LouieB

So what is his opinion on collaborations? This book seems mildly interesting, but not going to get around to reading (or listening to) it for awhile. Does he address the type of situation we were discussing earlier?? LouieB

Thought I was having a flashback of some sort. LouieB

Can you summarize what he says? LouieB

JWH was a huge departure from Dylan's past work, obviously. It contains a handful of really great songs and a few clunkers and was a lead-in to Nashville Skyline. At the time it was a huge letdown that ended up going on to play on Dylan's strengths. Oh Mercy is a very strong album among a bunch with some significant weakness. Both great albumsI love the Simon/Los Lobos talk. This shit happens all the time. You could make the case that Dylan stole the riff from Al Kooper for LIke a Rolling Stone and didn't give him writers credit. I think the main issue on the Simon thing is whether he sto

Oh yea, thanks for reminding me of Hearts and Bones...what a dog. I think you may be right. One Trick Pony was a pretty unwatchable movie too. I don't think I watched the entire thing. Well okay, except for me Oh Mercy = John Wesley Harding. Oh Mercy has a few songs on it that are exceptionally strong. Man in the Long Black Coat being one of them. LouieB

Pretty interesting story. I totally believe Steve Berlin on this. I also totally understand why they are pissed. (One Trick Pony is certainly one of the lowest points of Paul Simon's career too.) LouieB

Looks like plenty of used CD copies on Amazon. May go ahead and get it. LouieB

Hey I didn't feel like working today so hence the long windedness. Okay I may have confused the "folk song" and folk song issue. A folk song which is truly folk isn't written by anyone, but written by lots of peple as you point out. They are smoothed out by time because many hands have been part of it and/or the couples or quatrains are basically public domain. The other type of folk song is the singer/songwriter material I suppose and not easy to quantify as folk music (it isn't) So I guess we aren't in disagreement on that. You are correct true folk music no longer exists because at this p

Well that does suck. Boo on Paul. Edit, yup his website lists him only ....what a douche. I guess they don't call it show business for nothing... LouieB

Thanks for refreshing our memory. It needed refreshing because this song is okay, but sounds like the lesser of both bands actually. Its a fine performance, not a great song, and neither artist got famous from it. LouieB

I read some material related to this controversy a few years ago here. I love Los Lobos and I love their records, but I just don't believe this. They ended up on Graceland, on one of the lesser songs on the album and I think they did get writers credit for it. Perhaps Simon did take some of their ideas and turn it into the big hit single. What do I or anyone know of this really. It won't be the first or last time this happens. (we an crank up the Robbie Robertson/Levon Helm feud if you want.) There is a book out on Duke Ellington with an insightful article about it in the New Yorker (I haven't

This is a good point of discussion I think. Maybe too complex for a threaded discussion like this, but let's give it a shot. Singers singing their own songs is a relatively new phenomenon. Not that it didn't happen, it did, but in the "good old days" songwriters who were not singers wrote for people with pipes. No one can ever say that the really good singers Billy Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby (take or leave those and add your own) could inhabit and convince the listener that the song WAS theirs. Fast forward to the Bob Dylan era. Not only did Bob Dylan write songs that everyone wante

Weighing in on Bootleg series 10. I finally got around to picking up the two CD version. Glad I did, but not going to pop or the 3 LP set for the extra money, nor the deluxe version, although I would like the entire Isle of Wight (got some of that on an old LP "real" bootleg.) There is some good stuff on here, just enough good stuff to make it worthwhile. I particularly like the New Morning outtakes and alternate versions. They are worth the cost of the CDs alone. And since I always liked Eric Anderson, I enjoy Dylan's version of Thirsty Boots. After a few spins on the car CD player this on

Needless to say Paul Simon is a fucking genius of the old school (plus he is old.) Yea, can listen to old guys like Neil and Bob and Paul (all old timers) clunk along even in their geezerhood (not a real word.) I may be the only person on here who sort of admires Coldplay, but would never own one of their records ever. Okay I know they suck, but somehow thear something seductive in their sound when I catch one of their songs on the radio. I have a (used) copy of Arcade Fire's Funeral sitting on my needs to be listened to shelf. Clearly I have never been drawn in. LouieB

I think I need to check this record out. I would agree that he is also pretty old school along with his former bandmates in Drive By Truckers. Country and alt-country artists are nearly always old school. For as much as contemporary country music can be faulted for being highly mediocre, they still hew to the old idea of telling a story in clear language, which doesn't necessarily mean they do it well or it is a story you want to hear. LouieB

Some days I feel that old.... LouieB

I am not so sure. I think it has been getting progressively worse to point that the strum and mumble crowd of the last few years (again some of my favorite musicians) and the let's make the words either so obscure or meaningless that you shouldn't bother trying to figure them out crowd (less of my favorites), have reduced words to third place after instrumentation and sound. I really don't think it was this bad in the 70s through 90s. I find it has gotten intolerable for me more recently. Two examples - Bon Iver, who even makes up words (not a big fan) and Califone, who apparently spends a lot

Here is some musically blasphemy I believe. Very few musicians are interested in writing songs any more. Oh yea, they write music and put words to it, but songs tend to have structure, rhyme, melody, etc. and few artists are interested in that anymore. Songs used to be a commodity which you sold for someone else to sing, therefore it needed to have something of interest to a large number of people, but since most artists write their own songs, they don't need to have anything to interest anyone else besides themselves. That does not mean people are not writing interesting music (with words), b

Robbie Fulks end of year show tonight at Fitzgeralds. LouieB

This is the problem with being a vegetarian. so it goes. I no longer eat it either. I was always a big al pastor fan myself. Suitable for vegetarians. LouieB I ate tongue as a kid. Actually I would eat just about anything. LouieB

"Greetings to the New Brunette" is my favorite multi-play song. LouieB

Went to work this morning and saw a woman get hit by a pickup truck at the corner of LaSalle and Randolph. Luckily she was okay, but I called 911 anyway. LouieB

Well good for him I guess. Even Neil Young gave it up. I am going to bet Willie Nelson has not. Personally I can't fathom having an 8 year old at 69. LouieB

Dream on. Dissatisfaction with it is rampant on both ends of the political spectrum. While I agree that it is here to stay, I don't think there is the political will to make it really better. If people get something from it in the short and long term I think it will survive, but if through real and imagined dissatisfaction Congress coul change hands in the mid-term (the Senate) and then look for it to be gutted. I am waiting to find out if my daughter, who has been accepted for it, can finally nail down a policy. For those not at the poverty line (like my daughter) it may not prove to be via

Heard a guy from the WS Journal bash ACA on a right wing talk show this morning. Apparently the free market can take care of everyone's healthcare needs. Hmmmm. What stopped them before the ACA? (And what is stopping them now?) LouieB