Dylan On The Dead
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A excerpt from Bob Dylan’s new book The Philosophy of Modern Song, he writes-
“The Grateful Dead are not your usual rock and roll band. They're essentially a dance band. They have more in common with Artie Shaw and bebop than they do with the Byrds or the Stones. Whirling dervish dancers are as much a part of their music as anything else. There is a big difference in the types of women that you see from the stage when you are with the Stones compared to the Dead. With the Stones it's like being at a porno convention. With the Dead, it's more like the women you see by the river in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? Free floating, snaky and slithering like in a typical daydream. Thousands of them. With most bands the audience participates like in a spectator sport. They just stand there and watch. They keep a distance. With the Dead, the audience is part of the band-they might as well be on the stage.”
Might as well, might as well!
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Tim
hey now
hey now
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
Dylan on Jerry
Dylan on Jerry
>There’s no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or as a player. I don’t think eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great – much more than a superb musician with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He is the very spirit personified of whatever is muddy river country at its core and screams up into the spheres. He really had no equal.
To me he wasn’t only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know. There are a lot of spaces and advances between the Carter family, Buddy Holly and, say, Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was moody, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. THERE’S NO WAY to convey the loss. It just digs down really deep.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
Dylan also said that Garcia
Dylan also said that Garcia captured the melody to what Dylan wrote better than he had put on recordings himself
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
Just finished, reads like his
Just finished, reads like his radio show patter. Not necessarily a bad thing, worth reading.
Listen to the songs on yootoob before reading the chapters.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: JP (J Bomb)
It's similar to the Dylan
It's similar to the Dylan Radio hour in that he offers insight into the song and artist. That's great stuff.
But the really interesting part is the interpretations of what the songs mean (at least to him). It's personal vision, written in that unmistakable Dylan dream-like prose. Absolutely fascinating.
Circling back to the Boys....love the massive Phil props.
"What makes them essentially a dance band probably begins with jazz classical bassist Phil Lesh, and the Elvin Jones-influenced Bill Kreutzmann. Lesh is one of the more skilled bassists you'll ever hear in subtlety and invention".
Natch.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
> written in that
> written in that unmistakable Dylan dream-like prose
I read a review last week (but can't remember where) that said pretty much the same thing. It compared the style of the prose in this new book to the style of the lyrics in his songs; like the voice of the book is an extension of the voice of his songs in a way. I've heard nothing but good stuff about The Philosophy of Modern Song and pulled the trigger on it last night.