Category Archives: Sound

March 30: Happy 70th Birthday Eric Clapton

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 I am, and always will be, a blues guitarist.
~Eric Clapton

“I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.”
~Eric Clapton

….Paul Simon writes great songs. George Harrison great songs, a lot of people, Eric Clapton produces wonderful music.
~Bob Dylan (Press Conference, July 1981)

Robbie Robertson inducts Eric Clapton Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000:

Check out:

Video of the day: John Wesley Harding – Making Love To Bob Dylan

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Wesley Stace (born 22 October 1965) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter and author who has used the stage name John Wesley Harding. Under his real name, he has written three novels. He is also a novelist, university teacher and the curator of Wesley Stace’s Cabinet of Wonders.

The stage name is most likely taken from the Dylan album with the same name (almost…). He has now gone back to using his real name when making music.

Todays very funny and sweet video is from 2012, and the topic is: Is it possible to make love to a Bob Dylan record?

Directed By: Matt Grady / Starring: Janeane Garofalo & John Wesley Harding

John Wesley Harding – Making Love To Bob Dylan:

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Calexico and Jim James Going to Acapulco


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Calexico and Jim James – Going To Acapulco

Calexico have some very fine Dylan covers. Sometimes alone and sometimes as a terrific backing band for other great artists. Today we present the collaboration, Going To Acapulco, with Jim James (My Morning jacket) and Calexico from the film, I’m Not There.

I’m Not There is a 2007 biographical musical film directed by Todd Haynes, inspired by the life and music of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Six actors depict different facets of Dylan’s public personas: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw. At the start of the film, a caption reads: “Inspired by the music and the many lives of Bob Dylan”. Apart from the song credits, this is the only mention of Bob Dylan in the film.

The film tells its story using non-traditional narrative techniques, intercutting the storylines of seven different Dylan-inspired characters. The title of the film is taken from the 1967 Dylan Basement Tape recording of “I’m Not There”, a song that had not been officially released until it appeared on the film’s soundtrack album. The film received a generally favorable response, and appeared on several top ten film lists for 2007, topping the lists for The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Salon andThe Boston Globe. Particular praise went to Cate Blanchett for her performance, culminating in a Volpi Cup from the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, along with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Calexico has several fine collaborations on the soundtrack.

We will start with a wonderful live version from The Newport Folk Festival in 2008.

Going To Acapulco – Calexico and Jim James (Live, August 3, 2008, Newport Folk Festival):

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Dylan author and political activist Mike Marqusee died Jan 13 R.I.P.


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Dylan author and political activist Mike Marqusee died Jan 13 R.I.P.

Mike Marqusee  (October 26, 1953 – January 13, 2015) was an American writer, journalist and political activist in London. 

Marqusee, who described himself as a “deracinated New York Marxist Jew” had lived in Britain since 1971. He wrote mainly about politics, popular culture, the Indian sub-continent andcricket, and was a regular correspondent for, among others, The Guardian, Red Pepper and The Hindu. After he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2007, he wrote extensively on health issues, and in defence of the National Health Service. His book The Price of Experience: Writings on Living with Cancer was published in 2014.

He wrote the Bob Dylan books:
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Jan 1: Hank Williams died in 1953 and Townes Van Zandt died in 1997

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Hank Williams died in 1953 and Townes Van Zandt died in 1997

Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953), born Hiram King Williams, is regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one.Hank Williams died in 1953 and Townes Van Zandt died in 1997

John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997), best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet. Many of his songs, including “If I Needed You,” “To Live is to Fly,” and “No Place to Fall” are considered standards of their genre.

 

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