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 incredible album, Bringing it All Back Home, the song was some kind of farewell ode to love, society, success, or failure.  Maybe it was a portent of a coming apocalypse, or a grim nihilistic expression of desolation.  Whatever it was about, it was beautiful, and British folkie Donovan knew it.  The video clip below is from the 1967 documentary, “Don’t Look Back,” which focused on Dylan’s 64-65 tour of England.  In the clip, we see Donovan play a lovely little tune, which is really great, but then request Bob play one of his favorites, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”  I was always struck by what the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand Alex Kapranos had to say on the encounter.

“That guy was so self-assured. It’s breathtaking to watch him at the pinnacle of his cruel glory in this film. The most intense scene is when Donovan meets his mentor. The lovely wee guy plays an optimistic Dylanesque tune on his guitar. Dylan then plays “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and sniggers at Donovan’s amateurism through the acid of his delivery. Watch the muscles flinch in Donovan’s jaw.”

I’m not sure if Dylan was sniggering at Donovan’s song, and if Donovan’s jaw was flinching, it was out of awe and respect, not jealousy.  Still, Alex, captures the essence of the effect Dylan’s music must have been having on his rabid and possessive folk audience that Bob was now ditching. “Don’t Look Back,” captures the Dylan fan rebellion as they openly boo Bob when he plugs in electric guitars and starts to rock.  It’s one of the more stunning moments in rock and roll history, and an example of how different culture was back then; one that held hard onto icons, status qu0, and familiarity.  The clip, the song, and the moment is one of the greatest in rock history so buckle up your brain before you press play.

So one day, on a crummy radio in the 1940s, Chet Atkins was listening to Merle Travis play guitar.  He thought for sure that what Merle was doing was picking with his thumb and two fingers, because if he was just using his thumb and index finger, it would have been impossible.  It turned out Merle was just using his thumb and index finger, so what Chet accidentally did was invent his own style of guitar playing known as the “Atkins Style.”  Chet was a massively influential and beautiful guitar player who did everything from jazz, folk, country, rock, blues, and even classical.   I have two gorgeous clips of Chet.  One is from 1954, in color no less, of a TV performance he did of “Mr. Sandman,” the song that defines 50s dreaminess.  The other is probably 25 years later or so of him doing Simon and Garfunkel’s immortal “Mrs. Robinson,” all as a stunning guitar solo.  To appreciate Chet, is to appreciate the artistry of the true guitar virtuoso.  His timing, feel, and fluidity are second to none, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the work of a master.

I was sitting around in Portland, Maine yesterday with nothing better to do, when on came the “Coneheads” movie.  I haven’t seen in quite sometime, but its one of those movies where you just have to sit through the whole thing.  I was amazed at the parade of 90s comedy superstars appearing in one scene after another.  Not only did you have original SNL stars Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin in their iconic roles, you had Seinfeld stars Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, mega comedy stars Adam Sandler, Phil Hartman, and Drew Carey, and even film indie stars like Parker Posey and Joey Lauren Adams.  When the film was released, it was a commercial dud, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a cult classic. It contains Chris Farley’s best supporting role ever caught on film, where he plays the unlikely love interest Ronnie, and its riffs on the US immigration experience and laws are spot on and brilliant.  Anyway, I couldn’t get enough of the film, especially the scene where Beldar Conehead gets a 35 mm Kodak camera filled with glorious Kodachrome color film, and shoots his life on Earth with his family in the late seventies and eighties.  It’s a brilliant sequence set to Paul Simon’s classic hit song, “Kodachrome,” from his 1973 There Goes Rhymin’ Simon record.  Bit of trivia, the song was banned by the BBC in England for its use of a trademarked commercial item in the lyrics…kinda unfair considering how much commercialism is imprinted on our lives…just ask Andy Warhol.  So below, check out a sweet homemade “Kodachrome” video someone made, as well as the trailer for the legendary “Coneheads” film….See you next zearl!

To paraphrase George Harrison, “the “you” in the song, is God.”  Gaining this insight gives the song even more creepy mysticism.  “Long, Long, Long,” from the “White Album,” is officially one of my favorite Beatles songs.  Like many people growing up with the Beatles, I wasn’t a fan of the song until I got much older.  When I was a little kid, it was too quiet (probably the quietest Beatles song in the catalog) and too boring for me to really feel.  As I grew older,  I realized it was a master class of songwriting and personal expression, and it began to affect me greatly.  It’s simply a fantastic gorgeous ode to love and God, expressed in the most ambiguous way imaginable.  I also love the little high pitched organ part, which reminds me of an ice queen ballerina dancing alone in the snow.  What’s that mysterious rattle at the end of the song you ask?  It’s a bottle of wine vibrating to the frequency of a peculiar Hammond organ note being played by Paul McCartney.  Pretty cool no?  You know what else is cool, you only have 4 more days to vote me as CBS’s Best Local NYC Blogger, by clicking here!

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, and the words were just embarrassing.”  The Grammy people didn’t think so, they gave Dylan a huge spotlight at the 1980 awards, and let him take home the trophy for “Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male.”  In a snide retort, John wrote/improvised a funny little rant called “Serve Yourself,” a track which never got an official release.  Well, the Grammys are a joke, and always have been, and I fully understand John’s sense of embarrassment and betrayal by Dylan, but I kinda love “Gotta Serve Somebody.”  I think the message is clever enough that it extends beyond the religious into the philosophical, and it sets up an interesting battle of ideas between the two rock gods.  I always suspected that “Gotta Serve Somebody” was Dylan’s response to Lennon’s line from ten years earlier when John proclaimed, “I don’t believe in Zimmerman [Dylan’s real name for the uninitiated],…I just believe in me” from “God” (Plastic Ono Band.)  It’s Dylan rejecting Lennon’s idea of discarding all figures of worship and idolatry and claiming that in the end, whether you like it or not, you are serving something, whether it be a God, a devil, or just a concept.  Lennon disagrees, and he makes no bones about making it known, or he would have had he lived.  Anyway, here are both tracks, in all their glory.  Who do you think wins?  Dylan, Lennon, God, or the devil?  Let me know.

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 song is about his ex-wife Sara, at least according to Bob’s famous son Jakob.  Bob denied this, but Jakob famously said that the nastier tracks from Blood on the Tracks are, “my parents talking.”  It doesn’t matter, because again, Bob puts the universal touch in all his songs, and this song is no different. It’s a remarkable and scathing diatribe of broken love and bitter nostalgia, and its a great moment in rock and roll history. A true folk rock gem whose long running time shouldn’t scare anyone from playing it, and if you are, well, you’re an idiot.

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” in beautiful note for note harmonic perfection.  The ladies are dressed in full psychedelic folk glam, singing beautifully, especially Mama Cass who starts the song off for us.  The backing arrangement is a bit hokey, what with its horns and flutes creating a bit of an adult contemporary effect, but the ladies’ souls really carry the spirit of the song to spiritual heights.  The song is one of Bob’s greatest.  It’s a poem about a wrongly imprisoned man waiting for his rightful release.  It’s a gorgeous song with just a fantastic underlying theme of the desire for pure human freedom, subject matter Bob excelled at.  So, enjoy this gem, I know you will.

Another live show, this time me playing an original.  Sip From Your Fork, written when I was 22, never properly recorded.  A damn fine set of lyrics.

It was clearly your fault, you are locked in a vault
and what’s worse you have swallowed the key

You are covered in sleet and you are in it so deep
that in time theyll forget where you’re buried

so you might as well send your demons to hell
give a shout for some help do not worry

theres a reason to live that is true
you know what to do
its waitin for you because, its in you

I only can watch, as your monolog flies by
your mind and your lips everyday

you rant and you rave, yet you cannot convey youre insane
no one knows what to do, with you

youre dry as a cactus and without a tune, as you sip from your fork
and get bent by your spoon

come with me i can show you the way, ill show you today, why today
because, its monday

i will not believe that you will not be free
oh these negative illusions you spray

ill always contend, and i never pretend
when i beg you to see it that way

but youre chained to a rock, with your eyes on a clock
ears defeaned to things that I say

I can reach you if you reach for me, we both can believe
if you wish to be free, then you will be

Words and Music by Willie Simpson

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.