Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan places

Bob Dylan places/songs: Barcelona – Boots of Spanish Leather

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barcelona

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona

Boots of Spanish Leather – Witmark demos:

barcelona_map

 

From Wikipedia:

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km2 (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 within an area of 803 km2 (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, the Ruhr, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also the largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).

Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

Sagrada Familia
Sagrada Família church, Gaudi’s masterpiece

 

Barcelona is today one of the world’s leading tourist, economic, trade fair/exhibitions and cultural-sports centres, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world’s major global cities. Indeed, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe (Iberian Peninsula), 26th in the world (after Moscow, before Dubai) and a growing financial centre (Diagonal Mar and Gran Via). It is the fourth economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion. As of 2009 the city was ranked Europe’s third and one of the world’s most successful as a city brand. At the same time, the city was ranked Europe’s fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year. Barcelona is the transport hub with one of Europe’s principal ports, Barcelona international airport, which handles above 34 million passengers per year, extensive motorway network and also is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which is intended to link Spain with France and the rest of Europe as the second longest in the world.

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folk, Music Calendar

Today: Robert Earl Keen is 57

…Here’s Bob Dylan and he is the greatest and when we’re all dead and gone and they’re looking back at us 400 years from now, they can look at Bob and say he was the Shakespeare of songwriters, and I would agree.
~Robert Earl Keen (to American Songwriter – Sept. 2011)

Among the large contingent of talented songwriters who emerged in Texas in the 1980s and ’90s, Robert Earl Keen struck an unusual balance between sensitive story-portraits (“Corpus Christi Bay”) and raucous barroom fun (“That Buckin’ Song”)
~James Manheim (allmusic.com)

Amarillo Highway live at the Ryman:

From Wikipedia:

Born January 11, 1956 (age 57)
Origin Houston, Texas, United States
Genres Country, Texas country, outlaw country, country rock, alternative country, folk, Americana
Occupations Singer, Songwriter
Instruments Acoustic Guitar
Years active 1984–present
Labels Arista Records
Sugar Hill Records
KOCH Records
Lost Highway
Rosetta Records,Inc.
Website RobertEarlKeen.com

Robert Earl Keen, Junior (born January 11, 1956) is an American country and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter from the southern state of Texas. He is popular with fans of various musical genres including traditional country, alternative country, folk, Americana, and college radio. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas, and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.

REK

Gringo Honeymoon:

Album of the day:

Best (2006):

REK best

More January 11:

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Bob Dylan, Photo

Bob Dylan Street Art Part 2

new bob sa 2 street-art-by-alec-on-melrose-1

I do not know the artist on all these pieces, but this one is by Alec (also included in part 1). It can be found on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles.

Alec (from New York):

Growing up in NYC I was immensely influence by graffiti 
in the streets. It wasn’t until later in grade school that I started writing my name in public places. Art for me is so much realer in the streets

(via Thedirtfloor.com)

There are lot of street art inspired by Dylan, mostly quotes from his songs, but there are also some very striking works depicting Bob Dylan.

BOB DYLAN STREET ART PART 1

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN STREET ART

 

Location-Based Music App Brings Bob Dylan’s New Album To Life In 100+ Locations Around The World

new bob sa 12

The Creators Project: Last we spoke, you were working with sound recordings of famous people’s lives, now your dabbling in album releases of the legends! Tell us about it.
DJ Manero: The new project is still audio, but now with the legend Bob Dylan. We teamed up with Bob to promote his album Tempest around the world, using our new app called Sound Graffiti.

How does the app work?
The app is location-based. People are able to go to iconic points around the world and unlock more and more content.

New bob sa 8 Bob_Dylan_Tempest_CNNCTD_sound_graffiti_lead_slide

What was the significance of the locations?
A few are locations relevant to some of Bob’s album art. Like Jones Street in New York, from the Free Wheelin’ album cover, around the corner from his studio at 161 West 4th Street. Other locations were where he had performed and the rest are locations where music or art is an attraction. We wanted to tag local mom-and-pop and indie record stores to drive traffic to some original music retailers.

READ MORE

 

Bob_Dylan_Tempest_CNNCTD_sound_graffiti_4_detail_em

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Elvis Presley, Sound, The Best Songs, Video

Today: Elvis Presley recorded Heartbreak Hotel in 1956 – 57 years ago

heartbreak_hotel_cover

From Wikipedia:

“Heartbreak Hotel” is a song recorded by Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley’s first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, “Heartbreak Hotel” topped Billboard‘s Top 100 chart, became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956. It was written by Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton.

Well, Since my baby left me

These opening words set the tone, this is not a happy-song…

I got this record from my aunt when I was about 7 or 8 years old (1973/1974), I couldn’t  comprehend the heartache and suffering in the lyrics. I just thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard. I still got that record. It is worn and scratched and it’s still the coolest record in the world.

Heartbreak Hotel (audio):

Heartbreak Hotel credits

Heartbreak Hotel is written by Thomas Durden and Mae Axton in 1955. It was written after Durden read about a suicide in the Miami Herald. A man, who had jumped out the window,  had destroyed his identity papers and left a note saying: “I walk a lonely street.”
It was written very quickly, varying sources states that it was done from a few hours down to 22 minutes.
heartbreak-hotel-a-side

From Wikipedia:

“Axton and Durden give different accounts of how the song was written. Durden’s account is that he had already written the song and performed it with his band the Swing Billys before he presented it to Axton. Axton’s account is that Durden had only penned a few lines of the song, and asked her to help him finish it.  She says that the report of the suicide “stunned” her, and she told Durden, “Everybody in the world has someone who cares. Let’s put a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of this lonely street”. They were interrupted by the arrival of Glen Reeves, a local performer who had previously worked with Axton. The duo asked Reeves to help with the song, but after hearing the title he remarked that it was “the silliest thing I’ve ever heard”, and left them to finish it themselves.The song was written within an hour, and Durden recorded it onto Axton’s tape recorder.”

The song was offered to several artists before Elvis, many of them declined and described the song as strange and morbid . Durden and Axton offered Presley a third of the writers’ credits if he would make it a single, Elvis agreed. Presley recorded the song Jan. 10, 1956. It was his second song recorded on his new label RCA, following “I Got A Woman”. It was released 27th of January 1956.

Heartbreak Hotel, Milton Berle Show:

From the british newspaper The Independent:

“Heartbreak Hotel” started with Elvis, accompanied by a walking bass from Bill Black, reminiscent of Willie Dixon’s work with Muddy Waters. Scotty Moore played assertively and Cramer’s piano pattered like rain. Elvis broke down in each verse, effectively method acting like James Dean. The song was nailed on take seven, but sadly, most of the tapes were wiped. The influence of Johnnie Ray’s “Cry” is self-evident and the song could be a parody. Presley’s dirt-seeking bio-grapher, Albert Goldman, opined, “‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which is an extravagant and highly-exaggerated account of the blues, was more a psychodrama than a musical performance. As such, however, it was an extraordinary novelty and it moved rock music into another imaginative space.”

“Heartbreak Hotel” became Elvis’ first gold record, staying the top of the pop charts for seven weeks in the spring of 1956.

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan places

Bob Dylan places/songs: Amsterdam – Slow Train

amsterdam

All that foreign oil controlling American soil
Look around you, it’s just bound to make you embarrassed
Sheiks walkin’ around like kings
Wearing fancy jewels and nose rings
Deciding America’s future from Amsterdam and to Paris
And there’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend
~Slow Train (from: Slow Train Coming, 1979)

Slow Train:

amsterdam map

From Wikipedia:

Amsterdam (English /ˈæmstərdæm/;  is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. Its principal language is Dutch. The city’s status as the capital of the nation is governed by the constitution. Amsterdam has a population of 820,256 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,289,762. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

Amsterdam’s name is derived from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city’s origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were formed. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam (in Dutch: ‘Grachtengordel’), located in the heart of Amsterdam, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010.

amsterdam2

As Netherlands’ commercial capital and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. The city is also cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and 7 of the world’s top 500 companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2010, Amsterdam was ranked 13th globally on quality of living by Mercer, and previously ranked 3rd in innovation by 2thinknow in the Innovation Cities Index 2009.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. Amsterdam’s main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam,Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, its red-light district, and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.

One of the worlds greatest pieces of art is located in Amsterdam:
The Night Watch (Rembrandt, 1642):
the night watch

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