�
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Bob Dylan.. - |
| View previous topic
:: View next topic |
LilyPotter
 Posted:
Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:29 pm |
|
|
|
Bob Dylan..
Pax (and anyone who cares to answer):
What do you think of his album "Self Portrait"?
(the album not the art, I'm posting it as a reference  )
|
|
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 450
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| pax
Posted:
Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:33 pm |
|
|
|
When it was first released, Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone wrote a one sentence review: "What is this shit?" Some have speculated it was Bob's attempt to put out something so bad that it would get those who worshipped him off his back for good.
I think Self Portrait contains some interesting stuff. Obviously it's more for hardcore fans of his work, as just about any other album of his is "better" in the purist sense.
To me, it's kind of like a sketchbook. Dylan covering other artists such as Paul Simon and Gordon Lightfoot. Dylan covering Tin Pan Alley and other genres that he enjoys. And the live version of Like A Rolling Stone, from the Isle of Wight concert, is mellow and laid back, which I liike. It reflects Dylan's state of mind at the time. He was a young man raising a family. He was sincere that he didn't want to be anyone's "hero." As he said in an early poem, "it's for myself and my friends that my songs are sung."
As one who has all his stuff, I see Self-Portrait as a unique charcoal drawing. Of course his masterpieces are more acclaimed. But it provides some interesting music, for those who enjoy all of Dylan's wide range of recorded music.
Oh, and it contains my favorite version of Quinn the Eskimo, which is one of the funniest songs Bob ever wrote.
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| sandraK
Posted:
Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:42 am |
|
|
|
Re: Bob Dylan..
| LilyPotter wrote: | Pax (and anyone who cares to answer):
What do you think of his album "Self Portrait"?
(the album not the art, I'm posting it as a reference )
|
One of the oddest chapters in Dylan's career was the recording and release of the legendary album Self Portrait, released in 1970 to almost uniformly negative reviews. Many critics and fans thought they were on the receiving end of a massive joke, or if not a joke then a seriously deteriorated Dylan who had finally lost all touch with reality. Or perhaps Dylan was just out of ideas? The lead track from the album certainly seemed to indicate that with its repeated chorus "all the tired horses in the sun, how am I supposed to get any riding done?", which sounded a little like "how am I supposed to get any writing done"!
Various reasons for the seemingly poor quality of the album were given, including the idea that all the songs were scraps left over from Nashville Skyline and New Morning sessions (the latter album would be released after Self Portrait, but many of the songs on that album featured the same musicians on many of the Self Portrait songs, so the sound would fit). Since so many of the songs on the double album were apparently filler (four songs from the Isle of Wight festival, different versions of some songs on the same album, lifeless jams, etc.), the skimpy artistic nature of the album was clearly highlighted.
And the title of this mess was Self Portrait! This was supposed to define Bob Dylan? With its cubist self portrait on the cover (the original cover was reported in Rolling Stone at the time to be a picture of Bob standing in the window of an abandoned tenement building - wonder whatever happened to that picture?), and with the straight faced comical pictures of Dylan hanging around a barnyard with chickens, the visual impact of the album was jarring. To hear the sound inside was even more jarring.
I remain A Huge Robert Allen Zimmerman Fan.
everybody MUST get Stoned
|
|
Boat Drink Room Hostess
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 6505
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:17 pm |
|
|
|
So am I. One thing I love about that song is that it's not just about getting high. It's also about how everybody takes some lumps. Kind of deep, really, but in a funny way.
Rainy Day Women # 12 and 35
by Bob Dylan
Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good,
They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home.
Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone ya when you're walkin' 'long the street.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to keep your seat.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' on the floor.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' to the door.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
They'll stone ya when you're at the breakfast table.
They'll stone ya when you are young and able.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to make a buck.
They'll stone ya and then they'll say, "good luck."
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone you and say that it's the end.
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again.
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car.
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar.
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone.
They'll stone you when you are walking home.
They'll stone you and then say you are brave.
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Copyright © 1966; renewed 1994 Dwarf Music
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| charlierat
Posted:
Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:02 pm |
|
|
|
Dylan is a master of the double entendre.
|
|
** Banned **
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 6970
Location: If you don't know by now, don't mess with it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:31 pm |
|
|
|
For example, in the song Absolutely Sweet Marie, "her railroad gate, you know I just can't jump it, I'm sitting here, beating on my trumpet."
Don't have to be Fellini to figure that one out.
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:28 pm |
|
|
|
I'm posting this because I enjoy reading the lyrics.
Dignity
-- by Bobby D.
Fat man lookin' in a blade of steel
Thin man lookin' at his last meal
Hollow man lookin' in a cottonfield
For dignity
Wise man lookin' in a blade of grass
Young man lookin' in the shadows that pass
Poor man lookin' through painted glass
For dignity
Somebody got murdered on New Year's Eve
Somebody said dignity was the first to leave
I went into the city, went into the town
Went into the land of the midnight sun
Searchin' high, searchin' low
Searchin' everywhere I know
Askin' the cops wherever I go
Have you seen dignity?
Blind man breakin' out of a trance
Puts both his hands in the pockets of chance
Hopin' to find one circumstance
Of dignity
I went to the wedding of Mary-lou
She said "I don't want nobody see me talkin' to you"
Said she could get killed if she told me what she knew
About dignity
I went down where the vultures feed
I would've got deeper, but there wasn't any need
Heard the tongues of angels and the tongues of men
Wasn't any difference to me
Chilly wind sharp as a razor blade
House on fire, debts unpaid
Gonna stand at the window, gonna ask the maid
Have you seen dignity?
Drinkin' man listens to the voice he hears
In a crowded room full of covered up mirrors
Lookin' into the lost forgotten years
For dignity
Met Prince Phillip at the home of the blues
Said he'd give me information if his name wasn't used
He wanted money up front, said he was abused
By dignity
Footprints runnin' cross the silver sand
Steps goin' down into tattoo land
I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light
In the bordertowns of despair
Got no place to fade, got no coat
I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat
Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote
About dignity
Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure
Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were
And into every masterpiece of literature
for dignity
Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind
Combin' his hair back, his future looks thin
Bites the bullet and he looks within
For dignity
Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed
Dignity never been photographed
I went into the red, went into the black
Into the valley of dry bone dreams
So many roads, so much at stake
So many dead ends, I'm at the edge of the lake
Sometimes I wonder what it's gonna take
To find dignity
Copyright © 1991 Special Rider Music
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:45 pm |
|
|
|
Modern Times, Bob's new album, is fantastic! The musicians are still the same as on the previous two, and are playing tight and unique.
This might be the funniest stuff Bob has done since Highway 61 Revisited. He sounds like he is in love, frisky, and in great spirits. The first song has some sweet lines about how he loves Alicia Keyes and wants to meet her some day.
If you can find it, get the special edition which comes with a dvd of four great live performances. Also, if you order it through the bob dylan or sony web site, you get a free cd of an hour of Bob hosting a program on xfm, the theme of which is music about baseball.
Here's a funny line that I just heard:
You think I'm over the hill
You think I'm past my prime?
Let me see what you've got
We can have a whoppin' good time!
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SavannahStar
Posted:
Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:02 am |
|
|
|
Dylan has first No. 1 in 30 years
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Bob Dylan reached the top of the U.S. pop albums chart for the first time in 30 years on Wednesday, becoming the oldest living person to launch a new disc at No. 1.
The 65-year-old rock poet's latest album, "Modern Times," sold 192,000 copies in the week ended September 3, his best sales week since tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan started using its point-of-sales data to collate the charts in 1991.
Johnny Cash and Ray Charles both had No. 1 albums in recent years, but they were released posthumously.
"We couldn't be more thrilled that fans have responded to it so enthusiastically by putting Bob at No. 1, which is where he belongs," said Steve Barnett, the chairman of Dylan's Columbia Records label.
Dylan last reached No. 1 in 1976 with his album "Desire," which led the field for five weeks. At the time, he was on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour and winning publicity for his protest tune "Hurricane." His other chart-toppers were the 1975 classic "Blood on the Tracks," and 1974's "Planet Waves."
Internationally, "Modern Times" opened at No. 1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, according to Columbia.
In Britain, it debuted at No. 3 with the best one-week sales tally of Dylan's career, 55,000 units, the label said.
Dylan has been on a creative and commercial roll since 1997, when he released "Time Out of Mind," a darkly comical look at death. It opened at No. 10, selling 101,600 copies, and went on to win the Grammy Award for album of the year. His 2001 follow-up, "Love and Theft," opened at No. 5 on sales of 133,760 copies. Each has gone on to sell about 1 million copies in the United States, the label said.
Critics have heaped praise on "Modern Times." Rolling Stone magazine said his three latest albums "stand alongside the accomplishments of his wild youth."
Dylan has undertaken some unorthodox efforts to promote the new album. He is currently featured in a TV commercial for Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iPod digital music player, and he enlisted comely actress Scarlett Johansson to star in a short online film.
He has also paid attention to his storied past, writing the first volume of his memoirs in 2004 and authorizing the 2005 documentary "No Direction Home," which was overseen by director Martin Scorsese.
Dylan has recorded almost exclusively since 1961 for Columbia Records, a unit of Sony Corp.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/07/leisure.dylan.update.reut/index.html
|
|
**SuperStar**
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 21303
Location: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:25 am |
|
|
|
Thanks Savannah Star!
It's amazing that his album would be number one on the Billboard charts. I've gotten all his albums regardless of where they chart, but this one is fantastic.
His last three albums speak simple truths. Bob's artistic renaissance began with the two albums that preceded this trilogy. Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong are solo acoustic, and are all covers of unique folk, blues, and r & b songs. By interpreting these rich old songs, Bob rediscovered his love of stories.
Bob's humor and deft language, I think, prove the line from D. H. Lawrence, "trust the tale, not the teller."
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SavannahStar
Posted:
Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:01 pm |
|
|
|
Hey pax!
My son has a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, and there is an article about Bob Dylan in the latest issue. He's on the cover.
I just CANNOT believe that man is 65. I mean.....I think of older rock stars somehow as in their 50's....but geez 65!
He will always be Bobby to me.  And there will NEVER be another Bobby Dylan.
|
|
**SuperStar**
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 21303
Location: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| pax
Posted:
Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:11 pm |
|
|
|
Hey SS!
There's a web site called expectingrain that has almost all of Bob's interviews, and all the latest news. Fantastic site, as is bobdylan.com.
Bob is like those old blues guys, just working, singing, touring and continuing to have fun.
|
|
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 16336
Location: Wish You Were Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
�
Jasidogdotcom template v.1.0.4 © jasidog.com
Powered by phpBB
© 2001, 2004 phpBB Group
|
