ralper

"Oh mama can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile,
With the Memphis blues again."

Make sure you watch part II tonight. I'm sure PBS will show it again, and I'd bet it will be available on DVD in the future.

dean

Me too. I've got quite a few Dylan SACDs that get a lot of play. My favorite:

Oh God said to abraham

dean

I wish I could, but I've got to write an exam tonight. Oh well, maybe PBS will rerun it soon, or offer a DVD.

ralper

And mine:

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
And it's Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you

Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move
My fingers are all in a knot
I don't have the strength
To get up and take another shot
And my best friend, my doctor
Won't even say what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind
And careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you
And man they expect the same

Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel who
Just arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left looking just like a ghost

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough

MsPerky

I'm pretty sure it's going to be on DVD. I think I read that in the review.

ralper

Get away from my window,
Leave at your own chosen speed,
I'm not the one you want babe,
I'm not the one you need.




You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Smokee

There's a small film on DVD called "The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack," made by the daughter of Ramblin' Jack Elliot. He took up with Woody Guthrie before Dylan arrived and according to Ramblin' Jack, people thought Dylan was imitating Ramblin' Jack when Dylan first arrived in New York. Ramblin' Jack says he isn't bitter about Dylan becoming famous and him not. But I detect a acid tone there . . .

I read in one of the reviews how Joan Baez would ask Dylan to come out during her concerts before he was Big News, but he didn't return the favor to her after he had made it.

I've always been curious about his motivation. I think he wanted to be famous, did he also want to be rich? That would seem to have contadicted what his songs were about.

I once stumbled across a place on the beach in Malibu that was under construction. Big round towers with copper roofing, kind of weird and garish even for the wealthy at Malibu. Turns out it was Dylan's house. Then as Gordon Lightfoot said about it, "Hey, the guy needed a house."

ralper

That was the mystery of Dylan. On the one hand, here was the man writing folk/protest music. Music for the people. On the other hand here was the private man who wanted the money and power, wanted the fame, wanted the wealth. Here was the man who refused to play Woodstock or go on concert.

I think the contradiction that is Dylan, the mystery that surrounded him and his lyrics, helped to enhance and create his image. Sometimes I think it just happened, most times I think it was planned. I think he was clever enough and knew exactly what he was doing.

In some ways Dylan seems very much like, but certainly more talented than Phil Spector, another brilliant rock and roll writer/producer/player of the time.

That said I still think he is the greatest songwriter of our generation, and I think his music is the most important of our time.

This afternoon I tried to think of what I would choose as the 10 greatest rock and roll songs ever written. At least 5 of my choices would be Dylan songs.

ralper

Good show. I think it's going to be repeated next Saturday night. It is also available on DVD.

dean

<Mr. Burns voice> Ex-cell-ent </Mr. Burns voice>

Do you happen to have a link/info for ordering the DVD?