Bob Dylan: Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 10 May 1963

May 10, 2014 Egil 2 Comments

Dylan performs on the opening night of the two-day Brandeis University Folk Festival in Waltham, MA. His set immediately precedes the intermission, although he stays around for the statutory communal finale. Despite poor acoustics, he is well received.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)

Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts
10 May 1963
The Brandeis University Folk Festival

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May 9 in music history

May 9, 2014 Egil


Today: The late Hank Snow was born in 1914, 100 years ago (read more)I’ve had about 140 albums released, and I’ve done everything I wanted to do. ~Hank Snow — I’d always listened to Hank Snow. ~Bob Dylan (to Sam Shepard – Aug 1986) — Canada’s greatest contribution to country music, Hank Snow was famous for his “traveling” songs. It’s no wonder. At age 12 he ran away from his Nova Scotia home and joined the Merchant Marines, working as a cabin boy and laborer for four years. ~David Vinopal (allmusic.com)
Dave Prater (May 9, 1937 – April 9, 1988) was an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues (R&B) singer who was the deeper, baritone and second tenor vocalist of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 until his death in 1988. Dave Prater is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1992), the Grammy Hall of Fame (1999, for the song “Soul Man”), the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame (1997), and was a Grammy Award winning (1967) and multi-Gold Record award winning recording artist.
Bob Dylan: San José, California, 9 May 1992 (read more)This is a great sounding audience recording of a loose, fun show. The setlist is amazing. ~bobsboots.com
Dave Gahan (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the baritone lead singer for the British electronic music band Depeche Mode since their debut in 1980. He is also an accomplished solo artist, releasing albums in 2003 (Paper Monsters) and 2007 (Hourglass). Despite his bandmate Martin Gore continuing to be the main Depeche Mode songwriter, Gahan has contributed a number of songs to the band’s most recent albums, Playing the Angel (2005) and Sounds of the Universe(2009). Two of these songs were released as singles, including “Suffer Well” in 2006 and “Hole to Feed” in 2009. Q magazine ranked Gahan no. 73 on the list of the “100 Greatest Singers” and no. 27 on “The 100 Greatest Frontmen”.
Bob Dylan: Blind Willie McTell, Manchester, England 9 May 2002 (Video)
Paul Richard “Richie” Furay (born May 9, 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio) is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner. His best known song (originally written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield, but eventually performed by Poco, as well) was “Kind Woman”, which he wrote for his wife, Nancy.
William Martin “Billy” Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer. Since releasing his first hit song, “Piano Man”, in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA.
Spotify Playlist – May 9

Blues, Robert Johnson

Videos of the day: Two great documentaries about Robert Johnson

May 8, 2014 Hallgeir 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of the legendary blues-man Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faustian myth. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke-joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson enjoyed little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.

We celebrate his life and art with two amazing documentaries.

1. The Crossroads Legends – Search for Robert Johnson:

John Hammond, Jr. explores the life and times of blues man, Robert Johnson. Hammond is a fine blues musician himself, here he travels through the small towns of the Mississippi Delta and interviews several of Robert Johnson’s contemporaries and acquaintances, including Johnny Shines.
Continue reading Videos of the day: Two great documentaries about Robert Johnson →

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May 8 in music history

May 8, 2014 Egil


Robert Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) – read more “You think you’re getting a handle on playing the blues, and then you hear Robert Johnson — some of the rhythms he’s doing and playing and singing at the same time, you think, ‘This guy must have three brains!’ ” ~Keith Richards — Favorite album? I think the Robert Johnson album. I listen to that quite a bit still. ~Bob Dylan (Rockline interview – June 1985)
Bob Dylan: Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Savoy Hotel, London England 8 May 1965 (Video) – read more The Bob Dylan England Tour 1965 (April 30 – May 10) was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan during late April and early May 1965. The tour was widely documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, who used the footage of the tour in his documentary Dont Look Back.
Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as a group leader and a solo performer. His improvisations draw not only from the traditions of jazz, but from other genres as well, especially Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music.
Let It Be is the 12th and final studio album released by the English rock band The Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970 by the band’s Apple Records label shortly after the group announced their break-up.
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008), known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more than 85 million records. A member of the Grand Ole Opry (beginning 1943) and the Country Music Hall of Fame (beginning 1966), Arnold ranked 22nd on Country Music Television’s 2003 list of “The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.” He co-wrote the country and pop standard “You Don’t Know Me”.
Daniel Ray Whitten (May 8, 1943 – November 18, 1972) was an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”, a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl.
Chris Frantz (born Charlton Christopher Frantz, May 8, 1951, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, United States) is an American musician and record producer. He was the drummer for both Talking Heads and the Tom Tom Club.
Gary Glitter (born Paul Francis Gadd on 8 May 1944) is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.
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May 7 in music history

May 7, 2014 Egil


The Rolling Stones: Paint It, Black (released 7 May 1966) (read more) The principal riff of “Paint It Black” (almost all classic Rolling Stones songs are highlighted by a killer riff) was played on a sitar by Brian Jones and qualifies as perhaps the most effective use of the Indian instrument in a rock song. The exotic twang was a perfect match for the dark, mysterious Eastern-Indian melody, which sounded a little like a soundtrack to an Indian movie hijacked into hyperdrive. ~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
Alice is an album by Tom Waits, released May 7, 2002 on Epitaph Records (under the Anti sub-label). The album contains the majority of songs written for the play Alice. The adaptation was directed by Robert Wilson, whom Waits had previously worked with on the play The Black Rider, and originally set up at the Thalia Theatre inHamburg in 1992. The play has since been performed in various theatres around the world.
Jimmy Lee Ruffin (born May 7, 1939) is an American soul singer, and elder brother of David Ruffin of The Temptations. He had several hit records between the 1960s and 1980s, the most successful being “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”.
Edward Thomas “Eddie” Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as “Kentucky Rain” for Elvis Presley in 1970 and “Pure Love” for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as “Suspicions” and “Every Which Way but Loose.” His duets “Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)” and “You and I”, with Juice Newton and Crystal Gayle respectively, later appeared on the soap operasDays of Our Lives and All My Children.
My Ride’s Here is the eleventh studio album by American singer/songwriter Warren Zevon, released May 7, 2002. Zevon described it as “a meditation on death”; it was released several months before Zevon was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma.
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Bob Dylan: Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 10 May 1963

May 9 in music history

Spotify Playlist – May 9

Videos of the day: Two great documentaries about Robert Johnson

Today is the birthday of the legendary blues-man Robert Johnson

May 8 in music history

Spotify Playlist – May 8

May 7 in music history

Spotify Playlist – May 7

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