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Bob Dylan -- Eephus's Reviews From Walking With His Beloved Dog Bosley During 2019: The Nobel Poet And A Fine Essayist With A Musical Corpus (3 Viewers)

Rumor was that **** Clark spearheaded the movement to add the opening lines and cut out the most murder-y aspects.
The cleaned up version Lloyd Price recorded for American Bandstand ends up with Stag and Billy living happily ever after after Billy gives him "his girlfriend and everything that I have"

Pat Boone's Caucasian cover of the Price hit isn't on Spotify.  It's white bread with a slice of cheese but at least it ends with Billy lying dead on the bar room floor.

 
The cleaned up version Lloyd Price recorded for American Bandstand ends up with Stag and Billy living happily ever after after Billy gives him "his girlfriend and everything that I have"

Pat Boone's Caucasian cover of the Price hit isn't on Spotify.  It's white bread with a slice of cheese but at least it ends with Billy lying dead on the bar room floor.
There's a really good case that the real-life Stagger was white (I think Greil Marcus wrote a book tracing the song back through its spaghetti-mix history, though it's been decades since I read it). I wonder if Pat knew that and thought Billy was black ...........

 
There's a really good case that the real-life Stagger was white (I think Greil Marcus wrote a book tracing the song back through its spaghetti-mix history, though it's been decades since I read it). I wonder if Pat knew that and thought Billy was black ...........
That "ooga booga" at the end of Boone's version is questionable.

Marcus wrote a chapter in Mystery Train about Stagger Lee and Sly Stone.  I'd love to reread it but I lent my copy to somebody a long time ago.  His take has helped to amplify the legend.  I'm never going to read another one of Marcus' books though.  Lipstick Traces was pretty heavy sledding for me and the one he wrote about the American prophecy of the shiny city on a hill was poor.  I finished it but Greil and I are through unless he writes about his dog.

 
I won't be around to find out but I wonder what if any events from today will become American folk tales in 100 years time.  It's probably impossible since society has grown so homogeneous and interconnected but at least there's always Florida.

 
I won't be around to find out but I wonder what if any events from today will become American folk tales in 100 years time.  It's probably impossible since society has grown so homogeneous and interconnected but at least there's always Florida.
Personally, I am gonna do my best to make it this:

... 

Boz had a very eventful day but it was all of his doing.  It opens at 6AM when Mrs. Eephus wakes to make coffee as she does out of force of habit.  Bosley woke up too and followed her into the kitchen.  He proceeded to pee on her feet, slip on it and fall into the puddle.  At least that's her side of the story.  Needless to say, it turned into a bath day.  Boz is small enough for the kitchen sink, which is a big advantage over a tub sized dog.  He's too old to put up a fight so he just stands there looking miserable.  But now he's clean and beautiful.
I am still working on my strategy tho. 

 
Also, I'd never really known the Stagger Lee legend until you and Uruk discussed it, so that's cool as all get out (putting aside the ramifications of the actual act). Thanks.

 
rockaction said:
Also, I'd never really known the Stagger Lee legend until you and Uruk discussed it, so that's cool as all get out (putting aside the ramifications of the actual act). Thanks.
It's basically Frankie and Johnny without the palpable sexual tension.

One historical account places the real-life Frankie and Johnny in St. Louis around the same time as Stagger Lee.

 
I believe Price's version added the scene-setting intro.

The night was clear and the moon was yellow and the leaves came tumbling down...

I can't find any versions with this line prior to 1959.  A lot of covers since then have included it.
The definitive version imo 

 
Not a terrific record for the Thursday night walk.

Down In The Groove (1988)

The 80s wasn't a  great decade for Dylan in general but this is one of his weaker efforts.  In fact, Rolling Stone rated it his worst in 2007.  Most of his records have some unity to them, they were cut in a limited number of sessions with a common set of musicians.  They sound like proper albums.  Down In The Groove is kind of a mess by comparison.  Six of the ten songs are covers and two of the originals were co-written with Robert Hunter.  The backing bands are a grab bag of talent including members of the Grateful Dead, The Clash, The Sex Pistols and Winger.  It was recorded over a period of four years so there's a lack of cohesiveness.

I was hard pressed to add a song to the playlist.  I went with Silvio one of the Hunter/Dead collaborations that sounds a bit like one of their songs.  The dirgelike "Death Is Not The End" is pretty good but the arrangement wears out its welcome before its five minutes are up.  Dylan's cover of Wilbert Harrison's old rock 'n roll number "Let's Stick Together" is kind of fan.  On the bad end, "Ugliest Girl in the World" is about as bad as you'd imagine from the title.  "Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street)" is the world's dullest song with 90 mph in the title. 

Not much new in the land of Boz so I'll mention something that happened earlier in the week.  We were out for a walk in the daytime so he was wearing his sunglasses.  We were approaching a homeless guy standing on the street.  He was wearing the partial crazy guy uniform--shirtless and sagging jeans and was yelling about something to someone who wasn't in sight.  So Boz and I come up to him and the guy stops screaming and says to me in a relatively normal tone of voice "the dog has cool shades".   We had a brief conversation before I put my headphones back in and walked away.  Thankfully, he waited until we got a fair distance away before he resumed talking to himself.

 
Not much new in the land of Boz so I'll mention something that happened earlier in the week.  We were out for a walk in the daytime so he was wearing his sunglasses.  We were approaching a homeless guy standing on the street.  He was wearing the partial crazy guy uniform--shirtless and sagging jeans and was yelling about something to someone who wasn't in sight.  So Boz and I come up to him and the guy stops screaming and says to me in a relatively normal tone of voice "the dog has cool shades".   We had a brief conversation before I put my headphones back in and walked away.  Thankfully, he waited until we got a fair distance away before he resumed talking to himself.
:thumbup:  Boz has a calming effect - nice. Keep spread'n it.🤙 😎✌️

Ah - nice pick. I've liked this quite a bit over the years. I think it is because it came out while I was in college and just getting into his older stuff as well. It feels like an ol'timey power - boastful blues ride in a way.

Stake my future on a hell of a past
Looks like tomorrow is a coming on fast
Ain't complaining about what I got
Seen better times but who has not


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


Honest as the next jade rolling that stone
When I come and knockin' don't throw me no bone
I'm an old boll weevil looking for a home
If you don't like it you can leave me alone


I can snap my fingers and require the rain
From a clear blue sky and turn it off again
I can stroke your body and relieve your pain
And charm the whistle off an evening train


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


Give what I got until I got no more
I take what I get until I even the score
You know I love you and further more
When it is time to go you got an open door


I can tell your fancy I can tell your plain
You give something up for everything you gain
Since every pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


One of these days and it won't be long
Going down the valley and sing my song
Gonna sing it loud and sing it strong
Let the echo decide if I was right or wrong


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


Silvio silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know


I still call 'em records because they were recorded.
I'll accept that logic. Thnx. 

 
The lyrics for Silvio were written entirely by Robert Hunter.  Dylan provided the tune.

Down In The Groove is a poor album but at least it's only 32 minutes long.

 
The lyrics for Silvio were written entirely by Robert Hunter.  Dylan provided the tune.

Down In The Groove is a poor album but at least it's only 32 minutes long.
I just now wiki'd Hunter for the 1st time. I see/hear the Dead influence or whatever kind of connection you would call it. 

I never owned this album, so I am not even sure if I know any other songs off of it.

 
Yeah - I'm revealing waaaay too many secrets for free! 😍

;)

Thnx man - I always struggle with how much of the lyrics to quote. Plus, I'm lyric-addled in general. 🤩

This sounds sweet. Are you doing a train or car or else?
Taxi then train. 

I only suggested for space reasons, by the way. Love me some lyrics. Peace, mang. Good vibes coming.

 
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Taxi then train. 

I only suggested for space reasons, by the way. Love me some lyrics. Peace, many. Good vibes coming.
Cool.

Yeah - I took it in the spirit, bro. 😎

Good vibes ...

...Better vibes ...

Watch out for the Vandals!

Johnny's in the basement, mixin' up the medicine
I'm on the pavement, thinkin' about the government
The man in the trench coat, badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough, wants to get it paid off
Look out kid, it's somethin' you did
God knows when, but you're doin' it again
You better duck down the alleyway, looking for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap in a pig pen
Wants 11 dollar bills – you only got 10


Maggie comes fleet foot, face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put plants in the bet book
Phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says "The Man, he say
They must bust in early May, orders from the D.A."
Look out kid, don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes, don’t tie no bows
Better stay away from those that carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose, watch the plainclothes
You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows


Oh, get sick, get well, hang around a ink well
Hang bail, hard to tell if anything is gonna sell
Try hard, get barred, get back, ride rail
Get jailed, jump bail, join the Army if you fail
Look out kid, you're gonna get hit
By losers, cheaters, six-time users
Hanging 'round the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool's looking for a new fool
Don't follow leaders, a-watch the parking meters


Oh, get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance
Learn to dance, get dressed
Get blessed, try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don't steal, don't lift
20 years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift
Look out kid, they keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole, light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals, try to avoid the scandals
Don't want to be a bum, you better chew gum
The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles
 
Malaga is gorgeous. How did you like Barcelona? 
Barcelona was interesting at night. Lots of fifties architecture in the city. Not my favorite. The Gothic Quarter and the Picasso museum were wonderful, though. All in all, a lovely experience, but nothing like Italy.

 
Barcelona was interesting at night. Lots of fifties architecture in the city. Not my favorite. The Gothic Quarter and the Picasso museum were wonderful, though. All in all, a lovely experience, but nothing like Italy.
Florence is tough to beat. I assume you saw the Gaudi stuff- La Sagrade  Familia especially. To me that is just so unlike anything else I have seen, it is a sight. I really like Barcelona but much of it is because it was the first Euopean city I went to and the night life is really fantastic. If you liked Florence, I think Budapest and Prague would be up your alley.

 
Florence is tough to beat. I assume you saw the Gaudi stuff- La Sagrade  Familia especially. To me that is just so unlike anything else I have seen, it is a sight. I really like Barcelona but much of it is because it was the first Euopean city I went to and the night life is really fantastic. If you liked Florence, I think Budapest and Prague would be up your alley.
Yep. Saw Park Guell. Saw La Sagrada Familia. Very interesting and colorful, actually. But I don't really need Fantasia. I think Budapest and Prague (the city I've always wanted to visit) would indeed be up my alley. I've realized one thing: I like museums and libraries. They're sort of like secular church to me. It's the modern part of Barcelona I didn't love, but it's still beautiful at night.

 
Boz and I slowly picked out way through the post-Pride crowd to our theme from an imaginary Western.

Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid (Soundtrack) - (1973)

It's not much of a record.  There are two proper songs and a bunch of incidental music from the movie.  One of the two songs is "Knocking on Heaven's Door" which is just verse/chorus/verse/chorus and is over in 2:12 (Guns N Roses more than doubled that for their cover).  The other song is "Billy" which appears in three different renditions.  I like "Billy 4" better than Billy 1 or 7 but I don't think the song works.  The song is sung to Billy the Kid but never gets inside the character.

The song I picked for the playlist is a gorgeous instrumental called Bunkhouse Theme.  It's been decades since I saw the film.  It was probably during the VHS era which wasn't ideal for dark movies with lots of mumbling.

Bosley has become a more erratic eater in his old age.  He used to wolf down the food as soon as it hit the bowl but will now sometimes leave meals untouched in his bowl.  Other times like tonight he'll finish his food and spend the next five minutes licking the empty dish and pushing it around. 

 
I approached the next album with a bit of trepidation so I split it over two nights.

Shot of Love (1981)

This record is the third and final album of Dylan's born-again cycle although it has a heavy component of secular songs (and Dylan never moves totally away from matters of the soul). I've seen it ranked by others as the one of the worst albums of his career but I kind of liked it.   Let's start with the not so good.  There are lots of background singers which I've come to recognize as a warning sign when it comes to Dylan.  "Property of Jesus" is his worst religious song IMO.  The album has its share of mediocrities but also a handful of unforgettable songs.  I  struggled to narrow it down to two.  The last runners-up were "Lenny Bruce", which is funny enough for its subject and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" is a rollicking blues with this great opening

Prayed in the ghetto with my face in the cement,
Heard the last moan of a boxer, seen the massacre of the innocent
Felt around for the light switch, became nauseated.
She was walking down the hallway while the walls deteriorated.


The two for the playlist are Heart of Mine, a religious/love song with a Ry Cooderish feel to it and the album closer Every Grain of Sand, that joins the ranks of Dylan's great album closing tracks.  It's an epic with a melody that reprises "Chimes of Freedom" and lyrics that are intensely spiritual but not overtly religious.  I also liked the live sounding production and backing by mostly LA sessionmen (plus Ringo).  Dylan's 80s albums got progressively less natural sounding but I've whined about that already and everyone made poor choices in that decade.

One advantage of having an old deaf dog is that he's unbothered by the sound of fireworks.  There were a lot of fireworks both last night and tonight but the booms were outside of Bosley's small range of high frequency hearing.  Our last dog Charlie was traumatized around every holiday with fireworks.  Boz was never that bad but now he doesn't even notice.

 
So here it is. Back on the weekend of the Fourth. Missed the fireworks due to sleep and jet lag. I'm up at 3:30 AM Pacific, which is really about 1 PM given my body clock now. Not listening to Dylan, actually. I got a copy of What's Going On by Marvin Gaye -- The Back to Black European version, mastered from the analog tapes -- and am currently spinning it. As far as Dylan goes, woke up to my favorite Dylan track in my head. It's sort of been a whirlwind two and a half weeks. Italy was a dream, Spain was reality.

Listening to "What's Happening, Brother" right now. This was a real soul album. I guess topical wasn't the way Motown wanted to go, but Marvin had a different idea -- and it clearly worked. A nice reality check for the future.

Anyway, I'm sort of really digging the first side of this album. I never really listened to it, so add this to the thread and Dylan relevance in that it's a socially conscious piece of art that I missed along the way, remastered from analogue fifty years later, beautifully done.

Word to this album. I hope you are all enjoying what is likely a vacation day tomorrow. I'll check in. I can finally type things other than utterances, so expect some updates about both Dylan and the trip. 

 
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So here it is. Back on the weekend of the Fourth. Missed the fireworks due to sleep and jet lag. I'm up at 3:30 AM Pacific, which is really about 1 PM given my body clock now. Not listening to Dylan, actually. I got a copy of What's Going On by Marvin Gaye -- The Back to Black European version, mastered from the analogue tapes -- and am currently spinning it. As far as Dylan goes, woke up to my favorite Dylan track in my head. It's sort of been a whirlwind two and a half weeks. Italy was a dream, Spain was reality.

Listening to "What's Happening, Brother" right now. This was a real soul album. I guess topical wasn't the way Motown wanted to go, but Marvin had a different idea -- and it clearly worked. A nice reality check for the future.

Anyway, I'm sort of really digging the first side of this album. I never really listened to it, so add this to the thread and Dylan relevance in that it's a socially conscious piece of art that I missed along the way, remastered from analogue fifty years later, beautifully done.

Word to this album. I hope you are all enjoying what is likely a vacation day tomorrow. I'll check in. I can finally type things other than utterances, so expect some updates about both Dylan and the trip. 
The "new" Marvin Gaye album released this year is worth a listen.  It's not What's Going On but what is?

 
The "new" Marvin Gaye album released this year is worth a listen.  It's not What's Going On but what is?
I'll have to check it out. I'm sort of letting What's Going On wash over me now. I'd always thought, politics aside, that Mercy Mercy Me was one of the most beautiful songs ever put to wax. I'm undeterred upon many listens. I am loving the first side of this disc, though. It's absolutely beautiful. 

 
I'll have to check it out. I'm sort of letting What's Going On wash over me now. I'd always thought, politics aside, that Mercy Mercy Me was one of the most beautiful songs ever put to wax. I'm undeterred upon many listens. I am loving the first side of this disc, though. It's absolutely beautiful. 
One of the greatest achievements in the storied Motown catalogue 

 
One of the greatest achievements in the storied Motown catalogue 
Word. Somehow he mixed a degree of social consciousness with a sunny summer day without air conditioning.

I can feel the sort of heat permeating from the kitchen to the dining and living rooms; nighttime brings cool respite. 

 
Whoops. I am gathering that this is not mastered from analog. The men and women over at Steve Hoffman's message board are certainly asking the question and often answering in the negative. Apparently the 1970/1 Tamla edition and the Mobile Fidelity versions are the gold standard here. 

Such is life.

 
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Even better, I use analog and analogue interchangeably, which seems incorrect. Wrong art form, pal.

I knew this, but still insist on using it incorrectly for some reason.

 
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Whoops. I am gathering that this is not mastered from analog. The men and women over at Steve Hoffman's message board are certainly asking the question and often answering in the negative. Apparently the 1970/1 Tamla edition and the Mobile Fidelity versions are the gold standard here. 

Such is life.
Nerds

 
One of the greatest achievements in the storied Motown catalogue 
Motown isn't much of an albums label.  Hitsville was always about the hits.

Stevie's got a bunch of strong albums, Marvin a handful, The Temps have a couple of great ones, Rick James too.  I've declared my love for DeBarge here before.  But the Supremes, the Miracles, Four Tops, etc. were a bit early for the album as an artistic statement.  The Jacksons' best albums came after leaving for CBS.

 
Motown isn't much of an albums label.  Hitsville was always about the hits.

Stevie's got a bunch of strong albums, Marvin a handful, The Temps have a couple of great ones, Rick James too.  I've declared my love for DeBarge here before.  But the Supremes, the Miracles, Four Tops, etc. were a bit early for the album as an artistic statement.  The Jacksons' best albums came after leaving for CBS.
The Commodores also had a nice run of pop-funk albums for Motown in the '70s.

Berry Gordy tried to release full-scale albums every once in a while. He just didn't know what the hell he was doing (The Supremes Sing Country & Western anyone?). And by the time Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye showed him how to do it, Motown as anything other than just another corporate behemoth had ceased to exist.

 
The dang :nerd: over at Steve Hoffman also bring up a great point about the Ultradisc One-Step version of the Mobile Fidelity pressing of What's Going On. One intones that 70% of the songs are crossfaded. What will they do when they split it up over four sides, he wonders?

The actual quote. Sckott from Steve Hoffman on the reissue: "I vote NO on this. We've had about 13 reissues on it recently, but it's also 70% crossfaded tracks. You really have to fade or cut out between sides during cutting. Slicing up this record isn't right. And they'll have to do it."

It was something that this particular not-quite-so nerd actually thought. I've been noticing a lot of re-pressings that separate an album into four sides have come at the expense of both:

  1. Continuity
  2. Segues/Crossfades/Fade-Ins/Fade-Outs
It may be why the original MoFi version, which keeps the continuity of the album in its original sequencing, is actually worth more on Discogs than the Ultradisc. Both, of course, have been sold out for a long time now, even at the one hundred twenty-five dollar price that MoFi was charging for the super cut. People waited a year for the release.

Back to Dylan, a kind of shill for the product, and the relevance of this post thereof to the main topic: Get your Blood On The Tracks Ultradisc on pre-order from MoFi now if that's your jam. It's sure to sell out.

 
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Every Grain of Sand is an all-timer.

ETA: Emmylou's take on Wrecking Ball is excellent, too.

 
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The Commodores also had a nice run of pop-funk albums for Motown in the '70s.

Berry Gordy tried to release full-scale albums every once in a while. He just didn't know what the hell he was doing (The Supremes Sing Country & Western anyone?). And by the time Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye showed him how to do it, Motown as anything other than just another corporate behemoth had ceased to exist.
Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down is a Motown release too.

 
Marvin Gaye in 1971:

"I spent the three years writing, producing and reflecting. Reflecting upon life and upon America especially – because that's where I live – its injustices, its evils and its goods. Not that I'm a radical – I think of myself as a very middle-of-the-road sort of person with a good sense of judgment. I think if I had to choose another profession I'd like to be a judge because I'm very capable of determining what's right and what's not."

Brief interview here.

 
Back to Dylan, will update Marvin when appropriate. I'm seriously considering -- well, I should just say getting -- the half-speed remastered, deluxe 4xLP EU version of What's Going On. Will update upon listening. It has the original Detroit sessions and a live performance by Marvin.

Listened to Freewheelin' again tonight. It's pretty easy. I keep coming back to that album. @Ilov80shad it right; it's probably my favorite from '62-'66, with Bringing It All Back Home as a close second. (This does not take into account Blonde on Blonde).

Eephus, I hope the walk went well tonight. I'm turning this over back to you and Bos for the most part, with interjections when appropriate. Let it be your diary. Peace.

 
I started Self Portrait on Sunday night.  It's surprisingly decent so far although I understand why it baffled audiences in 1970.  I need to get my plan together for the 2019 draft so I'm probably taking a few days off of Dylan.

Boz is doing well.  We left him alone in the house for six hours on Friday while we went to a matinee of Spiderman and met some of Mrs. Eephus' concert friends for some light day drinking.  I split on dinner early so I could get home to check on the dog.  I was expecting to have to do some mopping but Bosley was fine.

 

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