“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
~John Lennon
From the Liverpool docks to the red light Hamburg streets
Down in the quarry with the Quarrymen.
Playing to the big crowds
Playing to the cheap seats
Another day in your life on your way to your journey’s end
Shine your light, move it on, you burn so bright, roll on John
~Bob Dylan
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
― John Lennon
Well kiss me baba, woo-oooooo….it feels good Hold me baba I want to love you like a lover should Your fine, so kind I got this world that your mine mine mine mine-ine
From Wikipedia:
Released
November 11, 1957
Recorded
October 8, 1957, Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre
Rock and roll, Rockabilly, Country
Label
Sun 281
Writer(s)
Otis Blackwell (under the pseudonym Jack Hammer)
“Great Balls of Fire” is a 1957 song recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell (under the pseudonym Jack Hammer). The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. The song is in AABA form.
What is there to be afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is you fail. So what? I failed at a lot of things. My first record was horrible.
~John Mellencamp
I’m your average Joe guy. I don’t really care for politicians.
~John Mellencamp
Induction of John Mellencamp @ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
If Dylan’s songs were once protests looking for rectification — if his language was once phantasmagoric and tricky to decipher — well, that was wonderful, but things have changed. Tell Tale Signs sets a new milestone for this American artist. Dylan has always written about morally centerless times, but this collection comes from a different perspective — not something born of the existential moment but of the existential long view and the courage of dread. Jack Fate, Dylan’s character in Masked and Anonymous, intones what might work as the pracis for this album: “Seen from a fair garden, everything looks cheerful. Climb to a higher plateau, and you’ll see plunder and murder. Truth and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. I tried to stop figuring everything out a long time ago.” For a long time, we’ve asked Dylan to deliver us truths. Now that he has, we need to ask ourselves if we can live with them.
~Mikal Gilmore (rollingstone.com)
About a year ago we ran a poll asking readers to vote for their favorite “Tell Tale Signs” songs.
Original challenge:
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I hereby challenge all readers to put out their personal list of the 10 best songs from Bob Dylan’s lovely “The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006”.
Top 5 is also appreciated.
Use the comments section in this post or check out our Facebook page.
The poll will be open till Tuesday’ish.
————
Top 5 on provided lists got 2 points each & 6-10 got 1 point
25 Bob Dylan experts voted
The results
–
1
Red River Shore (Unreleased #1, Time Out of Mind)
36 points
2
Cross the Green Mountain (from the Gods and Generals soundtrack)
31 points
3
Born in Time (Unreleased #1, Oh Mercy)
29 points
4
Tell Ol’ Bill (Alternate version of song released on the North Country soundtrack)
28 points
5
Huck’s Tune (From the Lucky You soundtrack)
27 points
6
Mississippi (Unreleased #1, Time Out of Mind)
17 points
7
Most Of The Time (Alternate version #1, Oh Mercy)
16 points
8
Can’t Wait (Alternate version #1, Time Out of Mind)
14 points
9
Dreamin’ of You (Unreleased #1, Time Out of Mind)
13 points
10
Ring Them Bells* (Live at The Supper Club, November 17, 1993, New York, NY)
9 points
11
High Water (For Charley Patton) (Live, August 23, 2003, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
8 points
12
Marchin’ to the City (Unreleased #1, Time Out of Mind)
7 points
13
Ain’t Talkin’ (Alternate version, Modern Times)
6 points
13
Dignity (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
6 points
13
Everything Is Broken (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
6 points
13
Series of Dreams (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
6 points
13
Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (Live, October 5, 2000, London, England)
6 points
13
Can’t Escape from You (Unreleased, December 2005 recording)
6 points
19
32-20 Blues (Robert Johnson) (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
5 points
20
Mary and the Soldier (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
3 points
20
Red River Shore (Unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
3 points
20
Someday Baby (Alternate version, Modern Times)
3 points
* there are 3 versions of this song included on TTS & it was not clear from the votes which versions were chosen. I will presume everyone voted for the best one.. the supper club version.
Spotify (without songs from the bonus disc)
—
My List:
“Red River Shore” – 7:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
“Huck’s Tune” – 4:09 (From the Lucky You soundtrack)
“Born in Time” – 4:10 (Unreleased version #1, Oh Mercy)
“‘Cross the Green Mountain” – 8:15 (from the Gods and Generals soundtrack)
“Tell Ol’ Bill” – 5:31 (Alternate version of song released on the North Country soundtrack)
“Mississippi” – 6:04 (Unreleased version #1, Time Out of Mind)
“Most of the Time” – 3:46 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
“Dignity” – 2:09 (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
“God Knows” – 3:12 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
“Marchin’ to the City” – 6:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
There was a wicked messenger
From Eli he did come
With a mind that multiplied the smallest matter
When questioned who had sent for him
He answered with his thumb
For his tongue it could not speak, but only flatter
Roma Palaeur
Rome, Italy
3 October 1987
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar) with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
Tom Petty (guitar)
Mike Campbell (guitar)
Benmont Tench (keyboards)
Howie Epstein (bass)
Stan Lynch (drums)
The Queens Of Rhythm: Carolyn Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Madelyn Quebec (backing vocals)
