Author: Hallgeir Olsen

Full Dylan album covered – Nashville Skyline

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records.

Building on the rustic style he experimented with on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline displayed a complete immersion into country music. Along with the more basic lyrical themes, simple songwriting structures, and charming domestic feel, it introduced audiences to a radically new singing voice from Dylan—a soft, affected country croon.

I’ve picked 10 fine interpretations of the songs on this country classic from Bob Dylan.

My two favourites are The Black Crowes with Girl From The North Country and Scott Avett’s fine take on One More Night.

1. The Black Crowes – Girl From The North Country( live, 2008):

 

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December 30: The Great Patti Smith was born in 1946

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]”To be an artist — actually, to be a human being in these times — it’s all difficult. … What matters is to know what you want and pursue it. … [Life] is like a roller coaster. It’s never going to be perfect — it is going to have perfect moments, and then rough spots, but it’s all worth it.”

“I don’t fuck much with the past but I fuck plenty with the future.”

“A writer, or any artist, can’t expect to be embraced by the people [but] you just keep doing your work — because you have to, because it’s your calling.”
~Patti Smith[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Punk rock’s poet laureate Patti Smith ranks among the most influential female rock & rollers of all time. Ambitious, unconventional, and challenging, Smith’s music was hailed as the most exciting fusion of rock and poetry since Bob Dylan’s heyday.
~Steve Huey (allmusic.com)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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The three best music books of 2020

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

1 – Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.

As told by Dolly Parton in her own inimitable words, explore the songs that have defined her journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from Dolly Parton’s personal and business archives. Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 150 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics.

– Packed with never-before-seen photographs and classic memorabilia
– Explores personal stories, candid insights, and myriad memories behind the songs

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics reveals the stories and memories that have made Dolly a beloved icon across generations, genders, and social and international boundaries. This is a book I will come back to over and over again. It’s made like a mix between Billy Joe Shaver’s Honky Tonk Hero and Bob Dylan’s Lyrics. Highly recommended!
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Full Dylan album covered – Street Legal

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Bob Dylan’s Street-Legal covered

Street-Legal is the eighteenth studio album by Bob Dylan, released on June 15, 1978 by Columbia Records. The album was a serious musical departure for Dylan, who uses a large pop-rock band—complete with female backing vocalists—for the first time. Not his most critically acclaimed album, but I know a lot of people who loves it dearly (myself among them).

The originals are better, I agree, but I love to hear what other artists can do with such great material.

My favourites here are Ian Hunter, Patti Smith and Jerry Garcia.

 

Changing of the guards – Patti Smith:

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The Flying Burrito Brothers – To Ramona – The Best Dylan Covers

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The Flying Burrito Bros – To Ramona – The Best Dylan Covers

 

To Ramona is a folk waltz written by Bob Dylan for his fourth studio album,  Another Side of Bob Dylan. The melody is taken from traditional Mexican folk music. The song is one of the many on the album to highlight the more personal, and less political, side of Dylan’s songwriting that would become evermore prominent in the future. The song also makes many allusions to Dylan’s personal relationship with Joan Baez, at the time of its composition and subsequent release.

The Flying Burrito Bros did a sublime version of To Ramona on their eponymous third album.

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The Beatles – Let it be – a fan restoration (full movie)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Let It Be is a 1970 British documentary film starring the Beatles and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The film documents the group rehearsing and recording songs for their twelfth studio album Let It Be, in January 1969. The film includes an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last public performance.

It’s a so called fly-on-the-wall encounter – the director Michael Lindsay-Hogg gave viewers an inside look at the Beatles hard at work. There’s no narration pushing the story, with only a few titles explaining what’s unfolding onscreen. Instead, Lindsay-Hogg chose to let the band’s songs and conversations propel the film forward. Continue reading “The Beatles – Let it be – a fan restoration (full movie)” →