The Band Guestbook, December 2013

Entered at Tue Dec 31 22:09:10 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

At some point, I believe in early May 1976, Richard suffered a neck injury in a boating accident near Austin, Texas. Several concert dates were cancelled and one has to wonder if this new problem further compounded the condition of his health as they resumed the rest of the tour leading into The Last Waltz.

Entered at Tue Dec 31 19:26:05 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

Entered at Tue Dec 31 16:04:16 CET 2013 from (203.160.29.153)

Fred

Entered at Tue Dec 31 12:22:27 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: The same

... convert to Bambuser, maybe.

Entered at Tue Dec 31 12:18:54 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Start page of this site

What is this???? Maybe Dizzy Gillespie and co's "Night in Tunis"???? It is certainly a very black page for me who is using Ubuntu 9.10 today.

Entered at Tue Dec 31 06:27:10 CET 2013 from (75.34.51.251)

Adam

Entered at Tue Dec 31 06:08:36 CET 2013 from (74.71.203.44)

Ari

And another thing: where the heck did this come from????????

Entered at Tue Dec 31 04:16:15 CET 2013 from (75.34.51.251)

Adam

Entered at Tue Dec 31 02:26:46 CET 2013 from (174.91.165.7)

brown eyed girl

Band On!

PS So Robbie saw Bob Marley and The Wailers at the Roxy in 1975. Apparently it was quite the spiritual experience for him. Was George Harrison playing on the same gig?

Entered at Tue Dec 31 02:11:24 CET 2013 from (174.91.165.7)

brown eyed girl

The Band. Guelph, Ontario -1969

Photo Joe Harrison

Hei Ragtime...I still have "Between Trains" from cassette of King Of Comedy. I posted a few times BT which was ripped from an album.

Entered at Tue Dec 31 01:48:04 CET 2013 from (101.164.0.90)

Dlew919

Robbie's mind might change daily.

Entered at Tue Dec 31 01:42:16 CET 2013 from (101.164.0.90)

Dlew919

Robbie's favourite song he's written? Rag mama rag... A corker of a track. Not the one I was expecting. Thanks for posting.

Entered at Mon Dec 30 18:18:32 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Tears of Rage

In the beginning The Band did perform "Tears of Rage" at Winterland and Woodstock (link) in 1969. However, for whatever reason(s), the song chosen to open "Music from Big Pink" was dropped from the set lists.

Entered at Mon Dec 30 14:21:17 CET 2013 from (92.18.218.158)

Solomon

Subject: Robbie Robertson: Five Questions

The Band's Robbie Robertson answers Matt Schichter's 'Five Questions', including the infamous 'Lennon or McCartney'.

Entered at Mon Dec 30 11:03:52 CET 2013 from (101.164.0.90)

Doew919

Thanks for the shout out...

Entered at Mon Dec 30 04:40:27 CET 2013 from (146.171.254.97)

Rod

Entered at Mon Dec 30 03:52:26 CET 2013 from (100.2.77.226)

Ari

That Band footage from Asbury Park would have passed me by, so thanks for calling attention to it.

Entered at Mon Dec 30 01:44:17 CET 2013 from (58.104.6.176)

Wallsend

I am sure there are people on this Guestbook that know better than me but I suspect Richard found Tears of Rage too demanding to sing after his voice deteriorated because of alcohol abuse.

Entered at Sun Dec 29 20:26:55 CET 2013 from (216.193.165.93)

Little Brøther

Subject: Thanks and "Tears of Rage" Question

First of all, happy holidays to all and a VERY belated thanks to Peter Viney, Raincheck et al for responding to a question I posted last August about "Pepote Rouge" (and Leon Russell's "Out in the Woods"). I can procrastinate with the best of 'em!

I haven't seen the video referenced in recent comments yet, but it piques my curiosity about why "Tears of Rage" never became one of The Band's concert standards.

This popped into my head recently when my brother shared a video of a live Allman Brothers cover.

It seems to have all of the right qualities for live performance, and it is a true "Band" song even if Dylan wrote the lyrics.

It has a similar majestic, anthemic quality to "I Shall Be Released", so I guess it's possible they didn't feel they "needed" it as a concert staple; OTOH, it's such a powerful signature performance that it seems odd that it didn't make the cut, especially considering that their concert repertoire leaned so heavily on a relatively small group of songs-- it seems like they could've used it.

Yes, speaking of procrastination, it's taken me the better part of half a century to "notice" this, so I expect the question has been asked and answered here long ago.

If anyone can point me to an answer, I'd be grateful-- and Happy New Year!

Entered at Sun Dec 29 19:09:56 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: Quiet About It

I was working on a Jesse Winchester "Toppermost" today, and I kept re-listening to Quiet About It. This is superb archetypal Robbie guitar playing. Ken Pearson from the Full Tilt Boogie Band (where he worked opposite Richard Bell) on organ. So the YouTube link takes you to it …

Entered at Sun Dec 29 11:41:52 CET 2013 from (92.18.184.169)

Solomon

Graeme Edwards : I though Love Levon was a great tribute to not only Levon but all five members of The Band. I think my Fav moment was Lucinda Williams doing Whispering Pines.

Entered at Sun Dec 29 06:46:26 CET 2013 from (99.115.145.68)

Pat B

On NLSC, RR stretched his guitar chops a lot. Since the 1976 tour included a good number of those songs, its not surprising that the guitar was more pronounced.

Entered at Sun Dec 29 06:32:19 CET 2013 from (58.104.19.146)

Wallsend

Entered at Sun Dec 29 04:16:08 CET 2013 from (174.44.139.55)

Jed

I listened to Live at The Academy last night and hearing how strong Richard sounded in that concert there is,at no point during the Asbury show any comparison.It was a sad situation.As others said,Richard's keyboards were excellent and distinctive and RR's paying was tremendous.Still very much worth releasing if possible!

Entered at Sun Dec 29 03:54:56 CET 2013 from (75.34.51.251)

Adam

To defend Richard, I think he performs nicely at this show. You can tell he's kind of hesitant at the beginning of Shape, but he seems to get stronger as the show goes on. I'm interested in reading more about the 1976 tour, but I remember in the Levon and Hoskyns book that he would have off nights, and in general his lifestyle that year made him a little bit gruff vocally. But he sounds about as good or better than late 1974, and he certainly fares better than in The Last Waltz.

And yes, Richard does play a lot of keyboards during the 1976 shows. About half piano, half electric keyboards, which really gave the Band a different sound than the more traditional piano role. He seems to use the clavinette a lot, and that smaller top keyboard for lead fills!

Entered at Sun Dec 29 01:46:23 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

Richard's voice is shot but he seemed to play his keyboards well and I was surprised how much he used the clavinet(?) and added touches on the synth. Garth and Levon always turned in a great performance and Rick does here as well - with heaps of energy. Robbies guitar playing is great and it's interesting to see him use the whammy bar on the strat.

I wonder how much this video influenced the decision to film the final concert.

Entered at Sun Dec 29 00:41:44 CET 2013 from (23.241.252.59)

Sebastian

No member of The Band will receive anything from Wolfgang's Vault. It's not a very ethical situation over there. This is very cool footage and we'll see what we can do to get a proper release. A good mix on this would be amazing. There are a bunch of things in discussion with Capitol and once we get an idea of what we can do I'll be sure and share it with you all. Makes me pretty sad to hear Richard in this state.

Entered at Sat Dec 28 16:59:26 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Just listening to the radio, and they were playing the "Best selling 20 discs in the UK of 1966". I was utterly amazed by the Top 3:

1 Distant Drums - Jim Reeves

2 Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra

3 Spanish Flea - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

It's like the 60s never happened … according to the BBC God Only Knows, Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby and Sunny Afternoon all sold less.

Entered at Sat Dec 28 14:38:15 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Today's Toppermost is Robert "Barefootin'" Parker (by me with two Band mentions) while the one before is Queen by our very own Dlew.

Entered at Fri Dec 27 22:39:23 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Powerless

The problem with most of the remaining homes without power is that the lines run overhead from post to house and these require individual attention. There are still many thousand homes without power. Those newer subdivisions with underground lines were just fine. Midtown and downtown Toronto is 'old' and has not been updated to underground lines to date. Maybe something will happen now. Those are very unhappy customers. Its very cold out.

Peter V. Glad to hear your 'Toppermost' in terms of land grade and water. A good place to be when its teeming.

Entered at Fri Dec 27 19:04:02 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Fri Dec 27 18:39:46 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

I heard that there was major flooding in the south of England and Wales. Have you been affected by this I hope not. We sure are having some awful weather lately

Entered at Fri Dec 27 10:14:57 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

And link to Bellowhead Toppermost … an early one when there tended to be a selection without an article, but it also links off to the Spiers & Boden Toppermost. I hope these people get to do do North America soon. Bellowhead keep getting voted "best live band" in UK polls.

Entered at Fri Dec 27 10:12:47 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Thanks … I'm sure you'll love them. Link is to the Fay Hield Toppermost page, which also covers The Full English and her first group, The Witches of Elswick.

Entered at Fri Dec 27 09:02:38 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: The Full English, Fay Hield, and the Mirror

Bill M: Reminds me of what I say whenever I hear people complain: "I get up in the morning, I look in the mirror, I see myself, and I say: Its a good day."

Peter V: Thank you for introducing me to new music. That act is a blessing. I ordered 'The Full English," the two Fay Hield cds, and Bellowhead yesterday.

Entered at Fri Dec 27 03:47:27 CET 2013 from (83.160.180.22)

Ragtime

Subject: Santa's Mashed Between Trains Quiz

Great great mix, I listened a dozen of times and I think I found the 13 band songs but not the 2 "close enough songs" - and I'm afraid I never will...

But it reminds me what a wonderful song Between Trains really is - the one song that never appeared on cd, only on lp. It is as close to a genuine Band song as it could ever be. Robbie, Garth, Richard...

And the man who made this perfect mix must be a genius. Who is DJ Windy? Would that be you Pat Brennan...?

Entered at Thu Dec 26 23:24:42 CET 2013 from (68.171.231.80)

Bill M

At our place the power stayed on and the cable died for maybe 18 hours - so nothing but good news. I went for a nice walk on a magnificent brisk but sunny 24th and couldn't help but think of some Willie P Bennett lines (as relayed to us bt BARK): "Sunny days are what I pray for, Cold and sunshine on my skin" and "Wino wakes up on the street, counts his feet, Sees there's two and counts himself a lucky one".

Entered at Thu Dec 26 17:07:32 CET 2013 from (24.161.13.96)

Dennis

Subject: Asbury Park

David P, you're absolutely correct in your post: since it's inception in 2002, Wolfgang's Vault (which expanded in to Concert Vault) has negotiated and paid artist royalties for their right to use the recordings as they see fit.

Linked is a vault posting from a couple years back.

These shows are not just there for our "plucking" pleasure, enjoy them, but please don't steal them. Some of our near, dear friends depended on those royalty checks, no matter how meager given where their situation placed them on the royalty totem-pole.

Entered at Thu Dec 26 16:51:22 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

The question may be who legally owns these recordings and therefore controls the rights to license their release.

Entered at Thu Dec 26 15:00:09 CET 2013 from (50.198.58.41)

Adam

And a "Palladium 1976" release could be a stand alone. A "genuine Last Waltz" type of thing.

Entered at Thu Dec 26 14:38:40 CET 2013 from (188.29.84.79)

bill hynde

Subject: music

Love The Band and all the footage found by all of you good people. God bless.

Entered at Wed Dec 25 22:57:53 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Toronto a winter wonderland

Its a winter wonderland. Cold! Tons of snow coming down. A lovely birthday brunch today at the Old Mill Inn for my son. The subway is superb!

Entered at Wed Dec 25 21:48:10 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Follow that star

And what call ye this child?????....Oy calls 'im Brian!

Entered at Wed Dec 25 19:33:56 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

John D. Very glad you are safe and warm. Hope that all will be restored quickly

Entered at Wed Dec 25 17:01:13 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Keepinh in touch

Thanks for checking in John, so glad to hear you are safe and at home and warm.

Grown men DO cry. I laid by my fire warm and comfortable last night and watched the unfortunate people in Toronto, and as well, High Prairie Alberta where there are still over a thousand people left homeless from the terrible flood they had over 2 months ago.

One couple interviewed had to make their home in their garage as their house is condemned. While they wait for the insurance company and the province to decide what to do for relief help, never mind getting their home rebuilt, they have a wood stove now in their garage and have made it home. I cried along with that poor man for what he is going thru.

God bless and keep you all safe.

Entered at Wed Dec 25 15:13:37 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Home

John D: Good to hear your back home and that things are returning to some degree of normalcy.

There is real hardship and suffering through the lack of basic essential services which we often take for granted. Home is a complex of loved people and the comforts that give those people security. People have perished or been admitted to hospital trying to keep warm (Carbon monoxide). Toronto has opened its doors to those in need with many public places offering shelter, food, and showers to those in need. The elderly have been cared for. The technical people have reduced the numbers without power and heat to 50,000 but it will still be a few days before its all back to normal. Traffic lights remain off in many areas and on large stretches of major arteries, cars move very slowly . Unfortunately, as John notes, it is very cold out today.

Entered at Wed Dec 25 13:10:27 CET 2013 from (207.164.79.60)

John D

Well, we're back home; as of yesterday. We have heat and hydro. We don't have any TV; or Internet. Thank goodness for the 3G iPhone. It's currently -12 C feeling like -24; with the wind chill. In the middle if the night we heard large bangs on the roof and it wasn't Santa. Ice I'm guessing. Fingers crossed.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas; or a Happy Holiday.

John & Ala Donabie

P.S. I realize that we may not have cable; but we can watch DVD'S. YAY!

Entered at Wed Dec 25 08:53:39 CET 2013 from (58.104.255.156)

Graeme Edwards

Subject: Love Levon

Just watched 'Love Levon'. Great tribute. The music lives on.

Entered at Wed Dec 25 01:22:50 CET 2013 from (174.44.139.55)

Jed

That show may be,other than sadly,Richard's singing,the finest,most intense Band live music I've seen.Yes,the Academy shows were stellar and nicely,Richard's voice was in way better shape.But there is something and much about this show,the energy,this ensemble at this moment,and each individual musician and personality that transcend anything I've experienced by The Band.Thanks Adam.Id ask Sebastion if this can be cleaned up and released as DVD/CD?

Entered at Tue Dec 24 23:51:26 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Looking south on Yonge St from 21st floor

I'm looking south on Yonge St from the 21st floor at 5:49 PM eastern standard time. The houses in front of me are 'black' with no lights and the apartments near St. Clair Ave are all lit up. YongeSt. itself looking south along it to downtown has traffic lights now and the street itself is lit. The houses will be the last to get what they need. Still work to do and I know the 'fixers' are all over this and working hard to make it right again.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 23:13:36 CET 2013 from (174.89.94.40)

brown eyed girl

Bing Crosby & David Bowie - The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth

Entered at Tue Dec 24 22:55:13 CET 2013 from (174.89.94.40)

brown eyed girl

Toronto's Skydiggers...Good King Wenceslas

Solomon...I would recommend the live recording of Louu's Rock and Roll Animal. It was the first one that got me into Louuuuu.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 22:42:59 CET 2013 from (174.89.94.40)

brown eyed girl

Many thanks to Adam for the early holiday treat!!

Restore power to John D and Ala and all others please!!

Lou Reed - Christmas Message

Entered at Tue Dec 24 21:36:42 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: CSD.....Definition?? ... Council of Smokers & Drinkers

I have alerted all-a-yuz to this band before......this is in Anchorage....Alaska.....song called "About Midnight".

This needs to be listened to......NOW LISTEN GAWD DAMN IT!

Entered at Tue Dec 24 20:42:03 CET 2013 from (129.98.207.164)

Jed

Entered at Tue Dec 24 20:30:50 CET 2013 from (58.104.22.54)

Wallsend

Good work! I should also have said thanks for the original heads up.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 18:25:25 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 17:57:01 CET 2013 from (72.78.38.119)

PSB

Subject: Asbury Park

I saw that Band concert in Asbury Park. Not sure why it's called "Casino Arena." The name of the venue has always been Asbury Park Convention Hall. It needs to be added to the list of shows.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 17:52:34 CET 2013 from (96.30.173.135)

joe j

Hope things are getting back to normal John D. Take care.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 17:33:43 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

We were doing a “What if …?” watching the ice storm reports. Fortunately all UK power is underground except the main lines outside towns. We also have mains gas, and they always say they can never shut that off because of the dangers when it went back on, so they have generators and fail-safe systems. But of course, modern central heating is pumped, not gravity. We have a couple of big wood burning stoves and a gas Aga so a fair amount of backup.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 17:11:56 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Favourites

JERRY!.........The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is on! My favourite part is where Jimmy Stewart gives John Wayne a good smack in the mush.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 17:04:00 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Combustion

Isn't Ford taking enough heat to warm up most of Toronto???????

Entered at Tue Dec 24 16:42:15 CET 2013 from (70.26.153.213)

Mike Nomad

Entered at Tue Dec 24 16:10:28 CET 2013 from (174.89.93.189)

brown eyed girl

Do They Know It's Christmas

We're very fortunate we live downtown and had no power outage....so far. Friends and relatives who live in the High Park and Danforth areas did experience no power for a day and a half. Apparently the worst hit.....Scarberia.
When life gives you mud you make mud pies....
One woman interviewed on TV showed an upside......She said this is the first Christmas where everyone will be in the same room keeping warm by the fireplace.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 16:03:15 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Ice storm update

As of Tuesday 10 AM, in the Toronto proper area, it is estimated that 115,000 homes and accounts are still without power and in many cases, without heat. In Toronto's homes, each downtown home in most cases is served by a line from the main line to the house overhead (the newer areas have underground service). When a tree falls on a line or when the line falls from ice heaviness, the crew has to come to the home individually to fix that line. This will take days or weeks to correct. Hydro crew holidays are cancelled for Christmas and crews have come in from all over Ontario to help. The future for many of those homes for Christmas at home is bleak. The hotels are overflowing. This will be a 'different' Christmas time in Toronto.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 14:26:57 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: Twelve Songs for Christmas

Link to my twelve favorites for this year, already blasting away!

Entered at Tue Dec 24 14:17:50 CET 2013 from (92.18.203.199)

Solomon

Entered at Tue Dec 24 13:49:35 CET 2013 from (99.140.172.98)

Adam

Entered at Tue Dec 24 13:33:24 CET 2013 from (92.18.203.199)

Solomon

What a great early Christmas present! I thought it was a blistering set and I don't think I've seen the guys smile as much. It's hard to believe this was near the end of The Band.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 11:37:06 CET 2013 from (58.104.18.139)

Wallsend

Entered at Tue Dec 24 10:56:19 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

Just watched the whole thing. Incredible - I never thought I'd hear a version of IMND that was better than TLW version. They were in top form that night and it's interesting to see what Richard was doing behind his keyboards. I wonder why it was filmed - in black and white so maybe not intended for commercial release. Maybe a dry run for TLW? Certainly it seemed closer to some of TLW performances than other stuff I've deard from the 76 tour. There is a nice shot of Rick super imposed over his own shadow in Stage Fright. Great stuff.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 09:27:43 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

wow! thanks

Entered at Tue Dec 24 09:20:53 CET 2013 from (69.121.107.232)

Jeff A.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 08:41:55 CET 2013 from (58.104.18.139)

Wallsend

Entered at Tue Dec 24 08:01:27 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

I love it but I've had too many Eggnogs to figure it out - and I'm at a disadvantage being 12 hours ahead of most of you guys. I couldn't detect The Well in there though. Have a good Christmas everyone.

Entered at Tue Dec 24 03:43:32 CET 2013 from (69.206.74.28)

Tom

Subject: Celebrating the Music of Rick Danko

Save the date - Sat. Dec. 28, 2013 Special Show Celebrating the Music of Rick Danko - Professor Louie & The Crowmatix with special guests at the Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock, NY Show: 9:00 PM

Entered at Tue Dec 24 03:36:22 CET 2013 from (99.115.145.68)

Pat B

Entered at Mon Dec 23 23:48:40 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Mon Dec 23 23:07:17 CET 2013 from (99.140.172.98)

Adam

This is a MAJOR ALERT for Band lovers! Wolfgang's Vault has posted the FULL, PRO SHOT VIDEO for The Band's concert at Casino Arena, Asbury Park, NJ on July 20 1976! You must be a paid member to view, or do their free trial.

This is the FULL RECORDING of the concert, previously only seen in the 2 black and white clips of "Ophelia" and "This Wheel's On Fire" 1976 that surfaced within the past couple years.

Entered at Mon Dec 23 19:44:22 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

To All the GB people in Toronto, you have my sympathies. Not a great way to Start a holiday,

Last year we had Sandy and we lost power, phones and internet for 9 days. It got pretty old' by the time we got back power. Stay safe and stay warm

Entered at Mon Dec 23 16:43:40 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: Toronto ice storm! A mess

John D and many others are without power and many without heat in the worst ice storm to hit Toronto and environs for many years. The authorities say that it may take up to 78 hours, I am told, to restore power to many areas. Subways are not operating in some areas and people are having trouble getting from here to there. In Waterloo, nearby, someone told me roads are impassable. People are struggling to make do with what they have. Hotels are overflowing for those who can manage that. Its a mess! This is a trying time for many when it should be a happy time. All the best to all in their struggle (it isn't an earthquake, flood or a hurricane but it is a major inconvenience and more) and hopefully this will end soon.

Entered at Mon Dec 23 02:22:48 CET 2013 from (207.164.79.6)

John D

Don't tell anybody; but there's a pretty nice guy inside that Rockin' Chair.

Entered at Mon Dec 23 01:26:44 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: The Way I Am

Between watching the Sea Hawks throw a game away, I had to console myself listening to some youtube.

It occurred to me after some people have made comments by e mail etc, about what I do, that this song is pretty close to home.

If you'll listen to what ol' Merle has to say at the beginning, and then pay close attention to the chorus, you can better figure us old guys out.

"The way I am don't fit my shackles........."

Entered at Mon Dec 23 00:16:56 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Easy Alternatives

C'mon over John, y'kin have the Rockin Chair fer Christmas.

Entered at Sun Dec 22 22:57:00 CET 2013 from (204.101.120.35)

John D

Well we haven't had heat or hydro since 2 am this morning. Worst ice storm since '98. We've checked into a hotel for the night only minutes away from our house where they have power. They are saying it could take 72 hours to fix. Will there be a Christmas for us this yer? Stay tuned.

Entered at Sun Dec 22 20:29:35 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Sometimes recallin

Sounds just bring on memories of.........Y'all remember Goose Creek Symphony??......well, looks like they got old too. I remember back when they did "Mercedes Benz"

Entered at Sun Dec 22 18:10:07 CET 2013 from (92.19.32.230)

Solomon

Entered at Sun Dec 22 17:33:57 CET 2013 from (68.171.231.80)

Bill M

Entered at Sun Dec 22 16:33:29 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Johnny Reid

This very early morning, I sit by my fire enjoying young Johnny Reid's "A Christmas Gift To You". He's quite a wonderful singer for Christmas classics.

Entered at Sun Dec 22 11:46:37 CET 2013 from (92.18.185.79)

Solomon

The only new photograph I noticed in the video clip was of Richard Manuel outside the house with his feet up. I find it strange he didn't give us a little glimpse of anything else.

Entered at Sun Dec 22 00:09:13 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Nick Lowe - REAL Rock-a-billy

JQ, thank you so much. What a great Christmas present, great sound too, have a good one JQ.

Roger, right back at yuh, hope all is well on your side.

Entered at Sat Dec 21 23:30:35 CET 2013 from (63.142.158.9)

JQ

Subject: Rockabilly, and holy at that..

Norm - Try this, there's still some geezers out there trying their best at it -

Entered at Sat Dec 21 23:29:54 CET 2013 from (63.142.158.9)

JQ

Subject: Rockabilly, and holy at that..

Norm - Try this, there's still some geezers out there trying their best at it -

Entered at Sat Dec 21 15:47:15 CET 2013 from (83.80.237.217)

Tjerk

Subject: late husband

Hey there, maybe you remember Denise de Graaf from Holland (nickname Kink ???), the Netherlands she past away on 8 okt 2011 she died on breast cancer , she left me a huge amount of books cd's rollingstone articles and lp's. Can you please help me in finding the right destination for it . my email is tjerkbaker@ziggo.nl or tel +31651213058

Entered at Sat Dec 21 15:18:22 CET 2013 from (108.16.206.96)

bob w.

A great Christmas tradition. The beautiful and incredibly talented Darlene Love makes her annual appearance on the David Letterman show. Enjoy.

Entered at Sat Dec 21 11:59:35 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Joan's Christmas greetings

I don't know about Sarah Palin but you certainly pissed me off. But then again; it is only the internet and I have "sinned" here even more :-)

As a member of Finnish and Swedish Lutheran Churches I would say "Goddamn Merry Christmas" even to the devil himself! If we are confident with our belief and ethnicity we can wish Merry This and Happy That to anyone and... and I mean AND... enjoy their holidays together with them, in our heart.

Entered at Sat Dec 21 11:01:50 CET 2013 from (81.107.236.227)

Roger

Subject: The Full English

I bought The Full English and Linda Thompson's latest at HMV Stratford-upon-Avon yesterday - as gifts. A £15 for two offer…

Hi Norm - have yourself a merry little christmas….

Entered at Fri Dec 20 20:21:27 CET 2013 from (96.54.178.226)

JT

Subject: Holiday greetings

For all the holidays, recently past (Channukah) and coming right up, to all who need to rest and who like to enjoy family, smile and be happy and savour the moment. Its all good! Peter V: Thanks for the info. I'll let you know if I succeed and fill the need with 'The Full English'.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 19:51:03 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

Thank you for the Chanuka greetings You could also spell it Hanuka. Either is correct, but this year it fell on Thanksgiving day so we are well past it. I wish all a happy holiday, I'm not saying Merry Christmas just to piss off Sarah Palin and her crew. As someone said, It is not about keeping Christ in Christmas, but putting more Christ in Christian.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 19:25:43 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Where'd every body go????????

What the hell's going on!!! Roz!.show your beautiful face.....(and those great hooters)....have you run off with Tiny Monster??

Empty now...must have gone off and joined the "French Foreign Legion.....Norbert's lost in a brewery in Germany some where.

Haven't heard a thing from Dee in Wisconsin, Abby in Kaintuckee, JOjo in California, the Jersey girl, Bones, the Tennessee Stud,.......I don't know the list is too long.

Where have all the flowers gone????.....

Anyway hope Marg Heggison and family are well, and Merry Christmas too all-a-yuz.

Being as how I'm not Jewish, Joan & Jerry 'specially, I only know to say Happy Haunica, I probably didn't spell that right.-:)-:)

I'm always reminded of a lawyer friend of mine in Courtenay who does a lot of work for me, Mike Kruegel. Well I'm sitting at his desk one year, (I always like to bug Mike, he's kinda cranky. You "always" must have a black pen to sign documents. Otherwise they are not legal. Well ok Mike. So I usually bring a green one or something just to piss him off. He glares at me and throws them in the waste basket.)

Anyway on this particular day, it's a couple of days before Christmas, I'm blabbing away about Christmas, (not thinking). He puts his pen down, leans on his hand and stares at me. "What do I know from Christmas, I'm a Jew for Chris sake he says, and shakes his head."

I started to laugh so hard, so he makes me sign these papers, and says, "Get outta here."....but I can see the twinkle in his eye." I have to take him fishing, that's all he can talk about.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 18:13:16 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Fri Dec 20 18:11:55 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: The Full English

Fay Hield's website is selling it for £13, and you can have it signed for no extra. Amazon.co.uk is doing it at £9.79 though. Topic Records own website has it at £9.00, the question being what each of them, charges for postage to Canada. I would have thought some specialist shop would be importing it … any Topic release is one for specialist folk shops, I would have guessed.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 15:45:09 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: The Full English

Peter V: I have gone to both our indie local record stores in Victoria and have not been able to get the cd "The Full English" (Topic Records). I am going to Toronto and will try there. I may have more luck. I do order from on-line sources including the company and Amazon, but I do enjoy the quest of finding the material myself. I assume it has not been released on vinyl (yet). If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 15:25:11 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Obsolete technology

These CD ROM releases are problematic. I haven't dug out my Dylan Hwy 61 cdROM in years. I doubt if there is any way I will be able to visualize it on my Mac though this Mac has a cd ROM player. If anyone has ideas, let me know. We do have some old non-Mac pcs lying around (Sony Vaio when they were the rage) and I may recharge one of these to look at this Dylan CD ROM in the future.

It again points to how quickly technology changes. There were many other formats that appeared for short periods (leaving cassette tapes of both kinds aside) (mini discs, laser discs, etc) and they sit collecting dust.

There is hope however. Look at what LP vinyl has done. However, LP vinyl never did disappear. The LP vinyl phenomenon is a joy. It is a renaissance in our music culture technologically.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 15:04:56 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Bandwagon for Landy's photo book

Get on the BANDwagon for Elliott Landy's new project. I am now a backer. Getting closer to the goal!

Entered at Fri Dec 20 14:27:44 CET 2013 from (50.198.58.41)

Adam

Entered at Fri Dec 20 12:35:26 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Landy kickstart

If you go back in the archives of this site, you will see that I spoke of Landy's new book and the kickstart pledge opportunity a while back. This is an excellent opportunity to get in on a vital project early!

Entered at Fri Dec 20 11:42:58 CET 2013 from (92.18.200.243)

Solomon

Does anyone have a fav Lou Reed album ? The first one I bought was his New York album and I still love it to this day. Transformer and The Blue Mask are also great.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 11:08:47 CET 2013 from (92.18.200.243)

Solomon

Subject: Next Of Kin

Apparently, Music from "Lil Brown" was a black response to the Band's Music from Big Pink. I was wondering if The Band did get these guys to rediscover all the black music from the past ? It's a fine album.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 10:41:18 CET 2013 from (92.18.200.243)

Solomon

Subject: "Africa - Music from "Lil Brown" - 1968"

If you are wondering how this album got its odd name, the album title "Music from 'Lil Brown'" is a satire on the very popular album by The Band, "Music from Big Pink". In this case the members of Africa didn't have a big pink house to record in, just a lil brown shed in someone's backyard in a locale that is quite clearly in Southern California. Given the price of real estate in California, they were probably lucky to have the 'lil' shed. This album is classic late 60s southern Cali psychedelic garage soul/rock with the expected Latin rock influences and is highly sought after by collector's of such things. Apparently these guys had been around since the 50s as a doo-wop group and then somewhere along the way added psychedelic guitar, tons of African and Latin percussion, a monster reverb unit and other groovy 60s type trappings.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 09:45:23 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter v

I can't find my copy, though the search turned up Dylan Highway 61 interactive and those two remixable. Peter Gabriel Cd Roms. Without even trying, I am assuming these are all long defunct and won't play on a modern Mac. I mean if Pages 2009 has comparability problems, as does Word 2004, what hope is there? My reluctance to try is the irritation of post it CD slots. Unlike a drawer system, if a CD or DVD won't be recognized, it is such a hassle with restarts getting it to eject. Which is why CD drawers worked better.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 05:00:44 CET 2013 from (74.71.203.44)

Ari

Entered at Fri Dec 20 04:34:27 CET 2013 from (75.34.59.154)

Adam

Entered at Fri Dec 20 02:53:17 CET 2013 from (174.89.107.98)

brown eyed girl

Hi Adam. I have Landy's Woodstock Vision. I bought it in NYC. It was reduced so much in price that I also bought one for Crabgrass and Calm. I also bought another Landy book and sent info to Jan.

English/ German paperback photo book by Elliott Landy, includes 52 pages with photos of The Band.

This book has more photos on The Band than Landy's Woodstock Vision book, some photos are the same. The photos in Woodstock Dream are post card size, 12.5 by 18.5 cm. Woodstock Vision has 22 pages of Band pics, but it is a larger book., 28 by 24 cm.

Elliott Landy: Woodstock Dream, 400 pages, te Neues Publishing Company, June 2000, ISBN 3823854526.

Many thanks Jed, sadavid, Todd and Pat B.

Entered at Fri Dec 20 02:23:01 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

There was also "Woodstock Dream", a thick paperback of almost 400 glossy pages published by teNeues in Germany around 1999/2000.

About 50 pages are devoted to The Band (pp.228 - 277)plus a few other Band-related photos - the Woody Guthrie Memorial concert with Dylan, Lone Star cafe (also with Bob Dylan) and Garth at the Woodstock Festival)

Entered at Fri Dec 20 01:09:42 CET 2013 from (75.34.59.154)

Adam

I was going to mention this, but I'm glad Jan made the announcement! The Landy kickstarter page only has about 20k left to go, and over a month before it ends. This is wonderful news for Band lovers. I can't wait to get this Landy fine art book. It's been years overdue, and I believe the only such book to include Band photos was the common/affordable "Woodstock Vision" and the rare/extremely expensive "Dylan In Woodstock" limited book.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 22:59:05 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

jh is being too modest to brag about his talented son, but not me. Here's a link. CC is bigtime in EDM circles, deservedly so.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 21:28:33 CET 2013 from (79.160.47.202)

jh

Link above is to a pic of Levon and Bruce Springsteen on stage in 1987, from Rolling Stone Magazine. Btw, my DJ/producer kid was featured in a web article at Rolling Stone today. A couple of weeks ago I took him to Woodstock, for his first visit to Levon's Barn, the grave sites, Big Pink etc. Even if he is a sophisticated big city (cashmere) cat these days, living on Manhattan and working and playing all around the world, he really enjoyed the quiet beauty of Woodstock and the music at the barn. Full circle, sort of.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 20:25:24 CET 2013 from (79.160.47.202)

jh

Subject: New Elliott Landy book with The Band photos

Elliott Landy just launched a Kickstarter project to create a fine art book of his wonderful photographs of The Band. To read about it and support it, please go to link above.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 18:59:03 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Another version was this:

"Who've stopped the train?" (and CUT!)

Entered at Thu Dec 19 18:51:49 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

I've always wondered if John Simon was actually working with The Band when they first began recording "Stage Fright." As I recall, there was a Rolling Stone article indicating his participation. However, in a 1999 interview with Lee Gabites, Mr. Simon distanced himself from the project saying:

"I didn't have anything to do with 'Stage Fright' except that I lived a mile from where it was recorded, so I dropped in once in awhile and listened to the progress of things."

That new, young blood Todd Rundgren was brought in to help engineer & mix the recording, and that Glyn Johns was later called upon to do a separated mix, seems to indicate that The Band was searching for a different sound. With "Stage Fright" they began moving away from the darker, wooden bass-heavy tones of MFBP & The Brown Album.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 18:44:57 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: CCR

Thanks Peter for the link. I can't help to tell you that our schoolboy band renamed one of their songs: "Who'll Stop The Train?"

Entered at Thu Dec 19 17:32:56 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

Entered at Thu Dec 19 16:26:28 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: CCR

Today's Toppermost is Rob The Organ on Creedence Clearwater Revival. Link above.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 16:06:10 CET 2013 from (72.78.38.119)

PSB

Subject: Re: Stage Fright Era photo

Todd, you are correct. That is most assuredly Jon Taplin.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 15:47:09 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

BEG, my guess would be Jon Taplin, although I'm not positive.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 15:46:41 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.32)

brown eyed girl

"On the heels of their studio collaboration, Bob and The Band decide to hit the road together. Ticket demand for the 40 show / 21 city tour is one of highest in rock music history; tickets were sold by mail-order only and promoter Bill Graham claims mail-order requests exceed twelve million, though only about a half-million seats are available for the shows."

Entered at Thu Dec 19 15:36:55 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.32)

brown eyed girl

Pat B...This time The Band are in the green house.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 15:32:08 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.32)

brown eyed girl

Oh well....I was hoping it was THE house because of the stone work and thought maybe in later years the house was extended....Beautiful home in any case. Thanks to those who shared some thoughts.

Robbie Robertson, Todd Rundgren and John Simon, working on “Stage Fright”, Woodstock, NY, 1970 (scroll down). Who is the third person wearing glasses???

Entered at Thu Dec 19 14:46:41 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

Subject: Squeeze Doc

Peter V, thanks for the link to your Glenn Tilbrook review. I haven’t seen any of the recent Glenn Tilbrook shows, but I saw Squeeze back in the 1980’s in an arena show, and in a large club show. The large club show was much better suited to their music and more enjoyable. Also saw an acoustic Tilbrook, Difford and Aimee Mann show in a club, possibly very early 1990’s, which was fantastic.

Interesting to hear about the guitar solos at the gig that you saw. Glenn Tilbrook never struck me as the type to do a lot of solos, although he could certainly peel off an impressive solo within the context of Squeeze. In fact, one of the hallmarks of Squeeze’s style was that most of the solos were melodically composed to fit the song and were quite disciplined. The guitar solo to “Another Nail in My Heart” being a prime example of his solo compositional abilities.

Kevin, There’s a well-done BBC documentary at the link above called “Take Me I’m Yours”, that covers Squeeze from the beginning of their career up until 2012. It really gets into the songwriting relationship between Chris Difford (lyrics) and Glenn Tilbrook (music), and the variety of ups and downs they’ve had over the years. It’s only an hour long, but covers a lot of territory and includes a lot of archival footage.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 14:07:43 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: Squeeze

23 chart entries. Two at #2 (Cool for Cats, Up The Junction) + Labelled With Love was #4. Link to my Glenn Tillbrook review from last month.

Entered at Thu Dec 19 02:35:34 CET 2013 from (174.54.185.44)

Kevin from Northeast PA

Todd - Thanks for that Squeeze link. Had not seen that one before. Great song-writing duo were Tilbrook and Difford.

Peter V. - how popular were these guys on your side of the pond?

Entered at Thu Dec 19 02:15:29 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

Subject: Squeeze

Way back in 1981, I happened by chance to see a broadcast from a Squeeze concert on MTV. It was a live performance from a place called the Country Club in Los Angeles, California in July 1981. This really captures their live show during one of their peak periods of 1978-1982. This is the line-up that has Paul Carrack on keyboards, which must be shortly after Jools Holland left the group the first time.

Squeeze was one of my favorite “newer” groups back in my college days in the early/mid 1980’s. When I wasn’t listening to The Band, Dylan, Clapton, or Muddy Waters, I was listening to the likes of Squeeze, REM, and The Replacements. Those were the worlds that I straddled in those days.

Anyway, I really love the energy of Squeeze in this 1981 performance, and I’ve been scouring YouTube for years, hoping that someone would post it. It’s never been released commercially, which is a shame, so this slightly grainy VHS copy (but fairly good audio quality) from the broadcast will have to do for now.

Check out the cool cover of the Nick Lowe/Carlen Carter tune “Too Many Teardrops”. Squeeze never released this song on album as far as I know, but did play it in concert from time to time. Nice version and it can be found on the link at approx. 11 minutes 14 secs.

“Too many tears, fogging up my eyes
Not a pretty sight, looking at a grown man cry
Too many teardrops”

Entered at Thu Dec 19 01:53:59 CET 2013 from (99.115.145.68)

Pat B

Entered at Thu Dec 19 01:40:18 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

BEG, I think that the house photo in your earlier link looks smaller than the "Goodbrooks"/Speare/Robertson house in the rental link that you posted. But it does have a similar look.

Bill M, The fellow in the background is Mike Meranda, who is the banjo playing half of Mike & Ruthy. Like Danko, he does tend to put a bit of body english into his playing.

Peter V, I figured the Simi Stone inclusion would get your attention! Thanks for the link to Simone Felice's upcoming album. The song they're streaming on his website has a nice flow to it.

I never quite understood the practice of keeping the discs separate from the cases or sleeves. Over here they only tend to do that for used items, I suppose to cut down on theft, but I've never seen that practice utilized for new items.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 23:08:20 CET 2013 from (174.89.95.35)

brown eyed girl

Re Historic Home in Woodstock photo I posted once again, but this time was also interested in the home....

Thank you Jed and sadavid and Pat B. I did a little bit of research and....Could this be the house (now a rental) behind The Band members??

Woodstock house description http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/in-woodstock-ny-taking-a-load-off-at-a-former-band-crash-pad/2013/11/21/8f63c0a2-509c-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html

Historic stone home at the end of a private drive just 4 minutes drive from Woodstock Village Green.

Caroline Speare, one of the founding members of the Woodstock Arts Colony, hired Myron Teller to build our home in 1917.

In the late 60's and 70's it became the place to stay for artists recording at Bearsville Studios.

Jed...You were the first to answer my previous question and I really appreciated it....PSB didn't see your post.

In my hood we have an epicuran shop. On the white board one of the employees listed a sandwich in honour of his fave musician.......

Bob Dylan sandwich...Hot corned beef/choice of mustard/choice of pickle.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 22:07:02 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

Those David Gahr photos are supposedly from 1969. They include a ranch house and a greenhouse in the background. One of the shots was used on the sheet music for I Ain't Got No Home.

Getty Images include some Filmore East shots that show both RR and Levon sitting while playing acoustic.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 22:02:15 CET 2013 from (131.137.35.83)

sadavid

Subject: big; pink

Bill M: Joni indicates that the hotel in question is pink; she doesn't mention size (or indeed, whether size is important). The hotel the punters mention at [My link] is big enough, I guess, but no record-setter, hotel-size-wise.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 21:56:32 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: Simone Felice

Seeing Simi Stone on the video link got me to check out Simone Felice. If you go to his website (linked) you can stream and download the first single from his album "Strangers" which is due in March 2014. It's called "Molly-O." Fantastic!

Entered at Wed Dec 18 21:49:34 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Ian / JT: If the lineup in the photo is truly for the Riverboat's "finale", then it'd be middle or late '70s. I'm sure you could find the exact date with some googling; all I know is that I saw a reunion of Amos Garrett and the Dirty Shames there in that timeframe.) By then Murray McLauchlan was big enough to play Massey Hall, but would have played the Riverboat as a favour to its owner, Burnie Fiedler - who was also his co-manager. The architecture will tell you that the process of gentrification / redevelopment was already well beyond underway. In fact it was already underway some years before when Joni Mitchell wrote that they'd paved paradise and put up a parking lot, a big hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot. The watershed 1967 battle over the future of Yorkville is told in an interesting documentary from the day, "Flowers on a One-Way Street". There are some musical bits, but I don't recall who.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 21:35:27 CET 2013 from (131.137.35.83)

sadavid

Subject: BEG's building

The stone work on the exterior is certainly similar to the 'winter series' of photos including the one at [My link].

The style of the windows suggests 'the Robbie Robertson studio' - site of the "King Harvest" video and (I think) the _Stage Fright_ wrap-around 'period photograph.'

Unfortunately the only window visible in BEG's recent post is smaller than the windows we can see in those artifacts.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 21:15:25 CET 2013 from (174.44.139.55)

Jed

My response of Victor,I was certain about.This would only be a sort of a guess that its by Dylan's or Albert Grossman's place.Or Robbie's.OK,I've run out of options!

Entered at Wed Dec 18 20:59:47 CET 2013 from (96.54.178.226)

JT

Subject: Riverboat

Ian: You would not recognize the area that is photographed today. Those coffee houses are all gone and there are posh stores in their place. Yorkville went from a NY Village series of coffee houses to an upscale shopping street over a half century. There are plaques outside some of the new buildings and stores to remind one of what once was.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 20:06:40 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Note the ghost-of-Rick head-duck behind in the background around 1:13-14.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 19:04:53 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

Subject: "Baby Born Today" from The Sounding Joy

Here's another selection from "The Sounding Joy".
This one includes Simi Stone and Natalie Merchant. It's a foot stompin', fiddle playin' good time.

"Baby Born Today"
Performers: Amy Helm, Byron Isaacs, Daniel Littleton, Natalie Merchant, Mike Merenda, Elizabeth Mitchell, Simi Stone, and Ruthy Ungar,

Entered at Wed Dec 18 18:54:15 CET 2013 from (108.200.222.215)

Todd

Subject: The Sounding Joy

Not sure if this has been posted here yet, but "The Sounding Joy" is a new Christmas folk music project with Elizabeth Mitchell and friends. Friends include Amy Helm and other Woodstock, NY area musicians. Here is a brief description from the Smithsonian Folkways website:

"The Sounding Joy is a spirited collection of folk carols drawn from Ruth Crawford Seeger's 1953 songbook American Folk Songs for Christmas. Featuring Elizabeth Mitchell and a luminary list of her musical family, friends, and neighbors, this album celebrates the spirit of community and homespun traditions that existed in times before the commercialization of Christmas."

The link above is a YouTube clip of the song "Cradle Hymn".
Performers on this tune are:
Larry Campbell, Byran Isaacs, Amy Helm, Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel Littleton, and Teresa Williams.

Lovely performance and beautifully photographed.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 18:36:25 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Thanks, guys.

My search also turned up photos from Pittsburgh, referring to the subject as that city's Greenwich Village. I have visited Toronto and Pittsburgh but only fleetingly in both cases -I regret to say.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 17:53:03 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Interesting … I had never thought of that, LPs being shuffled between mono or stereo, but I do remember a record retailer when I was 17 or 18. My pal went out with his daughter. Small stores would only have had one of most albums, and only have sleeved stock for (say) Top 40, or major new releases. I remember him saying he liked Decca and Pye because Decca had blue or red strips on the inner sleeve to indicate mono or stereo, and Pye had adverts all over the inner sleeve so they stood out. EMI, Philips etc went for white inner sleeves with very pale "EMI" lettering etc. With some major artists, the right match of inner sleeve is sought after … The Beatles being the main ones! It should be the same make as the outer anyway.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 17:01:02 CET 2013 from (174.89.95.35)

brown eyed girl

The Band in front of???

Entered at Wed Dec 18 16:58:14 CET 2013 from (174.89.95.35)

brown eyed girl

Yes, the photo is from Toronto's Riverboat Coffee House.

Thanks also to PSB.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 16:52:33 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Subject: Riverboat Coffee House

Could somebody confirm that this photo was from Yorkville in Toronto, as per the URL. I found it on a site about NYC's Greenwich Village and its inclusion caused me to wonder.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 16:51:33 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Entered at Wed Dec 18 13:56:10 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

I should have said the the UK mono version of JOHN WESLEY HARDING was, as I recall, simply the US stereo version collapsed into mono, rather than being the US mono mix. And mine has the more commom A2/B2 matrix.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 12:08:05 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Peter is quite right about the way UK record retailers used to sell records. I would only add that, commonly, there was only one LP sleeve on display, which you took to the counter. Sometimes, that sleeve was returned to the display and the assistant would pick an equivalent (sleeved) LP from their supply behind the counter. Other times, the assistant would simply pick the unsleeved LP from behind the counter, insert it in the sleeve you had brought to the counter and complete the sale.

This practice meant that albums and sleeves could get shuffled around. For example, my JOHN WESLEY HARDING LP is a UK mono edition (BPG 63252) but the sleeve is not. At that time, when the switch from mono to stereo was in process, CBS UK printed mono sleeves and affixed a white "STEREO" sticker to the stereo copies. So I have a mono LP with a "Stereo" sleeve.

This could have happened by mistake in the factory but mono and stereo albums would have been pressed at different times or at the same time on different presses. It could equally have been the result of this mixing and matching in the record store.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 09:43:07 CET 2013 from (68.199.208.139)

Jeff A.

Entered at Wed Dec 18 00:29:33 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Tue Dec 17 23:56:19 CET 2013 from (96.54.178.226)

JT

Subject: The 'security' strip

I agree, David P. It seems like a small point, but the entire cd opening experience is a pain. I always hated those security (or any other) strips along the edge and the experience of ripping or cutting them was distasteful and somehow seemed just 'wrong'.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 22:55:56 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

I neglected to mention those anti-theft strips that are often glued to the disc tray inside the jewel box. They're those shiny rectangular strips that will set off an alarm if the cashier doesn't properly deactivate them before you leave the store. Then there are the ubiquitous bar codes that have become permanent fixtures that mar the back cover artwork space, which is already limited for CDs.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 21:58:26 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

... or are just a wee bit too big to fit into the jewel-case-size slots in your CD cabinet.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 21:27:12 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

We very rarely get those, David P. It's the sign of an American disc. I agree that they're annoying, but so is the shrink wrap. I hate eco-cardboard sleeves that are so tight they split slightly when you extract the CD.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 20:09:48 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Pandora's Jewel Box

Issues regarding digital sound aside, the most frustrating thing about CDs is that involving the removal of all that infernal packaging. Before you can even listen to the damn thing, one must remove the tightly-wrapped cellophane and that tape strip glued to the top edge -- a task that requires a sharp blade. And then there's that brittle plastic jewel box subject to cracking, along with the flimsy teeth that hold the disc in place. Before purchasing the CD, one must give it a good shake to hear if any of those teeth have broken loose.

See link above to Steve Martin's satirical piece "Designer of Audio CD Packaging Enters Hell," originally published in the April 19, 1999 edition of The New Yorker magazine.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 19:53:00 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

We all get stuff mixed up, but Seltzer vs Ferry's gotta be some kind of record. Vinyl, of course.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 19:52:28 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

I think it's technically 2012. Fascinating concept, though I saw him do one track live on TV and didn't like the performance, so I've never heard the rest. Looking at it now, Virginia Plain in 1920s style sounds worth hearing (not the track he did on TV).

Entered at Tue Dec 17 19:39:45 CET 2013 from (70.194.193.123)

calvin

Entered at Tue Dec 17 18:27:35 CET 2013 from (96.54.178.226)

JT

Subject: Browsing vinyl 2

Yes, Jeff, that was true. She browsed then and had LPs in those 'salad days' of yore.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 18:24:21 CET 2013 from (68.199.208.139)

Jeff A.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 17:12:10 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: Browsing vinyl

Lucretia and I have been together for over a decade. I often go into Ditch or Lyle's Place to look at cds and more recently vinyl. She will at times wait for me patiently and at other times go elsewhere as I complete my quest. Something different happened this weekend. First, she said as we walked by going out for dinner "It's open. Let's go in." (Ditch Records). We did and I gravitated to Dylan vinyl. In the meantime, she went to other vinyl areas, found "Inside Llewyn Davis" on vinyl for me and brought it to me (Inside Llewyn Davis, the latest from Oscar-winning sibling directors Joel and Ethan Coen, has snagged top honours from the Toronto Film Critics Association.). Then, while I was standing in line to pay, she continued to do something I have rarely seen her do before. She continued to browse vinyl (not CDs). When asked why, she said 'There's something about the covers..." So there you go...

Entered at Tue Dec 17 16:42:55 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: No Jazz Age

Calvin: "One note on your top 10 list Peter-No Jazz Age by Brian Seltzer? Could be my favorite album of the year."

I can't find it. Help, please Calvin.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 16:41:53 CET 2013 from (72.78.38.119)

PSB

Subject: Who is wearing the hat

BEG, the person wearing the hat who isn't a Hawk is Dylan road manager Victor Maymudes.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 13:20:05 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Tue Dec 17 13:16:51 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

If you go to Toppermost., you can drag the background picture onto the desktop and read all those LP titles … they're all the webmaster's LPs (Merric), and you will note MFBP and the brown album. It is a wonderful selection of albums.

BTW, today is James Taylor on Toppermost, following on from Jerry Lee Lewis. Do comment.

Years ago, I was talking to a book designer about "spine appeal" - choosing a spine that stands out immediately and distinctively. It works for books in a bookstore, but it works for LPs and CDs at home. The example I gave was "Stage Fright." The power of spine appeal then was you'd have friends round, try to decide what to play, and an album would leap out at you. You'd play it, your pals would ask what it was, then hopefully go and buy it.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 10:19:06 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Vinyl (LPs)

I'd like to add LP cover art to the plusses. LPs look good in your bookshelf. Just check out Toppermost start page.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 09:04:44 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Vinyl has now gone on from the indies here, who have sold LPs increasingly for the last few years, to HMV, who are increasing their vinyl space every week. A major factor is the move to downloading which means distancing from artifacts. If you want the artifact, as I do, you might as well have the bigger better looking format. Quite often the vinyl comes with a download code, and some chuck in a free CD. This is a cause of annoyance too, as I have two American records where the download is locked from outside North America. I would far rather have a free CD as it is an easy route to iTunes, but in Apple Lossless of my choice, not MP3s. I do want the digital for in car and on the computer, with the vinyl for a sit and listen. However, I also like amazon's instant 'rip it' when you order new CDs, though I replace the download with Apple Lossless once the CD arrives.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 06:46:56 CET 2013 from (67.84.77.201)

Jeff A.

Subject: Albini to Nirvana

Have you guys seen this? Linked above.

Entered at Tue Dec 17 01:14:38 CET 2013 from (63.142.158.9)

JQ

Subject: Dave Edmunds

"Again" It's a new one from DE. I like it and like it particularly quite loud. The accordion takes its proper place as the lead instrument on this one -

Entered at Tue Dec 17 00:34:53 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Subject: Tribute to Woody Guthrie, 20 January 1968

Guests here may be interested in the main itm on this page:-

http://www.boblinks.com/dates.html#0609

Entered at Tue Dec 17 00:00:16 CET 2013 from (99.226.124.123)

Geoff Hamilton

Subject: Canadian Influence on American Popular Music

I thought I'd let this site's members know about a fascinating new essay -- "The View from the Other Side: Canadians Sing America" -- by Prof. Ted Goossen of York University (Toronto, Canada). It focuses on The Band's Canadian members and the significance of their interest in narratives of the American South. Please feel free to comment on the essay in our forums! http://www.theiramerica.org/forums/americas-group2/americas-general-discussion-forum23/the-view-from-outside-canadians-sing-america-thread146/

Entered at Mon Dec 16 20:52:21 CET 2013 from (67.84.77.201)

Jeff A

Entered at Mon Dec 16 20:20:38 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

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JT

Subject: Vinyl Siding indeed!

Can anyone speculate as to the rebirth of vinyl recordings? We have watched vinyl take up more and more sales space in the few remaining record stores. At Ditch, their selections is complete and amazing.

Some have talked about the artwork and feel of the album in your hand while others have discussed the 'warmth' of the sound compared to the cd (I don't really hear it).

Clearly, some buy these as collectors (as I do) but it has to be more than that, given the explosion of titles available and the availability of almost all new titles in this format.

So lets hear it. What say you?

Entered at Mon Dec 16 17:24:45 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Entered at Mon Dec 16 17:01:43 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Bandish link: that movie O'Toole did in Ireland with former Hawkins singer Beverley D'Angelo.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 16:59:24 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Carl Perkins

The Beatles were huge fans of Carl Perkins, evidenced in their covers of Matchbox, Honey Don't and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby. In addition, they performed Sure To Fall, Glad All Over and Lend Me Your Comb on Live at the BBC.

One of the best tributes to Carl Perkins was NRBQ's 1969 Columbia album "Boppin' the Blues," which they recorded with Mr. Perkins (see link). I still cherish my original Columbia '360' LP copy and I believe this gem is still available on CD from Sony.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 16:43:11 CET 2013 from (24.252.156.96)

Calvin

Entered at Mon Dec 16 16:32:59 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Choosing 'the best'

Calvin: He was never robbed. Those were the right choices for those years. What it points out is a flaw in a system when superb work gets demoted because something is deemed 'better'. If he had been awarded over Peck, Brando, or DeNiro, there would be a bad taste left. I think about Atticus Finch and I think about T.E. Lawrence and I see the embodiment of those characters in these actors. Award meritocracy has concern for me and Peter O'Toole is a perfect example.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 16:05:57 CET 2013 from (24.252.156.96)

Calvin

Lawrence or Arabia was fantastic-and I probably would have given him the nod, but Peck for Kill a Mockingbird is certainly legitimate. Great in the Ruling class-but lost to Brando in Godfather, Love the Stunt Man-but over Deniro in Raging Bull? Bad luck for sure, but I cant look at any of his 8 years and think he was robbed. Although I certainly would have taken Venus of Whitaker's Last King of Scotland.

One note on your top 10 list Peter-No Jazz Age by Brian Seltzer? Could be my favorite album of the year.

Railsback is/was a talented performer who excelled at playing the unhinged-problem is after you nail Charles Manson in a TV Mini-Series that Millions watched its hard to escape that bit of type casting.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 15:44:27 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Live from Daryl's House

Daryl Hall and Shelby Lynne performing "Christmas Must Be Tonight."

Entered at Mon Dec 16 15:33:23 CET 2013 from (24.114.68.89)

Kevin. J

Subject: Amy Helm Sings Christmas Must Be Tonight

.....from ER site LINK of Amy Helm and Larry Campbell doing Sebastian's song.......Beautiful.

Al E: Thank you for that essay on the Louis Suarez goal......I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed following the club.......travelling in Europe.....it sure helps to have a rooting interest as you pick up a sports section of a paper that has 17-20 pages of coverage every dsy.......resembles Canada and hockey coverage.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:55:09 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:47:57 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.157)

brown eyed girl

Ahhhh yes. Thank you kindly Jed!

"This soulful 1976 “Georgia on my Mind” single proved that Richard Manuel was the true spiritual voice of The Band."

Holiday Greetings to everyone here...Good Health, Good Vibes, Good Music everywhere we can find and experience it.

I remember being asked at a professional workshop where would our favourite place be. I said......wherever there was music.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:38:17 CET 2013 from (174.44.139.55)

Jed

It's Victor Maymudes.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:31:50 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.157)

brown eyed girl

Robbie Robertson: Rock and Roll’s Raconteur

November 27, 2013 BY BONNIE STIERNBERG

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:22:55 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.157)

brown eyed girl

I've always loved this photo of The Hawks when they toured with Bob. Who is wearing the hat (who isn't a Hawk)?

Entered at Mon Dec 16 14:19:00 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.157)

brown eyed girl

Richard Manuel T.

Jon Lyness...I think you were at the Buddy and Julie Miller show at the Bottom Line as well. Wasn't it New Year's eve and Chip Monck opened the show?

Holiday Greetings Nomadic Mike. :-D

Entered at Mon Dec 16 13:55:17 CET 2013 from (77.102.201.158)

Al Edge

Subject: Anne Williams

Anne Williams lost her son Kevin at Hillsborough. She strove determinedly and desperately for more than two decades to have the truth revealed of her beloved son's death. She herself died in the process of achieving that goal.

The BBC have paid her the attached tribute. It is exceptionally moving but demands to be viewed due to the manner in which it conveys the strength of the simple yet resolute devotion of an ordinary yet extraordinary mother to her child.

Entered at Mon Dec 16 09:41:39 CET 2013 from (180.248.163.198)

kabar berita

Subject: Agen Bola Promo 100% SBOBET IBCBET Casino Poker Tangkas Online

thank,, salam kenal Agen Bola Promo 100% SBOBET IBCBET Casino Poker Tangkas Online http://www.kabarberita.web.id/2013/12/Agen-Bola-Promo-SHOBET-IBCBET-Casino-Poker-Tangkas-Online.html

Entered at Mon Dec 16 05:11:27 CET 2013 from (24.252.156.96)

Calvin

Entered at Mon Dec 16 05:09:59 CET 2013 from (24.252.156.96)

Calvin

Entered at Sun Dec 15 23:35:39 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: Peter O'Toole

Some of the best work by a true thespian...

My Favorite Year

The Ruling Class

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

The Night of the Generals

What's New Pussycat

Becket

Lawrence of Arabia

Entered at Sun Dec 15 21:43:41 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Peter O'Toole was a true great. His film of "The Ruling Class" is an all-time favorite of mine (see link). RIP

Entered at Sun Dec 15 20:40:11 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: Error : Ian McKellen (not Peter o'Toole)

I was wrong. It was NOT Peter O'Toole who made a film near Victoria BC. It was Ian McKellen in Emile. Sorry. My memory forced me to check and look this up.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 20:31:36 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: The Full English

Peter: And so again, this is what I love about this site. I will go searching for "The Full English" in my local record stores. Thank you.

Sad news about Peter O'Toole. I am a great fan of his work. He even did some local work near Victoria in the past decade. He was 'Awrence' and the Academy missed the boat on that one and on many others.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 19:29:44 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: My Best of 2013

My annual post with ten shopping days till Christmas. My favorite albums, archive releases, songs, TV, theatre and cinema. Linked above.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 19:10:11 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Subject: Sun

On Sun recordings … The latest Toppermost (today) is Jerry Lee Lewis, and as it happens, the article only selects Sun singles. Go over and have a look (see link) and do post a different choice. Personally, I'd go later than Sun.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 18:12:47 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Pioneers

You are right about that Peter. Elvis performed the song on live shows 3 times, and as you say that helped Carl's sales.

If you just google the song name, it comes up on wiki, and the story Johnny Cash told Carl is mentioned there, as well as the incident at a dance where some guy is giving his girl hell for "scuffing his blue suede shoe."

There are of course more stories of many people coming from poverty and making it in their musical careers. However the pioneering of Rock-a-billy and rock & roll music that was done by that bunch at Sun Records through their up bringing and the lives they went thru' really paved the way for a lot of people to have careers and carry on the music.

The good thing is many who came after like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc always paid tribute to the old black fellows who were the beginnings of blues, and Carl Perkins who really did make Rock-a-billy music what it became.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 17:57:32 CET 2013 from (24.108.150.14)

JT

Subject: Elliott Landy: new book

Most of you likely already know that Elliott Landy is finally going into his archive to prepare and publish a new book of his photographs of The Band. He is currently raising funds to kickstart this project. This is definitely highly anticipated and worthy of support. He is aiming for 2014 publication of both a regular and deluxe version of these photographs.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 15:50:37 CET 2013 from (96.30.173.135)

joe j

Subject: Scotland

Several links worth clicking on including Jimmie Rodgers/Louis Armstrong but Emmylou dancing with Bill Monroe required a replay.

Entered at Sun Dec 15 11:01:53 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Just typed a reply and WHOOSH it disappeared from the screen mid-sentence! Never to return. A reminder to type in Word and paste it in here.

I knew the chronology … Carl recorded it in December 1955, released Jan 1st 1956. Elvis recorded it early in 1956 and put it on the “Elvis Presley” album in March 1956. Carl is definitely the original as well as the composer.

Elvis pressured RCA not to release his version as a single, as he was aware of the high possibility of wiping out Carl’s climbing hit. He persisted too, only releasing in September when Carl’s was slipping down the chart, and Scotty Moore says that it was to help out Carl who was in hospital.

Carl sold a million singles, but the reason I suspect Elvis is the “best-known” version is that he did it on early TV shows (before it was a single for him, thus helping Carl’s sales), put it on the first LP, but then he re-recorded it in 1960 for “G.I. Blues” which was a huge best selling LP. Then count in all those Elvis compilations from the mid 70s to today. There must be more copies of Elvis’s cover in circulation as a track, though as singles go, more Carl.

Next one though … which is the best version? Elvis has Scotty Moore’s guitar solos. I don’t know!

Entered at Sun Dec 15 03:42:39 CET 2013 from (31.200.174.228)

nicky anderson

Subject: respect x

"/"n" i would like to thank the band for what is possibly the most underestimated music ever -- i am so sorry he has left us is for ricks family x x and for robbie - you do your heritage proud - maybe a shaman is not recognised till needed = thank you for the music x nicky x

Entered at Sun Dec 15 00:10:47 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Blue Swede Shoes

Peter....according to Wikipedia, we are both wrong. Carl Perkins and his band had already recorded the song before that accident, (which Carl's brother Jay died from).

Carl's recording made No. 1 and sold a million copies. Although they say Elvis recording became more popular, it only made No 20 on the billboard chart. You can read the whole story.

I got my info years ago from a book I had on Johnny Cash. In this book, I can't even remember the name of it now. I recall that at Sun records one day Johnny had told Carl about this black fellow he was in the army with in Germany who had this expression. When they were going out he would say to John, how do I look? John would say you look great man to which he would reply, "Don't step n my Blue Swede shoes". There is another explanation there on wiki.

That is also where I got the info about the recording, so I figure that was a mistake.

Entered at Sat Dec 14 19:29:06 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Apparently, Elvis wouldn't let his Blue suede Shoes be promoted until Carl's started falling down the chart, as Carl was a friend. I'd definitely say "Carl Perkins original / Elvis cover."

Entered at Sat Dec 14 16:32:40 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Covers &....................

Thank you for your kind words Jerry. I am sometimes overwhelmed by the respect that has been shown me from many different quarters on this site. Many times very unexpected, and I try not to loose sight of this for what I do. A lady in the Vancouver area, who reads here daily, but does not post e mailed me after I put my e mail here one time. She used to go to a club where I played music a lot years ago. Very nice lady, she sent me the money and wanted my CD, and I was happy to oblige. Her comment was "I wish you didn't have to work so hard."

My old friend Lars considers me a "workaholic". I think he's just ribbing me but I will be very happy not to have the pressure of work any more. You can't own equipment like I do and leave it idle. Tug boat captains are a dying breed. Young people now-a-days don't want the responsibility. Don't want to be away from home, (and all their social life and toys). So to try to find some one competent to operate my outfit for me is difficult, and the insurance companies are real gun shy of younger operators. The big companies like Seaspan very often have to bring some of the fellows out of retirement as they don't have enough captains when things get busy.

As Jerry got us into "covers", one that comes to my mind, that has a different wrinkle. I expect some of you may know, like David Powell. Carl Perkins wrote "Blue Swede Shoes". He was in an accident, and couldn't record the song, so he let Elvis do it first. I have Carl's recording of it, which I actually like better. So now what do you consider the "cover?"

Entered at Fri Dec 13 19:16:36 CET 2013 from (131.137.35.83)

sadavid

Subject: the new mythology

Found this at the very end of a recent _Vanity Fair_ profile (see [My link]) of the movie actor Nicole Kidman:

"I told Kidman the story of Bob Dylan being booed off the stage in Manchester, England, when he showed up for his second set with the Hawks and plugged in his electric guitar, signaling his switch from folk to rock. He responded to the outraged yells of the crowd by telling guitarist Robbie Robertson to play louder.

Nicole laughed. “I remember Keith telling me the story,” she said, “because we both go, ‘Oh, that’s right. It’s such a metaphor for artistic endeavors, you know?’ ‘Play louder’—that’s my mantra!”"

Entered at Fri Dec 13 18:24:22 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

Entered at Fri Dec 13 17:22:48 CET 2013 from (99.249.67.189)

GregD

Entered at Fri Dec 13 17:11:41 CET 2013 from (184.145.65.247)

Mike Nomad

Entered at Fri Dec 13 15:46:54 CET 2013 from (74.203.77.122)

Jon Lyness

Great photos, BEG.

What song would they be playing in this 1971 photo (Levon is standing/singing with guitar, Richard is on drums)?

Entered at Fri Dec 13 15:08:20 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.38)

brown eyed girl

Jersey Shore Nightbeat
Few photos of Richard Manuel and Rick Danko in the 80's.

Entered at Fri Dec 13 15:03:56 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.38)

brown eyed girl

1971 Photos of The Band

Let's start with Richard Manuel.

Barrie Wentzell Photography

Entered at Fri Dec 13 14:41:16 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.38)

brown eyed girl

Farewell to Levon Helm

"Our neighbor Levon Helm was laid to rest in his beloved adopted home of Woodstock, NY. As a drummer, multi-instrumentalist and singer performing with Bob Dylan and as a member of The Band, he is possibly best known for his contribution to the revival of American roots music. Click on a thumbnail image for preview and caption."

Entered at Fri Dec 13 14:35:55 CET 2013 from (174.89.104.38)

brown eyed girl

Ain't In It For My Health Cards

Hey John D and others who I've met through this site. The next time we run into each other at a show, I'll bring these Levon cards that I picked up on my last trip to NYC. Did I tell you on that trip I saw Robbie play live at Eric Clapton's Guitar Festival? ;-D

Entered at Fri Dec 13 12:28:16 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Current thread

There was a guy who wanted to translate Zimmie's 'Desolation Row' in Finnish. He was the leading figure in beat and underground poetry and he understood that language is much more than grammar and vocabulary. He had to find a Finnish poet instead of Ezra Pound (Thomas Stearns was more known.) That would be ... HE! But he couldn't write: "Me, myself and T.S. Eliot..." , could he.

He was called for 'Juice'. Some say it came from misshearing of the name of his favourite writer James Choice, some say it came from masturbation. I can't tell which one is right because this is a site with family values.

Footnote. Bob Dylan has said to me: "You can call me Zimmie, you can call me..."

Entered at Fri Dec 13 10:38:08 CET 2013 from (122.162.91.130)

Characteristics of Prokaryotes

Subject: news

This site is excellent and so is how the subject matter was explained. I also like some of the comments too. Looking forward to your next post.http://biology.tutorpace.com/Biology/Characteristics-of-Prokaryotes/  

Entered at Fri Dec 13 07:30:26 CET 2013 from (122.162.91.130)

andrewjhons

Subject: basic math formulas

Tutor Pace offers online tutoring, homework help and test prep for K through 12 and college students in all major subjects including math, English, science ,SAT reasoning and subject tests.

Entered at Fri Dec 13 07:14:15 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

Subject: Istanbul

Istanbul (not constantinople) is a truly great song - a bit like Working in The Coal Mines. And to cap it off I think All Along The Watch Tower from Before The Flood is the definitive version of that song. Robbie and Garths solos are great and Levon's (and maybe Richard's) drumming drive it along.

Entered at Fri Dec 13 01:25:52 CET 2013 from (96.30.173.135)

joe j

Subject: Bonnie

Great video of the Brambletts 'When the Battle Is Over'.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 23:09:57 CET 2013 from (98.110.245.147)

Tim

Subject: Facebook

just wondering how many people in this site go to the many different Facebook sites for The Band. Was thinking of putting the pics/ads/etc up on that site since I don't have a way of posting what I have accumulated here. Thoughts?

Entered at Thu Dec 12 21:05:30 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Roger Tillison

It was Roger Tillison's cover version of "Get Up Jake" that many of us first heard, released a year before studio & live versions by The Band were released. The original Band studio version (recorded during the 1969 Sammy Davis Jr. poolhouse sessions and mixed in mono) appeared mis-credited as the live RoA version as the B-side to the live 1972 RoA 45-single version of "Don't Do It."

Entered at Thu Dec 12 20:18:48 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Entered at Thu Dec 12 20:08:52 CET 2013 from (199.233.179.254)

Ignatius

Subject: Mr. Pound of Idaho

Because Ezra Pound got into some shit that would cause anyone to flee in disgust, it is easy to avoid him these days, and to dismiss his tortured career. I offer a brief commentary by Allen Ginsberg on the relationship between Mr. Dylan and Mr. Pound, and further back in to time to Whitman and Poe. If you trace the development of poetry and song lyric in the English language, you cannot in good conscience avoid Pound. Without Pound, possibly no Eliot, possibly no Joyce, Hemmingway would not have been Hemmingway, the list goes on. But this is scholarship, and if you are not moved by scholarship, it is not necessary to spend time contemplating this wreck of a man. That is said without rancor or judgment. Don't read any irony or cynicism in it. Like many disastrous things, if you can avoid Pound, please do. But if you can't - you mustn't. (And I could bring up my philosophical problems with certain tastes and tendencies of Mr. Ginsberg, but that is for another post, or possibly none at all. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, I guess, is what I mean.)

Entered at Thu Dec 12 19:18:23 CET 2013 from (174.89.107.252)

brown eyed girl

What about the women?

She-Bop-A-Lula – a charity exhibition of women musicians by women photographers including a couple by Amalie R Rothschild.

Shas told me that she has photographed The Band, in B&W and in color, when they played Fillmore East on May 9, 1969 and also with Bob Dylan on January 29 and 31, 1974. Wow!!!

Entered at Thu Dec 12 19:16:37 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Speaking of haiku, here is the short 1913 Ezra Pound poem entitled "In a Station of the Metro," a concise example of precision of imagery & rhythm:

"The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough."

Contrast it with:

"Once I walked through the halls of a station
Someone called your name
In the street I heard children laughing
They all sound the same"

Entered at Thu Dec 12 19:05:18 CET 2013 from (174.89.107.252)

brown eyed girl

Louuuu has said that this cover of "Sweet Jane" is the best of all.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 18:51:39 CET 2013 from (72.78.38.119)

PSB

Subject: RIP Roger Tillison

Roger Tillison, a great songwriter and singer who did a lot of Band and Band-related songs as well as rare Dylan and Guthrie, in addition to his own songs and is listed in the related artists on this site passed away on Monday. The link is to a piece I wrote for American Songwriter about him.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 18:48:59 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

petals on a wet, black bough.

I had to cheat and pick up Selected Poems though. Odd, it's the only one I could remember in full, being mercifully short. (Title: In A Station of The Metro).

I also found a Fleetwood Mac title while looking.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 18:42:34 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

True, David. Ezra Pound wrote stuff I love ( "Cathay") but also impenetrable nonsense studded with foreign language quotations. When he is good he is very very good, when he is bad he is horrid.

Tis the season for nursery rhymes.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 18:35:30 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Drop a small handful of syllables and you'll've written a dandy haiku, Peter V. At any rate, does the present generation read at all?

Richard P: Thanks for reminding me about BB Gabor's "Big Yellow Taxi". Saw him do it a bunch of times at Grossman's in the late '70s. On a couple of occasions he had David Stone on keyboards, which made for an odd frontline pair - BB with short punkish hair and Stone just back from as stint in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow so still sporting a blonde mane a la David Lee Roth. They sounded great doing the blues together though, even BB's trademark insertion of a snatch of the Woody Woodpecker song into his solos.

Entered at Thu Dec 12 18:24:42 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Subject: Vinyl Siding: The White Light Demos

I would rank Gene Clark's "Here Tonight: The White Light Demos" among the best of this year's archival releases. Cheryl Pawelski's Omnivore Recordings released the CD version back in March (link above). After Thanksgiving I also picked up the Black Friday RSD limited edition LP version, pressed on orange vinyl.

Like him or not, Ezra Pound was a major figure in 20th Century English literature. For extra credit: Name the Richard Manuel song that has a title similar to that of an Ezra Pound poem.

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Peter V

Subject: Ezra Pound & T.S. Eliot …

I was made to suffer, Fred. Why should present generations escape?

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Fred

Who in their right mind would use Ezra Pound's poetry in an English Lit setting? ; )

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brown eyed girl

THE BAND - WOODSTOCK 1969 Soundboard

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brown eyed girl

Keep Your Distance written by Richard Thompson....Cover by Buddy and Julie Miller. I thought they wrote it, as this song is one of my favourites.

Hey Butch...I saw them at the Bottom Line in NYC and I saw that you were there too. They're so good......

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Jimmy Nelson

Subject: Richard

'Across the Great Divide' gets to one of Richard Manuel's last original contribution and -- I think -- one of his best ... the Band's musical contributions on this cut are just stunning ...

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Al Edge

:-0)

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Peter V

I have a copy of a Cambodian pirate edition of one of my books, done in black and white at half size, with the pictures and photos traced. Anyway, who ever pirated the beginners level (Streamline Departures) thought it might be useful to add a poem for each unit … Robert Herrick, John Donne, Wordsworth, that sort of thing! I have quite a set of pirate editions.

Smokey quotes by Bob were I think prompted by Robbie … who kept switching between saying Smokey Robinson & Curtis Mayfield in recounting how he told Dylan to listen to their lyrics. Quite right too. I'd take Smokey or Curtis over the selected Caledonian any time. It's so close to Greeting Card that i think he probably was extracting the Michael (as we say down here).

We once sat two seats away from Mr Paxman at the National Theatre. Can't say that constitutes an acquaintance, but he didn't cough, sneeze or eat Quality Street so in my view, an acceptable theatrical neighbour. Also, very nicely for a Sunday afternoon, no one pestered him at all in the ice cream queue.

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Al Edge

Fred. You're so right mate.

Personally, I don't believe the significance of those four goals in terms of their standing in the entire sporting let alone footballing pantheon of sheer quality sporting achievement has really filtered through.

As you know I've watched the game avidly since the late '50's and I've not seen anything remotely approaching the quality/variety in such a short space of time of what he provided us with. /nSure, I'm biased but by the same token I'm like yourself and Kev in that I thrill to sporting excellence in any arena. For one sportsman to execute such widely diverging pieces of breathtaking finishing skill in the space of little more than 30 minutes was actually not possible.

Yet it happened. Right in front of our eyes.

The opener alone was as dramatic as anything I can recall. The second was adjustment and striking quality of Cruyff class. The third was simply outragous. The fourth merely a 25 yard free kick over the wall and into the top corner beyond the keeper's despairing dive. easy peasy. :-0)

Go figure, as they say.

:-0)

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Fred

Alan: Watched the aforementioned victory in all it's glory on TV. Not only was it amazing for the fact that he scored 4 in one game, but the variety....woof! I can only dream of doing that (on the Playstation/Nintendo against one of my nephews, that is) : )

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Al Edge

Must admit I did find it a trifle puzzling when I read it Pete. Which was some time ago.

That said, whilst I can see why Dylan may have been exercising his cynical streak at the expense of some instrusive media type I can also see that he might also have huge and genuine regard for the historical and cultural importance of the Caledonian icon in question.

After all at one time he did regard Smokey as America's greatest living poet and Gene Clark's 'For a Spanish Guitar' as the one song he wished he'd written. The work of both artists is not a million miles distant from the emotional carriage of our Caledonian friend.

As for Paxman, I wouldn't trust his take on any fuckin thing.

:-0)

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Al Edge

Well according to our Chris they are anyroad Fred!

BTW hope you and yours are all well mate.

At his wedding in August I had the pleasure??? - of being dragged up to partake in a raucus rendition of said Istanbul with him and one of his best men. Actually 'dragged up' is a complete misnomer. I couldn't resist the temptation of bounding up there to join in with them like some pathetic gooseberry. Well worth it though. The song has resonated with me ever since. I'm actually singing it now as I type. Or should I say the solitary word from it that I know.

:-0)

Did you see Luis's quartet against Norwich Fred?

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Fred

Although the original version is cool in a '50s way, I find They Might Be Giants' cover of Istanbul (Not Constantinople) much better..

BB Gabor's take on Big Yellow Taxi is interesting. The mood of it is quite different from the original. I'm partial to the original, though.

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Fred

Who in their right mind would use Ezra Pound poetry in an ESL setting?

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Peter v

It is what they call 'personalization' or what I call crap. It will not help you understand the poem, poetry, or life. Meaningless dribble. Editors love it!

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Peter V

Not giving the game away, Al, but I would go with Jeremy Paxman's appraisal of the same source, to the extent that Dylan may have been taking the piss out of the question. I might try to find it later, but I traced bits of All Along The Watchtower once back to Ezra Pound's so called Chinese poems, not translations but rewrites of earlier translations. Lament of the Frontier Guard rings bells for me, but it is the mood of some of those.

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Al Edge

Subject: Watchtower

Don't get me wrong Jerry/Bonk. There's not the merest doubt Jimi's is the definitive version and I guess like most of our generation the song and particularly the atmosphere it generated was the one seared into my brain. The preference for Bob's original is just that - personal preference.

The link incidentally is a strange one. It reports on the source of Dylan's biggest career inspiration. And surprisingly it's not Woody Guthrie or Dylan Thomas btw. The clue is in the list of covers I posted. See if anyone can work it out without clicking the link. Good quiz question.

:-0)

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Jeff A.

Subject: Stuff...From Diary Of A Studio Owner A great read. For anyone who has the time, and the curiousty.

Link above. Gordon, a Brooklyn guy is now 75, plays his ass off, is one of the nicest and most genuine muthas you will find anywhere. Stuff is backing Lloyd Price this February here in NYC. Gordon's the only original left in the band, but, it;s a killer band. ALex Foster is truly amazing, Clint De Ganon is a helluva fine drummer, Gaffney, scary on geetar.Roy Bennett is a badass, singing, bass when Gordon sits down. All great guys.

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Bill M

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BONK

Oh yes Peter! Thanks for adding this. Now I'll never get any sleep!

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JT

Subject: The Best Things in life are free

Bonk: I couldn't agree more!!! Well said. I am inspired to think about music when I read here. That is a gift.

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BONK

I agree with Al that some people can just take a song and go places that the original can't. Watchtower belongs to Hendrix and even Bob has admitted this. I remember that it wasn't until the nineties that I realized that Jimmy never wrote that song and I was really thrown for a loop. It made me look up Dylan's catalogue and realize that he is the greatest wordsmith ever. As I get older I realize that we all hear things a little different sometimes. And I love it when the people on this site make you look at a song in a different way. Not just my way. It's opened up a hell of a lot of music that I never paid attention to before. I think I could, and do, spend so much time at night looking at songs, and meaning and structure of those songs that people here have posted that it's gonna take me twenty years to get through it all. I'll be busy looking up this shit until the day I die. What a great site!!

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JT

Subject: Duvet Quatre

Don't get me wrong! I love Dylan's AATW. I just think that Jimi made it his with his rendition and Dylan said so with his later presentations of that song. Speaking of Jimi, Stevie Ray Vaughan does a great Little Wing and John Meyer (WUT) and Dave Matthews (AATW)do great covers of JMH songs.A great cover is Mary Lee's Corvette Tangled Up in Blue.

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Al Edge

So many. And, as a few have said, what exactly does constitute a 'cover'? And what doesn't?

I agree with Pete about Watchtower and Bob's original. And let's face it more often than not - though certainly not always - the original is the one that really does hit the spot. And that also goes for songs to which you are introduced by the cover and don't hear the original until many years later.

In this respect I'm thinking off the top of my head of two Hollies songs. Just One Look and I can't let Go. Two truly great pop songs by The Hollies. But then you hear the originals by Doris Troy and Evie Sands and you think hmmmm.

Still. Off the top of my head a few I love which I'd term covers or certainly for me definitive versions which I think take the original song to places that don't seem feasible when you listen to the earlier versions.

Harry Nillson. Without You
Love Hurts. Gram and Emmylou
Viva las Vegas. Shawn Colvin
Long Black Veil. The Band. Don't shout Westie!!!!
Twist and Shout. Beatles
My Love is Like a Red Red Rose. Eva Cassidy
Peggy Sue Got Married. John Doe
Tell it Like it is. Gene Clark [just my personal taste I'm sure on this one]
The Midnight Special. Creedence

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Peter V

All along the Watchtower is a major point in discussing covers. Hendrix did it so well that he influenced live Dylan, it is one of Jimi's defining moments too, but to me it is still a cover. John Wesley Harding came first, though Jimi's was quickly in. Also Jimi gets the words slightly wrong, and just talking about the song, with its poetic lyric, nodding at Ezra Pound, then my favourite version is Bob's original. No doubt, either. It is, thinking in Toppermost terms, one of Hendrix's ten best. But the Dylan is better!

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JT

Subject: Duvet 3

The 'what is a cover?' of a song is crystallizing. Peter, no question about 'My Way'. One could never perceive of it as a cover by Sinatra. As for Dylan songs, I think that if Dylan ever sang it, it is his. All other versions are covers. The exception is 'I Shall Be Released' which clearly is The Band in the same way and "All Along The Watchtower" as noted earlier. "To Make You Feel My Love" is a Dylan song covered by Billy Joel and by Adele. These are both covers in my view. Sometimes the lines get blurred. Keep writing, Peter. We can flesh out the rules and regulations, like they do in language grammar and spelling, and then provide all the exceptions and irregularities. It would be a worthy publication.

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David P

In early 1968, around the time The Band was recording "Music From Big Pink," Ian and Sylvia went south to record their "Nashville" album at Bradley's Barn in Mt. Juliet, Tn. just outside of Nashville. It included their versions of "Mighty Quinn" and "Wheel's On Fire," which featured former Hawk Fred Carter Jr. on electric guitar.

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Al Edge

Just saw your post Kev.

Delighted he's provided you with so much to savour. As he has us lot over here.

I wrote the following for his goal against Newcastle last season. Whilst I believe I'm correct in saying the Norwich quadruple last week must surely rank as the most astonishing assembly of goals by an individual ever witnessed in a single football match anywhere, I still rate that goal against newcastle as his finest.

My own little eulogy in respect of how this amazing cameo of footballing sublimity made me feel.

As the ball dropped from the sky, the whole thing seemed over in an instant. Defenders left clutching thin air, a goalkeeper spread-eagled on the deck and a beaming buck toothed Luis emerging from out of the red net clutching the ball with which he had worked a magic still to be comprehended.

Unlike so many such glorious moments my immediate reaction was borne as much of bemusement as joyous celebration. Sure, like always, I was jumping up and down like some demented loon. Yet that was merely instinctive reaction that accompanies important goals. Perhaps even me performing to routine idiocy.

Yet already my rational side was attempting frantically to fathom out what had taken place before my eyes, imploring those around me in the front rows of the Main Stand and back row of the Paddock to come up with some rational explanation of what we’d just witnessed.

Yeah he’d latched on to this punt from Enrique but how had the next bit gone?

How had he then in an instant ended up dribbling round the keeper and easing it in with such nonchalance?

Nobody around appeared to have the foggiest notion but one thing for sure was we all agreed we’d witnessed something special.

The short journey home consisted of further uninformed speculation as to how he’d managed to do it coupled with repeated profanities aimed at the inane blathering of the presenter on the Radio Merseyside phone-in who predictably scarcely gave airtime to the goal.

Not to worry, disappointment at the final result was for once subjugated by a desperation to get home and watch exactly how Luis had managed to score this incredible goal that we had each agreed to be incredible without actually having the slightest clue at that point as to what had actually transpired to justify the tag.

Back home I watched in awe.

Sure enough, it was everything I’d wanted it to be. And more. The view from Kemlyn Road finally disclosed the secret of what he’d done if not for a solitary moment providing any rational insight into how any mere mortal could have actually managed it.

I was so rapt by the Kemlyn Road perspective I replayed the sequence over and over again till it almost made me cry in admiration borne purely of the sheer joyous communion it instilled within. An intrinsic connection to other incredible moments this mighty club, its players, its managers and its unique support have given us over the years.

My father, who passed away three years before Hillsborough, had appreciated great football more than anyone I’d ever known personally. He had his own heroes in Elisha Scott and Billy Liddell but was receptive enough to acknowledge the greatness of many that followed both in Liverpool red and other hues. George Best was the finest he’d ever seen he always maintained. It was a view shared by myself and many others privileged to witness Best in his pomp. Yet I doubt whether even Bestie could have done what Luis did yesterday. That goal we saw yesterday was that good.

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Wallsend

Rather than thinking what is a 'cover' it is more interesting to think about what is an 'original' version of a song. I would say an original version is when the composer plays it for the first time and thinks the song is finished. It is unrelated to whether it is recorded or not. Any performance, including recording, after that by another musician is a 'cover'.

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David P

Ian and Sylvia, who were clients of Albert Grossman, were also among the first to get access to the Basement Tapes material. Their versions of "Tears of Rage," "Quinn the Eskimo," and "This Wheel's On Fire" were released in 1968. It's been reported that Mr. Grossman had a 50% interest in Dylan's Dwarf publishing company at the outset, which later became a point of contention in the long-lasting legal wrangling after Dylan severed his ties with Grossman's management company.

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Pat Burke

Subject: The Band w/ Paul Butterfield and The Cate Brothers The Joyous Lake, Woodstock, NY, 06.25.1983

I was there that night. The greatest night of my life. Thanks to my teacher/mentor Artist David Holzman, who was a friend of Paul Butterfield.

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Peter V

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JT

Subject: Duvets 2

If the song has been on an album or has been released as a single, in my view, subsequent versions are 'covers'. As Peter notes, sometimes a song comes out before the original writer of the song gets it out. I think, unlike Kevin J, I guess, that the composer origin often defines the original.

But, I can see the argument against that. This assertion can become problematic, Kevin, I agree. Just because Paul Anka wrote a song, doesn't mean (even if he sang it later on some album or performed it live) that one should consider others a cover. Clearly a song can become 'owned' by a performer ('MY WAY' is a great example for FS). Jimi certainly owned 'All Along The Watchtower'. So it becomes semantics. If you think about it, songs from the Brill Building and Tin Pan Alley became 'owned' by performers long before any of the original composers performed then either on record or live.

I agree that 'the cover' is a genre of music. Peter, a good essay on this subject with all the 'back and forths' of the discussion on what constitutes a cover would be welcomed. Good on you!

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David P

Subject: Vinyl Siding: Van Ronk Sings

The other night I pulled out my old beat-up LP copy of Dave Van Ronk's 1961 Folkways album "Van Ronk Sings" after reading about the new Coen Brothers film. Here is a link to Mr. Van Ronk's "River Come Down a/k/a Bamboo." Peter, Paul & Mary covered it on their eponymous WB debut LP and Ry Cooder later recorded a version.

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Peter V

Often an artist records an LP track by a songwriter as a single. Is it a “cover” in singles terms if the the original artist hasn’t recorded it as a single? Is it a cover if it was a prominent track on an album, even though never released as a single? Say it was an obscure track? Many singer-songwriters recorded albums as a showcase for their songs, hoping someone else would pick them up.

The Beatles touted tracks from Please, Please Me to the other artists on their first tour. Helen Shapiro was offered Misery and declined it, allowing Kenny Lynch to grab it and with it the honour of first Beatles cover. Lennon-McCartney offered I Wanna Be Your Man to The Rolling Stones (who did it better). The Dowlands picked up All My Loving … and so on. In The Beatles case, the LPs sold so well that there were more copies of their versions in circulation anyway.

The best examples are from the Basement Tapes, recorded by Bob Dylan & The Band informally between Spring and November 1967. They say there was never any intention to release the songs. A selection were put on an acetate, which was offered to other artists. Peter, Paul & Mary, sharing the same manager as Dylan, Albert Grossman, had first pick, and did Too Much of Nothing.

Because Dylan admired their covers of With God On Our Side, If You Gotta Go and Just Like A Woman, Manfred Mann believe they were offered first British pick, and took Quinn The Eskimo, now more generally known as The Mighty Quinn. Julie Auger with Brian Auger and The Trinity took This Wheel’s On Fire. Are these covers? What about With God On Our Side? It was a Dylan LP track done by Manfred Mann on an EP. Then If You Gotta Go was a well-known Dylan track, only available in Europe.

The Mighty Quinn was first performed at the Isle of Wight Festival live in 1969 by Dylan & The Band, and then appeared on Self Portrait in 1970 more than two years after Manfred Mann’s hit. The Basement Tapes original versions were widely bootlegged, but did not appear officially until 1975.

This Wheel’s On Fire was recorded by Dylan and The Hawks (who became The Band) in Woodstock in 1967, and first appeared in a version by The Band (alone) on Music from Big Pink on July 1st 1968 in the USA, several months after Julie Driscoll’s version, issued in April, was a hit.

I Shall Be Released was issued by The Tremeloes in July 1968, just before Music From Big Pink had its later UK release. Dylan re-recorded it in September 1971 for More Greatest Hits Vol II. Was he covering his own song? After all, the basement version had never been issued, and several other versions, especially The Band’s, were by then well-known.

The same 1971 session yielded his first “official” release of You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, issued by The Byrds as a single in April 1968, then on Sweetheart of The Rodeo in August 1968.

Often the “cover” is a deliberately radical rethink of the original. An early example is Prelude reinventing Neil Young’s After The Goldrush, but the radical reworking has become increasingly popular as artists seek to recycle rock classics, sometimes with a wry humour. Cat Power’s version of Satisfaction is the one to investigate, and Rickie Lee Jones has a line in almost unrecognizable covers. Billy Bragg did She’s Leaving Home in his inimitable voice as a charity record for Child Line, with Wet Wet Wet trying With A Little Help From My Friends on the other side. A UK #1. Barb Jungr has made a career out of radical reworkings of Bob Dylan. Keb’ Mo’ is a specialist at shedding new light on old songs. It’s a genre in itself.

Shifting genres is fun too, as The Bunch proved in 1972 doing folky versions of rock and roll classics. Then you have The Blues White Album with blues artists doing Beatles songs in blues style.

Tribute discs are popular, and there are several released every year, with covers of songs by writers like Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, Leiber & Stoller, Goffin & King, Randy Newman. I have a dozen Dylan tribute compilations, including the excellent all-reggae one, Is It Rolling, Bob? Dub Versions. I’d count a tribute as different to a cover.

The glossy magazines in Britain have done many covermount CDs where unexpected and eclectic bunches of musicians recreate a well-known album, such as Pet Sounds or Revolver or Sticky Fingers.

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Kevin J

Is a cover still considered a cover if the song was either so obscure or never released by the composer under their own name? I don't think of "Nothing Compares to You" or Sinatra's "My Way" as covers......I do consider Sid Vicous's "My Way" as a cover of Frank Sinatra - not Paul Anka.........I never think of Rod Stewart's beautiful "Country Comforts" as a cover of Elton John........as I most definitley consider Rod & The Faces super run through of Paul M's "Maybe I'm Amazed" as a cover.............Great covers that spring to mind are Brian Ferry on Jealous Guy and Tom Thumbs Blues......The latter being one fhe top 5 Dylan covers ever..................and a by the way......"I Shall be Released" re: the point above - I do not consider a cover..

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JT

Subject: Good and safe success

Norm; Go safely and hopefully you will get that rest that you need and then the enjoyment of friendship and love that you deserve.

When I think about what you do, and then realize that all I have to do is go up the street to the office every day, I have profound respect.

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JT

Subject: "Pop History Cliches"

Thanks for linking that review of the Coen film. I loved the term 'pop history cliches' when the writer discusses the lack of political content in this film, but to me it has an even wider meaning.

Like many here, I am a huge fan of these film makers and I look forward to seeing this movie, however much trepidation I have about it. Why? I am always concerned about the stereotyping of characters in fictional portrayals of an era. It is of course a necessary evil to appeal to the masses. My problem is that when the subject is too close to my heart, I can be offended by lack of depth. I haven't seen it yet. I have read about it (a dangerous act in itself before one sees the film) because there is so much written and its like a moth being drawn to the light. Dave van Ronk is supposedly the closest approximation to the character but many will see Dylan when they see Mr. Davis and his guitar. I know that one cannot approximate either of these characters on the screen and I know that this was not the intention. The intention as I understand it was to portray an era when a phenomenon (the creation of the songwriter of topical and sensitive songs) was emerging and the setting in which that occurs.

So I will do my best to keep my negative emotions in check when I watch and remember what was intended. When Messers Coen do pure fiction (Lebowski etc) it is pure delight. By the way, I had the same reaction to 'I'm Not There' (Todd Haines) and had to watch it a few times to remind myself about what he was trying to do.

So to reiterate, one- or at most (if your lucky) 2-dimensional characters who I know too much about, are a problem for me in films like this. Whereas, if its a fictional portrayal of say James Joyce, I might not react in a concerned or negative way. What say you all?

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Rockin Chair

Subject: Comin' & Goin'

Thanks for that Jerry. I'm away to Port Hardy this morning, driving up that gawd damn island highway. I've got some machine maintenance to finish.

I've just been called to move about 5 barge loads of logs out of Sechelt Inlet around to Howe Sound starting right in January, so got to be ready.

Now my New Year wish is that I get this tug and barge sold before June. My buddy Peter Kennedy in Tasmania is probably coming to visit then. I'd so like to just be away on the Rockin Chair with him.

I'll look at these suggestions when I return Jerry. This FM station that I've spoken of, "The Lounge" plays KD Lang's, Allehlullia very often. As a matter of fact a lot of Band songs too.

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sadavid

Subject: Inside Llewyn Davis

A sympathetic review of the Coen Bros. folkie film.

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JQ

If you're interested in drummers you should see this documentary. Some of the drummers mentioned here appear in the movie and pay their respect to Mr Baker, who they consider the best ever -

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JT

Subject: Duvets

To add to the list, Norm, for great female voices who sang 'Christmas Must Be Tonight' covers is Darlene Love (of Crystals fame). Let us know which one of these versions enchanted you.

Overall, I find cover versions of songs very interesting. The artist's concept of what he/she can do to a song is yet another aspect of the creativity of musicians. We have often discussed in this GB the lyrics or the instrumentation or the harmony, but cover versions of songs is yet another aspect of the wonder of musical creativity. This was recently highlighted in the book written about 'Hallelujah' (L. Cohen).

So, here goes. Jason and the Scorchers (Absolutely Sweet Marie); Jimi Hendrix (All Along The Watchtower); Cat Power (I Believe In You); Sinead O' Connor (Nothing Compares 2 U); I'll stop now; I'm sure if there is any interest, others will add.

So Norm, you may have started yet another uprising/skirmish.

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JT

Subject: Drumming up interest

And 2 that are at times overlooked are Ginger Baker and Danny Seraphine (Chicago). And don't forget Max Weinberg when competence is the value added. For recording contributions, Jim Keltner must be given high consideration. He is ubiquitous and always on the mark.

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JT

Subject: Banging The Drum (slowly?)

I could not ignore this conversation. Neil Peart (Rush) and Danny Carey (Tool) are on most top 10 lists with Peart usually near the top after 'departed' drummers Bonham and Moon. I became aware of Danny Carey through my son who is an avid Tool fan partly because of the intricate drumming of Carey, who, in the midst of the mayhem often, crafted rhythms that seemed impossible to create. As for Peart, he is legend and has been since the start of Rush. He is the master.

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Peter V

On complex drummers, I enjoyed Bill Bruford, or Manu Katche, but it's a different thing.

The two most watchable drum soloists, probably because they've done a LOT, were Carl Palmer who has a sense of humor about it nowadays (Mrs V says the ONLY watchable drum solo), and Mick Fleetwood who does it with the drum pads strapped to his body. Both entertaining!

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haso

Subject: Rick, drummers

Agreed w/ all others on Rick. Gone too soon, too long. Had to put on the dvd of the bbc doc from '97 to his solo renditions of Servant & When You Awake as a way to honor the memory/artistry.

Just a sideline here, I've been an acquaintance of a cousin of Rick's, on his father's side; (long-time, 30+ yrs, but could hardly call him a friend, given how seldom we have any contact). I recall the cousin having been turned off by the rock-star trappings around Rick once the boys hit the "bigtime", but that said, they do share the same generosity of spirit that comes through in all the comments I've ever seen about the Band's bassist. Perhaps it's a Danko trait. And as Levon said, about his vocals on Rockin Chair, "tieing it all together".

Peter V: where do you come down on drummers like Butch & Jaimoe? Or Stewart Copeland? Just curious; admittedly not much like Levon, at least to this untrained ear.

Entered at Wed Dec 11 02:21:24 CET 2013 from (68.171.231.80)

Bill M

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Rockin Chair

Subject: Christmas

Just back in the house. Thanks for that Bob, appreciate it. I'll check it out and hope I find the right one. Best of the season old friend.

Entered at Tue Dec 10 23:53:39 CET 2013 from (108.16.206.96)

bob w.

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bob w.

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Peter V

I got the full set. Amazing. It's completely absorbing and with Into The Mystic, I'd have been happy with the early version with acoustic guitar and bass before they started adding. It looks as if they started out mostly with guitar, bass and drums until they got it right. Very empathetic bass playing, and I got the feeling the rhythm section was built around the bass (very prominent on these early takes) rather than the drums. It's a lot of interest (well, maybe the Brand New Day without vocal is pushing it a bit). Caravan (Take 4) has all the wilder feel of the Last Waltz version. The chatter shows Van desperate to get out of the vocal booth and among the band.

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Jed

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Rockin Chair

Subject: Christmas

Walking into a store here about an hour ago, there was the most beautiful lady's voice coming thru' their sound system in the store, what ever source of music they were using. The lady was singing, "Christmas must be Tonight".

I sure would like to get a copy of it, any one know who it might be??

Entered at Tue Dec 10 19:27:49 CET 2013 from (96.232.159.74)

Joan

Rick,gone to soon, gone too long

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Hildairene

Subject: Rick Danko

In memory of..... http://youtu.be/_tSvTpAJ7n8

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Peter V

Subject: Otis Redding

Toppermost reaches Otis Redding today … recent ones of soul interest include The Impressions and Sly & The Family Stone. Do follow the link (great article on Otis by Cal Taylor) and have a browse … and comment!

Entered at Mon Dec 9 18:56:37 CET 2013 from (70.53.45.55)

Kevin J

1.Watching Liverpool games on TV and witnessing the transcendent talents of Luis Suárez

2. Listening to Live at The Academy of Music

3. Purchasing and re-watching the complete Sherlock Holmes series with Holmes as played perfectly by Jeremy Brett

4. Anthony Bourdain proving that all prime time cable news shows do not have to be idiotic or worse - vanilla. While his CNN shows are generally not as good as his great “No Reservations” series………still miles ahead of most anything else.

5. Finding a corner store in Toronto that sells JiF peanut butter. Everyone deserves at least a few indulgences in this age of E-cigarettes and no alcohol beers.

I was about to list the last 14 minutes of the Leafs-Bruins game 7 but did not want to send JT and other Leafs fans here into a tizzy.

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John D

Subject: Article on Garth's Equipment

Thank you so very much for this article. I think the best I have ever read; on Garth's equipment. As a former accordion player, I always wondered; for example; which models he played. I've never asked Garth before. The step by step through the Lowrey's was great. Denis Keldie and I have had some nice chats about the Lowrey's. Denis owns a few. The late Doug Riley had a large private collection of Organ's as well.

Toronto has had a wonderful history of great organ players. I have to add the late Gord Fleming who played with David Clayton Thomas and The Shays and Mike Fonfara from Rhinoceros and the Checkmates.

Entered at Mon Dec 9 14:20:36 CET 2013 from (174.91.164.132)

brown eyed girl

Jan H: The photo you have posted on your site with Robbie and Rick with Dylan at Isle of Wight concert...You can now give credit to photographer Amalie R Rothschild.

Entered at Mon Dec 9 14:14:34 CET 2013 from (174.91.164.132)

brown eyed girl

The Band at Woodstock photos by Barry Z Levine.

Rockin Chair: Thank you for posting Hotel California LA from the Bryds to the Eagles Documentary. :-D

Entered at Sun Dec 8 21:01:04 CET 2013 from (74.101.228.216)

Joan

Norm, thanks for posting. I ended up watching it all, and now I'm running an hour and a half behind schedule. :-)

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Kevin J

A nice story on the great Jesse Winchester as posted today at Expecting Rain....and how Robbie Robertson helped start his career.

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Javier

Subject: Ringo and Charlie

A great drummer plays what a song needs. Ringo and Charlie are great drummers.

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Javier

Subject: Ringo and Charlie

A great drummer plays what a song needs. Ringo and Charlie are great drummers.

Entered at Sun Dec 8 15:29:02 CET 2013 from (99.245.109.0)

John D

It's my belief that both Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts are very underrated. Both are great drummers.

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Javier

Subject: John Simon´s album

Levon is not listed among the musicians on John Simon´s Album (1970). Listening I´m sure he plays drums on Tannenbaum. And Ringo is a great drummer. He invented perfect drum parts. Come Together and Rain, for example.

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Peter V

Entered at Sun Dec 8 07:19:48 CET 2013 from (101.164.0.90)

Dlew919

Maybe not, but he's up there. I'm glad that stupid quote has been finally destroyed. Imagine if Ringo had replaced Levon (which was never going to happen) instead of thumper.

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Rockin Chair

Subject: Hotel California LA from the Bryds to the Eagles Documentary

I have no idea, if this has ever been posted before. This is a documentary I stumbled on just now. Just roaming around listening to the music I love.

Listen to what David Crosby has to say about "The BAND". I LOVE IT.

Entered at Sat Dec 7 20:28:29 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Sat Dec 7 19:17:51 CET 2013 from (86.145.133.101)

Michelle

Subject: Bob Dylan 'Boring'

Jeremy Clarkson's column in 'Sun' Bob Dylan has been charged with 'incitement to hatred' then he goes on to say surely an incitement to bore us all to death would be better! Okay Jeremy, what I find boring is your blinking obsession with cars - THEY are a mode of transport!

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Ian Woodward

I meant to add that Mark Lewisohn's talk at the book launch provided even more evidence of the depth of his research than is apparent in the book itself - and that is self-evidently substantial.

Then, I haven't seen the expanded edition of the book, which is apparently something like twice the length of the standard edition and with many more photos.

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Ian Woodward

I was pleased to see the earlier posting about the meticulous research undertaken by Mark Lewisohn for his "Tune In " book. I have known Mark for many years, mainly at a distance though we have met on a couple of occasions, and, from time to time, he has asked me questions about Dylan. Some were straightforward but others went into areas which were less obvious - and often, he was looking for sources and seeking to cross-check information.

I was invited to the launch of the book in Liverpool, held in LIPA, formerly the Liverpool Institute (which Paul and George attended)and next door to the College of Art (which John attended). There was a tour of the latter, though the building itself was in a state of transition as it is to become part of LIPA. In the morning, we had taken the minibus tour to John's childhood home (which, at the time, would have certainly been middle class in British terms) and then on to Paul's childhood home (very much working class).

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Kevin J

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sadavid

Subject: Act Now!!

Bob Dylan's sunburst Strat famously deployed @ Newport Folk '65 goes on sale today @ Christie's New York . . . .

Entered at Fri Dec 6 16:22:46 CET 2013 from (108.16.206.96)

bob w.

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JT

Subject: Goaltending (and now for something completely different)

This is a message of limited interest to those Canadians (and few others) who care about hockey in 2013. Since so many hate the Toronto Maple Leaf franchise, I may stand alone here but, that's life in the big city.

In all my years watching and caring about Toronto's hockey team, through good times and bad times (mostly bad times except for early to late 60s),I have never encountered a Leaf team that depended so much for their wins on goaltending. Mr. Bernier especially and Mr. Reimer to some degree have literally stolen games to create wins where losses seemed inevitable. This continues to last night. At no time have I been as aware of the profound need for goaltending when shots on goal are often in the 40s to 20s. (why Leafs cannot create more offences is a large question; someone close to me said, if the opposing team is always in your end, its hard to get shots on goal. Someone should compile the statistic that counts time in the opposing teams end. I'll bet that in these games it will be 35-40 minutes for the opposition in the Leaf zone. That is fatal if it continues for the success of a team on a run to the playoffs. Toronto can't keep doing this, can they (Kevin?).

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Bill M

Joan: I'll join the posse and offer up this one - something that would have given your mother pause, I suspect.

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brown eyed girl

Top Ten Songs About Nelson Mandela

Peter Rothberg on December 5, 2013 - 8:17 PM ET
Share

"Few, if any, of the towering figures of the twentieth century inspired as many people, or as many songs, as Nelson Mandela. Artists of all genres and stripes found different ways to pay tribute to Mandela as he served twenty-seven years in prison before emerging to lead his country into a peaceful transition to majority rule. As the world mourns the loss of Mandela, 95, here are ten of my favorites presented in tribute. Please use the comments field below to let me know what I missed. RIP."

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JT

Subject: I wanna be a cowboy

Joan, and then of course, for your listening and visual pleasure, there is the quintessential....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s05jcrJw0as

Don't you just love stuff like this?

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bob w.

Joan.......this one's for you. An all time favorite of mine.

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NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Linguistics: Wed Dec 4 23:52:12 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Let me introduce a new word: "vinyezation" (verb) = accepting typos but not creating new words.

Entered at Fri Dec 6 01:10:27 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: The Times They are a Changin'

I think it's a sad day for the whole world when a man with the respect and importance of Nelson Mandela passes. God rest his soul.......

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David P

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Peter V

I sent the links to someone who's worked on archive material.

CONCLUSIONS:

The color one is a without reasonable doubt a recent transfer from an original film reel. It looks possible to me from the quality that this footage likely originated in 35mm film and that the transfer came from an original 35mm film reel (as opposed to a transfer from some 16mm copy).

As I understand it, 35mm was the television production standard in the US during the period (so perhaps also in Canada?). In the US 16mm film was typically only used for on-location television news journalism. Not to say that there couldn't have been 16mm colour Scopitone versions of the 35mm original of this at some point. I just think this transfer looks too good to have been created from a 16mm copy used in a jukebox.

You can still see some dirt and dust from the film on the color version. If somebody had gone to the huge amount of trouble to colorise a black&white copy they would have likely removed this during the process.

The black&white is from a primitive video transfer and is far too degraded to have been used to create a colorised version of the quality in the color clip. The black&white footage has obvious analogue videotape distortion artifacts in it (most clearly seen at the bottom of the frame).

I think a likely source for the black&white version is from an old 16mm kineoscope version used for time-delayed broadcast of the clip during the period. This is why it is in black & white. The analogue video version used for the YouTube clip maybe comes from a 1970s or 1980s era 3/4 inch videotape transfer of the kineoscope copy. Alternatively it could come from a VHS or Betamax tape copy off a 1980s or later television broadcast.

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Peter V

Joan, you're making me think. In all those Cowboys and Indians 8 year old games, the girls got tied up. I'm sure it was unconscious, but it happened, quite innocently. But maybe not at a sub-conscious level!

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Jeff A.

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Joan

All this talk reminded me of a story from my childhood. Wheen I was about 3 or 4+, my parents left me with older cousin (about 15)and my older brother.. Well, I guess I was being a pest and they wanted to get rid of me, They said we could play cowboys and Indians, and I could be the cowboy this time I was excited and I put on the hat and pistols. Then the Indians grabbed me, the cowboy, and tied me to the stake (a chair) and gagged me. My mom came home early and found me like that. Needless to say she wasn't pleased

Entered at Thu Dec 5 20:12:45 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: The Written Word - My favourite Into the Mystic

Imagine your in the wheel house late at night pitch black, foggy and dead calm.......so you put on this version of Into the mystic.....which is right where you are. The deck hand yells up from his bunk. "You crazy old bastard,.can you turn that down a little!" ...whoops

Now I love Van's versions of this song, but I love these acoustic guitars here, and the sound is great! Joe just does this song justice.

I don't know Jerry.....maybe my life would turn out a little to much like..The Life of Brian. Like Waylon said, if I wrote my auto biography, theres a lot of people might get shot or sumpin'.

Are you sure Bill...did morse code bring us here.

Peter, I'm sure, in your profession you must sometimes get the feeling these comments by writers, (considering rumour that some one said something about some body else) is just to stir up shite.

This brings me to how bad I can be. Couple of weeks ago, whe I move the logging operation into "Burnt Island Harbour". I was mentioning there is now 3 camps there. The road builders, the road loggers, and the heli loggers. So there is 5 big barges all lashed together housing, right now about 60 men.

At breakfast, (in the road loggers camp, we were eating in there as we were putting their log storage grounds in place.) So at the table, I say real loud to the owner, (I like bugging those guys.) So I said, I went over to the heli logging camp last night and I told them how you guys over here said they are all a bunch a pussies. Now the astonished looks I got.... then Bob Zigay the owner looks at me and says......you crazy old bastard...you love causing shit don't yuk?

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John D

I was given the 5 disc set; as a gift. I was ready to buy the 2 disc version. Just listening to him run through the different versions of Into The Mystic is worth the price of admission.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 19:37:03 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

After a day with the disc of outtakes on the 2 CD reissue set, I'm beginning to wish I'd got the 5 CD set, which I'd thought was plain ludicrous with its multiple takes, but Van does sing so differently every time and the backing tries out other ideas … though I assume they chose the best / most interesting stuff for the 2 CD version. Brand New Day (Take 3) is spectacularly good, as is Glad Tidings (Alternate version).

Entered at Thu Dec 5 19:33:48 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Rockin Chair: Remember that stuttering gave us morse code, without which you never have found your way here.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 19:14:28 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

But I do know some one (a friend of my aunt's second cousin's neighbor's brother in fact) who stopped to snog in a remote parking area and found a bloody hook on the car door from that escaped maniac. True.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 19:04:15 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: The Written Word

By the way, I agree with the comment, Norm, that you have a book in you about life and experiences you have had. You have a unique perspective and the events and people and places, as you describe them, are the stuff of good books. Think about it.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 18:47:25 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT not JTT

Subject: Speech impediments

Thanks Norm. I never S TTT utter. JTT was the infernal machine called euphemistically 'computer'. 'Rage against the machine!'.

What I did do when I was a kid was have trouble with the letter 'r' in words. The kindergarten teacher picked it up and sent me to speech class for 6 months. I guess that was my first introduction to extracurricular activities in school. It may have worked because that problem disappeared.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 18:36:38 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Emotion!!!

Calm down J-Jerry........yer startin to stutter.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 18:33:30 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JTT

Subject: Accuracy

So folks, in my continuing diatribe against certain aspects of newspaper/journalist/ reporting (my comments regarding arthritis and Dylan), I came across this today and it struck a chord (or a drumskin maybe).

Regarding Mark Lewisohn and his recent research into the writing of his excellent book on the Beatles

"As part of his in-depth research, Lewisohn also has debunked a humorous knock on Starr’s drumming abilities, long attributed to John Lennon. For decades, people and media outlets have repeated the anecdote about Lennon being asked whether he considered Starr to be the best drummer in the world. The oft-quoted response: “He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles.” While it sounds like the kind of acerbic comment that might have come out of Lennon’s mouth, Lewisohn says no. “The London Times newspaper quoted John Lennon ‘famously saying that Ringo wasn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles.’ John Lennon never said that, famously or otherwise, and that is the London Times quoting him,” Lewisohn said, making a point about his motivation for trying to separate fact from Fab Four mythology. “For me, it’s [a case of tracking down] when did he say this? I’ve heard every John Lennon interview, I’ve read every John Lennon interview, I never saw that quote. So when did he say it, let alone when did he famously say it?” he said. “I determined to get to the bottom of it. And it’s actually a TV comedian’s joke from three years after John was killed, in 1983. So John Lennon never said it -- and wouldn’t have said it.”

Now that, my friends, is how research can be done. Accepting information without questioning is a dangerous road to follow if you are concerned with being taken seriously. Swallowing all as if it is truth because it is the printed word repeatedly takes one down a path to a place where untruths live. That place is one level below Hades and it is the place where liars (and perhaps people to lazy to seek out the truth, replacing the accurate with the easily repeated,)abide.

I realize that I may be accepting Lewisohn at his word too but given what he has written, at least he asked a question and sought out an answer. That is more than can be said about 'the Dylan/ arthritis question.

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JT

Subject: The anticipated 'rise'

Glad to see I got the anticipated 'rise' from the UK contingent (never to be left out of something western. We returned the favour when the British invasion occurred in the 60s). We did return to fringes on our jackets in the mid to late-60s when our heroes began to embrace the western look in coats Those were not cowboys. They replaced the rifle with the guitar. I had a great grey leather/suede fringed jacket which I wore into the ground until it got stolen. I never replaced it. It was time to be a professional and you know you can't be perceived as anything else when you are aiming to be a professional. I'd like that fringe jacket back, please.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:46:14 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

And we had the Lone Ranger of course.

I think I first read this joke on this website, but one for a dull December day:

The Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding across the desert, when Tonto spotted a column of smoke rising from the bluff to the east. ‘Kemosabe … smoke signals! Apaches to the North! Heap many Apaches,

’
‘What do we do?’ said the Lone Ranger.
‘

We ride South,’ said Tonto, then paused, as he saw wigwams ahead, ‘Kemosabe … Navajo to the South!’


‘What do we do now?’ said the Lone Ranger.


‘Ride West!’ shouted Tonto, turning his bucking bronco, then he pulled in the reins, ‘Listen! Drums to the West! More Apache!’


‘Do we ride East?’ asked the Lone Ranger.


‘Yes!’ said Tonto, ‘but wait …,’ he jumped to the ground, and lay with his ear pressed against the sand, ‘Bad news, Kemosabe … horses. Comanches to the East.’


‘So what do we do now, Tonto?’ demanded the Lone Ranger.


‘What do you mean “we,” Paleface?”

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:42:46 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Moondance is the same set of musicians, Bill.

Cowboys … oh, yes, we did. We had Saturday Morning Pictures (Cinema) with Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy (and Batman) and generally the kids attending wore cowboy hats, fringed boleros, holsters and it was customary to fire cap guns at the screen during the shoot-em-up bits. I have a picture of myself in tasseled Roy Rogers bolero with a cap gun aged 6 or 7.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:37:53 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Cultural History & Shameful Deeds

I have put a link here to an interesting page. A friend of my daughter Amand here in Powell River, is a faller. He is falling trees up in Toba Inlet for a heli-logging operation.

The timber is owned by this first nations band. Him and another fellow were about to fall this old tree to get it out of the way. He walked around the tree, and look what he found!

On our evening news last night was another horror. I recall many years ago when Norbert operated the sight, (because some how we got to talking about hunting). I told about American trophy hunters slaughtering a herd of elk. Many of you didn't want to believe me. Some said, that's not possible the elk would run.

Well this just happened again in a valley near Port Alberni. 14 elk were slain. Now a days, not like in the sixties we see the whole mess on the news. These beautiful big animals laying with just their horns sawn off. A few had the prime cuts of meat hacked away, but mostly just the horns. The local first nations people are outraged, some in tears. The terrible part is their may have been some of their own people involved in guiding these criminals.

One of the chiefs said, no matter who is involved they have to be caught and punished....what a disgraceful waste.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:33:20 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Both Gene Autrey and Roy Rogers (Leonard Slye) were true cowboy singers who achieved success as musicians, as well as actors. Mr. Slye earlier was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers. With the Christmas season upon us, it's impossible not to hear Mr. Autrey's all-time hit version of Johnny Marks' "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Mr. Marks, who was Jewish, specialized in Christmas songs. He also wrote "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," a hit for Brenda Lee, and co-wrote "Run Rudolph Run", recorded by Chuck Berry.

So many youngsters of that past generation were inspired to play guitar after seeing their cowboy heroes, Autrey & Rogers. Wistfully today, one harkens back to those times. It seems as if nowadays action film heroes inspire children to play with guns, not guitars.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:29:13 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Cowboys

We had once a thread: favourite Dylan line. I don't post favourite lines from the Bible or Das Kapital of Karl Marx... or Dylan. JT mentioned Lone Ranger so I have to post this after all:

"Lone Ranger and Tonto/ Riding down the line/ Fixing everybody's problems/ Everybody's, except mine."

BTW the hurricane seems to "miss" jh's server. Raise your sails o-hoy!

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:17:48 CET 2013 from (74.78.175.69)

Far East Man

Subject: Last Waltz

Had the pleasure of seeing a performance tribute to TLW on Monday night. I was impressed, great local players, great chops - very well done. They did Dixie, a surprise for me. It's a tough song to do, as it is very emotional and a real challenge to cover it in an interesting way. I thought it was great. For fun I checked out TLW version. What a beautiful sight and sound. Rick & Robbie up front looking beautiful and Levon absolutely kicking it right behind them. One of my favorite performances of all time. I'm filled with gratitude for being lucky enough to come across this art.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 17:10:59 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: Citrus

Norm: I remember the Lemon Drop Kid. I haven't seen it in many years. It doesn't get much play on the old movie stations. We still see the Bob Hope movies with der Bingel but not many others.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 16:53:25 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Back in The Saddle Again

It always drove crazy that....Gene Autry and some of those guys wore their pants tucked inside their boots. Jesus f'in Christ that looks stupid.

Jerry do you remember a Roy Rogers movie with Bob Hope called, "The Lemon Drop Kid.'

There is a very famous area of fishin lodges not too many miles above Powell River here, called Stewart Island. One day around '79 or 8o, I'm coming by there in my fish boat heading north, and in one of the lodge sporty boats, (about 18 ft runabouts they use for sport fishin) as I go by quite close, there is Roy Rogers.

I got to be seeing things. I stop at the fuel dock in Big Bay. I ask the fuel guy, was I seeing things or is that Roy Rogers. Yup that's him he says. They come up here just about every year.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 16:37:39 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: Cowboys

The cowboy 'dress up' of The Dick Clark show in the video (Clark and Hawkins in cowboy regalia) reminded me of when we used to dress up as cowboys with boots and hats and spurs and a holster and cap gun when we were kids, emulating Roy Rogers (who used to come to the CNE with Trigger and Dale Evans etc and put on a who)w. This was a big attraction. Or The Lone Ranger or Lash Larue or Hopalong Cassidy. All big heroes! But, for a TV music show, it was ill-conceived then and looks quite funny now (it was to smile) when we look at it now. Those are however fond memories of another time when the heroes wore cowboy hats. I don't think the Europeans had this phenomenon in the 50s but it sure was big over on this side of the pond.

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David P

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Bill M

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Todd

Subject: Ronniechrome

The first time I viewed the clip, I thought that it must have been colorized, but after watching it a few more times, I think that it was probably shot on color film.

The black and white versions that are out there look like copies of the actual broadcast of a black and white feed.

Of course I could be wrong.....there's a first time for everything!

Entered at Thu Dec 5 14:19:53 CET 2013 from (174.91.166.243)

brown eyed girl

The longer black and white clip. Again, I can't see all of them wearing red socks and Ronnie wearing a red pocket hankerchief. Great colour video regardless. I also don't think we had colour TV in 1959. I vaguely remember years later.

"Although all-electronic color was introduced in the U.S. in 1953,[2] high prices and the scarcity of color programming greatly slowed its acceptance in the marketplace. The first national color broadcast (the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade) occurred on January 1, 1954, but during the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that fall. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later."

Entered at Thu Dec 5 14:16:03 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Thu Dec 5 10:32:13 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

My doubts are that it also looks sharper in the color version … and look at the shadows moving on the bass drum skin. The color has a Kodak still film red / yellow bias, or technicolour sort of look, though I know that in a modern program you can simply set the film stock you want to imitate.

I'm veering towards colorization. but the fact that the quality also looks better, not just "colored" makes me think it wasn't a video recording, but film. That could of course have been re-broadcast on TV, giving us the less sharp B&W. But I don't know the TV show … was that for instance the standard studio backdrop and floor?

The French video jukeboxes did have film of American artists on them. I've sent the clip references to someone who has done colorization and will report back!

Entered at Thu Dec 5 09:59:54 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Great to see this.

Ronnie does a brief bit of moonwalking.

Am I right in saying this was his Camel Walk? I have a few copies of a Ronnie Hawkins fanzine called The Camel Walker somewhere.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 06:56:45 CET 2013 from (99.115.145.68)

Pat B

Entered at Thu Dec 5 04:14:59 CET 2013 from (99.245.109.0)

John D

bob I think your on to something here.

Entered at Thu Dec 5 03:01:15 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.198)

brown eyed girl

Reposted again....Ronnie Hawkins with Levon "Forty Days".

"Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. May 09, 1959. This is one of the most requests for a re-post. Unfortunately this episode has the worst audio ever. The entire Western show has a muffled sound and at times a high ratio hiss. It's an out of this world performance, but just poor audio. I hope the repost is a little more enjoyable."

Entered at Thu Dec 5 02:48:25 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.198)

brown eyed girl

Previously posted....Ronnie Hawkins with Levon Helm, 1959 (Canadian after school TV show).

Entered at Thu Dec 5 02:25:34 CET 2013 from (174.91.167.198)

brown eyed girl

Hey Joan. I thought the giveaway that it was enhanced was that everyone was wearing red socks...My fave colour btw.

"Let it Rock" - Ronnie Hawkins on Conan O'Brien - 1997 - With Rick Danko, Terry Danko, Buzzz Thompson........I don't know who is on guitar.

Many thanks PSB for the Garland Jeffreys' clip. He'll be in TO at the end of January at Hugh's Room (probably trio this time). I've seen him with his whole band and just a guitarist.....It doesn't matter as he's that great....but you already knew that. If I'm not in Gulf Shores Bama at that time.......

Entered at Thu Dec 5 01:30:24 CET 2013 from (108.16.206.96)

bob w.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 23:52:12 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Anyway, pre-1964 or 1965 colour TV is usually horrendous. The Ronnie video is excellent.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 21:53:39 CET 2013 from (173.3.48.21)

Jeff A.

Mike- that sigh sounds like you saw Ronnie and the Hawks live.....

Entered at Wed Dec 4 21:51:15 CET 2013 from (99.245.109.0)

John D

Since color TV had been around since 1953 and with Bonanza putting NBC on the map on Sept 12, 1959, Ronnie's clip; although rare to most of us; shouldn't be a great surprise.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 21:40:45 CET 2013 from (80.187.107.108)

Wolle

Carl Carltons-the Spirit of Woodstock(Levon Helm Tribut)Concert: Downtown Bluesclub Hamburg/Germany,Nov.24/2013 Wolle Concert-Photos&Infos: www.wolfg.de

Entered at Wed Dec 4 19:34:00 CET 2013 from (74.101.228.216)

Joan

Jan. thanks for the video. Amazing quality. Good enough to see that red socks were part of the uniform.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 18:57:04 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Shelter From The Storm

Winter storm from Greenland is coming over Scotland and hitting us over the Scandinavian coast (where this site is located) some 24 hours later. Hope that Halden won't be without electric power and Jan's gb server will keep humming on!

Yes, and "Shelter From The Storm" is a beautiful song.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 18:54:27 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: The man who introduced Ronnie Hawkins to Toronto

That video takes you back alright. Good quality. It reminded me of the music I started out with. This song, (which was Webb Pearce) when I was about 10 and started singing this. But I've always really liked this version of Conway's.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 17:53:00 CET 2013 from (184.145.65.247)

Mike Nomad

Entered at Wed Dec 4 17:34:36 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Entered at Wed Dec 4 16:15:21 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Entered at Wed Dec 4 15:55:47 CET 2013 from (207.237.211.231)

jh

Subject: Color video from 1960!

Hawk, Levon, Pop Jones and Luke Paulman, TV show. Good quality video.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 14:43:26 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

A journey today with the Moondance remaster. I only went for the 2 CD set, not the 5 CD behemoth, but the sound improvement is marked, and the selected outtakes CD fascinating. I particularly like "Caravan (Take 4)" which is looser and wilder, and someone must have told Van that "So I can fu… fu… feel you" was not going to get radio play. The bass playing is a dream, and as the liner notes say, Van uses a different "voice" for each of the first five tracks. I hadn't realized before that the credits are: Photos - Elliot Landy, Design: Bob Cato.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 01:39:20 CET 2013 from (99.245.109.0)

John D

You've got a good ear bob w. Yes that's me. I recorded the original narration. Also that's me (hair and all and big glasses) sitting at the end of the table; beginning with Bob Dylan panning left to right. The club Nickelodeon. situated upstairs; over The Friars Tavern; where Dylan first saw The Hawks. That picture comes from night one of Tour 74 in Toronto and was front page of the Toronto Star the next morning. Nice memories.

Entered at Wed Dec 4 01:34:17 CET 2013 from (174.89.92.217)

brown eyed girl

Waterboyzzz meet Bob. I will always remember that amazing show they did at the Diamond Club which became The Phoenix Concert Theatre......Scott is all heart and gave everything he had that night.....Uhhhhh.....I just can't remember if Karl Wallinger was there on keys....lol...I thing his best solo song is "Ship Of Fools" from "Private Revolution".

Entered at Tue Dec 3 23:47:06 CET 2013 from (108.16.206.96)

bob w.

Thank you for the link.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 23:35:09 CET 2013 from (70.53.45.222)

Kevin J

Norm: You really should write a book. There is definitely one in you. I mean that.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 22:24:05 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

UNCUT calls them Archive Releases, a better term.

1 Another Self Portrait

2 The Island Years - John Martyn (one for Dunc!)

3 Higher - Sly & The Family Stone

4 The Collection 1967-70 - Scott Walker

5 Live At The Adcademy

6 Sound System - The Clash

7 The RCA Albums Collection - Nilsson

8 Last Splash - The Breeders

9 Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

10 Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake

MOJO goes for:

1 Another Self Portrait

2 Who is William Onyeabor

3 Higher

4 The Breeders

5 The Blue Nile

You can see Mojo disappearing up its own fundament here … I see why I buy UNCUT first.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 22:02:52 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Entered at Tue Dec 3 22:03:00 CET 2013 from (92.18.208.93)

Solomon

Subject: The Hawk & The Dreamhealer

Robbie adds a little bit of humour in this mini documentary about Ronnie.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 21:57:18 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

I would rank Mobile Fidelity's recent LP and hybrid-SACD reissues of The Brown Album up there in the top five rankings, along with Live at the Academy.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 21:50:27 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

On nationality phrases, not all are insulting or racist. Chinese whispers, I think, merely points to the huge linguistic gap between English and Mandarin as languages, rendering Chinese unguessable to an English speaker. Double Dutch is the same. I guess ‘going Dutch’ indicates an English historical attitude to perceived Dutch meanness, though a Dutch person would say it points to greater gender equality.

The French respond with a stereotypically Gallic shrug to the English ones … I’ve discussed them with French speakers. But a “French kiss’ merely reinforces the French view that they’re better lovers, and a French letter that they’re more careful. From the English perspective “Frenchified” is not insulting to the French but to pretentious English people who liked to pepper their conversation with French expressions rather than plain English. Pretentious? Moi? French leave is potentially insulting, I guess. French fries is just a description of a method.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 21:09:45 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Adjectives??

Well Jerry, the only adjectives every one should use are blanket-blank and so&so, as in You blankety-blank so & so! We could all get along much better the world over.

I'm pretty off the wall, like Mel Brooks, some people don't get it. I think racial slurs, bigotry and all manner of "redneck ism" is so ridiculous all you can do is make jokes of it.

On my 30th anniversary DVD of Blazing Saddles, many of the actors in interview admit how difficult it was to use some of the lines speaking to friends and peers. You have to get your head wrapped around the whole concept.

No doubt we all have our experiences....the biggest eye opener I had was in Prince Rupert, 2005 or 6. Whenever it was that Pakistan & India, it was feared were going to get nuclear in the fight over Kashmere.

Now I fished out of Prince Rupert for 25 years, and was totally ignorant of this fact. There are I believe 52 taxis in PR. They are driven mostly by east indian fellows. For the most part really good guys. HOWEVER, some are Pacistani and some are from India. I didn't know this.....they hate each other.....in Prince Rupert.

I get in this taxi with this guy to go from Safeway down to my boat. I rode with this guy a lot. Nice guy in about his 50's I guess. I get in his cab, and I say, "Pretty scarey what is going on over there isn't it." OH! oh........he tells me, he was in the army in India for 10 years. Now I get the whole history of Kashmere in abou 7 minutes going to the wharf........yikes!

We get to the wharf and are getting my bags out of his trunk. He looks over at this Vietnamese fella getting people out of his cab. He looks at me and says, "What do you call 2 Vietcong in a Trans Am?" I don't know I say. He says, "The gooks of Hazard".....I say yer a red neck! He says damn right I am. I say of all people how can you be a red neck? He says, "I'm telling you I am boy. I just go away shaking my head.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 20:30:46 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: Reissue of the Year

From reviled ('What is this s..t?") to hailed in less than a half century. Mojo and Uncut choose Bootleg Series V. 10 as the reissue of the year. Don't you just love it? Next we'll be vilifying 'Blonde on Blonde' and making it the second best album in history or even demoting 'MFBP' to a second-rate collection of no-name songs. It is nice to see 'Self Portrait' getting its rightful applause. It deserved it then but the cognoscenti could not see past their collective biases into the realm of 'change' .

Entered at Tue Dec 3 20:20:20 CET 2013 from (63.88.115.195)

Carmen

Subject: Levon and Boss Pic

See Pic from Rolling Stone

Entered at Tue Dec 3 19:11:12 CET 2013 from (174.118.11.165)

JT

Subject: Stereotyping with adjectives

Ethnic adjectives demeaning groups of people because they are or appear different and are perceived to have certain characteristics is unacceptable, whether it is someone from the east or middle east demeaning a westerner or whether it is someone in the west characterizing others in certain negative ways. The ' French/English thing' is longstanding and local national political differences usually degenerate to offensive attitudes of one group to another. Religious animosity is another root evil in this native behaviour. Name-calling with adjectives to describe a group demeans the name-caller. We call our species civilized. If this is civility, then of course we continue to have a problem. I am especially offended and demoralized when my own ethnic group uses negative terms to describe other groups. This need to assert superiority somehow by lessening other groups is destructive and serves only to minimize. It serves no good purpose.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:44:45 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

From Rolling Stone Magazine, 50 historic Rock places.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:39:26 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Ping Pong Balls

So Bill what yer sayin' is.....Chinese Whispers might get you "Shanghiad".

Ping Pong Balls is some kind of Chinese disease......

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:34:11 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

I think what you can say about the various English and French terms, is that we have an equal number of insults each overall, and that also neither the English nor the French worry about them.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:06:20 CET 2013 from (70.53.45.222)

Kevin J

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:04:31 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Many guitarists have favored tuning down that half-step as a normal practice, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan being prime examples.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 17:04:03 CET 2013 from (207.237.211.231)

jh

Subject: Garth's Gear - The Classic Years

Updated version of Kerrin Worsfold's article about Garth Hudson's keyboards and equipment choices, with photos added.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 16:54:46 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

Kevin J: I'd retire 'Chinese walls' too, as recent NSA reports suggest that all Chinese walls now contain bugging devices linked back to a non-descript office building in Shanghai. Maybe things have changed, but in the '80s in New Zealand, what you and I would call a canoe was called a canadian. (And what they called a canoe, we call a kayak).

Entered at Tue Dec 3 16:38:16 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

As one who has never Welshed on a debt, I want to Scotch such rumors. They're all Double Dutch to me. I'm a man of such generosity that people say I'm like an Irishman on a drunk, and thank goodness I don't have any Frenchified manners. I've always been against Spanish practices in the workplace, and always say beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 15:54:41 CET 2013 from (24.114.74.201)

Kevin J

Entered at Tue Dec 3 15:39:10 CET 2013 from (161.185.158.21)

Ray

Entered at Tue Dec 3 15:26:09 CET 2013 from (99.249.67.189)

GregD

There is an article somewhere out there in a musician magazine which I can't find at present, in which Robbie discusses his gear and brand preferences for various items. When asked about capos, he had a simple answer along the lines of "I don't use them". That's not to say that he he has never used one on occasion. Other users of capos with electric guitars include of course Keith Richards,who supposedly learned from Ry Cooder, and Pete Townshend, who uses one with open tunings on certain songs.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 15:16:28 CET 2013 from (131.137.35.83)

sadavid

Subject: stories in the press

The Croat anti-defamation league - or some such - has complained.

"Any complaint of racism is automatically investigated in France without consideration to the merits of the case."

"Dylan was served with notice of the investigation last month when he was in Paris to received the Legion of Honour award."

Entered at Tue Dec 3 14:38:06 CET 2013 from (83.249.143.62)

NorthWestCoaster

Subject: Dylan again

There is a lot of talk about Dylan's words to French Rolling Stone up here in Nordic Countries. I have some difficulties to follow his logic in this interview, too. To put it nicely.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 09:19:51 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

It is a tiny step for journalists from 'I wonder if he has got arthritis' to 'Maybe he has got arthritis,' to 'He's got arthritis.' In ageing the first finger joints are often affected, and I can see how the left hand on a guitar is harder than a piano where you are moving the finger as a whole. But I agree, the speculation sounds like Chinese whispers. It grows and grows where it started no one knows.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 07:34:26 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

Capos are mainly of use for chording on acoustic guitars. Ry Cooder often used one but probably because he was using alternate tunings a lot. Dave Rawlings sometimes even puts one on just for his solos and to add some variation in a song. I think Robbie may have used a capo on the Les Paul he played on Arcadian Driftwood at TLW.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 06:44:49 CET 2013 from (65.94.112.143)

JT

Subject: Dylan on tour is a force of nature

I agree absolutely David. Dylan is amazing for enduring the schedule he fulfills. As for Peter's comment re arthritis: yes, many do have osteoarthritis by the time they are in their 70s. It is relatively common. My comment is aimed at the press and its speculation that the instrument he chooses to play is the result of suffering from arthritis and so avoiding the guitar. I cannot find evidence that this is the case. And yet, it gets repeated over and over again. It may be so but no matter how many times it is said, until I hear it from a reliable source, it is yet another instance of 'they're telling stories in the press'. And Norm, loosening up with the axe may be just the ticket.

Entered at Tue Dec 3 01:47:37 CET 2013 from (24.218.16.94)

Dave H

Entered at Tue Dec 3 00:09:56 CET 2013 from (76.98.218.136)

carmen

Subject: the boss

here is one for all the Bruce fans out there. hard not to like this.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 23:54:22 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Robbie & The Capo

Peter.......yes.......now I know you guys are going to ask me where. I can't answer that at the moment. What I do remember is, it was that blonde, or light wood, (natural wood) Telecaster. I'd have to go thru a lot of stuff to figure out where that was. I remember being kind of surprised he was using it there.

Funny thing is for a long time, you try to figure out what key someone is playing a song in, (just listening to a record or something)....then it hits you.they're using capos.

One time many years ago, there was this guy, Brian Pickering out here. Brian had a fairly successful hit record with a song called "Lone Star Lady". Written by...John..........damn, can't remember his last name.

We were at Fast Eddy Molyski's New Year flat top party. Some of us were playing some song when Brian came in, (now I forgot to say, Brian is blind). Brian pulls out his guitar and tries to join in. 'Bout the time I was just going to say something to him, 'cause I was singing, he says, "shit you guys are using capos!"

Entered at Mon Dec 2 23:43:53 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Whether Dylan suffers from arthritis or not, the challenge of his "never ending" touring schedule shouldn't be overlooked. I can't think of hardly any other performers his age that maintain such a constant schedule.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 22:26:05 CET 2013 from (82.69.47.175)

Peter V

Artritis is an ocean with shallows, depths and different varieties. Most people have some, somewhere by Dylan's age. It can be crippling or a localized pain/

Entered at Mon Dec 2 22:15:34 CET 2013 from (204.138.59.92)

Bill M

I keep forgetting to note that a flip through the Band section at the sacred record store a few weeks ago turned up a copy of a new two-fer CD, the first two albums plus bonus tracks (presumably the same ones as are on the remastered single CDs). Hints were dropped that this would make a dandy Xmas gift, so best wait until Boxing Day (at least) for further info.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 21:49:50 CET 2013 from (36.69.190.118)

alfaonline belanja murah

Subject: my band

Jerry you are the Best, u have the best group band

Entered at Mon Dec 2 20:49:33 CET 2013 from (70.53.45.222)

Kevin J

Entered at Mon Dec 2 20:25:16 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Norm: Glen Campbell has always been an advocate of using a capo. When he moved to L.A. and began doing sessions with the Wrecking Crew, he got a lot of calls for work because he was adept at employing the capo. Not only did it make transposing keys easy, it also gave him the ability to play ringing chords that filled in the upper register above the sounds of the other session guitarists.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 19:21:44 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: Explanations

Up a step.....as you've said David, a capo move. I've never seen any other band do that as much as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Jerry, maybe there is some explanation.....but, most Sundays I'm home, if the weather allows I go out and buck and split a pickup load of firewood.

I don't understand why, but the action of swinging my axe, (and I use a 4.5 pound Arvika, a pretty big axe). Anyway, it relieves my shoulders and while I'm doing that work I feel good.

The worst things are playing guitar, or laying on my shoulders. There are nights I got to get up, go down, stoke the fire, and stand in front of that wood stove in the family room with that heat soaking into my shoulders.

By the way David, I guess it's only guitar players that notice how often you see a guitar player in concert or on youtube with a capo on some where. We used to think that was just for Blue grass music. Now they use them in every music a lot of time to make the pitch easier for the vocalist.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 19:07:50 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

I've mentioned this before, but it warrants repeating -- According to Howard Johnson, a major problem with Allen Toussaint's horn arrangements was discovered at the first Rock of Ages rehearsal. As he recounted in a Roll magazine interview with Kay Cordtz:

"...[W]hen we came to the first rehearsal, it was revealed that Toussaint, when he was writing the arrangements, had a cassette player with weak batteries so he wrote everything in the wrong key. When we started to rehearse, we realized there was a problem immediately because we were playing a tune that was supposed to be in G and we're playing it in F# because that's what's on the paper. We all regnized immediately that there was a problem, but the guys in The Band said, 'Well look, can we get this recopied overnight? For the rest of this rehearsal, we'll play it in your key.' Now, to move something that you're used to playing in the key of G to the key of F# is more than just moving down a fret. After all, with two piano players, they had to do a whole different thing in a different way and you don't find many rock bands who can transpose like that. You don't find that many musicians who you can count on to just chnge the key of something that they know. So I started getting impressed."

As guitarists know :-), the situation for Robbie would have been easier -- all he probably had to do is put a capo on the first fret of his Telecaster.

BTW, on the Live At The Academy 5-disc set, I believe you can see Mr. Toussaint sitting behind the horn section and giving some cues in the video of "King Harvest."

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:51:35 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:47:17 CET 2013 from (108.90.18.26)

Pat B

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:40:42 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Joint pain

Ian. What source was given, if any, in the musician's blog?

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:30:06 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

I do not know definitively whether Dylan suffers from arthritis or not but the tour programme book, sold recently at the UK concert venues, contained a number of brief articles about Dylan, one of which was a musician's blog that referred specifically to Dylan suffering from arthritis. I am not sure whether this counts as confirmation. Probably not, but the material included in the programme book would have been carefully vetted in advance, I feel sure.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:28:33 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Strumming badly

I strum... badly. A few simple chords. When no one is listening. I don't count my blessings about Dylan's abandonment of electricity. He can play it if he wants to and it'll be OK with me.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:22:41 CET 2013 from (24.108.242.146)

Rockin Chair

Subject: The Pain

Well Jerry, I know you are an expert on arthritis. I don't know if you play guitar? However, I don't play as much any more as I would like to.

You don't seem to realize until it hits you the action it takes just to strum or pick notes. The pain in my right shoulder and biscept sometimes is unbearable. A guitar seems to be not that heavy, but if you hang that guitar on your left shoulder for even half an hour that dull aching pain also becomes too much.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 17:09:34 CET 2013 from (24.114.76.157)

Kevin J

As to the reasons why the great man is no longer playing guitar.......I don't know either but let us count our blessings that he has at least put down the electric guitar.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 16:49:38 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: typo; chooses

chooses, not choses. Because undoubtedly I will correctly be admonished and corrected.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 16:32:32 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Arthritis

Speaking of Bob Dylan, something has been bugging me for a long time. Its a small thing but worthy, I think, of comment. It concerns Bob Dylan and arthritis. I know a few things about arthritis. People write and speak liberally about his arthritis as if it is a known fact and is responsible for his musical choices (piano vs guitar etc.). The press continues to repeat and others echo those comments that because of arthritis, blah blah blah. I don't know that to be the case. If it is, I don't know that this is why Bob Dylan plays keyboards instead of guitar. Unless we have it from an official source, I'm not buying either the press comments nor the assertion that he choses not to play guitar for that reason. I know many musicians with arthritis who continue to play all kinds of instruments including guitar. My beef (and I've said this here before) is with journalists who write without doing their homework about things they don't know for sure (i.e. no or limited evidence and can't back up their assertions ) and those who swallow these repeated comments hook, line and sinker. I don't know!

Entered at Mon Dec 2 16:21:51 CET 2013 from (184.66.152.240)

JT

Subject: Peter Stone Brown (PSB) recalls

http://www.peterstonebrown.com

http://blog.peterstonebrown.com

For any of you that have 'Dylan on the brain' like I do, here is that recollection from someone who can write and create and knows where his roots are.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 15:57:10 CET 2013 from (156.47.15.10)

David P

Perhaps The Band stayed in a hotel in the city as a base of operation during those days of rehearsals and concerts. So, sematically, they would have driven into NYC from Woodstock.

Entered at Mon Dec 2 12:04:43 CET 2013 from (80.3.71.222)

Ian Woodward

Subject: "Best Band Song" vote by Rolling Stone

I don't know if this has been posted here before but, in case not:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/what-is-the-greatest-song-by-the-band-20131129

Entered at Mon Dec 2 01:49:04 CET 2013 from (75.34.59.37)

Adam

Entered at Sun Dec 1 09:40:00 CET 2013 from (122.59.251.42)

Rod

I stumbled across the RoA rehearsals a while back - I assume they were the Ultrasonic sessions mentioned here. They sounded good. Can't remember where they were though - maybe Wolfgangs Vault?

Entered at Sun Dec 1 00:13:57 CET 2013 from (75.34.59.37)

Adam

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