Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, Music Calendar

Today: Bob Dylan recorded master version of “Desolation Row” in 1965 – 47 years ago

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Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortune-telling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain

Location: Studio E, Columbia Recording Studios – NYC

What:  The 6th and last Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston

Master versions recorded: Desolation Row

The released version on H61R is actually a splice between take 6 & 7.

Musicians: Overdub session with Bob Dylan (guitar) and Charlie McCoy (guitar, bass).
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More detalis from: Olof’s Files 

Desolation Row is number 9 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs.

From Wikipedia:

“Desolation Row” is a 1965 song written and sung by Bob Dylan. It was recorded on August 4, 1965 and released as the closing track of Dylan’s sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited. It has been noted for its length (11:21) and surreal lyrics in which Dylan weaves characters from history, fiction, the Bible and his own invention into a series of vignettes that suggest entropy and urban chaos.

The Highway 61 Revisited version was recorded on August 4, 1965, in Columbia’s Studio A in New York City. Nashville-based guitarist Charlie McCoy, who happened to be in New York, was invited by producer Bob Johnston to contribute an improvised acoustic guitar part and Russ Savakus played bass guitar. Polizzotti credits much of the success of the song to McCoy’s contribution: “While Dylan’s panoramic lyrics and hypnotic melody sketch out the vast canvas, it is McCoy’s fills that give it their shading.”

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I happen to agree with -> Mark Polizzotti is the author of “Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited (33 1/3)“.

 Please check out Video’s of the day from last night:
–>  Desolation Row – The Marionette Performance part 1 & 2

Studio version from youtube:

Album of the day.. again:

Other August-04:

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Bob Dylan, Music Calendar

Today: Bob Dylan recorded master version of “Isis” in 1975

Isis, oh, Isis, you mystical child
What drives me to you is what drives me insane
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin’ rain

Location: Studio E, Columbia Recording Studios – NYC

What:  5th Desire session, produced by Don DeVito.

Master versions recorded: Isis, Sara & Abandoned Love

  • Isis & Sara released on Desire 16 January 1976
  • Abandoned Love released on Biograph 28 October 1985
Bob Dylan (guitar, vocal), Scarlet Rivera (violin), Sheena Seidenberg (tambourine & congas), Rob Stoner (bass), Howie Wyeth (drums).
More detalis from: Olof’s Files 
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From Wikipedia:

This song is in a moderately fast 3/4 time, in the key of B-flat major. The arrangement is based on rhythm chords played on acoustic piano, accompanied by bass, drums, and violin. The harmonic progression consists of an ostinato using the chords I-♭VII-IV-I (B♭-A♭-E♭-B♭) throughout. The lyrics are all verses; there is no chorus. The melody is in the style of a modal folk song, emphasizing the tonic and dominant notes in the scale, with leaps of a fifth in between them. The mode is Mixolydian with a major third in the harmony, but Dylan’s delivery of the melody uses a flatted third as in the blues.

The song was written and recorded during a time of separation and reunion in Dylan’s own marriage; consequently, for fans and critics the temptation to interpret it as an allegory of Dylan’s own marital difficulties is irresistible, especially since the Desire album contains the song “Sara” which is openly about their marriage and separation. Since Dylan was known to include autobiographical hints in his previous songs, this interpretation cannot be considered farfetched. “Isis” draws upon mythological themes of a male hero separating from his wife, going on adventures, and returning to the marriage, going back to the Odyssey.

Dylan did an up-tempo live version of this song with the Rolling Thunder Revue, a performance of which was included in the film Renaldo and Clara. A live Rolling Thunder version of the song was included on the compilation album Biograph, which Dylan introduces as “a song about marriage”. Coupled with the name of the album, this introduction further insinuates that the song documents Dylan’s marital tribulations.

Live from Rolling Thunder 1 – Plymouth:

Spotify playlist – Isis, Sara & Abandoned Love:

Album of the day:

Other July-31:

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Bob Dylan, Music Calendar

Today: Bob Dylan recorded master version of “Positively 4th Street” in 1965 – 47 years ago

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On July 29, 1965 Dylan undertook his 3rd Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston.

Location: Studio A, Columbia Recording Studios – NYC

The day left us with master versions of Positively 4th Street, Tombstone Blues & It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.

Positively 4th Street ranks as no. 14 on my list of Dylans 200 best songs (Tombstone is 72 & It Takes a lot is 76).

Musicians:

Bob Dylan (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocal).
Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Frank Owens (piano), Bobby Gregg (drums), Russ Savakus (bass), Al Kooper (organ).

From Wikipedia:

“Positively 4th Street” is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, …..   …  Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as #203 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

The song was released between the albums Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde, as the follow-up to Dylan’s hit single “Like a Rolling Stone“, but wasn’t included on either LP. The song’s title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics and there has been much debate over the years as to the significance or what individual the song concerns. Dylan once lived on 4th Street in Manhattan.

In studio summer 1965 – photo by Don Hunstein:

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Bob Dylan also recorded “Catfish” on this day in 1975.

Location: Studio E – Columbia Recording Studios, NYC

Wikipedia:

Catfish is a song written Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. It was originally recorded for Dylan’s 1976 album Desire but was released onThe Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. “Catfish” was a tribute to future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Hunter (better known as Catfish Hunter). Joe Cocker covered the song and included it on his 1976 album “Stingray,” and Kinky Friedman released a live version on his “Lasso from El Paso” album.

 

Album of the day:

Other July 29:

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Bob Dylan, News

What we think we know about the new Bob Dylan album

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The title is Tempest.
It has ten songs.
It will be released September 11th 2012 in the US.

Update: Release date UK September 10th 2012 (according to nme.com)

Update: Release date Norway September 7th 2012 (according to platekompaniet.no)

David Hidalgo says it has a Latin American influence with a Tres Guitar.

It is Bob Dylan’s 35th studio album.

It is recorded at Jackson Browne’s Los Angeles studio.

It was recorded from January to March this year.

It marks Bob Dylan’s  50TH anniversary as a recording artist.

The Tracklist is:
1. Duquesne Whistle
2. Soon After Midnight
3. Narrow Way
4. Long and Wasted Years
5. Pay In Blood
6. Scarlet Town
7. Early Roman Kings
8. Tin Angel
9. Tempest
10. Roll On John

Track 10 is about John Lennon (and it’s a long song, 9 minutes(?)), it quotes lines from multiple Beatles songs, including “Come together right now” from “Come Together” and “I heard the news today, oh boy” from “A Day in the Life.”

Tempest is also a play by William Shakespeare (his last).

The picture on the front is of a statue in Austria depicting Pallas a Greek godess.

Update: The picture on the front is not depicting the Greek goddess Pallas! In fact it depicts the female allegory of the river Vltava (Moldau) which indeed is part of the Pallas monument in front of the Austrian Parliament. The Elbe and the Vltava on the backside, the Danube and the Inn on the front. (Thanks to Mierow Brothers, also see the comments)

The statue has been colorized into a blood like color for the album artwork.

It is produced by Jack Frost (a Dylan alias).

The T in the title looks like a cross.

The first track, Duquesne Whistle, appears to be a reference to a 1933 Time Magazine article about a small Pennsylvania steel town.

Tempest (the ninth track) might be about The Titanic and could be around 14 minutes long.

The Album is supposedly 68 minutes long.

The 5th track, Pay in Blood, includes the line, “I’ll pay in blood, but not my own.”

It will be released in the following formats:
1) A “standard” CD jewel case release.
2) A “deluxe” CD release.
3) A double vinyl LP release.
4) iTunes release.

Update: The font of the word Tempest comes from resembles that of a 1961 advert for the Pontiac Tempest (Thanks to stephenoxford and Matthew , check out the comments…)

Update: Pallas Athene was the Shaker of the Spear… just to make a connection with Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Tank you Christopher Twigg, check the comments)

– Hallgeir

Memphis, Music Calendar, Soul, Stax

Today: William Bell is 73

From Wikipedia:

William Bell (born July 16, 1939) is an American soul singer and songwriter, and one of the architects of the Stax–Volt sound. As a performer, he is probably best known for 1961’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” (his debut single); 1968’s “Private Number” (a duet with Judy Clay, and a top 10 hit in the UK); and 1976’s “Tryin’ To Love Two”, Bell’s only US top 40 hit, which also hit #1 on the R&B charts. Upon the death of Otis Redding, Bell released the well-received memorial song “A Tribute To A King”.

From Allmusic (Jason Ankeny):

A principal architect of the Stax/Volt sound, singer/composer William Bell remains best known for his classic “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” one of the quintessential soul records to emerge from the Memphis scene. Born William Yarborough on July 16, 1939, he cut his teeth backing Rufus Thomas, and in 1957 recorded his first sides as a member of the Del Rios. After joining the Stax staff as a writer, in 1961 Bell made his solo debut with the self-penned “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” an archetypal slice of country-soul and one of the label’s first big hits. A two-year Armed Forces stint effectively derailed his career, however, and he did not release his first full-length album, The Soul of a Bell, until 1967, generating a Top 20 hit with the single “Everybody Loves a Winner”; that same year, Albert King also scored with another classic Bell composition, the oft-covered “Born Under a Bad Sign.”

You Don’t Miss Your Water:

Album of the day:

Read more about this album here -> Allmusic – The Soul of Bell

 Other July-16:

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