Battle of the Bands: Girl from the North Country

 Been a while. Strange correlation I blog more when there is a subtraction in my life. This blog appears to be doing okay without me being here. Anyway, Bob Dylan has provided many a song to cover. One of my favorite Dylan tunes is "Girl from the North Country."

Bob's version...

Contender One: Pete Townsend

Contender Two: Passenger

 

Tell me who you like in the comments, and I will celebrate the winner in a week or so (try not to make it 10-months)

Battle of the Bands: Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

 Bob Dylan songs same to get a live of their own. He has been covered by The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses, The Who, Robert Plant, and many more. So picking a gem like "Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" would certainly give me some options.

The original:

Contender One: The North Mississippi

All Stars

Contender Two: Cat Power  

Who do you like the best? Let me know in the comments I will announce a winner in a week or two.

Monday's Music Moves Me: Hurricane Songs

 Today's theme on Monday's Music Moves Me is a freebie and I am going to go with a Hurricane Theme.  Just to fill everyone my area was hit by a category two hurricane. I rode the storm out. The flooding was quick to recede at my house and the storm left plenty to clean up in the yard. I am blessed the house wasn't damaged or my truck. I just got power back yesterday after five days. 

Neil Young "Like a Hurricane"

Bob Dylan "Hurricane"

Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney  "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season"

Anyway it is nice to have power and to be blogging again!

Battle of the Bands Results: Jeff Beck and Seal win

Jeff Beck and Seal win 3 to 1 over King's X in a battle over the Jimi Hendrix classic "Manic Depression"



Here the winners get together to cover Bob Dylan's "Like A rolling Stone"

"Crazy" by Seal

See you soon with a new Battle!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs That Tell A story

Today's theme of Monday's Music Moves Me is "Songs That Tell A Story."  Listening to the songs there may be a curse word in some songs. Story one, one S Bomb. Dylan used an S bomb, an A bomb and a son of a …, also the N word is used,

Story One: "God's Own Drunk"  Jimmy Buffett

Story Two: Bob Dylan "Hurricane" vey appropriate for Black History Month. 

Story Three: Don McLean "American Pie"

Story Four "Long Black Veil" by Lefty Frizzell 

Hope you enjoyed story time, see you next time!

R.I.P Robert Hunter

Robert Hunter the legendary lyricist best know for his songs written for the Grateful Dead passed away today. He wrote lyrics for others as well including Jerry Garcia, Bruce Hornsby, Little Feat, Bill Payne, David Nelson, Jim Lauderdale,  and even collaborated with Bob Dylan. he has also written several books of poetry.


                                            Robert's version of "Box of Rain"

The Grateful Dead "Ripple"

I interviewed Bill Payne one of the founders of Little Feat on songwriting with Robert Hunter:

"If Robert doesn’t like something he is going to tell me. If lyrically he sends me something I can’t sing then I need to see if we can do something a little differently. Then he goes, ‘BOOM! – try this!” It’s usually not only better but a lot better."

Here is a song they wrote together "Ragtop Down"

He wrote "Cyclone" for Bruce Hornsby

Bob Dylan "Silvio"

Fare thee well!

"Brokedown Palace"

Hunter is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Americana Music Awards presented him a lifetime achievement award,  but his legacy is in the words of so many songs.

Battle of the Bands: Labor Day Weekend Maggies Farm

Keeping in the Spirit of Labor Day I chose the Bob Dylan song "Maggie's Farm." Of course where this a Bob song there is always a few covers. I am going to lift my glass this weekend and I'm not going to work on "Maggie's Farm."

All right I mix it up with a couple of covers and you let me know which one you like the best in the comments. 

Contender One: Solomon Burke

Contender Two: Rage Against The Machine

Quite different takes of Bob's song! Let me know which one you like best. Enjoy the Holiday I'll drink one for you!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs about Heaven or Hell

Save the last dance for me! Monday's Music Moves Me theme is songs about Heaven or Hell.  If I am going to Heaven then I don't mind being early if I am going to Hell well the devil can wait.

                                                       "Hell in a Bucket"  Grateful Dead

The Cure "Just Like Heaven"

AC/DC "Highway to Hell"

Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"

Bob Dylan "Knockin'  on Heaven's Door"

Pink Floyd "Run like Hell"

I hope you enjoyed!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Christmas Eve Edition

Kind of fitting my Music Moves Me post is coming out a little later in the day. It is Christmas Eve!  The theme for the month for Monday's Music Moves Me is Christmas.

I am going to have Bob Dylan tells about tonight..."Twas The Night Before Christmas"

Trans-Siberian Orchestra "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo" 

 

Celine Dion's "Christmas Eve"

I will leave you with "Silent Night"

It is a new version from Eric Clapton...

Thank you and have a Merry Christmas!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Can you see the music?

Today's topic on Monday's Music Moves Me is two songs with sign language and two without.

First song Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" one of my favorites by the band...

                     
The song..

Queen's "We will rock you" in ASL..

The song..

A bonus track but fitting...

Eric Clapton with a song called "Sign Language" penned by Bob Dylan

 
Hope you enjoyed! Music is an art and it can be enjoyed beyond the ears.

Monday's Music Moves Me: Songs that Spell Out My Name

Another Monday is near! This Monday's Music Moves Me selection was chosen by The Sound of One Hand Typing. If you visit John's blog be sure to poke around. If you like fine music you may want to visit his site for a while. Song titles that start with each letter of your name is the same. So it would be four songs, one for M, one for I and so forth.





Mike is the name and rambling is my game!

"Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf

"Iko, Iko" The Dixie Cups

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" Bob Dylan

"Easy to Slip" Little Feat

Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for a new post soon!

Monday's Music Moves Me: Color Me with Music

Today's theme is similar to a theme in January with songs with colors. Revisit if you want for more colorful songs here. I like to think I'm creative, or at least at times. There is a lot of music out there.

If I'm coloring me, I'm trying to "Pant My Masterpiece" and I hope you are painting yours..

The Band performing the song written by Bob Dylan.

Below "Color Me Once" The Violent Femmes

Ben Haggard "Color Me"

In the end we can only hope to see the "True Colors"

Well I hope you enjoyed. I'm going to put the paints and brushes down.

Battle of the Bands Results: No Love for the Boss

 Sometimes things are missed in translation on a blog. There is no wink, twinkle of the eye or facial expression. I participate in the Battle of the Bands because it is fun. I enjoy it. I'm happy with it. It looks like most participants are changing to once a month on the 15th. Cool!  I'll give it a whirl. It is a change and was one of many going on in my world which led to my choice of song on the 15th.

Onto the results. My battle featured three musical icons Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. Dylan gets covered quite a bit and I think I picked a song that hasn't been covered by everyone. I liked stripping the Battle down to just Bruce versus Billy.

Billy Joel ran away with this Battle winning 6 to 0.


Let's celebrate "Uptown Girl"

"It's Still Rock N Roll to Me"

"River Dreams"

Hope you enjoyed! I'll be back mid-month for a new Battle of the Bands. Stay tuned to see what else turns up.

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Bob Dylan recently was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Certainly he is qualified to recite a poem perhaps written by  Clement Clarke Moore. It is perfect for the Christmas Eve.

"The Night Before Christmas"

recited by Bob Dylan...

Merry Christmas! Thanks for visiting and enjoy!

A Rocktober Nobel Prize

Rocktober continues as Bob Dylan has just won the Nobel Prize for literature.  I suddenly feel better read now that I have listened to his music. Bob Dylan is the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize. He certainly has written some masterpieces which have been successful for him and the artists who have covered him. As a music fan I find him winning this award very exciting. I wonder which songwriters could be next to win the award.

Today is Bob's day and we salute him..."The Times They Are A Changin'"

"Tangled Up in Blue"..

 

"Don't Think Twice"...

I'm sure I might spotlight a song of his somewhere down the line on a Battle of the Bands. Right now it is just a quick celebration.

Happy Birthday Robert Hunter!

Today, June 23, 2015 is Robert Hunter's birthday. In my opinion is one of the greatest lyricist on the planet. You may not know his  name but if you listen to the Grateful Dead you have surely heard songs he has penned.

Here Robert Hunter performs "Ripple" at the Songwriters Hall of Fame honoring Jerry Garcia and himself..

His contribution to the Grateful Dead was so big he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band as a non-performing member of the band.

Here is one Hunter's vintage solo songs called "Dry Dusty Road"...

He wrote the song "Silvio" and a few others for Bob Dylan..

He wrote this song with "Little Feat" for an album back in 2013..

I'll leave you with this classic "Brokedown Palace"

I hope you enjoy the music and I will be back soon!

Happy Birthday Kris Kristofferson

 Today June 22, 2015 is Kris Kristofferson's birthday. He was just featured in a blog by a friend of mind called the Far Away Series in a Battle of the Band. He lost that match up with Johnny Cash.

But Johnny Cash and Kris have had some collaborations outside of a Battle of the Bands.

Yes I added Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings because you can never have too many superstars.

I really discovered Kris Kristofferson when I saw him open up for Bob Dylan, But the first time I remember hearing a song he wrote was through Janis Joplin..

"Me and Bobby McGee" was a song Kris wrote. He also dabbled in acting as well..

The above clip was from Blade. My favorite Kris Kristofferson song is "Sunday Morning Coming Down"

Thanks for visiting! What is your favorite Kris Kristofferson song? Movie part?

End of an Era: David Letterman

Award winning talk show host David Letterman has called it a career. In his career he won two daytime Emmy Awards and 10 Prime Time Emmy Awards. He was nominated for an amazing 52 Emmy Awards.

David Letterman was honored in 2012 as part of the Kennedy Center Honors.

If you are a music fan search out that show where he was honored. Buddy Guy and Led Zeppelin were also honored at that event but this blog post is not about them.

He was also famous for his Top Ten lists here is one last one..

Here is someones compilation of David's best moments:

Do you agree? Any moments they missed? What was your favorite moment? Feel free to share in the comments.

Here is Bob Dylan performing "The Night We Called it a Day" on David Letterman's show..

The title fits as David Letterman called it a day last night.

Post 1000

Well my blog reaches a milestone with this post. This is post 1000.

Let's start with a theme song for this post..

Post One

Here is how it all started in Early September 2007.

My first blog about a book..

My thoughts on the award winning Civil War fiction book Nashville 1864 by Madison Jones.

My first post to get triple digit page views..

Was one asking: Why do weekends go so fast?.

As I look back on my blog. I see how the blog has improved. I see how I have become a better writer. It is also cool to see what I have accomplished writing wise.

I'll leave you with Jimmy Buffett..there is still so much to do! See you on post 1001.

A to Z Challenge: R.I.P Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter died today at the age of 76 he was battling prostate cancer. The name might not ring a bell to some. Rubin Carter was a boxer in the 1960s. He was a contender compiling a record of 27-12-1.

Bob Dylan summed him up in this song performed by Ani DiFranco..(sorry couldn't find A dylan version not muted or messed up)

Here is Rubin in action against Emile Griffith...

Rubin Carter was convicted twice for multiple murders he did not commit. The conviction ended his boxing career. His 19 years in prison. A movie was made about his life and here is the trailer...

Here is a speech he gave some years after his release....

He lost a career, he lost many years of his freedom, and somehow turned into a better person through it. May he rest in peace.