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Bob Dylan, Sara
“Sara,” is Bob Dylan’s most honest song. Its probably the only personal song he addresses to a real person directly, his wife Sara. The lyrics are incredibly intimate and, apparently, true to life. ‘Sara’ a gorgeously pained ballad of desperation, fittingly included as the closer to an album he named Desire. That record came out…
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Bob Dylan, Series of Dreams
The thing about being a prolific artist with a 40+ year career is that its likely you might release some random epic masterpieces when people are done paying attention to you. Bob Dylan is such an artist. His song, “Series of Dreams,” a bootleg from the Oh Mercy sessions, is a fantastic piece of abstract…
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John Lennon and Bob Dylan, Together in a Cab
There are a lot of great moments in rock and roll history that go unrecorded. The first meeting between Bob Dylan and the Beatles is one of them. Not only was it the occasion when the Beatles met one of their musical heroes, but its also the first time the Beatles seriously smoke marijuana. Apparently…
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Bob Dylan and Donovan, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Who was “baby blue?” Was it Joan Baez, Dylan’s folk loving audience, Bob Dylan himself? No one knows, maybe not even Bob. “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” is one of the greatest pieces of symbolist poetry ever, one of the greatest folk songs ever, and one of Bob’s best. Released in 1965 0n the…
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Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Gotta Serve Somebody vs. Serve Yourself
John Lennon was really offended by Bob Dylan’s latest single, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” Dylan recorded the song for his 1979 album Slow Train Coming. The album and the song was part of Bob’s short lived conversion to Christianity. In his diary, John wrote, “The backing was mediocre by Jerry Wexler, the singing was really pathetic,…
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Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind (Live)
I’m not ready to leave this concert from May 23rd, 1976 at Hughes Stadium. For this segment, Bob is leading his band through a scorching rendition of “Idiot Wind,” another track from Blood on the Tracks. This live version is especially nasty the way Dylan just bashes his electric guitar and snarls every lyric. The…
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Bob Dylan, Shelter From the Storm (Live)
The year was 1976, and Bob Dylan was in Colorado at Hughes Stadium singing one of his greatest songs ever, “Shelter From the Storm.” Originally from Blood on the Tracks, the song was being filmed and recorded for Bob’s live record Hard Rain. “Shelter From the Storm” is one of Bob’s most enduring poems. Its…
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John Lennon Was Wrong About Bob Dylan's New Morning LP
Here is an exchange between John Lennon and Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone Magazine on Bob Dylan’s 1970 release New Morning, ” WENNER: What do you think of Dylan’s album? LENNON: I thought it wasn’t much. Because I expect more–maybe I expect too much from people – but I expect more. I haven’t been…
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Jeff Bridges, The Man in Me
For part 77 of my countdown, I got Jeff Bridges performing “The Man in Me” at a Lebowski Fest in Los Angeles. The song of course was featured beautifully in the Coen Brothers ultra cult classic, “The Big Lebowski,” when the Dude is riding that magic rug. Dylan wrote this song for his 1970 LP…
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Mama Cass, Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers, I Shall Be Released
I have a special super group performance for part 65 of my youtube countdown. It’s Mama Cass Elliot of the Mama’s and Papa’s fame, Mary Travers of Peter Paul and Mary fame, and Joni Mitchell of, uhh, Joni Mitchell fame, all together on some TV show singing the Bob Dylan penned “I Shall Be Released”…