Dylan Now
I’ve been saying for years that I don’t want to see him now in concert, on his never-ending tour. When I listen to him, which I do frequently, I want my mental image to be of when I saw him at Newport and elsewhere, both pre- and post-electric, in the 1960s and 1970s.
But reading through this playlist has caused me to reconsider that decision.
Maybe one more cup of coffee before I go.
“Bob Dylan on July 27, 2018 in Seoul, South Korea at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena1.All Along The Watchtower (Bob center stage on electric guitar) 2.Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Bob center stage on electric guitar) 3.Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on piano) 4.Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on piano) 5.Duquesne Whistle (Bob on piano) 6.When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob on piano) 7.Honest With Me (Bob on piano) 8.Tryin' To Get To Heaven (Bob on piano with harp) 9.Make You Feel My Love (Bob on piano with harp) 10.Pay In Blood (Bob on piano) 11.Tangled Up In Blue (Bob on piano with harp) 12.Early Roman Kings (Bob on piano) 13.Desolation Row (Bob on piano) 14.Love Sick (Bob on piano) 15.Autumn Leaves (Bob center stage) 16.Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on piano, George drum solo) 17.Soon After Midnight (Bob on piano) 18.Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob on piano) (encore) 19.Blowin' In The Wind (Bob on piano) 20.Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob on piano with harp)”
Mama Cass
Cass Elliot’s death at 32 really hurt. She was such a joyous, monumental talent. This collaboration with John Denver is one of the many gifts she left us. And the message she delivers before the song is more relevant now than ever before.
For A Dancer
Keep a fire for the human race
And let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily, it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
(The world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound
(Jackson Browne)
One Hundred Years From Now, Fifty Years Ago In 1968
Nobody knows what kinds of trouble we’re in
Nobody seems to think it all might happen again
If I Fell
I just had to post this to cleanse my musical palate after watching that Corden/McCartney treacle the other day.
Roll With It
Kind of makes the MTV/VH1 thing all worthwhile
James And Joni, June 2018
I’ve written before here about James Taylor’s early career, but this photo (taken a few days ago, after one of his concerts) reminded me of the time we saw Joni Mitchell introduce a young, strung-out (kicking a heroin habit) James Taylor at a basement “club” inside a parking garage that accommodated a couple hundred people, standing on a cold parking lot floor in December, off Commonwealth Avenue, near Boston University in 1970.
it was James’ first US appearance after returning from London, where he’d recorded his first album on The Beatles’ Apple label. The memory of how protective she was of his fragility that night, is why this photo moves me beyond description.
Gram Parsons: Wild Horses
Gram Parsons was another casualty of the Sixties, dead of an overdose at 26 in 1973. But not before he wrote some amazing songs, and helped to broaden the scope of American music.
Sun Studio
if you love rock and roll and rhythm and blues, and you’re ever in Memphis, you don’t want to miss this.
The Platters
Remembering how good some of the music was in the mid to late 1950s,
Let’s Go!
1968
Byrds In Boston
Roger McGuinn and Gram Parsons, at The Boston Tea Party, February 1969 by Peter Simon
I Remember Her Well At The Chelsea Hotel
Janis Joplin
My Back Pages
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.