Bob Dylan

February 5: Happy 74th Birthday Al Kooper

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Al_Kooper

 

Al Kooper, by rights, should be regarded as one of the giants of ’60s rock, not far behind the likes of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon in importance. …. he was a very audible sessionman on some of the most important records of mid-decade, including Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Kooper also joined and led, and then lost two major groups, the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears. He played on two classic blues-rock albums in conjunction with his friend Mike Bloomfield. As a producer at Columbia, he signed the British invasion act the Zombies just in time for them to complete the best LP in their entire history; and still later, Kooper discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and produced their best work.
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)

Al Kooper Tribute:

Continue reading “February 5: Happy 74th Birthday Al Kooper” →

January 9: Joan Baez was born in 1941 – here singing Bob Dylan songs

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

dylan-and-baez

Joan Baez has recorded many Dylan songs. Her unique and beautiful voice carries some of them to different places. For many Dylan enthusiasts, Joan Baez’s interpretations are the only tolerable ones, besides Dylan’s own 🙂

Baez first met Dylan in 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

Here are my chosen 5:

Farewell Angelina:

Check out this full post about the song.

Continue reading “January 9: Joan Baez was born in 1941 – here singing Bob Dylan songs” →

Classic concert: Bob Dylan Hard Rain TV Broadcast Video (May 23rd, 1976)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

BobDylan_hardrain76

In pouring rain, Dylan plays the open air Hughes Stadium at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He has elected to film this show to replace the aborted TV special from Clearwater. In the longest set of the tour, there are several highlights, not all appearing in the TV special. … Included in the TV special, although in a most peculiar order, are second encore “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” the entire Dylan/Baez set (“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Railroad Boy,” “Deportees,” and “I Pity the Poor Immigrant”); three songs from the first set (“Maggie’s Farm,” “One Too Many Mornings,” and “Mozambique”); and three from the last set (two tremendously powerful readings of songs from Blood on the Tracks, “Idiot Wind” and “Shelter from the Storm” and a faded “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”). Despite the storm clouds raging, the crowd appears to be very enthusiastic, even singing “Happy Birthday” for Dylan before the second encore.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)

Dylan appeared on the September 11-17, 1976 issue of TV Guide and consented to a rare interview with the magazine to promote his first network television special.

Four of the eleven (ten in the video below) performances heard in the television broadcast (“Maggie’s Farm”, “One Too Many Mornings”, “Shelter from the Storm”, and “Idiot Wind”) were included on the nine track album of the same name released by Columbia records ten days before the special aired.

This is a fantastic historical TV-concert and a glimpse into one of the days of The Rolling Thunder Revue. Continue reading “Classic concert: Bob Dylan Hard Rain TV Broadcast Video (May 23rd, 1976)” →

November 25: The Last Waltz was recorded in 1976 (full 4h20m concert)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Last-Waltz

This film should be played loud!

This is a message on a title card at the beginning of the film. The greatest concert movie ever made. This post concerns the movie, the audio releases have to wait for it’s own post.

Wikipedia:

The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as the end of The Band’s illustrious touring career, and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Bobby Charles and Neil Young.

The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same name, released in 1978. The film features concert performances, scenes shot on a studio soundstage and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band. A triple-LP soundtrack recording, produced by Rob Fraboni, was issued in 1978. The film was released on DVD in 2002 as was a four-CD box set of the concert and related studio recordings.

Trailer:

I have several versions of the film, and I’ve seen many versions of it. I’ve seen it at the cinema, I’ve played it to death on video casette, I have two DVD releases , a blu-ray release and I’ve seen/heard quite a bit of bootlegs of the show.

This is a film that I’m really passionate about, and I have often wondered if there’s footage, filmed sequences, that is not in the official version. Whatever condition such film would be in was irrelevant, I wanted to see as much as possible of the legendary concert.

Continue reading “November 25: The Last Waltz was recorded in 1976 (full 4h20m concert)” →

Watch: Kris Kristofferson Talk About Bob Dylan and Other Influences in 1984

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Kris_Kristofferson-The_Austin_Sessions-Interior_Frontal

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Bob Dylan was a bigger influence than Beatles or Elvis
– Kris Kristofferson[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Kris Kristofferson talks about his many song writing influences. Among them are John Prine, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Mick Newbury (and more). Kristofferson is a great story teller and has incredibly good taste.

He also talks about Dylan’s impact on popular music in general.

Continue reading “Watch: Kris Kristofferson Talk About Bob Dylan and Other Influences in 1984” →

20 Songs Released in 1978 You Must Hear

Posted on by Egil Mosbron





My rules:

  • Only one song per artist/group
  • The song must be released that specific year
  • Songs from live albums not allowed
  • Restricted to only 20 songs

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A lot of wonderful music was released in 1978, here are my 20 chosen songs.

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  • Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) – Bob Dylan

    Released on his brilliant album “Street-Legal” in 1978.
    –
    Señor, señor
    Can you tell me where we’re headin’?
    Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
    Seems like I been down this way before
    Is there any truth in that, señor?
    –
    Spotify:

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    And lets include a brilliant live version from London 1978:

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    Continue reading “20 Songs Released in 1978 You Must Hear” →