In a full-page advertisement on 24 July 1967, today 58 years ago, in The Times
(renowned British newspaper) The Beatles, their manager Brian Epstein and 64
of the most prominent members of British society called for the legalization of
marijuana (without success).
It was Bob Dylan who introduced The Beatles
to marijuana when he met them in a hotel during
his tour in the UK that year.
“I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned”
BOB DYLAN, arguably the greatest singer-songwriter ever, started
his so-called Never Ending Tour ages ago. Even at 85, he doesn’t like
to sit in a lazy chair at home. He thrives on playing live like no one
else (I know).
He’s in the middle of another extensive world tour. ALL DATES HERE.
The now 85-year-old singer-songwriter genius BOB DYLAN released one
of his solid gold masterpieces, double LP BLONDE ON BLONDE, today 60 yearsago, on 20 June 1966.
Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album‘s songs have been described as operating on a grand scale
musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called “a unique mixture of the visionary
and the colloquial“. It was one of the first double albums in rock music.
It peaked at #9 in the US and #3 in the UK.
Rolling Stone Magazine called Blonde on Blonde: “the most mysterious, majestic
and seductive of Bob Dylan albums, not to mention the greatest. It remains the pinnacle
of Dylan’s genius. It’s his most expansive music, with nothing that resembles a folk song,
just the rock & roll laments of a vanishing American, the doomed outsider who’s given
up on ever belonging anywhere.” .
A compilation of pictures taken by Jerry Schatzberg (who also took the blurred photo for the front sleeve) were on the gatefold sleeve of the first vinyl pressing in 1966.
Like the 60s the 70s were also a pivotal decade for great music. Halfway punk
made a monumental impact amidst a series of classic rock albums. In this new Ultimate Record Collectione EditioUNCUT ranks and reviews no less than 500 LPs.
I’m sure these 10 masterpieces will be in there.
1972
1972
. 1975
. 1975
. 1976
. 1976
. 1977
. 1977
. 1979
. 1979
.
You can purchase a copy and have it sent to your home. Info HERE.
When BOB DYLAN inked a deal with Columbia Records back in 1961, many people found the label’s decision to sign a middle-class white boy, styling himself as a careworn blues and folk singer, faintly absurd. Yet within a few years, the young Dylan would be hailed
as a prophet and revolutionise music in ways few could ever have dared to imagine.
His appeal was cemented by his visionary lyrics, and the images and wisdom they contain have given fans and scholars plenty to muse upon for the last 55 years. Meanwhile, music has flowed from him like an unstoppable river, each new phase delivering more timeless classics.
Which is where Bob Dylan Essentials comes in, written by MOJO’s team of experts,
this sumptuous 132-page bookazine is designed to guide you through the maze of
Dylan material out there.
Album by album, shedding new light on Bob’s songcraft and musicianship, and pulling
no punches when it comes to determining what’s indispensable, enjoyable, worth serious investigation or simply warrants a cursory spin.
We also look at Dylan-related films and documentaries,
and recommend the very finest in his literature.
You can purchase a copy and have it sent to your home. Info HERE.
BOB DYLAN was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 33rd annual Grammy’ Awardsn today 35 years ago, on 20 February 1991. A starstruck Jack Nicholson
introduced a purple-suited, fedoraed Dylan who said:
“You know, it’s possible to become so defiled in this world that your own mother
and father will abandon you, and if that happens, God will always believe in your
own ability to mend your own ways. Thank you!”
One of my all time fav songs from my all time
fav songsmith And a fantatsic video clip yoo.
Living, 84-year-old, singer-songwriter icon BOB DYLAN released one of his
best longplayers in his illustrious career, with DESIRE, on 5 January 1976,
today 50 years ago.
Seven of the songs were co-written with Jacques Levy.
It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart for five weeks, becoming
one of his best-selling LPs, and was certified double Platinum. It reached
No. 3 in the UK.
It’s one of Dylan‘s most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of
musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year.
Back sleeve
Rolling Stone said: “Love songs aren’t the focus of Desire, which is one of the things
that differentiates it from Dylan‘s other post-rock work. On the best songs, he returns
to the fantastic images, weird characters and absurdist landscapes of the Sixties.”
A song about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (1937–2014).
It describes acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which led to a flawed trial
and a murder conviction that was eventually overturned.
It topped the Canadian charts, peaked at #7 in the US and #8 in the UK.
LYRICS
You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin’
You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that’s winnin’
You say I let you down, ya know its not like that
If you’re so hurt, why then don’t you show it?
You say you’ve lost your faith, but that’s not where its at
You have no faith to lose, and ya know it
I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you’re in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don’t know to begin with?
You see me on the street, you always act surprised
You say “how are you?”, “good luck”, but ya don’t mean it
When you know as well as me, you’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once and scream it
No, I do not feel that good when I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief perhaps I’d rob them
And tho I know you’re dissatisfied with your position and your place
Don’t you understand, its not my problem?
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is to see you
Living singer-songwriter legend BOB DYLAN (my all-time fav songsmith), now aged 84, released his 6th longplayer HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, 60 years ago on 30 August 1965.
It featured his best known song/hit Like A Rolling Stone(#2 in the US, #4 in the UK).
It peaked at #3 in the US and #4 in the UK.
Dylan about the album’s title: “I wanted to call that album Highway 61 Revisited. Nobody understood it. I had to go up the fucking ladder until finally the word came down and said:
Let him call it what he wants to call it’.”
Rolling Stone Magazine said: “The strangest, funniest, most baffling and most perfect album. It arrived just five months after his previous masterpiece, Bringing It All Back Home, but this was a different guy making a different album, a folk rogue embracing the weirdness and spook of electric rock & roll.”
Dylan: “The songs on this specific record are not so
much songs but rather exercises in tonal breath control.”
