...you can't be wise and in love at the same time.
That was the great Dylan quote of the night for me.
His relationship with the protest movement and how he refused to let himself be labeled politically and musically was really astounding to me. Also the reluctance of his fans, who considered themselves radical free thinkers, to let him change was actually really funny. I think you could draw some connections to hip-hop and jazz fans who have not taken well to changes over the years.
How about the scene where Dylan is trying to duet with Johnny Cash on a very beautifully odd arrangment of "I'm so Lonesome I could Cry". I don't think I have ever heard anyone play that song differently from Hank Williams. Dylan just completely twisted it around. Genius.
that part was so unreal. cash was nodding off on pills and looked really gaunt. crazy. i liked pt 2 a lot more, especially for the manchester 66 footage. i also had a cool ass dream last night because of this. i dreamt that i had the ability to produce any bootleg video/cd just by thinking about it and then i'd wake up the next morning, and it'd be next to my side on the bed. in the dream, i just made up "bob dylan circa blah blah at the fiji islands" and there would be a pile of dvds next to me. it was awesome. i'd make up any fake concert like "Dylan @ Denny's 1966" and i'd have a recording of it the next day.
How about the scene where Dylan is trying to duet with Johnny Cash on a very beautifully odd arrangment of "I'm so Lonesome I could Cry". I don't think I have ever heard anyone play that song differently from Hank Williams. Dylan just completely twisted it around. Genius.
You are funny. Cash and Dylan were both as high/drunk as weather balloons. You'd come up with a "genius arrangement," too, if you had that shit in your veins.
I like a few of his songs but I'm not super crazy about him. Blasphemy, I know.
His lyrics are but it's mostly the voice (I can't get with).
I love putting Dylan down, specially his voice.
I listened to lots and lots of Dylan when I was between 12-21. Then I started to get tired of him. Then I started to get into great singers like Aretha and Otis and Marvin, and I just couldn't hack him any more.
So watching this really brought back to me how truely great he is, and how important. What I found interesting is that he really was never part of any scene. He was in the Minneapolis folk scene for a minute, while guys like Glover have been in it for 50 years now. Same with Greenwich Village. He was there for a few months, hung out absorbed it all, left, came back and ruled for a few weeks, and then was off to Columbia records. New producers and bands all the time. I think that is a sign that he works hard on creating new art all the time.
Watched it with the wife last night. Sort of an interesting marker in our relationship. She hipped me to the film which simply wouldn't have happened 15 years ago when we first met. She comes from a show tunes/billy joel type family perspective. It's cool how through our relationship she has come to personally appreciate a great American master. Sometimes I'll come home and she'll be playing with our daughter listening to disc 1 of the Bootleg Series Vol 3. Makes me weepy.
Regarding the doc: Dylan just won't give it up. Baez and others while not nearly as good as artists at least come somewhat clean. Dylan is never gonna have that except in such miniscule doses, like when he talks about the spiritual experience of listening to specific songs when he was a child. I just wonder what it would be like to be around him when he wasn't playing at his mysterious artist persona. Maybe he never does.
BTW Van Ronk's singing voice is
It's amazing that Baez never listens to what Dylan is doing. She has a harmony in her head and she is going to sing it wether Dylan sings the melody or not. (Most likely not.) Her voice does not blend well with his.
While it's fun to hear artists explain why they wrote something, and what it meant, I respect that he is not interested in analyzing his art.
I've seen more than one interview where a sideman was asked what Dylan meant by this song or that. They always answered that they never talked about that stuff. "What did you talk about then?" Ahh, food, relationships, friends, music...? The point is, if you don't talk about him I'm sure he stops being the mysterious artists and is just a guy hanging out having fun.
that Odetta footage was amazing... anybody know if there's a decent recording of that song???
Odetta did that chain gang kind of thing more than once. The double Essential on Vanguard is a good place to start, or the Carniege Hall record also has what you are looking for. If you liked that you should also pick up some Leadbelly.
How about the scene where Dylan is trying to duet with Johnny Cash on a very beautifully odd arrangment of "I'm so Lonesome I could Cry". I don't think I have ever heard anyone play that song differently from Hank Williams. Dylan just completely twisted it around. Genius.
You are funny. Cash and Dylan were both as high/drunk as weather balloons. You'd come up with a "genius arrangement," too, if you had that shit in your veins.
The most powerfull moment for me was Mavis Staples saying, 'How many roads must a man walk down, before you will call him a man', was about her dads life, not some very young White kid from Minneapolis. So where did it come from? How did he know that?
Arlo Guthrie once said that he doesn't write songs, they come to him. "It's like a river, the songs are in the river and you hope that you are not down stream from Bob Dylan."
My customer is gone, I'm going back to work. I'll talk to you all in a few weeks.
I ended up getting a free ticket to see dylan last spring, I was pretty stoked, but I gotta say in the end it was pretty boring. The majority of people there were yuppie, middle aged, jewish, ex dead head hippie types.......i.e. DORKS! Not to mention that the show and music were pretty boring, I would have been pissed had I'd payed the $50.00 ticket price. Just out of curiosity how rich is that guy now any way?
I ended up getting a free ticket to see dylan last spring, I was pretty stoked, but I gotta say in the end it was pretty boring. The majority of people there were yuppie, middle aged, jewish, ex dead head hippie types.......i.e. DORKS! Not to mention that the show and music were pretty boring, I would have been pissed had I'd payed the $50.00 ticket price. Just out of curiosity how rich is that guy now any way?
okay. I saw him once a couple years ago and he fell asleep on stage!!! On one hand i was like, this is boring. But then again i was thinking, "shit, how cool do you have to be to fucking fall asleep on stage! Dylan doesnt give a fuck! Never did, never will!"
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That was the great Dylan quote of the night for me.
His relationship with the protest movement and how he refused to let himself be labeled politically and musically was really astounding to me. Also the reluctance of his fans, who considered themselves radical free thinkers, to let him change was actually really funny. I think you could draw some connections to hip-hop and jazz fans who have not taken well to changes over the years.
Yeah, and I liked the way that it started off that he stole 25 records and then later Chinese whispers had turned it into 400.
that part was so unreal. cash was nodding off on pills and looked really gaunt. crazy. i liked pt 2 a lot more, especially for the manchester 66 footage. i also had a cool ass dream last night because of this. i dreamt that i had the ability to produce any bootleg video/cd just by thinking about it and then i'd wake up the next morning, and it'd be next to my side on the bed. in the dream, i just made up "bob dylan circa blah blah at the fiji islands" and there would be a pile of dvds next to me. it was awesome. i'd make up any fake concert like "Dylan @ Denny's 1966" and i'd have a recording of it the next day.
You are funny. Cash and Dylan were both as high/drunk as weather balloons. You'd come up with a "genius arrangement," too, if you had that shit in your veins.
I love putting Dylan down, specially his voice.
I listened to lots and lots of Dylan when I was between 12-21. Then I started to get tired of him. Then I started to get into great singers like Aretha and Otis and Marvin, and I just couldn't hack him any more.
So watching this really brought back to me how truely great he is, and how important. What I found interesting is that he really was never part of any scene. He was in the Minneapolis folk scene for a minute, while guys like Glover have been in it for 50 years now. Same with Greenwich Village. He was there for a few months, hung out absorbed it all, left, came back and ruled for a few weeks, and then was off to Columbia records. New producers and bands all the time. I think that is a sign that he works hard on creating new art all the time.
Long live Dylan.
Dan
It's amazing that Baez never listens to what Dylan is doing. She has a harmony in her head and she is going to sing it wether Dylan sings the melody or not. (Most likely not.) Her voice does not blend well with his.
While it's fun to hear artists explain why they wrote something, and what it meant, I respect that he is not interested in analyzing his art.
I've seen more than one interview where a sideman was asked what Dylan meant by this song or that. They always answered that they never talked about that stuff. "What did you talk about then?" Ahh, food, relationships, friends, music...? The point is, if you don't talk about him I'm sure he stops being the mysterious artists and is just a guy hanging out having fun.
Dan
Odetta did that chain gang kind of thing more than once. The double Essential on Vanguard is a good place to start, or the Carniege Hall record also has what you are looking for. If you liked that you should also pick up some Leadbelly.
Dan
Luck knows which way the wind blows.
Arlo Guthrie once said that he doesn't write songs, they come to him. "It's like a river, the songs are in the river and you hope that you are not down stream from Bob Dylan."
My customer is gone, I'm going back to work. I'll talk to you all in a few weeks.
Dan
okay. I saw him once a couple years ago and he fell asleep on stage!!! On one hand i was like, this is boring. But then again i was thinking, "shit, how cool do you have to be to fucking fall asleep on stage! Dylan doesnt give a fuck! Never did, never will!"
Hes like the coolest guy ever.