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Peaking on my Dylan obsession


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Were you able to catch Jewels and Binoculars at the Hideout last April? It was the first time I seen or heard them play and I was definitely impressed. Michael Vatcher's drumming is fun to watch and his playing is great. I guess one can say I'm obsessed with Dylan and seeing Jewels and Binoculars interpretation of Dylan's music was both enjoyable and the music of course was well played. They were completely "into" the music and a thrill to watch. I haven't gotten around to purchase any of their albums, yet, but I definitely recommend any Dylan fan to see them play if they get a chance, (even if they are not necessarily into jazz).
Sadly I did not. I had not even heard of them until that gig, which prompted me to get their CDs, which incidently aren't that easy to find. I got the most recent one through CD baby, but the first two I got through some jazz CD site, they are not sold anywhere else as far as I can tell (I looked for hours on other sites..) Are you in Chicago? If so I can burn you their disks to check out if you like.

 

And they are in fact jazz.....their methodology and sound is completely jazz. (The Bad Plus is jazz also, so I think both groups are certainly jazz..)

 

LouieB

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Sadly I did not. I had not even heard of them until that gig, which prompted me to get their CDs, which incidently aren't that easy to find. I got the most recent one through CD baby, but the first two I got through some jazz CD site, they are not sold anywhere else as far as I can tell (I looked for hours on other sites..) Are you in Chicago? If so I can burn you their disks to check out if you like.

 

And they are in fact jazz.....their methodology and sound is completely jazz. (The Bad Plus is jazz also, so I think both groups are certainly jazz..)

 

LouieB

 

 

((((recommend any Dylan fan to see them play if they get a chance, (even if they are not necessarily into jazz).)))

 

The "they" in my previous post was referring to Dylan fans who are not necessarily into jazz should check them out.

Jewels and Binoculars is most a definitely jazz band.

 

That would be great to get the disks, I do live here in Chicago. They had their whole catalog for sale at the Hideout gig, but stupid me did not bring much cash with me that night, oh well.

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I've been listening to Planet Waves all week. Why is this album not considered one of his best or at least one of his best from the 70's. I've read that it was received warmly by critics but didn't sell very well and on the supporting tour they eventually dropped every song but Forever Young. I think it sounds great musically. It may not contain Dylan's most poetic lyrics but man it has a groove.

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I've been listening to Planet Waves all week. Why is this album not considered one of his best or at least one of his best from the 70's. I've read that it was received warmly by critics but didn't sell very well and on the supporting tour they eventually dropped every song but Forever Young. I think it sounds great musically. It may not contain Dylan's most poetic lyrics but man it has a groove.
When you have The Band backing you even the slightest of material can sound good (even if you misspell the piano players name.) It was relatively well received at the time. I remember buying it and a friend and I listened to it on his turntable. Remember Dylan had not toured in some time at that point and the methodology used in wrting this was much like the Basement Tapes (obviously.) It was also on Asylum, not Columbia, Dylan switched labels. Clearly Forever Young is the stand-out of the bunch. Some of the rest of the songs are rather weak, but On a Night like this, Something there is about you and Never Say Goodbye are pretty good. Wedding song is pretty dreadful and Hazel isn't anything too special, nor is Tough Mama really. (and the alternate version of Forever Young is forever forgettable too.)

 

(Oh yea, the cover..not Dylan's most brilliant art either...)

 

LouieB

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Dude, really? I love that song.
Hazel, dirty-blonde hair

I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen with you anywhere.

You got something I want plenty of

Ooh, a little touch of your love.

 

Hazel, stardust in your eye

You're goin' somewhere and so am I.

I'd give you the sky high above

Ooh, for a little touch of your love.

 

Oh no, I don't need any reminder

To know how much I really care

But it's just making me blinder and blinder

Because I'm up on a hill and still you're not there.

 

Hazel, you called and I came,

Now don't make me play this waiting game.

You've got something I want plenty of

Ooh, a little touch of your love

 

brilliant...

 

LouieB

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I'm walking

All by myself

I was talking to myself about you

What am I going to do

 

I was singing

This song about you

I was thinking about singing

This song for you

 

The more I think about it

The more I know it's true

The more I think about it

The more I'm sure it's you

Honey I think you're just right

You're just right

 

I was walking

Like I said by myself

I was talking

To myself about you

Like I always do

 

The more I think about it

The more I know it's true

The more I think about it

The more I'm sure it's you

Honey, I think you're just right

You're just right

 

Also Brilliant

 

a song can have simple lyrics and still be a good song. Hell, look at almost every Beach Boys song and quite a few pre-Rubber Soul Beatles.

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Oh no, I don't need any reminder

To know how much I really care

But it's just making me blinder and blinder

Because I'm up on a hill and still you're not there

 

The early Beatles were simple pop gems (great tunes) and the Beach Boys...well that is all about the tune and the sound, the words rarely hold up to any scrutiny. The above verse from Hazel makes almost no sense......no it makes NO sense; particularly the last two lines. Walken isn't any masterpiece either..(sorry Jeff...)

 

LouieB

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That album was recorded over a period of a couple weeks - a few sessions here and there, if I recall correctly. In the liner notes of the Biography box set, Dylan says that he just made up some of the words as they were recording the songs. I think he referred to them as "dummy lyrics".

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That album was recorded over a period of a couple weeks - a few sessions here and there, if I recall correctly. In the liner notes of the Biography box set, Dylan says that he just made up some of the words as they were recording the songs. I think he referred to them as "dummy lyrics".
That sounds right.....not unlike the Basement Tapes where the same thing was going on.

 

Sometimes you can get things right on the fly, other times you actually need to work on making a song. It isn't as easy as it looks. Don't get me wrong, I was entranced with Plant Waves (with a title cribbed from Alan Ginsburg I am pretty sure) when it came out; I mean who wasn't going to dig a new (and the first really) album by Bob Dylan and the Band after all, but it is a pretty uneven affair at best. What it did was jump start Dylan's career, particularly his touring, which had been on hold for many years and finally got him back on the road to stay. For this reason it was monumental to be sure.

 

There is no reason not to love this album, for all the right reasons, but a high level of both songwriting and musicianship isn't really one of them.

 

LouieB

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Oh no, I don't need any reminder

To know how much I really care

But it's just making me blinder and blinder

Because I'm up on a hill and still you're not there

 

The early Beatles were simple pop gems (great tunes) and the Beach Boys...well that is all about the tune and the sound, the words rarely hold up to any scrutiny. The above verse from Hazel makes almost no sense......no it makes NO sense; particularly the last two lines. Walken isn't any masterpiece either..(sorry Jeff...)

 

LouieB

I'm sure we all have instances where a set of lyrics will ruin a song for us. This just doesn't happen to be one for me. Besides, I love the way he sings "blinder and blinder".

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That's the tour where you saw them - the first show of the tour.

Second actually, which was okay. They sort of sorted out the sound by then.

 

I'm sure we all have instances where a set of lyrics will ruin a song for us. This just doesn't happen to be one for me. Besides, I love the way he sings "blinder and blinder".
Yea, me too....

 

I am particulary fond of Something there is About You...the way he sings this verse-

 

"Thought I'd shaken the wonder and the phantoms of my youth

Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin' the hills of old Duluth.

There was me and Danny Lopez, cold eyes, black night and then there was Ruth

Something there is about you that brings back a long-forgotten truth."

 

Not only are they great lyrics (maybe also thrown together), but they are terribly evocative of what his youth must have really felt like to him at the time. (Particularly if you have ever walked the hills of old Duluth or been on any of the Great Lakes on a rainy day {no hills in Chicago, but lots of rainy days on Lake Michigan}.) (is it my imagination or are the words changed on dylan.com?? I always thought it was There was me and Danny Lopez, cold dark nights and then there was Ruth....go figure.) And he is reflecting on someone who reminds him of those days long ago. That's great stuff, both words, music, and singing. Particularly at the juncture of his life and career, admitting that the northlands of Minn were important to him seems like a huge truth, since he worked so hard to both get away and disown that part of his life.

 

yup there is life outside of VC I guess. Time to log off and make breakfast.

 

LouieB

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i really can't stand either version of "Forever Young." i mean, it's kinda cheesy, right?

 

-justin

I think it works in a heartfelt, who cares if it's cheesy because this song is for my children kind of way.

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I think it works in a heartfelt, who cares if it's cheesy because this song is for my children kind of way.

And for people getting older by the minute as well.

 

LouieB

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Guest Moses
i really can't stand either version of "Forever Young." i mean, it's kinda cheesy, right?

 

-justin

 

that's too bad. it's a wonderful song, although i prefer the Side A version.

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