The Music Box

[tented]

I watched the movie "Silver Linings Playbook" the other day, which used this song. I absolutely cannot get it out of my head now! Fortunately, I love this version, but I don't want to ruin it, either.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IZ7MD9oc3o[/video]

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Tented, whenever I hear Dylan, I cannot help but wonder what Randy Jackson would say to him if Dylan entered American Idol today..." Bro, it was a bit pitchy...I am not sure if you are what we are looking for....but keep working at it, you know..."...:-/

I really hate those competitions...

 

[tented]

Tented, whenever I hear Dylan, I cannot help but wonder what Randy Jackson would say to him if Dylan entered American Idol today..." Bro, it was a bit pitchy...I am not sure if you are what we are looking for....but keep working at it, you know..."...:-/

I really hate those competitions...

Some people don't believe me when I say this, but I have never once watched any of those kinds of shows. And now that I read this, that a judge would have kicked off Dylan ...

 

[Kieran]

He may not have - Randy Jackson played bass guitar on Dylan's Under the Red Sky...

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

^ hah, funny. although i'll have to say that this is probably one of the last Dylan albums i'd want to be credited on. gotta be one of his worst three. not that it's the bass player's fault, anyhow.

 

[Kieran]

^ hah, funny. although i'll have to say that this is probably one of the last Dylan albums i'd want to be credited on. gotta be one of his worst three. not that it's the bass player's fault, anyhow.

you're kidding me! Seriously? UTRS is a fine album. The title song is great, it has God Knows, Cat's in the Well, 10,000 Men. It isn't a top album but as a minor work, it's not bad.

His worst three?

Dylan (1973)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Knocked Out Loaded (1986)

And Knocked Out Loaded has Brownsville Girl on it, which is majestic. One thing these albums have in common is a knocked-out, burnt-out feel - and the fact that he raided others songs to complete them. Only about 2 original Bob songs among the whole lot of them.

The worst 3 "All Songs Written by Bob Dylan" albums? Yikes. Okay, I'll have a stab:

I can't think of any!

 

[tented]

His worst three?

Dylan (1973)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Knocked Out Loaded (1986)

Every once in a while I'll listen to the 1973 record, and enjoy it. It's so odd, it's fascinating.

You probably already know the story behind it, but for those who don't Dylan had no input in its release. It's actually a collection of outtakes from Self-Portrait and New Morning. Weird factoid: it's the only Dylan record never to have been released on CD in the US.

 

[Kieran]

Every once in a while I'll listen to the 1973 record, and enjoy it. It's so odd, it's fascinating.

You probably already know the story behind it, but for those who don't Dylan had no input in its release. It's actually a collection of outtakes from Self-Portrait and New Morning. Weird factoid: it's the only Dylan record never to have been released on CD in the US.

That's interesting, T. Isn't that the album Columbia put out to spite him for his defection to Geffen? I was going to say that another thing all three have in common is that they're contractual obligation discs, far as I know.

"Mr Dylan, how's the new album coming on?"

"Uh? Album?"

"Well, yes, it's got to be released in a fortnight."

Knocked-Out Loaded has out-takes from Empire Burlesque, and Down in the Groove was put together when his songwriting was at a low ebb, but just a year before his Oh Mercy/Traveling Wilbury renaissance.

There has to be a really bad album with all songs written by Bob Dylan, doesn't there? But I can't think of one. In fact, once that's printed on the sleeve, it signals to me an album I must have...

 

[tented]

Every once in a while I'll listen to the 1973 record, and enjoy it. It's so odd, it's fascinating.

You probably already know the story behind it, but for those who don't Dylan had no input in its release. It's actually a collection of outtakes from Self-Portrait and New Morning. Weird factoid: it's the only Dylan record never to have been released on CD in the US.

That's interesting, T. Isn't that the album Columbia put out to spite him for his defection to Geffen? I was going to say that another thing all three have in common is that they're contractual obligation discs, far as I know.

"Mr Dylan, how's the new album coming on?"

"Uh? Album?"

"Well, yes, it's got to be released in a fortnight."

Knocked-Out Loaded has out-takes from Empire Burlesque, and Down in the Groove was put together when his songwriting was at a low ebb, but just a year before his Oh Mercy/Traveling Wilbury renaissance.

There has to be a really bad album with all songs written by Bob Dylan, doesn't there? But I can't think of one. In fact, once that's printed on the sleeve, it signals to me an album I must have...

That's exactly right: the 1973 record was purposely released to anger Dylan for defecting.

I can't remember off hand if every song is by Dylan, but Self-Portrait is pretty bad.

 

[Kieran]

That's exactly right: the 1973 record was purposely released to anger Dylan for defecting.

I can't remember off hand if every song is by Dylan, but Self-Portrait is pretty bad.

Yeah, that comes in at #4 for me. Some not bad originals on it, like Living the Blues, but mostly covers, including Moon River. Bizarrely, it has a version of The Boxer, with Dylan harmonising with himself using two different voices...

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Tented, whenever I hear Dylan, I cannot help but wonder what Randy Jackson would say to him if Dylan entered American Idol today..." Bro, it was a bit pitchy...I am not sure if you are what we are looking for....but keep working at it, you know..."...:-/

I really hate those competitions...

Some people don't believe me when I say this, but I have never once watched any of those kinds of shows. And now that I read this, that a judge would have kicked off Dylan ...

It's one of those things...I hate those shows but because of what I do, I have to check them out here and there....You are not missing anything, trust me.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

^ hah, funny. although i'll have to say that this is probably one of the last Dylan albums i'd want to be credited on. gotta be one of his worst three. not that it's the bass player's fault, anyhow.

you're kidding me! Seriously? UTRS is a fine album. The title song is great, it has God Knows, Cat's in the Well, 10,000 Men. It isn't a top album but as a minor work, it's not bad.

His worst three?

Dylan (1973)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Knocked Out Loaded (1986)

And Knocked Out Loaded has Brownsville Girl on it, which is majestic. One thing these albums have in common is a knocked-out, burnt-out feel - and the fact that he raided others songs to complete them. Only about 2 original Bob songs among the whole lot of them.

The worst 3 "All Songs Written by Bob Dylan" albums? Yikes. Okay, I'll have a stab:

I can't think of any!

well, there's hardly a Dylan album without a Gem on it. you're right though, that the three you mentioned are probably worse than Under The Red Sky. still, i think it's far, far from the cream. that's the problem with being a Dylan album - the bar is set quite high, even for the later work. if we divide his work into thirds, i'd place UTR in the bottom tier for sure - which is not to say that there aren't some songs on it that are better than 99% of what's being put out in the music scene each year.

---

Speaking of The Band. Here's one of my favorite moments from The Last Waltz ... and it occurs at the beginning of the film, even though it's the final encore.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WoI95PTizs[/video]

i had to think of this performance yesterday, watching Gary Lucas (guitarist for the likes of Captain Beefheart; his claim to fame is his collaboration with Jeff Buckley). Lucas, still a great instrumentalist, was Very drunk, and all in all a very sad appearance. which made me thinking about booze, drugs and rock'n'roll, with the mind wandering over to The Last Waltz.
i remember how i felt almost a bit betrayed when i first heard about the Coke Room. while not exactly straight edge, i'm a rather clean guy. i like my drugs soft, and consumed while in college. mountains of cocaine are rather off-putting to me. and we can all see how too many lifes, in the Band and elsewhere, were shortened by decades of substance abuse.

but the irony is that a track like this one, at the end of a six hour(!) concert would've been virtually impossible, would simply not have happened if not for that 'marching powder'. weird, right? of course, it's not like i wouldn't gladly trade this and many other tracks for a healthier Danko and Manuel. just the weird way things go, with a lot of beautiful stuff arising from some very bad decisions

 

[shawnbm]

Was listening to a little Johnny Paycheck recently. "Friend, Don't Take Her, She's All I Got" is a catchy one, but I REALLY like "I Was The Only Hell, My Mama Ever Raised"!

 

[Kieran]

Great names, including his own!

---

Bob Dylan's 72 today, so his latest album Tempest has been getting liberal spins all day...

 

[shawnbm]

Great names, including his own!

---

Bob Dylan's 72 today, so his latest album Tempest has been getting liberal spins all day...

---

Maybe he's thinkin' of "Goin' to Acapulco"?

 

[tented]

Great names, including his own!

---

Bob Dylan's 72 today, so his latest album Tempest has been getting liberal spins all day...

---

Maybe he's thinkin' of "Goin' to Acapulco"?

---

Did you ever hear the Calexico/Jim James version from the film I'm Not There?

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R45yXcXUa3I[/video]

 

[shawnbm]

Great names, including his own!

---

Bob Dylan's 72 today, so his latest album Tempest has been getting liberal spins all day...

---

Maybe he's thinkin' of "Goin' to Acapulco"?

---

Did you ever hear the Calexico/Jim James version from the film I'm Not There?

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R45yXcXUa3I[/video]

---

No, I have not. Can you post it, tented?

 

[tented]

No, I have not. Can you post it, tented?

You need to turn off your plug-in (or whatever it was) that was blocking you before when trying to see the clip from "The Last Waltz" because the video is there.

 

[shawnbm]

I figured it out, tented, and thank you for posting this. I really, really love this old tune from The Band and Dylan on "The Basement Tapes". Music has changed so much since then; it is nice to hear a quality remake of one of my old favorites. Thanks again, tented.

 

[tented]

I figured it out, tented, and thank you for posting this. I really, really love this old tune from The Band and Dylan on "The Basement Tapes". Music has changed so much since then; it is nice to hear a quality remake of one of my old favorites. Thanks again, tented.

You're welcome! I love this remake, but I know what you mean about "The Basement Tapes" -- an all-time classic.

OK, here's the question, since there are so many Dylan fans here: Which one -- one -- is your favorite album?

My pick: "Blood on the Tracks" -- not a bad song on it; in fact, they're all masterpieces. I love the way it begins with the energy of Tangled Up in Blue, then sways, and crawls, and weaves its way to Buckets of Rain. A perfect record.