Author: Hallgeir Olsen

November 15 – 16: Bob Dylan Camera rehearsals MTV Unplugged sessions 1994 (Videos)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Sony Music Studios
New York City, New York
15–16 November 1994
Camera rehearsals for MTV Unplugged taping sessions

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • John Jackson (guitar)
  • Brendan O’Brien (keyboards & guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Winston Watson (drums & percussion)

Amazon about the CD release:
THE RARE REHEARSAL RECORDINGS FOR THE CLASSIC DYLAN UNPLUGGED BROADCAST MTV s ever popular Unplugged series had been running more than five years before Bob Dylan a troubadour almost custom made to fit the program s format – agreed to take part. Having already achieved huge success with featured bands and artists as diverse as Nirvana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton – amongst numerous others – by 1994 the series was a much anticipated feature in the cable channel s schedules. Dylan had hoped to record a selection of folk traditionals for his episode, much in keeping with the two albums he d released prior to the MTV show, 1992 s Good As I Been To You and 94 s World Gone Wrong.

However, at MTV s behest, he settled on performing a set made up almost exclusively of classic album cuts from his early albums – perhaps a good move in retrospect, as 1995 s Columbia Records release MTV Unplugged album provided Bob with his best sales in years. The CD features the rehearsal sessions for the finally aired program, recorded during the afternoons of 15th and 16th November 1994, and includes some very different versions of a selection of the songs that would end up in the show and subsequently on the album. However, in true Dylan fashion, a number of tunes that were not performed for the actual transmission were also rehearsed and are included here alongside those that were. Continue reading “November 15 – 16: Bob Dylan Camera rehearsals MTV Unplugged sessions 1994 (Videos)” →

The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (Official Documentary)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

“Redemption,” observes an off-camera Springsteen. “For Johnny, that was an enormous part of his whole career.” With “The Gift,” Cash’s 71-year reckoning with the wages of sin and salvation is put in eloquently humbling, myth-busting perspective.
– Los Angeles Times

YouTube Originals presents The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash stands among the giants of 20th century American life. But his story remains tangled in mystery and myth. This documentary, created with the full cooperation of the Cash estate and rich in recently discovered archival materials, brings Cash the man out from behind the legend.

Taking the remarkable Folsom Prison recording as a central motif and featuring interviews with family and celebrated collaborators, the film explores the artistic victories, the personal tragedies, the struggles with addiction, and the spiritual pursuits that colored Johnny Cash’s life.

Continue reading “The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (Official Documentary)” →

Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ to get to heaven – The Best Dylan Covers

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

When I was in Missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
I’ve been walking that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
– Bob Dylan (Trying To Get To Heaven)

Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ to get to heaven – The Best Dylan Covers

One of the most praised songs of Time Out of Mind is “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven”, Dylan has a very strong and clear vocal on the song. It is also Dylan’s only harmonica performance on the entire album.

Time Out of Mind is the thirtieth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 30, 1997, by Columbia Records. It was his first double studio album (on vinyl) since Self Portrait in 1970. It was also released as a single CD.

For fans and critics, the album marked Dylan’s artistic comeback after he struggled with his musical identity throughout the 1980s; he hadn’t released any original material for seven years, since Under the Red Sky in 1990. Time Out of Mind is hailed as one of Dylan’s best albums, and it went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1998. It was also ranked number 408 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003.

Continue reading “Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ to get to heaven – The Best Dylan Covers” →

Alicia Keys – Pressing On – The Best Dylan Covers

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Alicia Keys – Pressing On – The Best Dylan Covers

Saved is the twentieth studio album by Bob Dylan, released on June 23, 1980. Among the songs are the hymn-like song, Pressing On.

“Two stand-out tracks, nonetheless: the turbulent ‘Pressing On’ (Dylan creating convincing hot gospel) and the intelligently submissive, courageous address (including a lovely, aptly devotional harmonica) that is ‘What Can I Do For You?””
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)

The album was recorded at Muscle Shoals and was produced by Barry Beckett and Jerry Wexler. In 2013 Alicia Keys chose Pressing On as her song for the documentary about “The Muscle Shoals sound”.

 

Muscle Shoals is a 2013 documentary film about FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Continue reading “Alicia Keys – Pressing On – The Best Dylan Covers” →

November 12: Neil Young is 75 today – Singing 6 Bob Dylan songs

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]The only time it bothered me that someone sounded like me was when I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in about ’72 and the big song at the time was “Heart of Gold.” I used to hate it when it came on the radio. I always liked Neil Young, but it bothered me every time I listened to “Heart of Gold.” I think it was up at number one for a long time, and I’d say, “Shit, that’s me. If it sounds like me, it should as well be me.
-Bob Dylan (to Scott Cohen, September 1985)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two solo albums and three as a member of Buffalo Springfield by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way.

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November 12: Bob Dylan released the single George Jackson in 1971

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Sometimes I think this whole world
Is one big prison yard.
Some of us are prisoners
The rest of us are guards.

“George Jackson” is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1971, about the Black Panther leader George Jackson, who had been shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison on August 21, 1971, during an attempted escape from prison. The event indirectly provoked the Attica Prison riot.

There are controversies about how Dylan portrays George Jackson. Several writers have argued that Bob Dylan’s lyrics are a bit lacking in the facts department.

Continue reading “November 12: Bob Dylan released the single George Jackson in 1971” →