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Top ten lists of albums, songs, concerts and performers are not something I do, because there is so much music that I love, and love at different times for different reasons. 

But this in-concert collaboration by a bunch of artists, including Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and George Harrison would be atop any of those lists. 

The older I get, the more meaning this song takes on for me. 

The Night Bob Dylan Met President Obama

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 “Here’s what I love about Dylan – he was exactly as you’d expect he would be. He wouldn’t come to the rehearsal. He didn’t want to take a picture with me; usually all the talent is dying to take a picture with me and Michelle before the show, but he didn’t show up to that. He played The Times They Are a-Changin’. A beautiful rendition. The guy is so steeped in this stuff he can come up with a new arrangement and the song sounds completely different. Finishes the song, steps off the stage ... comes up, shakes my hand, sort of tips his head, gives me just a little grin and then leaves. That was our only interaction with him. And I thought, That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right? You don’t want him to be cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the enterprise.  -- President Barack Obama

Musical Highlight Of Last Night’s Oscars

Eddie Vedder singing Tom Petty’s “Room At The Top” 

 

 

I got a room at the top of the world tonight
I can see everything tonight
I got a room where everyone
Can have a drink and forget those things
That went wrong in their life

I got a room at the top of the world tonight
I got a room at the top of the world tonight
I got a room at the top of the world tonight

And I ain't comin' down, I ain't comin' down

Into The Mystic

We were born before the wind

Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly
Into the mystic

And when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home, mmm mmm
And when the fog horn blows
I want to hear it
I don't have to fear it

I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the mystic

When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows
I gotta hear it
I don't have to fear it

And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float
Into the mystic
Come on girl

Roger McGuinn

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“What makes the Rickenbacker 12-string unique for you compared to other guitars?There’s something interesting about its hollow body. It’s only about 2″ thick, but it’s got a ring to it – the pickups they use and the way they string it, with the high string last. On a 12-string, the high string is usually first when you pluck down. But the Rickenbackers were strung with a high string last, so you hit the low string and the high string, which gave it more of a ring.”

A terrific inside-guitar interview with a key figure in rock and roll history.

 http://www.vintageguitar.com/30052/roger-mcguinn/