Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

“When I’m performing, that’s the real me.” — Billy Lee Riley

“Memphis 1955 on Union Avenue Carl and Jerry and Charlie and Roy And Billy Riley too…” – Johnny Cash, “I Will Rock’n’Roll With You” “and Billy Riley too” …. Billy Lee Riley was always a little irritated to be an … Continue reading

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“[My ambition is to] give something to our literature which will be our own.” — Walt Whitman

“I like to think that eventually he will shame us into becoming Americans again.” — Guy Davenport on Walt Whitman Whitman is the organizing principle behind my review of Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue. Bob Dylan quotes Whitman all the … Continue reading

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“I don’t call myself a poet, because I don’t like the word. I’m a trapeze artist.” – Bob Dylan

For Bob Dylan’s birthday “When I first heard Elvis Presley’s voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out … Continue reading

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“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” — Jack Kerouac

It’s his birthday today. In Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Tom Wolfe paints a pretty brutal picture of Jack Kerouac, at a party in New York, when the Hippie Bus rolled into town. (Robert Stone was also at that party. He … Continue reading

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“I came to the promised land of a grocery store parking lot and I found my special purpose.” — Kurt Cobain

“The kid has heart.” — Bob Dylan, after hearing Nirvana’s song “Polly” for the first time Today is Kurt Cobain’s birthday. I’m not over it. There are defining moments in a generation, moments everyone remembers. For my generation it was … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday, Leadbelly

From Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending: LADY: What’s all that writing on it? VAL: Autographs of musicians I run into here and there. LADY: Can I see it? VAL: Turn on that light above you. [She switches on green-shaded bulb … Continue reading

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“Great balls of fire! My friend, Roderigo!” Jerry Lee Lewis as Iago

A re-post in honor of the Killer. R.I.P. In 1968, there was a short-lived production of Othello in Los Angeles, a dream project of producer Jack Good, who wrote a loose adaptation filled with rock ‘n roll songs. He called … Continue reading

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After a long break: Let’s iTunes Shuffle

I work from home. It’s a busy job, lots of meetings and Zoom calls, and then there’s my writing work, as well as family stuff and having a personal life, and in the last 3 months I have been – … Continue reading

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My New Life Music Shuffle

This has been going on for two months. It’s been a very busy and yet very strange time. Lots more driving than I normally did in my “old” life. Music has helped me stay grounded.

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Stressful Autumn Shuffle

The past two months have been so stressful I’m not sure I even processed the stress. I’ve been up in Rhode Island, mostly, and then Allison and I went and stayed in a cottage in the woods of Connecticut for … Continue reading

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