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

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”

Jan 8: Elvis Presley – The King – Birthday

elvis-presley-1969-890x666

When I first heard Elvis’ voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. He is the deity supreme of rock & roll religion as it exists in today’s form. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.
~Bob Dylan (1987)

His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country.
~President Jimmy Carter
August 17, 1977

Elvis Presley is a supreme figure in American life, one whose presence, no matter how banal or predictable, brooks no real comparisons. … The cultural range of his music has expanded to the point where it includes not only the hits of the day, but also patriotic recitals, pure country gospel, and really dirty blues. … Elvis has emerged as a great artist, a great rocker, a great purveyor of schlock, a great heart throb, a great bore, a great symbol of potency, a great ham, a great nice person, and, yes, a great American.
~Greil Marcus (The Village Voice – Apr 7, 1975)

My Way:

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain

I’ve lived a life that’s full
I’ve traveled each and ev’ry highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Continue reading “Jan 8: Elvis Presley – The King – Birthday”

Jan 7: Muddy Waters recorded “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” in 1954

MW - Hoochie

This 1954 recording (the second, after 1952’s original) of blues standard “Hoochie Coochie Man” by Muddy Waters is one of the all-time classic blues records; a vital piece of Chicago-style electric blues that links the Delta to rock & roll..
~Bill Janovitz (allmusic.com)

Hoochie Coochie Man ( Chess 1954):

Continue reading “Jan 7: Muddy Waters recorded “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” in 1954″

January 6: Chuck Berry recorded the classic Johnny B. Goode in 1958

DeepdowninLouisiana’crossfromNewOrleans,
waybackupinthewoodsamongtheevergreens.
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode,
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a ringin’ a bell.

You can’t copyright guitar licks and maybe that’s good, because if you could, Chuck might have hoarded them as he does his Cadillacs. Without The Chuck Berry Riff, we’d lose not just the Beach Boys, but essential elements of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, and Bruce Springsteen — to mention only the most obvious examples. In a way, what was at the center of the first wave of the British Invasion could be described as a Chuck Berry revival.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock and Soul)

Live 1958:

Continue reading “January 6: Chuck Berry recorded the classic Johnny B. Goode in 1958”

January 3: Stephen Stills was born in 1945 – Happy Birthday!

 An artist cannot be responsible for what people make of their art. An audience loathe giving up preconceived images of an artist.
~Stephen Stills

One thing the blues ain’t, is funny.
~Stephen Stills

He’s a musical genius
~Neil Young

 

Continue reading “January 3: Stephen Stills was born in 1945 – Happy Birthday!”

January 2: Merle Haggard released Sing Me Back Home (album) in 1968

Sing Me Back Home is the fifth studio album by singer and songwriter Merle Haggard, released in 1968 on Capitol Records.

Sing Me Back Home follows the blueprint of Merle Haggard’s first three albums, balancing a hit single with album tracks and a couple of covers, but there is a difference. Where the previous album Branded Man was a transitional album, hinting that Haggard’s talents were deepening substantially, Sing Me Back Home is the result of the flowering of his talent.”
– Thomas Erlewine (allmusic)

Merle Haggard appeared on Austin City Limits nine times over the course of his legendary career. Here’s “Sing Me Back Home” from his appearance in 1978:

A little slowed down beautiful version! Continue reading “January 2: Merle Haggard released Sing Me Back Home (album) in 1968”