Part 61 of my youtube countdown rocks on with the Rolling Stones performing Bob Dylan’s classic “Like a Rolling Stone,” from their 1998 Bridges to Babylon tour.  The Rolling Stones have performed this song for decades, I guess a bit ironically, as an unofficial band anthem, though not really.  I mean, did they just want that live moment in their act to announce their band name in a song?  Or, was it Bob in 1966, who had Rolling Stones on the mind when he wrote his most famous chorus ever?  Possibly yes, possibly no to both questions.  It doesn’t really matter because the song is epic, and the performance here is really tight and joyful.  Mick is playing his harmonica really well, the band sounds together, and oh yea, Mick sings the song great.  Of course they are all wearing horrible outfits, and the Stones sound way better in a small club then in a stadium, but still, there is some old magic here worth checking out.  Rolling Stones forever.

The hits keep rolling, and for part 37 of my youtube countdown I present this incredible and rare video of George Harrison and Bob Dylan playing Bob’s “If Not For You.”  Holy shit, where to begin.  First of all, this was a rehearsal for George’s “Concert for Bangladesh” show, the first rock charity show ever.  George was Bob Dylan’s biggest fan, worshiping all his music, his whole life.  At this point in Dylan’s life, he was in exile in Woodstock not wanting to make any public appearances, but somehow George convinced to appear at his Madison Square Garden mega show to play a set.  Bob was nervous as fuck, having panic attacks and throwing up back stage before the actual show.  George wasn’t sure if Bob would have the nerve to do it, but he did, and it inspired Dylan to get out there on the road again.  This video speaks for itself.  Two icons of musical genius expression, playing one of Bob’s most gentle songs from his New Morning album, (George covered the song on his All Things Must Pass record just the year before.)  Just a fantastic moment in music history.  Enjoy.

This will be the last Dylan song I perform for a while.  In my experiments with recording myself for youtube this week, Bob just offered the perfect songs for me to play with.  This one, I Threw it All Away, from his Nashville Skyline record, I just couldn’t pass up.  It is one of my all time favorite songs of any artist.  It’s a golden flower of a song.  The words are perfect, etched in eternal ice with no superfluous imagery, and no sentiment anyone could possibly disagree with.  His melody and phrasing with the song are some of his best ever, driving his message strait to your soul.  It is worth checking out his performance of it on the Johnny Cash Show, which lucky for you I am posting, to of course foolishly shatter my own soft performance, but fuck it, lets just celebrate the song, and not me being a jackass.  Enjoy.

Part 36 of my youtube countdown rolls on with a performance of Robert Johnson’s ‘Crossroads Blues’ by Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.  I’ve been in a real bluesy mood this week, and a clip like this really hits the sweet spot.  The song, a gem in Robert Johnson’s absurdly mythological repertoire, is heavily electrified by Bob and Eric.  I’m guessing its the old Cream arrangement, though I could be wrong about that.  While Bob and Eric are having a great time playing this tune, it shouldn’t escape you that these are two of the most devoted Robert Johnson worshipers that ever lived.  Before Bob recorded ‘The Freewheelin,” his first album of original songs, CBS executives gave Bob a copy of Johnson’s recordings before they were ever widely distributed or known by anybody.  Johnson’s music had a profound effect on him, just as deep as Woody Guthrie’s.  In Johnson, Bob heard a ghost lost to time, the most authentic blues folk expressionist he could imagine.  Eric had similar epiphanies, but his most striking reaction upon hearing Johnson for the first time was fear.  Eric was downright spooked by Johnson’s creaky high pitched voice, and his complex and perfect, not to mention revolutionary, guitar technique.  Over time, Eric would describe Johnson as “the most important blues musician who ever lived,” and subsequently did his best to spread his myth and music to the masses.  While on the surface, Eric and Bob just seem to be enjoying themselves, with Eric giving a beautiful melodic blues solo, and rarity of rarities, Bob playing an electric solo too, (granted he’s just alternating two notes, but still!).  But there is something much deeper going on.  I don’t know, but I get over-awed thinking about these two gods of popular music playing the song of a god who somehow sits over them on a higher level.  It’s really something to sit back and think of the power surging from these guy’s lips and fingertips; where it all comes from, how it changed the world, and what it all means.  It’s a moment a lot of people might ignore, but hopefully realize one day, its utter preciousness in the pantheon of things that matter.  Enjoy.

My performance of Bob Dylan’s Positively 4th Street. This one has WAY better audio this time because it dawned on me to use a real mic. Expect my videos to get much better in the future when I get more confidence recording these things, though I like the little rasp I’ve got going here.  I leave these posts short because I provide some commentary in the video itself..ENJOY!

As promised, my performance of Buckets of Rain by Bob Dylan.  I played it on my Epiphone Casino because the mic picked it up better.  Also, I did it in Open E tuning, so that’s why I’m looking at my guitar so much, to make sure I’m playing the right chords.  I hope to have many more of these in the future, with better quality.  This was admittedly a hard song for me, but I think I peeled it off ok.  I hope you enjoy.

In part 32 of my youtube countdown, we find Neko Case covering Bob Dylan’s Buckets of Rain from Bob’s “Blood on the Tracks” album.  There are two things you need to understand.  First, Neko Case is my favorite female singer in the world.  Her voice is just a soaring laser beam of power and clarity.  Second, Buckets of Rain is among my favorite songs ever.  It’s just a gorgeous poem of love and devotion.  I was planning to record a video of me playing Buckets of Rain, but there’s some guy operating a power drill outside my window right now, so that will have to wait for another day. In lieu of such activities, you’ll just have to enjoy Neko’s golden voice giving life to Bob’s golden words for now.  I’m so sorry. ; )

It’s kind of shame that it took 23 notches in my youtube countdown to get to Bob Dylan, one of my immortal heroes of music..and uhh..life.  The video I present to you is utterly fantastic.  It’s from the old Steve Allen Tonight Show in 1964.  Steve Allen gives Bob an lovely epic introduction to the United States, elevating him further from his cult singer status to the perennial icon that he is.  Bob is very shy, barely giving more then a one or two word answer to Steve’s easy questions.  It’s just a remarkably restrained interview on both sides with Steve eventually breaking out into Bob’s poetry, putting poor young Bob on the spot.  But it’s a beautiful moment.  Then Bob breaks into “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” one of his absolute best classic “fuck you rich people” tear jerkers.  At the end of the performance, you can see there is not a dry eye in the house, with Bob having cemented himself as America’s greatest poet, songwriter, and all around genius.  If you want to see how an artist can change the world, and how revolutions of the mind and heart are really made and won, then you have to look no further then this clip.  I love this, and you should too.  Enjoy.

UPDATE 10.20.13- The original clip is gone. Enjoy this substitute. (Willie)