Sunday Reflection: Forever Young Birthday

 

Legendary composer, poet, singer, and Nobel laureate for literature Bob Dylan (5/24/1941) is arguably the most significant figure in popular musical culture in the latter half of the 20th century, along with The Beatles.  His songs are poetry, which he transformed into memorable musical compositions. "Blowing In The Wind," "Like A Rolling Stone," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" just scratch the surface of the body of his iconic songs.  His music spans 6 decades, from his heroic role in supporting the Civil Rights Movement to the present, from trenchant critiques of American prejudice to gospel music and love songs.  He launched his "Never Ending Tour" in 1988, and it remains active. 

One of his songs, "Forever Young," from his 1974 album "Planet Waves," expresses wishes from a father to his child, and is universal in its sentiment:

"May you grow up to be righteous

May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth

And see the light surrounding you

May you always be courageous

Stand upright and be strong

May you stay forever young

May you stay forever young"

Happy 85th birthday to a forever young cultural giant.

 

Weekend Music -- Dylan Goes Electric

 

Sixty years ago today (yes, in that magical year 1965), folk music's biggest star went to the Newport Folk Festival and ... plugged in:

Bob Dylan’s performance at the Newport (Rhode Island) Folk Festival in 1965 is widely regarded as one of the pivotal moments in the history of rock music. But if there is near consensus on its importance, there is much less agreement on exactly what happened. Rock historians, Dylan’s biographers, and eyewitnesses provide varying accounts of the audience’s reaction to Dylan’s performance, the reasons behind those reactions, and Dylan’s response.

This much is clear: when Dylan took the stage at Newport on July 25, 1965, he was the leading light of the folk music revival of the early 1960s. Based on traditional American musical forms and steeped in the populist politics of the 1930s, the revival was meshed with the ongoing civil rights movement and thrived on topical songwriting. The pursuit of “authenticity” lay at the heart of the revival, and as such it was generally believed that real folk music was played only on acoustic instruments. Folk purists had little respect for rock and roll, which most regarded as puerile and crassly commercial...

Having already released the part- electric "Bringing It All Back Home" album, Dylan's move to a rock format was clearly being telegraphed to his fans.  But when he showed up at the folk festival in Newport, the response to his electric set -- "Maggie's Farm," "Like a Rolling Stone," and "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" -- was (as you can read about at the link) decidedly mixed.  He went on after a break to play acoustic versions of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."  Today, we're featuring his performance of "Like a Rolling Stone," with the crowd already in some turmoil at its outset. His all- star backup band consisted of Mike Bloomfield on guitar, Al Kooper on organ/bass, Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and Barry Goldberg on piano/organ.  Timeless music.

Weekend Music Passages Twofer

 

Today marks the 83rd birthday of the great Bob Dylan.  When people talk about the "soundtrack of a generation," Dylan's music could easily fill up the playlist (if you're of a certain age, of course).  Out of the scores of songs of his that we could play, we're randomly choosing an early one that still resonates today, "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."  

Today also marks the day in 1991 when singer/ songwriter/ musician Gene Clark passed away at the age of 49. Clark was a founding member of The Byrds, a band that looked to Dylan for songs and inspiration.  But Clark was a master songwriter on his own, creating such gems as "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better,""She Don't Care About Time," and his masterpiece solo album, "No Other."  He also was the main writer on The Byrds' "Eight Miles High," a live, acoustic, late- life gorgeous version of which is our second song today.  Hope you enjoy.

Weekend Holiday Music

 

Bob Dylan's polka/klezmer version of "Must Be Santa," a Hal Moore/Bill Fredericks song, was released in 2009.  It was included in his "Christmas In The Heart" album, all proceeds from which went to Feeding America.  The song reaches a level of high trippy in this video directed by Nash Edgerton.  Hope you enjoy this encore.

Weekend Music Twofer

 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" (Op. 71), culled from his original ballet "The Nutcracker," is one of the most beloved seasonal musical traditions.  Here it's performed by the Utah Symphony Orchestra and University of Utah chorus, under the direction of Maurice Abravanel.

On a lighter note, the second part of our musical twofer is from Bob Dylan's 2009 album, "Christmas in the Heart," the proceeds of which went to Feeding America and food programs internationally. It's a polka/ klezmer version of "Must Be Santa," written by William Fredericks and Hal Moore.

Hope you enjoy -- and enjoy your holidays.

Mid-Week Songs: Dylan's Mastery

 

American icon Bob Dylan turned 80 on Monday, and there are few if any singer / songwriters who have had the impact on music and the culture at large as he has. You can't capture his catalogue of masterpieces in a random sample, but here are some gems that he's given us over his long career.

Weekend Old And New Year's Music

Before we turn the page on this year, we just want to say, once again, R.I.P. George Harrison and Tom Petty.*



* And Lou Reed, and Richie Havens, et al.

Weekend Song

If you've been watching the Ken Burns/ Lynn Novick "The Vietnam War" documentary on PBS this week (and we hope you have), you'll have heard Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" in the opening episode. Written in 1962, it's been described as a "protest song" that covers a lot of ground: "injustice, suffering, rising seas, pollution and warfare." Even without the connection made by the film, it struck us as a foreshadowing of the natural events of recent months: the devastating Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the earthquakes in Mexico. The tragedy of Vietnam was the result of human misjudgment, ignorance, self- deception and stubborn egotism playing out over decades, human frailties that seem to know no end, for which we all end up paying. We're featuring it as an encore (having posted it almost a year ago on the occasion of Dylan's Nobel Prize for Literature).

Mid-Week Hard Rain Song

The Nobel Awards ceremony was held last Saturday in Stockholm, where an absent Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He sent a heartfelt message that was read at the banquet following the ceremony by the U.S. Ambassador, and his civil rights era anthem "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' was performed in his absence by his close friend, singer/songwriter Patti Smith (who was so nervous she froze on some verses, but finished and was warmly applauded by the appreciative audience). Listening closely to the anguished lyrics and strong symbolism, it could be sung today as an anthem of conscience and resistance.

Here is Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan performing that song in 1964.

Weekend Laureate Song

Bob Dylan... 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature... For “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Perfect. Congratulations from two of your many fans, and --

Congratulations to one of my favorite poets, Bob Dylan, on a well-deserved Nobel. https://t.co/c9cnANWPCS

— President Obama (@POTUS) October 13, 2016

Due to fierce copyright restrictions on his music, we had to go looking for something that we could share that was a fine example of early Dylan as an artist and songwriter.  You can't do much better than this live version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," from D.A. Pennebaker's documentary of Dylan's 1965 concert tour of England, 1967's "Dont Look Back" (no apostrophe!).

Weekend Greatest Album Twofer

Man, this was a great week 50 years ago if you were buying rock albums!  Two (20 percent) of the top 10 albums in Rolling Stone magazine's top 500 greatest albums were released this week in 1966 (May 16 to be exact).  The two albums were "Pet Sounds" (#2) by the Beach Boys and "Blonde on Blonde" (#9) by Bob Dylan.  Here are a popular cut from the former and a less played cut from the latter.  Enjoy.

Mid-Week Remembrance Song

We had an entirely different song in mind for today, before we were reminded that 50 years ago today, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot and killed in Mississippi.  An Army veteran who spent many very dangerous years representing the NAACP in Mississippi, when the Klan and white supremacists were openly violent, Evers was ambushed and shot in the back by a low-life by the name of Byron De La Beckwith.   In homage to Evers, Bob Dylan wrote this trenchant song, "Only A Pawn In Their Game," which refers to the manipulation of poor whites to keep African-Americans down.  In many ways, the Rethugs' old "Southern Strategy" and the current tea bagger movement has kept the "game" alive, for example in the form of voter suppression, attacks on the Voting Rights Act, calls for eliminating programs for the working poor, and opposing immigration reform.

Medgar Evers....RIP.

Belated Birthday Song

Yesterday was Bob Dylan's 72nd birthday.  This most influential of American musical artists has survived many of his contemporaries and is still, thankfully, on tour performing.  His recent work has been critically acclaimed as among the best of his remarkable career.  But, since we will always think of him as "forever young," we offer this birthday salute from an early album ("Another Side of Bob Dylan") from nearly 50 years ago.  You'll note the dated references (Cassius Clay, Barry Goldwater), but Dylan's humorous "talking blues" style is, to us, still fresh.  Enjoy "I Shall Be Free No. 10."

Weekend Song from the North Country

Silver Linings Playbook is up for 8 Academy Awards, including odds-on favorite for Best Actress, the incandescent Jennifer Lawrence, and Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper. One of the songs featured in the movie is this wistful ballad by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Enjoy your weekend.

Weekend Song

Hibbing, Minnesota's Bob Zimmerman celebrated his 71st birthday yesterday (!). (You know, Bob Dylan.) If you're not familiar with his work, or your only exposure to him is from his post-electric period, do yourself a favor and check out some of his early folk albums (like "Bob Dylan," "The Freewheelin Bob Dylan," "Another Side of Bob Dylan," "The Times They Are a-Changin'"). Enjoy them and enjoy your weekend.

Two Happy Birthdays!

Most know that legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan turns 70 today (!). His collection of ballads, folk tunes and rock songs are almost too voluminous to list; after all, he's been recording since 1960. "Blowing in the Wind," "The Times They Are A Changin'","Mr. Tambourine Man," "Lay,Lady Lay," and on and on. His impact on music in the 20th century is profound. Happy birthday to the great Bob Dylan. Here are two of his most popular songs.





Now for the true star of the day: Hackwhackers' beloved Shih Tzu, Bump, who turns an amazing 18 today. He's the best companion ever, and even in his twilight years he's given us much joy.

(photo: The star)