When You're Lost in the Rain.....Bob Dylan in Pawtucket

On a rainy July night, I set off to see Bob Dylan at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It had been almost a year since I last saw Bob in the luxurious confines of the MGM Theatre at Foxwoods (see my post from August 16), so I was ready for my summer fix of Bob.

In the past, I had been reluctant to go to a show on the ball park tours. I'm not much for general admission gigs. You are either sitting thousands of yards away from the stage and you have to ask your neighbor: "Which one's Bob?" or you are enduring the mosh pit up front. Not my idea of a fun night.

Fortunately, I had Guitar Johnny as my wing man tonight. With him as my backstage ambassador, I had visions of meeting Bob and completing my rock and roll fantasy life. After a very pleasant dinner in the backstage area and a nice visit with a couple of the band members, "Guitar" and I were unsure about our plan. We went up to the back of stage to hear a bit of Johnny Cougar (or whatever he is called these days) and it didn't look like there would be much room there for us when Bob's part of the show began.

The weather was getting worse and I have to confess we were thinking about hitting the road. When we realized that Bob was not coming out of his bus for a stroll around back stage and a personal meet and greet with yours truly, we were really losing interest. Fortunately, we decided to make one more foray through the backstage area. We were hanging around just seeing if we could catch a glimpse Bob before he took the stage.

We did see a few people going up some stairs on the right side of the stage, but didn't think that was in our reach. Suddenly, a security guy was on us and instead of telling us to beat it, he told us go right up those stairs and find a place behind the soundboard. In an instant, we were flying first class.

Up we went and we found ourselves about 25 feet off Bob's side of the stage. After about 5 minutes there was a little commotion to our left and there was Bob with a black suit and white Rolling Thunder style hat standing about 6 feet away.

Bob and the band hit the stage and started into a rocking version of Cat's In The Well with Bob on lead guitar. Next they launched into It Ain't Me, Babe, which was followed by I'll Be Your Baby Tonight. Bob was playing his guitar for all he was worth. We could see Denny looking over at him with a perplexed look trying to follow his lead as they soloed together. Afterwards, Johnny said he thought he was listening to the Allman Brothers with the twin lead guitar sound. Pretty great stuff and Bob had the old chicken scratch working just fine. It made me remember his solos in the old days on Tangled Up In Blue. Chicken Scratch!

I was amazed to see that Bob keep the guitar on for another song. The band started in and after a few notes, Johnny and I looked at each other and said at the same time: "This Wheel's On Fire". One of my favorites from the Basement Tapes and what a treat to hear Bob take those leads. It made my night to hear it.

After a crazy jam version of The Levee's Gonna Break, the music took a little turn for the worse. It may have been our position on the side of the stage, but Bob's organ playing was drowning out every one else in the band. In Johnny's words: "His organ was Gothic." I thought it sometimes sounded like something you would hear at your local skating rink. Nevertheless, Bob was bopping around and laughing with the band between songs. He looked like he was having a good night.

Masters of War and It's Alright, Ma were casualties of this organ sound. The set list then veered to the modern era. It didn't matter, I was a happy man after the first few songs.

As we were driving back on 95 after the show in an absolute monsoon, Johnny was telling me about seeing Dylan and the Band in October of 1965 at the Bushnell Auditorium. Suddenly, we spotted the two tour buses heading down the highway to the next gig. As we passed, I thought about how much I enjoyed the show and how happy I was to hear This Wheel's On Fire. At the same time, I thought about the strange life of Bob Dylan and his Never Ending Tour. I hoped as he rode his bus through the rain and the dark, that he was happy as well. Thank you Bob for a great night.

White Room, Waylon Jennings and Robert Earl Keen

About a month ago I was driving to the office listening to Outlaw Country on my satellite radio. When I heard Waylon Jennings covering White Room, I almost drove into the bay. I have heard a lot of unusual tunes on that station, but this was way out of the box.

I love the music of Waylon Jennings and I love White Room. I was lucky to hear Cream play it live at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on November 1, 1968. It has always been one of my favorite Cream songs. I never thought I would hear Waylon Jennings play White Room. Two very separate events in my life crashed together when this came out of my radio. It totally blew my mind.

Hearing White Room made me think about the years at Floyd's Hotel. White Room was always our concert shout out. No Free Bird for the hotel staff. It was always White Room or Whipping Post for us. This was a very special song at the time. Listen to Waylon's take on this classic Cream song from an album called Waylon Forever:> WHITE ROOM

In an even stranger coincidence, I found out recently that my good friend Robert Earl Keen opened his show at Bonnaroo with (You guessed it) White Room. When I asked Robert: "What's up with that?" He told me that he and the band decided that they needed a little heavy rock in the set to get the attention of the audience at the big shows.

I have seen the video of the song from Bonnaroo and it is excellent. Rich (guitar) and Bill (bass) are really up to the task on the song and REK does a pretty good job on vocals for a Texas singer songwriter. It is a great version that shows the versatility of Robert Earl Keen and his incredible band.

DAVE ALVIN and the GUILTY WOMEN Fourth of July 4-18-09

I woke up thinking about this great song that was written by Dave Alvin. Here is a video of him playing it with his new band the Guilty Women. It is one of my favorites Alvin songs. If you haven't heard it already, you should check out his new album called Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. It is excellent.

I first heard this song on Robert Earl Keen's album Picnic. It is definitely one of Robert's best covers. I always enjoy hearing him play it live. This is what it sounds like:

Forth of July

Hope everyone has a great 4th.

What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

When this album was released in May of 1971, it was a radical departure from the usual Motown sound. Typical Motown songs were made for AM radio with great hooks and lyrics about love and loss like Come See About Me, The Tears of a Clown, Reach Out I'll Be There or My Girl. With the release of this album, Marvin Gaye got as far away from that sound as Dylan did from folk music when he released Highway 61 Revisited. 

Many stories have been written about Berry Gordy's resistance to releasing this album. Fortunately, Marvin Gaye was a star and he was ultimately able to get his way. The music world would be a poorer place without this album.

In the fall of 1971, I was listening to a lot of Dylan (a 65 electric bootleg as well as the rest of the early catalogue), The Band (Stage Fright and the first two albums), and various blues albums. We had a fairly limited play list at Floyd's Hotel at that time.

I can remember going up stairs in Carmichael Hall to the room of a girl we called the Queen of Speed. When I got there, she was listening to a copy of What's Going On. I was familiar with Gaye's earlier Motown music because most of what I knew about music in the '60's came out of an AM radio. This album was completely new to me at the time.

What's Going On had a distinctively different sound from anything I had ever heard on a Motown record. I am not sure of my original reaction to this new sound, but I can tell you now that this has been on of my most favorite albums for the last 35 years. It is a record that was ahead of it's time and still sounds great today.

From the opening of What's Going On, which begins with background chatter, a big alto horn riff and then Gaye's soaring vocal, this was obviously a special album. With a sound that mixes soul, jazz and funk, Gaye sings about the Vietnam war, civil unrest, race and poverty which are common themes today, but were not in 1971 Motown song. Have a listen to the opening track:

What's Going On

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) is another example of Gaye's forward thinking. Who was thinking about this in 1971, let alone singing about it? It is a beautiful song about a subject that was not common at the time.

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

It is a record that is full of great lyrics backed by the excellent playing of The Funk Brothers who were able to stretch out from the usual Motown constraints. From the song cycle that blends from one track to the next, the sound is a unique combination of jazz and soul. Gaye's singing reflects his passion for the material. It is his masterpiece.

If What's Going On isn't on your iPod, it should be. Available on itunes and from Amazon.

Next Post: Let's Get It On.

Tour 66: Visions Of Johanna

As I mentioned in my last post, the acoustic versions of the songs that were played in the first set of the 66 Tour were powerful and memorable. Film is from Eat The Document by D. A. Pennebaker

Before Judas: Tour 66 Acoustic Set

Over the last 30 years, so many articles have been written about the electric portion of the 66 Tour. The hostility of the English fans ("Judas"); the loud sound of the band; the interaction between Dylan and the audience has been well documented in books and on fan sites.

 Lost in this literary shuffle is the brilliance of the first set of acoustic Dylan that opened every show. Each night, Bob would face the audience alone with his guitar and harmonica. The genius of these solo sets can be heard on the official release (The Bootleg Series Vol 4) as well as on many bootlegs including the definitive Genuine Live 1966.

Listening to these songs now, I am struck by the complexity of the lyrics in the set list: Fourth Time Around, Visions of Johanna, Desolation Row and Mr Tambourine Man. These are all classic Dylan compositions, that are full of incredible words. Of all the songs in the Dylan catalogue, these have to be some of the most difficult to perform. For Dylan to come out every night and nail these songs is the sign of a artist at the top of his game.

Much has also been written about the pace of the tour, the drugs and the effect of the lifestyle on Dylan. With this in mind, I think it makes these performances even more remarkable. Without the band, there must have been incredible pressure on Dylan to deliver these songs. If you listen to the recordings, you should agree that he passed the audition.

As the tour moved across Australia and Ireland and ultimately ended with seven shows in England and Scotland, Bob usually opened with She Belongs To Me. This was easiest song in terms of the lyrics and was a nice warm up. Next up was Fourth Time Around (appropriate in England because of it's connection to Lennon and Norwegian Wood). With the flow of words in this one, the stakes were getting much higher. Next came Visions of Johnana which always created a spooky air in the hall. You can feel the attention of the audience to this classic Dylan tale of love and loss.

 5 and a half minutes of It's All over Now, Baby Blue and over 11 minutes of Desolation Row usually filled the next two slots. Again, these are two songs with a lot of words. The set finished with Just Like A Woman and Mr Tambourine Man. Besides the lyrics in the last song, Bob's harmonica is masterful. Think what any BobCat would give to go back in time and hear that set.

Bootleg Series Vol 4 is available at iTunes and from Amazon. Genuine Live 1966 is available from your local bootlegger. Both are highly recommended.

"I will stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table..." Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt

Steve Earle loves the music of Townes Van Zandt and so do I (see my post from June 19, 2008). Earle once said: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." I'm not sure I would go that far, but Townes did write some great songs.

Townes, who died in 1997 at age 52, did not leave behind a large body of work. Compared to someone as prolific as Dylan, his output was quite modest. He never wrote a song that you could dance to (well, maybe by yourself). His lyrics usually describe the sadder and darker side of life, yet he wrote many classic songs that pass the test of time. Pancho and Lefty, To Live Is To Fly, Flying Shoes, Snowing On Raton, Tecumseh Valley and If I Needed You are just a few of his great songs that demonstrate the songwriting genius of Townes Van Zandt. It is a shame that his work is not getting more recognition at this time. Perhaps this record will help.

Earle has just released a CD called Townes which is his tribute to Van Zandt. I have been playing it for the last week. Earle's voice and guitar do a nice job capturing the stark intensity of Van Zandt's lyrics.

I was listening to Steve's show on Outlaw Country called Hardcore Troubadour this morning. He was talking a lot about the record and his relationship with Townes. Steve is very passionate about this project and it shows in the music.

The disk begins with Pancho and Lefty which is the most recognizable song in the Van Zandt songbook and my personal favorite. Steve's growl of a voice sounds at home on this tune. It is too bad he didn't bring in Merle Haggard on the "Lefty" verses. It is a great version nevertheless.

He also covers To Live Is To Fly, No Place To Fall and Mr Mudd And Mr. Gold. The latter has Justin Townes Earle on vocals as well. All of these songs are high spots in the Van Zandt song book.

This CD is a good start for anyone who is not familiar with the great songs of Townes Van Zandt. I recommend it highly. If you really want to experience the talent of Townes Van Zandt, you need to hear the originals. There are several collections that are available on iTunes and from Amazon.