresh, angry, bluesy and incredibly good!

Solid Road (Rocks and Gravel):

From Bobsboots:

Review:
A great package. The cover is an alternate photo from the Don Hunstien West 4th street photo shoot that produced the official LP cover. Inside is Dylan at CBS studio NY with famed producer John Hammond. The recordings are clear, crisp, and right off of the mix down board. This CD belongs in every  collection. It was re-released in 1999 by an unknown Label, and again in 2001 by OMR. 


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Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson covers Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday Mr. Thompson!

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Richard Thompson covers Bob Dylan

Richard Thompson has done a lot of other people’s songs, often with great result. Today we see/listen to how he copes with Dylan’s songs. First solo then with Fairport Convention.

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Girl from the North Country, very good version, the guitar playing is sublime! It is taken from a concert at the  City Winery, New York, 15th Feb 2012:

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Bob Dylan other, Cover versions

Leon Russell covers Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday Leon Russell!

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Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges April 2, 1942) is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music.

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, he began playing piano at the age of four. Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At this time he was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a session musician, working as a pianist on the recordings of many notable musical artists from the 1960s. By the late 1960s, Russell diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and wrote and co-wrote songs. As a musician, he worked his way up from gigs as a sideman to well known performers. By 1970 he had graduated to solo recording artist, although he never ended all his previous roles within the music industry.

Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, March 14, 2011

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Leon Russell – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall:

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Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris sings Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday, Emmylou!

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Emmylou Harris sings Bob Dylan

“…to work with people who inspired me early on like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, they are so dear to me as musicians and as people. To be able to call them friends and be a part of so many projects of theirs as well as bringing them on mine. And then to just hang out and write and be a part of that extraordinary world that is theirs.”
– Emmylou Harris (2010)

Emmylou Harris was born on April 2, 1947, in Birmingham, Alabama.  The legendary country singer, songwriter, and guitarist is most closely associated with Gram Parsons. However, Bob Dylan played an important role early in her solo career. And she has sung his songs with him and as a solo act.

Harris started her singing career in 1968, in Greenwich Village, and recorded an album, Gliding Bird, soon after, which featured a cover of Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”. She has since been recording with Dylan on Desire. Bob and Emmylou reunited to sing “My Blue-Eyed Jane” for Dylan’s project, The Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers – A Tribute.

Enjoy these cover versions, written by Bob Dylan sung by Emmylou Harris.

Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell – Shelter From The Storm (late night show, 2006):

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