Over the past 48 hours I've been on an inexplicable Bob Dylan kick. Not that it's completely out of the ordinary, after all, I friggin love the man. But this kick is stronger than usual and the only reason I can possibly point to is. with the recent passings of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard, Bob Dylan clearly becomes my favorite Senior Citizen.
Unless Bill Clinton is 65 yet, but even then, I have a Love/Hate thing with Bill. Hate him when speaking with fellow progressives because really, he was just a centrist who didn't really advance an agenda, but love him when talking to conservatives, if only to drive the point home that he was far and away better than the two shitsticks that sandwiched him.
Political tangent done.
So I'm going with the theory that Dylan is officially now my favorite living legend, and hell, maybe he was when George was alive, I never really compared the two. To satisfy the Dylan urge, I put together a list of what I consider The Dylan Canon: Seventy vital Dylan tunes, to celebrate Dylan's 70th year on earth, which began in late May. Also, I needed a more defined Dylan playlist on the iPod for when I wanted to hear a Dylan mix but didn't want to stumble upon Born Again Bob or some live tracks. I guess the alternate title of The Canon would be "The Unskippale Bob Dylan".
Funny part about Bob approaching 70 - I remember seeing Dylan with a bunch of friends when he played at William Paterson University's gym in 1997, and at the Garden State Arts Center later that summer, under the guise of "We have to see him now while he's still alive".
Dude was only 57. Oh to be 20 again and have no real perspective on aging and mortality. But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.
Bringing it all back home, these are not in order, nor are they intended to be ranked. They're just one man's humble opinion of the 70 most vital Dylan songs, and for what it's worth, this list could be 100, 125 or 150 with very little additional effort. We're talking about Bob Fucking Dylan here.
All Along The Watchtower
All I Really Want To Do
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Blowin' In The Wind
Changing Of The Guards
Chimes Of Freedom
Corrina, Corrina
Days Of 49
Desolation Row
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Forever Young
Gates Of Eden
Girl From The North Country
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Highway 61 Revisited
Hurricane
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
I Shall Be Free
I Shall Be Released
I Want You
Idiot Wind
If Not For You
Isis
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
It Ain't Me Babe
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Joey
Just Like A Woman
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Lay Lady Lay
The Levee's Gonna Break
Like A Rolling Stone
Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Maggie's Farm
Make You Feel My Love
Masters Of War
Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine
Mr. Tambourine Man
My Back Pages
Not Dark Yet
Oh, Sister
One More Cup Of Coffee
One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
Oxford Town
Peggy Day
Positively 4th Street
Queen Jane Approximately
Quinn The Eskimo
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
Shelter From The Storm
Simple Twist Of Fate
Spanish Harlem Incident
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Tangled Up In Blue
The Times They Are A-Changin'
To Ramona
Tombstone Blues
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
Trying To Get To Heaven
Visions Of Johanna
You're A Big Girl
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Music Madness: Charlottesville Sweet 16
Slowly, slowly, slowly getting through this. The end is near. Not really, but it's that much closer. And it shall be even closer after I blow through these two interesting matchups.
Box Score Keys: EC (Entire Collection - 3 pts), DA (Defining Album - 2), PC (Personal Connection - 2), DS (Defining Song -1), HI (Historical Impact -1)
DMB: def (16) Queen 8-1, (8) Elvis Presley 8-1
BJ: def (12) Rage Against the Machine 6-3, (4) U2 5-4
Box Score:
EC: Admittedly a strong case could be made for either. Billy Joel cut his last new album (River of Dreams) within months of DMB's first (Remember Two Things). In the last 5 years, I've drank overpriced beer in the presence of both. However, there are so few chinks in Matthews' armor, and they've kept on keepin on for so long now that despite the tough competition, this one goes their way. ADV: DMB
PC: I got my first Billy Joel album, Storm Front, for Christmas in 1989. Early in 1990, I bought the double-cassette Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. Remember those bulky motherfuckers? They wouldn't fit in a standard cassette holder/case unless it had a few slots specifically defined for them, hence making it impossible to sort your collection in any semblance of order? Reason #175 why I prefer digital music collections. Back to the point. Billy carried on through high school and college, the collection of impacting tunes litters my memory: "Piano Man", "Goodnight Saigon", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "Only the Good Die Young", "Downeaster Alexa" and so on and so forth. But Matthews is something different. Something spiritual. I'll explain in the next round, because by taking this category, he's already advanced.
ADV: DMB
DA: In the list of Sweet 16 defining albums, The Stranger checks in at 14. Crash makes the Top 5. ADV: DMB
DS: "Piano Man" may not be my favorite BJ tune, but as I had previously mentioned, sometimes the song picks the artist. He's known as The Piano Man for Christ's sake. An artist like DMB, there's more latitude - which isn't always a good thing because trying to come up with one is a recipe for spending $5 on a bottle of Excedrin. I went with "Two Step", and it checks in at #4. 11 spots ahead of "Piano Man" ADV: DMB
HI: DMB's yet to win this and this is their best chance yet. However, stepping away from my bias, Billy Joel ranks among the best of the singer/songwriters that defined much of the 1970s. Actually, he is THE best. The Piano Man avoids the shutout. ADV: Billy Joel
FINAL SCORE: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND 8 - BILLY JOEL 1
DOORS: def (15) Dropkick Murphys 9-0, (10) Jay-Z 5-4
FLOYD: def (14) Arctic Monkeys 9-0, (6) Phish 9-0
EC: What a battle of heavyweights we got going on here. Starting with this category and extending all the way through, these are almost as close as you can get - nothing comes easy. Obviously neither is contributing to their collections anymore (or recently for that matter) but there's no way to over-state how stellar both are. The Wall. L.A. Woman. Dark Side of the Moon. The Soft Parade. Wish You Were Here. The Doors. Animals. How do you pick a winner here? I'm going Doors but if you disagree, I don't blame you. Tomorrow I could say Floyd. I just think every single Doors album is a masterpiece. Then again, most Floyd is too.
ADV: Doors
DA: Another one that's very close. I have Dark Side of the Moon three spots ahead of The Doors. And I feel dirty about picking against either.
ADV: Pink Floyd
PC: Oh I don't know how strongly I can go into my personal connection to Pink Floyd, this being the Internets and all. Just take my word for it. Especially if you ever spent 6 hours sitting in a Pine Hall bathroom with the black light on listening to Pulse. The Doors, different story. It was actually the Oliver Stone 1990 movie that turned me on to them. For the first time ever, I was seeking out music that wasn't played on Z-100 or Power 95. I was chastised by nuns for making Jim Morrison the centerpiece of an art project. Fucking nunts. I'm not saying they're the most influential band of my life, but they were personal pioneers. They take this down, and with it, they move on.
ADV: Doors
DS: Just as close as personal connection. I barely, barely, barely have "The End" edging out "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". So barely. If it were anymore bare, it would be arrested for indecent exposure.
HI: Yet another tight one. And really, I feel horrible for Pink Floyd because they're coming up short in the box score but each category was so close. I think the Doors were the first ever "Fuck You" band. And I like that. ADV: Doors
FINAL SCORE: THE DOORS 7 - PINK FLOYD 2
Box Score Keys: EC (Entire Collection - 3 pts), DA (Defining Album - 2), PC (Personal Connection - 2), DS (Defining Song -1), HI (Historical Impact -1)
(1) Dave Matthews Band v (5) Billy Joel
How They Got Here: DMB: def (16) Queen 8-1, (8) Elvis Presley 8-1
BJ: def (12) Rage Against the Machine 6-3, (4) U2 5-4
Box Score:
EC: Admittedly a strong case could be made for either. Billy Joel cut his last new album (River of Dreams) within months of DMB's first (Remember Two Things). In the last 5 years, I've drank overpriced beer in the presence of both. However, there are so few chinks in Matthews' armor, and they've kept on keepin on for so long now that despite the tough competition, this one goes their way. ADV: DMB
PC: I got my first Billy Joel album, Storm Front, for Christmas in 1989. Early in 1990, I bought the double-cassette Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. Remember those bulky motherfuckers? They wouldn't fit in a standard cassette holder/case unless it had a few slots specifically defined for them, hence making it impossible to sort your collection in any semblance of order? Reason #175 why I prefer digital music collections. Back to the point. Billy carried on through high school and college, the collection of impacting tunes litters my memory: "Piano Man", "Goodnight Saigon", "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "Only the Good Die Young", "Downeaster Alexa" and so on and so forth. But Matthews is something different. Something spiritual. I'll explain in the next round, because by taking this category, he's already advanced.
ADV: DMB
DA: In the list of Sweet 16 defining albums, The Stranger checks in at 14. Crash makes the Top 5. ADV: DMB
DS: "Piano Man" may not be my favorite BJ tune, but as I had previously mentioned, sometimes the song picks the artist. He's known as The Piano Man for Christ's sake. An artist like DMB, there's more latitude - which isn't always a good thing because trying to come up with one is a recipe for spending $5 on a bottle of Excedrin. I went with "Two Step", and it checks in at #4. 11 spots ahead of "Piano Man" ADV: DMB
HI: DMB's yet to win this and this is their best chance yet. However, stepping away from my bias, Billy Joel ranks among the best of the singer/songwriters that defined much of the 1970s. Actually, he is THE best. The Piano Man avoids the shutout. ADV: Billy Joel
FINAL SCORE: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND 8 - BILLY JOEL 1
(2) The Doors v (3) Pink Floyd
HOW THEY GOT HERE: DOORS: def (15) Dropkick Murphys 9-0, (10) Jay-Z 5-4
FLOYD: def (14) Arctic Monkeys 9-0, (6) Phish 9-0
EC: What a battle of heavyweights we got going on here. Starting with this category and extending all the way through, these are almost as close as you can get - nothing comes easy. Obviously neither is contributing to their collections anymore (or recently for that matter) but there's no way to over-state how stellar both are. The Wall. L.A. Woman. Dark Side of the Moon. The Soft Parade. Wish You Were Here. The Doors. Animals. How do you pick a winner here? I'm going Doors but if you disagree, I don't blame you. Tomorrow I could say Floyd. I just think every single Doors album is a masterpiece. Then again, most Floyd is too.
ADV: Doors
DA: Another one that's very close. I have Dark Side of the Moon three spots ahead of The Doors. And I feel dirty about picking against either.
ADV: Pink Floyd
PC: Oh I don't know how strongly I can go into my personal connection to Pink Floyd, this being the Internets and all. Just take my word for it. Especially if you ever spent 6 hours sitting in a Pine Hall bathroom with the black light on listening to Pulse. The Doors, different story. It was actually the Oliver Stone 1990 movie that turned me on to them. For the first time ever, I was seeking out music that wasn't played on Z-100 or Power 95. I was chastised by nuns for making Jim Morrison the centerpiece of an art project. Fucking nunts. I'm not saying they're the most influential band of my life, but they were personal pioneers. They take this down, and with it, they move on.
ADV: Doors
DS: Just as close as personal connection. I barely, barely, barely have "The End" edging out "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". So barely. If it were anymore bare, it would be arrested for indecent exposure.
HI: Yet another tight one. And really, I feel horrible for Pink Floyd because they're coming up short in the box score but each category was so close. I think the Doors were the first ever "Fuck You" band. And I like that. ADV: Doors
FINAL SCORE: THE DOORS 7 - PINK FLOYD 2
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