Sometimes two voices or two musicians come together in an inspired pairing that is truly special and Bob Dylan has had several such inspired moments through the years. We have dug up some really special treats for you today.
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez – Never Let me go (Renaldo & Clara):
Written by Joseph C. Scott (but made famous by Johnny Ace) performed by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez during the first Rolling Thunder Revue (1975).
Very fine show from Austin City Limits, aired 2 Nov 2013, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. The Country legends return to the ACL, playing favorites and songs from their joint LP Old Yellow Moon.
SET LIST
Wheels
Pancho and Lefty
Luxury Liner
Red Dirt Girl
The Rock of My Soul
Invitation to the Blues
Back When We Were Beautiful
Chase the Feeling
Dreaming My Dreams
Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight
Old Yellow Moon
Stars on the Water
BAND:
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
with
Steve Fishell – steel guitar, dobro
Byron House – bass, vocals
Jedd Hughes – guitar, vocals
Jerry Roe – drums
Chris Tuttle – keyboards
with special guest
Shawn Colvin
A showman’s life is a smokey bar and
The fevered chase of a tiny star
It’s a hotel room and a lonely wife
From what I’ve seen of a showman’s life
Nobody told me about this part
They told me all about the pretty girls and the wine and
The money and the good times
No mention of all the wear and tear on an old honkey-tonker’s heart
Well, I might have known it
But nobody told me about this part
~”A Showman’s life” (one of his best songs)
“A good song can take a steel guitar, no matter where it comes from, I think about songs this way: I’d love to sing that song, whatever band is playing it. Great songs transcend.”
~Buddy Miller
“When you hear Buddy or watch him play, there’s a magnetic quality that draws you to his music.
~Jim Lauderdale
A Showman’s Life:
From Wikipedia:
Born
September 6, 1952 (age 61)
Fairborn, Ohio
Genres
Country, Americana
Occupations
Musician, Singer-songwriter,producer
Instruments
Vocals, Guitar
Years active
1983–present
Labels
HighTone
New West
Associated acts
Julie Miller, Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, Buddy Miller Band, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Emmylou Harris, Band of Joy, Steve Earle
Buddy Miller (born September 6, 1952 in Fairborn, Ohio) is a country singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller.
Miller formed the Buddy Miller Band, which included singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar.
In addition to releasing several solo albums over the years, Miller has toured as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for Emmylou Harris’s Spyboy band, Steve Earle on his El Corazon tour, Shawn Colvin, and Linda Ronstadt. He co-produced and performed on Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s 2000 album Endless Night. He has also appeared on several albums by songwriter and singer Lucinda Williams.
In 2004, Miller toured with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings as the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue.
Photo by Jonathan Kofahl
Buddy Miller has also produced albums for a number of artists. During 2006 Solomon Burke came over to Miller’s house at Nashville to record his country album ‘Nashville’ on which Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch and Dolly Parton appear as duet partners.
He has a signature acoustic guitar made by the Fender company, and frequently uses vintage Wandre electric guitars.
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From allmusic.com – Johnny Lofthus: Soulful Americana songwriter, singer, and producer Buddy Miller began his career in the early ’60s as an upright bassist in high-school bluegrass combos. Later, he traveled the back roads of America as an acoustic guitarist, eventually landing in New York City, where his Buddy Miller Band included a young Shawn Colvin on vocals and guitar. He also forged an enduring relationship with country-rock iconoclast Jim Lauderdale. Miller eventually landed in Nashville, where he did session guitar and vocal work on albums by Lauderdale, Victoria Williams, and Heather Myles, among others. He self-produced his criminally overlooked solo debut, Your Love and Other Lies (Hightone, 1995), and followed it with 1997’s equally superb Poison Love.By this point Miller was the lead guitarist in Emmylou Harris’ band, and Harris returned the favor with backing vocals throughout Poison Love. ….
.. read more @ allmuic.com
The result is a sound and a set of songs unlike anything Dylan or anyone else has ever done before…. The lyrics of “Sara” and “Abandoned Love” (and, for that matter, of “Isis” and “Hurricane”) could not be more perfect, but overall the triumph of Desire is musical
~Paul Williams (BD performing artist 1974-86)
Recorded in the summer lull before the first Rolling Thunder tour and released soon after it, the stand-out tracks are ‘Isis’, ‘Romance in Durango’ and ‘Black Diamond Bay’, but ‘Hurricane’, ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ and ‘Oh Sister’ are breathing down their necks.
~Michael Gray (BD Encyclopedia)
Studio E Columbia Recording Studios New York City, New York 30 July 1975 4th Desire session, produced by Don DeVito
On the night of July 30, 1975, Dylan returned to Studio E with a smaller group of musicians, including Stoner, Rivera, Harris, and drummer Howie Wyeth (a friend of Stoner’s who was hired by Dylan on Stoner’s suggestion). For the most part, this group of musicians formed the core of the Rolling Thunder Revue. The difference became apparent early on in the session, when a usable take of “Isis” was recorded on the first try. Both Dylan and Stoner were pleased with the session, and Stoner suggests that the more intimate sound was much closer to the sound of the completed album.Five of the nine songs from Desire were recorded at that session, as well as a slow version of “Isis,” the original master take of “Hurricane”, the single-only release “Rita Mae,” and a successful take of “Golden Loom” that was later released in 1991. Of the participating musicians, only Emmylou Harris was dissatisfied with the results. It would also be her last session, as she had prior commitments with her own career.~Wikipedia
Songs:
Golden Loom
Golden Loom released 26 March 1991 – The Bootleg Series (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991, Volume 3
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Golden Loom
Golden Loom
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Hurricane (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 30 November 1976 – Single
Joey* (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Joey (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
*overdubbed 11 August: Vincent Bell (guitar & mandolin), Dom Cortese (accordion)
Recorded 8 pm – 8 am
Musicians:
Bob Dylan (guitar, vocal)
Emmylou Harris (vocal)
Scarlet Rivera (violin)
Mel Collins (tenor saxophone)
Sheena Seidenberg (tambourine & congas)
Rob Stoner (bass)
Howie Wyeth (drums)
Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton & Emmylou Harris – 28 July 1975 recording session
This classic song is written by Chip Taylor (aka James Wesley Voight) and there are several very good recordings. The version above is from Chip Taylor’s fantastic album, Hit Man released in 1996. An album were Taylor revisits many of his best songs. When you have written as many great songs as Taylor has, there are bound to be oversights and omissions, but you owe it to yourself to seek out this great record. Hit Man indeed!
“Son Of A Rotten Gambler” was written for his son, Kristian and it went to the top of the country charts. The song is particularly poignant as it speaks of his other great talent, gambling, that he was doing professionally during a break from his recording career in the early 80’s.
As a gambler, he was one of the foremost thoroughbred horse race handicappers on the East Coast. When Chip Taylor turned his sights on the gaming tables, he quickly gained notoriety with his black jack prowess; finishing third in the World Black Jack Championship in Las Vegas. He became one of the most feared card counters in theU.S and was banned from every casino in Atlantic City. These stories are known throughout the gambling world and well documented by the I.R.S..
Anne Murray had a hit with the song in 1974, and it is probably the best known version.
Son Of A Rotten Gambler – Anne Murray:
One of my favorite recordings, “Son of a Rotten Gambler” was a huge, huge country record for Anne Murray. But it was the fifth single from her album release, and they quickly buried it because they wanted to release another album for Christmas. Even though they tried to bury it, it became a huge hit. I wrote it for my son. Emmylou Harris has recorded it as well, but Anne’s version gave me chills when I first heard it. It starts out with an organ that you hear in the distance, and it gets louder and louder and louder, and then she comes in and starts to sing. I think it’s one of the best recordings of any of my songs.
The Hollies released their version in 1975. A nice interpretation but too much of a “sing-a-long” anthem for my taste. I think the song loses some of its poignancy.
Son of a Rotten Gambler – The Hollies:
My favourite take of the song, together with Chip Taylors own, is by Emmylou Harris. Released in 1981 on the wonderful album, Cimarron. This was her 9th album and is often rated lower than her previous records, don’t be fooled, it is better than most country albums.
