And more on Christmas In The Heart ...10:38 am
I’ve written a post on this over at the First Thoughts blog this morning. Click here to read it: Tangled Up In Tinsel: A Preview of Bob Dylan’s “Christmas In The Heart.”
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Bob Dylan: Now he’s Judas in a red suit? ...5:32 pm
I guess I’m naive, but I’ve been flabbergasted at the negative reaction to the Christmas In The Heart samples from some commenters at one of the Dylan messageboards, to which I went after following a link from DylanTweets. There are actually some alleged fans of Bob Dylan who seem to lack any kind of sense of humor or goodhearted spirit of fun. Shocking, huh? (Talk about keeping Christmas in your heart!)
What did some of these hecklers expect Bob Dylan to sound like singing Christmas standards? One thing he sure ain’t is Perry Como. Instead of trying to conjure up some kind false smoothness and technical range in his voice, he’s just going for the full croak. It’s the juxtaposition of the roughness of his voice with the sweetness of the songs that will make his versions stand out, and — I have no doubt — bring added poignancy to certain numbers. I’m not going to mount some kind of huge critique or defense of the album based on these brief lo-fi clips from Amazon, but at a minimum it sounds like fun. I mean, c’mon! Of-course no one has to like it, or has to listen to it. But to rip into an innocent little album of Christmas tunes, with the money going to charity, does not speak well of those doing the ripping. Of-course it’s far from the first time that Dylan has done something that for some reason has brought out the worst in people who claim to be aficionados of his work.
Anyone who gets Bob surely would know that he’s always had his schmaltzy side. This is a grand and great opportunity for him to let his hair down and fully indulge it. There’s nothing wrong with the fact that it sounds funny — Bob is laughing with us.
I love the fact that he’s going all traditional, from the choice of songs to the backing singers. Don’t some of these detractors understand the reference he’s making back to the classic Christmas music from the 1940s and such, from Der Bingle and the rest of ‘em? As I said in the previous post, it’s the Andrews Sisters, for Pete’s sake. (And, at that, maybe it really is the Andrews Sisters! If anybody could get them back together in 2009, it’s Bob Dylan!)
But in addition to what some may consider the kitschy sounds of the backing singers, there’s also obviously some real artful playing going on by Dylan’s own band. I heard some great fiddle and some smokin’ hot accordion in there.
I’m not going to go track by track commenting on these meager clips, but count me as someone who can’t wait to hear the whole thing.
As someone very smart said recently, Richard Dawkins will never win an argument with Bob Dylan. And, as far as I’m concerned, neither will Scrooge.
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Official tracklist and preview clips for Bob Dylan’s Christmas In The Heart ...3:23 pm
Well, my previous post today sure got results fast. Amazon UK now has not only the official tracklist for Bob Dylan’s Christmas In The Heart, but also thirty second audio clips! (Thanks to RS for the tip.)
Mind-blowing and hilarious stuff, right down to the Andrews Sisters sound-a-likes on backing vocals. Wow.
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Bobs and Ends ...10:24 am
Winter wondering-land?
With its release now less than a month away (October 13th), there is still no official source for the tracklist of Bob Dylan’s forthcoming album, Christmas In The Heart. Of-course a tracklist was revealed on a German retail site two weeks ago, and there’s no particular reason to believe that it’s not accurate. (It’s easier to believe that someone inadvertently let it slip out, as opposed to someone making it up.) It is a little odd that the tracklist isn’t yet being provided on Amazon.com, however, since pre-orders are obviously being accepted. Yet you don’t actually know for sure what you’re buying! I guess the most likely explanation is that they plan to officially announce the tracklist with some fanfare and garner a few more headlines on that basis. (… continue reading …)
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
What’s a Prefab Sprout? ...11:09 am
And now for something completely different: Another of my personal musical heroes is Paddy McAloon, the singer and songwriter of the English pop group Prefab Sprout. They are not well known in the U.S., which is a pity, but I first heard them back in the 1980s when I was living in Ireland. I sort of left them behind — didn’t think their kind of music was really my thing. I rediscovered them for myself about nine months ago, and found that I now could appreciate many elements and levels of McAloon’s music that I just wasn’t ready to get all those years ago. It was then a wild ride catching up on the albums I didn’t have, and frankly having my mind blown at every turn. It seemed I’d picked a good time to get back into the Sprouts, as it was reported that a new CD was going to be released this fall. The “new” album actually turned out to have quite a story behind it, which emerged bit by bit this summer. Some of that story is told by me in an article at First Things today, entitled Let There Be Music. (… continue reading …)
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Chabad Telethon ...8:13 pm
Bob Dylan’s favorite telethon began its annual airing just now, at 8pm eastern time. If it’s not on TV where you are, you may be able to watch it for the next six hours at this link.
And below is a YouTube clip of one of Bob’s own appearances on the show, from 1986.
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When the night comes falling from the sky ...5:54 pm
Bob Dylan in mid-1980s rock star mode, from the Hard To Handle
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Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11/2009 ...11:01 am
I’ve posted a short reflection on this eighth anniversary of the attacks over at The Cinch Review: September 11th, 2009.
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Doth protest too much ...8:32 am
My own quick thoughts on President Obama’s speech to a joint-session of congress last night: He is over-exposed, desperate, and repeating himself over and over again in the belief that merely by a more judicious choice of words he can persuade people that the end result of this partisan Democrat healthcare travesty will actually be a silk purse. The very Americans he most needs to persuade are the same ones who are likely to be thinking: “What? Another Obama speech? Doesn’t he ever shut up? What’s he trying so damned hard to sell?”
The speech was billed as one where the president would clear up once and for all the various alleged misconceptions and allegedly false rumors regarding what might be contained in whatever bill the Democrats ultimately might force through. That part of his speech amounted to him ticking off a few examples and asserting, “It’s a lie,” or “It’s not true.” No explanation. Just trust me.
Trust must be earned. Since his inauguration, with misstep after misstep and all of his promises coming up empty, President Obama has been earning only its opposite.
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Dishonorable mention ...9:29 pm
There was a link on Expecting Rain today to something called The Palestinian Telegraph, and an article called “That Day, This 9/11, Fox News and Bob Dylan.”
The article beats around the bush quite a bit, quoting a bunch of Dylan lyrics and wandering around thematically. Ultimately, however, the writer gets down to what is clearly the point and the reason that this piece appears in something called The Palestinian Telegraph in the first place. The point that the writer wishes to insinuate to her readers is that Israel had something to do with the September 11th, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
I was going to quote some of the piece at this point, but just looking again at this mix of 9/11 “Truther” drivel and fevered anti-Israeli garbage makes me rather sick.
It is of-course especially astonishing and disturbing that someone would use the songs of Bob Dylan to buttress and to promote this kind of evil propaganda.
But then maybe Bob himself would be among those least surprised.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.
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Bob Dylan’s Waltzing with Sin ...12:15 pm
One of the songs from the Basement Tapes era that isn’t on the officially-released The Basement Tapes
Anyhow, the version by Bob Dylan and the Band is currently audible on YouTube, along with some slides of Bob’s paintings and what-not. (I think it works quite well.)
Someday you’ll find
That the world’s left you out
No true love, no nothing
Just roaming about
Parties and people
And a cold heart within
And each time you’re dancing
You’re waltzing with sin
…
On another note (although perhaps not so distant at that), Larry Epstein at The Best American Poetry has written a new and interesting piece plumbing biblical echoes and possible contemporary commentary that he hears in the song All Along the Watchtower. Click here to read it: Bob Dylan On the Watchtower.
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Thursday, September 3, 2009
Bob Dylan’s Christmas In the Heart tracklist ...6:29 pm
So, the tracklist hasn’t hit Amazon or BobDylan.com yet, but it appears to have been revealed on a German retail website, at this link. (… continue reading …)
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