Levon and the Hawks, circa 1964. Sax player Jerry “Ish” Penfound on left. Yes, they wore suits in those days. Together with bass player Rick Danko, Levon Helm formed one of the finest rhythm sections to ever put a groove to a beat, and a … Continue reading The Band (Part 2) – Enter Bob Dylan, Strummer
“Here was a band that was really doing it right, incorporating influences from country music, blues, jazz, and rock, and writing great songs. I couldn’t help but compare them to [Cream], which was stupid and futile, but I was frantically looking for a yardstick, and … Continue reading Featured Album – Music From Big Pink – The Band
I’m not there, I’m gone —-Bob Dylan, I’m Not There I should start out by saying that I am second to no one in my admiration for Bob Dylan and his songwriting skills. I’ve written a three-part series on him starting here and listed him as … Continue reading My Thoughts on Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize for Literature
If you know Manfred Mann at all, it is likely as part of the so-called British Invasion when British bands, starting with The Beatles, flooded America with rock and blues bands. Mann’s big hit was a song called “Doo-Wah-Diddy.” They also famously covered the Bruce … Continue reading Featured Album – Solar Fire – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
The rock era has produced an astounding number of great songwriters. And I confess to being somewhat envious of their skill because although I can play an instrument, I cannot write a song to save my life. The one and only time I really tried … Continue reading My Favorite Songwriters of the Rock, Folk and Blues Era (Top Three – pt. 1)
Well it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe If you don’t know by now And it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe It’ll never do somehow When your rooster crows at the break of dawn Look out your window … Continue reading One Song/Three Versions – Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
With this post I introduce the occasional “Featured Album,” which will discuss albums that are so good they deserve their own write-up. And I decided to start with a disc I recently bought, which is a (sort of) tribute to Bob Dylan. Apparently he wrote … Continue reading Featured Album – Lost on the River (The New Basement Tapes)
First post here. You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed You’re gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody In the late ’70’s Bob Dylan – who is … Continue reading Bob Dylan (Final of 3 – How Many Roads)
First post here: Dylan started out as every bit the folkie. Heavily influenced by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly and Robert Johnson, he actually visited Woody in the hospital as he lay dying of Huntington’s Disease. But what people sometimes forget – … Continue reading Bob Dylan (2)
There is a TV commercial that shows Bob Dylan talking to the IBM Watson computer. (It astonishes me that he would even do a commercial.) The computer tells Dylan that he’s analyzed all his lyrics and most of them are about “the passage of time … Continue reading Bob Dylan (1)
Music Enthusiast - At the junction of rock, blues, R&B, jazz, pop,and soul 