Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, List

Best albums of 2012: number 1 to 5

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COLUMBIA RECORDS BOB DYLAN ALBUM

1. Bob Dylan – Tempest

“Playing to the big crowds Playing to the cheap seats 
Another day in your life until your journey’s end
Shine your light, move it on, you burn so bright, roll on John”

When Tempest was released back in September.. I listened to the album intensely for a couple of weeks… It was very likable..  I felt it was way better than Together Through Life & probably better than Modern Times. Now @ EndYear I’m still not certain how good it is.. when you admire an artist as much as I do with Dylan.. this is serious shit. It is however better than TTL, Modern Times.. I’m not sure. Anyhow.. It’s the best new album released this year.

-Egil

There are at least 3 masterpieces on Tempest (and some really good songs in addition to those three) and that earns it the top spot on my year-end list. It is funny to see how it has divided people, it has become a love it or hate it record, we love it. Dylan has changed his singing style (because he has to) and he has changed his music, as he has done so many times before. And everytime he do this, people seem to get offended, it is personal to them, I can understand that, but open up, let the new Dylan in, you will be rewarded with the best album in 2012. Fact.

– Hallgeir

Highlights:


Justin-Townes-Earle-Nothings-Gonna-Change-The-Way-You-Feel-About-Me-Now

2. Justin Townes Earle

– Nothing’s gonna change the way I feel about you now

“Hear my father on the radio singing “Take Me Home Again”
300 miles from the Carolina coast and I’m
I’m skin and bones again
Sometimes I wish that I could get away
Sometimes I wish that he’d just call
Am I that lonely tonight, I don’t know…”

 Justin Townes Earle has returned with his 5th album and it is a great one, more Memphis, less Nashville but still very, very good. Again he’s brutally honest, and this album is almost painful in it’s honesty, he really puts himself down. It doesn’t make me pity him, it makes me think that I repect a man that has such insights and has the nerve to face his demons. It sounds as if it’s born out of recovery, and it probably is…

His melodic sense is fabulous and the lyrics are getting better with each release.

Honest country songwriting with a Memphis sound.

– Hallgeir

Highlights:

  • Egil: Am I that lonely tonight?, Look the other way, Nothing’s gonna change the way you feel about me now
  • Hallgeir: Look the other way, Nothing’s gonna change the way you feel about me now, Memphis in the rain, Am I that lonely tonight?


patterson hood-hlritd

3. Patterson Hood –

Heat lightning rumbles in the distance

“I was 27, my band broke up, I got divorced and left my hometown to live in Memphis…”

Pain, Booze & guilt has often helped artists create great art…  There is a lot of all three in this collection of songs from the Drive-By Truckers front man. These are heartfelt songs telling stories from a period in Patterson Hoods life when he was really down… even considered suicide.

“…  My car got stolen, our band’s truck got stripped and I fell in love. I fell out with my family (who I was very, very close to) and had my heart broken. I seriously pondered killing myself several times but instead wrote literally over 500 songs in a three-year period.”
~Patterson Hood (from promotional materials for Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance.)

Nearly all songs on this album are great, but Come Back Little Star shines brightest.. and is a strong contender for a top 5 position on my list for the best new songs of 2012.

-Egil

Highlights:

  • Egil: Come Back Little Star, (untold pretties), 12:01 & Leaving Time
  • Hallgeir: Come back little star, (untold pretties), After the damage, Leaving Time


Unknown

4. Jack White – Blunderbuss

“And you’ll be watching me, girl
Taking over the world
Let the stripes unfurl
Gettin’ rich, singin’ poor boy”

“Blues singers and people who are singing on stage have the same feelings and emotions that someone who is called to be a priest might have.” – Jack White

Music is Jack White’s calling, it is his mission in life, and we at JV are regulars when he preaches. Jack White is a musical genius. He’s a rock auteur. You can hear “his voice” on everything he’s involved in. That is a good thing, and his first solo album really shines.

The music is less raw than with The White Stripes, this doesn’t mean that it is too polished, but I guess that it is an easier introduction into Mr. White’s world than any of his previous projects. His chosen musicians are a tight band and they really brings something to, and enhances his songs. His solo project sounds more like a band than The White Stripes ever did (for the record, I really love The White Stripes).

A tight band and Jack’s guitar explosions on a marvelous break-up record.

Highlights:

  • Egil: Sixteen Saltines, Freedom at 21, Blunderbuss & Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy
  • Hallgeir: Sixteen Saltines, Freedom at 21, Love interruption,  Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy

the-south-cover

5. The South – The South

This album is the one I’ve played most often in 2012, and I do not get tired of it. It  is a great americana album. It’s varied and very well produced by Motorpsycho’s Bent Sæther. It sometimes sound like Little Feat, sometimes Allman Brothers, then The Band and then in goes into the Laurel Canyon landscape. The South is an extremely competent band and they really know their music history.The ballad, Walk in your shadow (a duet with Ida Jenshus) sounds like classic Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris .  This may sound as if they’re not original, but they are, you listen to a song and even if it reminds you of former bands it still sounds brand new.

The album has a soft organic sound, but the band dynamics really comes through, and the guitars are still the main instrument.

The 5th best international album this year and clearly the best Norwegian album in 2012.

…the best part of the album is when the guitars are let loose on I’ll be the one, about 3.45 into the song and right until the end, magnificent!

Country, soul and rock’n roll in one big stew.

– Hallgeir

I’ve just gotta add one comment here.. “The South” is a wonderful album.. BUT live in concert.. they even sound way better! A great live band!

-Egil

Highlights:

  • Egil: Can’t find my way back home, I’ll be the one, Walk in your shadow, Juggernaut
  • Hallgeir: Can’t find my way back home, I’ll be the one, Walk in your shadow, Juggernaut

 

Link to the complete LIST

 

Memphis, Music Calendar

Today: The late Alex Chilton was born in 1950 – 62 years ago

alex chilton

I never thought of myself as being a good songwriter. There are a ton of other people that are good songwriters, but I don’t think I’m in the club. What I do well is perform, sometimes sing pretty good, and accompany myself well and arrange fairly well.
~Alex Chilton

If you’re writing anything decent, it’s in you, it’s your spirit coming out. If it’s not an expression of how a person genuinely feels, then it’s not a good song done with any conviction.
~Alex Chilton

The Box Tops – The Letter (Upbeat 1967):

From Wikipedia:

Birth name William Alexander Chilton
Born December 28, 1950
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died March 17, 2010 (aged 59)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres Rock ‘n’ roll, power pop, proto-punk, hard rock,blue-eyed soul, indie rock
Occupations Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1966–2010
Associated acts Box Tops, Big Star, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns

A young Alex Chilton w/ Dan Penn:

chilton-penn

 

William Alexander “Alex” Chilton (December 28, 1950 – March 17, 2010) was an American songwriter, guitarist, singerand producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton’s early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not repeated in later years with Big Star and in his indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew a loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields and is often cited as an influence by many mainstream rock artists and bands.

Big Star – Thirteen (1972):

Alex+Chilton+alexchilton

Box Tops – I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan Cover):

Album of the day:

Big Star – #1 Record (1972):

Coverfront

 

…. Big Star’s debut album for the first time decades after its release (as, inevitably, most people must), you may be reminded of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers or R.E.M., who came after — that is, if you don’t think of the Byrds and the Beatles, circa 1965. What was remarkable about #1 Record in 1972 was that nobody except Big Star (and maybe Badfinger and the Raspberries) wanted to sound like this — simple, light pop with sweet harmonies and jangly guitars. Since then, dozens of bands have rediscovered those pleasures. But in a way, that’s an advantage because, whatever freshness is lost across the years, Big Star’s craft is only confirmed. ….
~William Ruhlmann (allmusic.com)

Other December 28:

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Blues, Music Calendar

Today: Blind Lemon Jefferson passed away in 1929 – 83 years ago

Blind Lemon

 

Country blues guitarist and vocalist Blind Lemon Jefferson is indisputably one of the main figures in country blues. He was of the highest in many regards, being one of the founders of Texas blues (along with Texas Alexander), one of the most influential country bluesmen of all time, one of the most popular bluesmen of the 1920s, and the first truly commercially successful male blues performer.
~Joslyn Layne (allmusic.com)

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean:

Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
There’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
You can see that my grave is kept clean

Here is Bob Dylan’s take (from his first album – “Bob Dylan” (1962)):

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Lemon Henry Jefferson
Born September 24, 1893
Origin Coutchman, Texas, United States
Died December 19, 1929 (aged 36)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Blues
Occupations Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Years active 1926–1929

“Blind” Lemon Jefferson (Lemon Henry Jefferson; September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929) was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled “Father of the Texas Blues”.

Jefferson’s singing and self-accompaniment were distinctive as a result of his high-pitched voice and originality on the guitar. Though his recordings sold well, he was not so influential on some younger blues singers of his generation, who could not imitate him as they could other commercially successful artists. However, later blues and rock and roll musicians attempted to imitate both his songs and his musical style. His recordings would later influence such legends as B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Son Houseand Robert Johnson.

Matchbox Blues:

Carl Perkins – Matchbox (1956):

Album of the Day:

Blind Lemon Jefferson [Milestone] (1961):

BLJ

Other December 19:

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylans's best songs, Patti Smith

Bob Dylan & Patti Smith – Dark Eyes – Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 17 December 1995

BD & PS

From the last (and one of the best) concerts of the 95-tour we get this great version of “Dark Eyes”.

…. and then three nights in Philadelphia (December 15–17). Every night Patti Smith would come on in the middle for the tenth song of the set and they would
share vocals on ‘Dark Eyes’, the acoustic song from
the end of the Empire Burlesque album of ten years
earlier, and which he had never sung live before.
The routine might have been the same every
night but there was nothing routine about it. ….
….but without question live performance brought it
alive, and it was Patti Smith who made it happen.
Here, in the tingling electricity between them as
they traded verses and duetted on the choruses, the song was the conduit of a beauty and excitement it had never possessed.
Many Dylan followers believed that he felt challenged by Patti Smith’s still possessing a fierce anti-showbiz, anti-bullshit credibility that had in his own case been compromised by then: that she therefore kept him on his toes as no performance with his own band alone would have done. As it was, he rose higher than his toes.
~Michael Gray (Bob Dylan Ecyclopedia)

BD & PS2

Lyrics:

Oh, the gentlemen are talking and the midnight moon is on the riverside
They’re drinking up and walking and it is time for me to slide
I live in another world where life and death are memorized
Where the earth is strung with lovers’ pearls and all I see are dark eyes

A cock is crowing far away and another soldier’s deep in prayer
Some mother’s child has gone astray, she can’t find him anywhere
But I can hear another drum beating for the dead that rise
Whom nature’s beast fears as they come and all I see are dark eyes

They tell me to be discreet for all intended purposes,
They tell me revenge is sweet and from where they stand, I’m sure it is.
But I feel nothing for their game where beauty goes unrecognized,
All I feel is heat and flame and all I see are dark eyes.

Oh, the French girl, she’s in paradise and a drunken man is at the wheel
Hunger pays a heavy price to the falling gods of speed and steel
Oh, time is short and the days are sweet and passion rules the arrow that flies
A million faces at my feet but all I see are dark eyes


–
BD & PS3

-Egil

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylans's best songs, The Best Songs

Bob Dylan’s best songs – A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – #16, released version

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The hard rain is gonna fall is in the last verse when I say “when the pellets of poison are flooding the waters”. I mean, all the lies, you know, all the lies that people get told on their radios and their newspapers which, all you have to do is
just think for a minute, y’know, try and take peoples brains away, y’know, which maybe’s been done already. I dunno, maybe, I hate to think it’s been done, but all the lies, which are considered poison, y’know, er…
Bob Dylan (to Studs Terkel, April 63)

‘Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’… I wrote the words of it on a piece of paper. But there was just no tune that really fit to it, so I just sort of play chords without a tune. If all this comes under the heading of a definition, then I don’t care really to define what I do. Other people seem to have a hard time doing that.
~Bob Dylan (to Max Jones, May 64)

From “The Witmark Demos” (Bootleg Series 9):

@ #16 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs. The original version from “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was recorded on December 6 – 1962…. 50 year’s ago today. The Witmark version above was recorded sometime in December 62.

‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, recorded December 6, 1962, is another song whose genius and power are so great that our analytical minds (not our hearts) may have difficulty accepting and recognizing it’s simplicity.
~Paul Williams (Performing Artist 60-73)

from 1964:

 

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