Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky
And the tears that I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River
Then I’m gonna sit right here until I die
–
As a songwriter, I’ve always loved his lyrics. At the beginning of his career, John released a bunch of powerful songs in a very short time. For me, the best one was always “Big River.” It’s so well-written, so unlike anything else. The lines don’t even seem to rhyme.
~Kris Kristofferson (rollingstone.com)
[Bob Dylan]…the greatest writer of our times
~Johnny Cash (introducing “Wanted Man” on the album “At San Quentin”)
..Johnny was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him – the greatest of the greats then and now. I first met him in ‘62 or ‘63 and saw him a lot in those years. Not so much recently, but in some kind of way he was with me more than people I see every day.
~Bob Dylan (Statement on Johnny Cash – Sept 2003)
Today we celebrate Johnny Cash’s birthday & I’ve collected some videos of him performing together with Bob Dylan.
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (from the documentary No Direction Home)
He was a giant, a great, great soul, with all the humanity, all the wit and humor, all the wisdom, the spirituality, the common sense of a man and compassion for people. He inspired love and had the strength of a hundred men. He was like the sun, the flowers and the moon and we shall miss him enormously. The world is a profoundly emptier place without him.
– Bob Dylan (George Harrison’s Obituary, Nov 2001)
George Harrison: The Last Performance (John Fugelsang)
Broadcast the day George Harrison died.
The last interview & last performance of a truly great individual:
Ramona
Come closer
Shut softly your watery eyes
The pangs of your sadness
Shall pass as your senses will rise
The flowers of the city
Though breathlike
Get deathlike at times
And there’s no use in tryin’
T’ deal with the dyin’
Though I cannot explain that in lines
I always want to run away from A to B, and then I get to B and I wanna go back to A. I think everybody wants to run away.
~Del Shannon
One of the best and most original rockers of the early ’60s, Del Shannon was also one of the least typical. Although classified at times as a teen idol, he favored brooding themes of abandonment, loss, and rejection.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
