After John Wesley Harding, I kind of lost interest in what Dylan was doing. He put out a few albums which were not too bad, but I expected more. Then I got it. Blood on the Tracks. I was talking to a friend on the phone and he told me how good it was. The next day, I was in a store, the album was on sale, so I took it home.
When I got home, I poured a glass of wine, put something tasty in a pipe, and settled back to listen, When I heard the opening lyrics of Tangled Up In Blue, I though, wow, it's story time, put up my feet and settled in. I'm a sucker for stories.
Tangled Up In Blue sets the tone. It is a fine story of love lost, and love, possibly regained, set against the atmosphere of the era. Your a Big Girl Now is a song to a lost lover, who the singer realizes has come into her own; a sort of bitter sweet congratulation. If You See Her Say Hello has a similar theme and one of the prettiest guitar backings you will ever hear.
Meet Me In The Morning is an odd song, just as the title suggests, it is an invitation to a get together, in which the singer seems hopeful, but not too sure and, not really all that concerned about the affair. Your Gonna Make Me Lonesome is one of my favorite songs ever. It is a break up song, but the singer, while not wanting to separate, realizes that it is inevitable and refuses to be sad. Instead he chooses to celebrate the time he and the woman were together and the fact that he will have fond memories, He also accepts at least some of the responsibility for the break up. It is a joyful song and a truly mature response to the end of a love affair.
In Shelter From the Storm, the singer finds at least temporary refuge from the travails of his life.
Idiot Wind is a brutal attack on modern society in which the singer spares no one, including himself. Buckets od Rain, has a similar theme, without the vitriol. It is a gentle, almost whimsical song. The singer seems to be using his view of life's woes ("life is sad, life is a bust") as a seduction technique.
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is a western tale, In fact, it very closely follow the story line in Marlon Brando's fine Western, One--eyed Jacks. The song moves at breakneck speed, Dylan is obviously having a great time telling the story, and it is very funny. People too often forget how very funny Dylan is at times.
That leaves one of my favorite song ever, by anyone, Simple Twist of Fate. Dylan tells a tale of a one night stand, and the pain of the man who wanted more from the night. The song is beautifully played and the vocal is perfect, heartbreakingly sad, the lyrics are honest, but it is an honesty that longs for a more romantic World. The song is about as good as anything Dylan has ever done. It is a song for grown ups, but the grown up remembers the hope of romantic youth. Things just don't work that way, but it would be nice if they did. I cannot tell you how much I love this song.
No one but Dylan could have written this album. He is at the top of his game as a writer and performer here, and it would be a while before he again reached that level. Next post, I will write about his later high point.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
John Wesley Harding
Dylan's John Wesley Harding was an absolute masterpiece and one of the most surprising albums I have ever heard. In the era when music was becoming more and more bizarre, more and more 'psychedelic,' This was an album of absolute simplicity, on the surface.
Musically, it was about as stripped down as you can get. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar and harmonica, that was all of the instrumentation and the forms were simple folk/country/blues. The playing was excellent and the simplicity was a welcome retreat from howling guitars and screaming singers. Dylan's voice was, well, Dylan's voice. Either you love it or can't stand it. Personally, I think it is the perfect voice for what he sings.
On first listen, the lyrics almost seem simple, but, as you listen again, their strangeness comes through. John Wesley Harding is about an outlaw who is sort of a Robin Hood character. The real life outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, was nothing of the sort. he was a violent thief and a killer. I think, and trying to figure meanings in a Dylan song is a daunting task, that the point of the song is how a man's reputation can be manipulated by how you tell his tale.
All Along The Watchtower is a kind of apocalyptic tale. Civilized man, in his fortress, sees the forces of Nature closing in. Dear Landlord and I Pity the Poor Immigrant are moving songs about the plight of people just trying to get by. I am a Lonesome Hobo and Drifter's Escape are just what they seem, songs of a traveling man. Wicked Messenger is a scathing attack on the news media and their fascination with gossip and disaster.
To this day, I have no idea what As I Went Out One Morning is about. It is a rollicking tune and Dylan seems almost to be choking back laughter as he sings. I suspect it was never meant to have meaning and was intended as a goof on people who always search lyrics for symbolism and messages. In truth, I almost think the same can be said of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, a mournful tune that has little to do with Augustine.
But then you have The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, a long talking blues. Talking blues is a wonderful old form that is perfect for story telling. The story is weird, a gambler and a tempter act out a storyline that has been acted out by man countless times, a story of trust and betrayal and the always present risk of disaster when you don't use your head and when you believe gaudy lies instead of plain truth. It is a fantastic song, full of haunting imagery, a dream of deceit. The song tells of what happens when the chickens finally come home to roost.
The album closes with, what seem at first to be throw away songs, Down Along the Cove and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. They are simple little love songs, fun and light hearted. But, these songs are actually the whole point of the album. After all the strangeness, after all the temptations, the betrayals, the despair, publicity both good and bad, what comes through as real and of value is love and good times. The real and simple pleasures of life are the most important things in the World and all you can count on.
John Wesley Harding was a statement. In the face of all of the weirdness, the shoddy politics, the misplaced mysticism of the mid 60s, it was a condemnation of the direction the idiocy of what was
called the counterculture had taken and a reminder that when all is said and done, the old values work because they have stood the test of time. At the same time, there are reminders that there are problems that need to be addressed within those traditions. It is an album of joy tempered with warnings.
Musically, it was about as stripped down as you can get. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar and harmonica, that was all of the instrumentation and the forms were simple folk/country/blues. The playing was excellent and the simplicity was a welcome retreat from howling guitars and screaming singers. Dylan's voice was, well, Dylan's voice. Either you love it or can't stand it. Personally, I think it is the perfect voice for what he sings.
On first listen, the lyrics almost seem simple, but, as you listen again, their strangeness comes through. John Wesley Harding is about an outlaw who is sort of a Robin Hood character. The real life outlaw, John Wesley Hardin, was nothing of the sort. he was a violent thief and a killer. I think, and trying to figure meanings in a Dylan song is a daunting task, that the point of the song is how a man's reputation can be manipulated by how you tell his tale.
All Along The Watchtower is a kind of apocalyptic tale. Civilized man, in his fortress, sees the forces of Nature closing in. Dear Landlord and I Pity the Poor Immigrant are moving songs about the plight of people just trying to get by. I am a Lonesome Hobo and Drifter's Escape are just what they seem, songs of a traveling man. Wicked Messenger is a scathing attack on the news media and their fascination with gossip and disaster.
To this day, I have no idea what As I Went Out One Morning is about. It is a rollicking tune and Dylan seems almost to be choking back laughter as he sings. I suspect it was never meant to have meaning and was intended as a goof on people who always search lyrics for symbolism and messages. In truth, I almost think the same can be said of I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, a mournful tune that has little to do with Augustine.
But then you have The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, a long talking blues. Talking blues is a wonderful old form that is perfect for story telling. The story is weird, a gambler and a tempter act out a storyline that has been acted out by man countless times, a story of trust and betrayal and the always present risk of disaster when you don't use your head and when you believe gaudy lies instead of plain truth. It is a fantastic song, full of haunting imagery, a dream of deceit. The song tells of what happens when the chickens finally come home to roost.
The album closes with, what seem at first to be throw away songs, Down Along the Cove and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. They are simple little love songs, fun and light hearted. But, these songs are actually the whole point of the album. After all the strangeness, after all the temptations, the betrayals, the despair, publicity both good and bad, what comes through as real and of value is love and good times. The real and simple pleasures of life are the most important things in the World and all you can count on.
John Wesley Harding was a statement. In the face of all of the weirdness, the shoddy politics, the misplaced mysticism of the mid 60s, it was a condemnation of the direction the idiocy of what was
called the counterculture had taken and a reminder that when all is said and done, the old values work because they have stood the test of time. At the same time, there are reminders that there are problems that need to be addressed within those traditions. It is an album of joy tempered with warnings.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Bob Dylan and the Nobel Prize
Not much really shocks me anymore, but the announcement that Bob Dylan was the winner of this years Nobel Prize in Literature floored me. Not that he doesn't deserve it, he is a master wordsmith. I just never even thought of him in Nobel Prize terms. Dylan, of course, is being Dylan, and pretty much ignoring the Nobel Committee,
Dylan, in his autobiography Chronicles, makes it clear that he does not think of himself as a poet because his words don't read well on the written page, they need the rhythms of the music. He is correct. But, using words combined with music is an art form older than poetry. It is the form of the bards. The works of Homer were sung and in Celtic tradition, the bards were the true artists.
I want folks to think a moment about Dylan's work. I was not a huge fan of his early work, but in the mid 60s, he did three albums that perfectly captured the era. Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and the epic Blonde on Blonde. There is none of the Beatle's flower child hippy crap, none of the Stone's science fiction Satanic Majesty's Request, none of the Door's over the top theatrics, just song after song honestly showing just what was going on.
Politics, existential doubt, drugs, alcohol, sex, business, and love are all dealt with. In these albums, there is devastating pain (Just Like A Woman0, sheer insane joy (Rainy Day Women), and plenty of raunchiness (Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat). There is humorous seduction (I Want You) and romantic longing (Visions of Joanna and Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands).
There are two songs that show the World through the eyes of the era, the amphetamine-marijuana-alcohol-acid tinged era. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Memphis Blues Again are the essence of the madness of the day. They are honest, displaying the sometimes pain of those days but also the bizarre unfettered joy that sometimes burst through.
And, there is nothing, nothing like the magnificent Like A Rolling Stone. It is perfect with its images of freedom and the cost of that freedom.
These are just highlights. All the songs are great: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue; Tambourine Man, Gates of Eden, Desolation Row, Highway 61 and more.
Very rarely does and artist so perfectly capture an era. Dickens in his portraits of Victorian England, John Dos Pasos in his snapshots of New York, Joyce in writing of his native Ireland, Malcom Lowry in Under the Volcano's descriptions of pre-WW2 Mexico, and John Steinbeck's moving vision of the impoverished Okies in The Grapes of Wrath, all of these managed to show a no frills, no illusions view of the era and people they chose and they are all great writers. Dylan did the same with the mid 60s. No frills, no illusions are the keys to great art and they result in a wonderful blend of the sublime and the ridiculous, of the tragic and the very funny.
These are just three of Dylan' work, from one era. Next time I think I will write about one of the strangest albums ever recorded, his fine album John Wesley Harding.
Dylan, in his autobiography Chronicles, makes it clear that he does not think of himself as a poet because his words don't read well on the written page, they need the rhythms of the music. He is correct. But, using words combined with music is an art form older than poetry. It is the form of the bards. The works of Homer were sung and in Celtic tradition, the bards were the true artists.
I want folks to think a moment about Dylan's work. I was not a huge fan of his early work, but in the mid 60s, he did three albums that perfectly captured the era. Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and the epic Blonde on Blonde. There is none of the Beatle's flower child hippy crap, none of the Stone's science fiction Satanic Majesty's Request, none of the Door's over the top theatrics, just song after song honestly showing just what was going on.
Politics, existential doubt, drugs, alcohol, sex, business, and love are all dealt with. In these albums, there is devastating pain (Just Like A Woman0, sheer insane joy (Rainy Day Women), and plenty of raunchiness (Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat). There is humorous seduction (I Want You) and romantic longing (Visions of Joanna and Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands).
There are two songs that show the World through the eyes of the era, the amphetamine-marijuana-alcohol-acid tinged era. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Memphis Blues Again are the essence of the madness of the day. They are honest, displaying the sometimes pain of those days but also the bizarre unfettered joy that sometimes burst through.
And, there is nothing, nothing like the magnificent Like A Rolling Stone. It is perfect with its images of freedom and the cost of that freedom.
These are just highlights. All the songs are great: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue; Tambourine Man, Gates of Eden, Desolation Row, Highway 61 and more.
Very rarely does and artist so perfectly capture an era. Dickens in his portraits of Victorian England, John Dos Pasos in his snapshots of New York, Joyce in writing of his native Ireland, Malcom Lowry in Under the Volcano's descriptions of pre-WW2 Mexico, and John Steinbeck's moving vision of the impoverished Okies in The Grapes of Wrath, all of these managed to show a no frills, no illusions view of the era and people they chose and they are all great writers. Dylan did the same with the mid 60s. No frills, no illusions are the keys to great art and they result in a wonderful blend of the sublime and the ridiculous, of the tragic and the very funny.
These are just three of Dylan' work, from one era. Next time I think I will write about one of the strangest albums ever recorded, his fine album John Wesley Harding.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Thank God for Books
I have not written for a while. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, we ere without power for a day and a half, without cable for 8 days, and without the internet for 10 days. Without books, I would have been a wee bit crazy.
I had not been reading a lot for awhile. I relaxed and read, slowly and with great pleasure w fine books James Ellroy's Perfidia. Thomas Pynchon's Bleeding Edge, Frank Herbert's Dune (a reread, but worthwhile) and Clive Barker's The Scarlet Gospels.
It was a true delight to settle back and ease through these very different, but very fine novels.
Reading does something movies and TV can't do. They release the imagination. The words paint pictures which your mind's eye makes visible. It is a fine form of entertainment.
So, I would hearitly recommend that, from time to time, you turn off the electronics and settle back with a good novel.
I had not been reading a lot for awhile. I relaxed and read, slowly and with great pleasure w fine books James Ellroy's Perfidia. Thomas Pynchon's Bleeding Edge, Frank Herbert's Dune (a reread, but worthwhile) and Clive Barker's The Scarlet Gospels.
It was a true delight to settle back and ease through these very different, but very fine novels.
Reading does something movies and TV can't do. They release the imagination. The words paint pictures which your mind's eye makes visible. It is a fine form of entertainment.
So, I would hearitly recommend that, from time to time, you turn off the electronics and settle back with a good novel.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
The Band
Graham Parsons, a fine songwriter and singer, said that he wanted to create a 'great, cosmic American music.' Well, unfortunately, he died young, but another group did just that. The Band. Ironically, The Band had only one American member, drummer, vocalist and mandolin player, Levon Helm. The rest were Canadian.
When they first came to attention, I had friends who derided them for playing 'country music." They didn't. Their music blended rock, country, folk, pop, gospel and jazz. It was the true, quintessential American music, and it was a joy.
Helm, Richard Manuel (drums, piano), Rick Danko (bass) were all fine instrumentalists and wonderful singers. Each voice was unique and it was a joy to hear them trading lines throughout their songs. The keyboard player, Garth Hudson, did amazing things with the organ and was also a good saxophonist. Robbie Robertson, their guitarist, was a gifted soloist who hated soloing; this led him to limit his playing to short riffs, each of them perfectly effective.
Robertson wrote most of the song and they are a wonderful mix of sad (Whispering Pines, Unfaithful Servant), rollicking (Cripple Creek, Jemima Surrender), socially conscious (King Harvest Has Surely Come), and downright weird (Chest Fever). There are songs with a spiritual edge (To Kingdom Come, The Weight, The Shape I'm In). All can be summed with the title of one of their best, Life Is A Carnival.
I want to mention one of their songs in particular, We Can Talk. Were I running for political office, something that will never, ever happen, I would use this as my theme song.
We can talk about it now
It's the same old riddle, only starting from the middle
I'd fix it but I don't know how
Well, we could try to reason, but you might think it treason
One voice for all, echoing along the hall
Don't give up on Father Clock
We can talk about it now
Unfortunately, reason has left the building. But, it is nice, once in a while, to look back at a time when such hopes seemed possible.
When they first came to attention, I had friends who derided them for playing 'country music." They didn't. Their music blended rock, country, folk, pop, gospel and jazz. It was the true, quintessential American music, and it was a joy.
Helm, Richard Manuel (drums, piano), Rick Danko (bass) were all fine instrumentalists and wonderful singers. Each voice was unique and it was a joy to hear them trading lines throughout their songs. The keyboard player, Garth Hudson, did amazing things with the organ and was also a good saxophonist. Robbie Robertson, their guitarist, was a gifted soloist who hated soloing; this led him to limit his playing to short riffs, each of them perfectly effective.
Robertson wrote most of the song and they are a wonderful mix of sad (Whispering Pines, Unfaithful Servant), rollicking (Cripple Creek, Jemima Surrender), socially conscious (King Harvest Has Surely Come), and downright weird (Chest Fever). There are songs with a spiritual edge (To Kingdom Come, The Weight, The Shape I'm In). All can be summed with the title of one of their best, Life Is A Carnival.
I want to mention one of their songs in particular, We Can Talk. Were I running for political office, something that will never, ever happen, I would use this as my theme song.
We can talk about it now
It's the same old riddle, only starting from the middle
I'd fix it but I don't know how
Well, we could try to reason, but you might think it treason
One voice for all, echoing along the hall
Don't give up on Father Clock
We can talk about it now
Unfortunately, reason has left the building. But, it is nice, once in a while, to look back at a time when such hopes seemed possible.
Monday, October 3, 2016
The Ryder Cup - We Win!
America finally won another Ryder Cup. It was a fine series of matches. The golf was excellent and I have seldom seen so much enthusiasm, both from the participants and the crowds/
For once, the American team was able to put their differences aside and function as a team. The Europeans always seem to manage that, but we Americans are such an individually oriented society that we generally can't do it. It generally is not in us. But, for once, we managed.
Golf is an individual sport. You have to be self centered when on the course to play well and team play is unnatural. But, it can be done. It's just a delicate balancing act/
To be fair to the Europeans, they had 6 first time players on the team. This matters because the pressures of the Ryder Cup are extreme. You are playing for yourself, your team and your country. In addition, the crowds are rabid. First time players generally don't do well. This year, Thomas Pieters and Brooks Kepka, both rookies, are to be commended for excellent play.
If you missed the Ryder Cup, you missed a great show.
For once, the American team was able to put their differences aside and function as a team. The Europeans always seem to manage that, but we Americans are such an individually oriented society that we generally can't do it. It generally is not in us. But, for once, we managed.
Golf is an individual sport. You have to be self centered when on the course to play well and team play is unnatural. But, it can be done. It's just a delicate balancing act/
To be fair to the Europeans, they had 6 first time players on the team. This matters because the pressures of the Ryder Cup are extreme. You are playing for yourself, your team and your country. In addition, the crowds are rabid. First time players generally don't do well. This year, Thomas Pieters and Brooks Kepka, both rookies, are to be commended for excellent play.
If you missed the Ryder Cup, you missed a great show.
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