Dancing about Architecture

1. 1956: “Bad Penny Blues” by Humphrey Lyttelton (produced by George Martin)
2. 1968: “Lady Madonna” by The Beatles (produced by George Martin)
3. 1968: “Lady Madonna” by Fats Domino

Sorry I can’t give iTunes links to these, but they’re not available (no Beatles on iTunes for now). The Beatles and Fats Domino recordings are easy enough to find. You can buy “Bad Penny Blues” here. It’s worth it.

The greatest rock album ever made.

A friend of mine, Nada Kolundžija, has made some excellent recordings of some of Erik Satie’s piano music. You can hear samples here.

I’ve often thought that Paul Westerberg’s (I assume it’s his, anyway) piano solo in the Replacements’ “Here Comes a Regular” has a Satie-like beauty and simplicity.

Finally, last and least, here is my attempt at writing a piece in the style of Satie. This is about a girl with an Irish name that I knew (not very well) in San Francisco. It might sound like it’s badly recorded, but I did that on purpose. I wanted it to sound like it was coming from far away and from another age: Listen to “Sive”.

Songs to play when driving around with your friends in your parents’ car on a Friday night:

• Elvis Costello: “Pump It Up”
• Nick Lowe: “Switch Board Susan”
• Squeeze: “Another Nail For My Heart”
• Elvis Costello: “I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down)”
• Nick Lowe: “Heart”
• Squeeze: “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)”
• Elvis Costello: “High Fidelity”
• Nick Lowe: “7 Nights To Rock”
• Squeeze: “Tempted”
• Elvis Costello: “Everyday I Write The Book”
• Nick Lowe: “The Rose Of England”
• Squeeze: “Black Coffee In Bed”

I think a lot of people aren’t really familiar with Bob Dylan’s late ’70s and early ’80s songs.  This is one of my favorite periods of his.  I came up with a list of my favorite songs from those years.  Here it is, for anyone who is curious:

* Street Legal (1978)
** “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)”
** “Where Are You Tonight?”

* Slow Train Coming (1979)
** “Slow Train”

* Shot of Love (1981)
** “Every Grain of Sand”
** “Need a Woman” (outtake (available on The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1—3))

* Infidels (1983)
** “Jokerman”
** “Sweetheart Like You”
** “License to Kill”
** “I and I”
** “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight”
** “Lord Protect My Child” (outtake (available on The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1—3))
** “Blind Willie McTell” (outtake (available on The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1—3))

* Miscellaneous
** “Caribbean Wind” (4/7/81), released on Biograph
** “Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart” (4/25/83) (available on The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1—3)
** “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking” (performed with Mavis Staples) (available on Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan)
** “I and I” (Reggae Remix) (available on Is It Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan)
** “London Calling”.  Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones and performed by the Clash on London Calling (1979).  (Actually, this is neither written nor performed by Bob Dylan, but it sounds like a secular version of “Slow Train” to me (and they both came out the same year, which is kind of weird, I think).)

Did I say that “Jokerman” was the greatest music video of all time? Well, maybe it is. But other times I think “Bastards of Young”, by the Replacements, is:

Pick up your copy of Modern Times today:

Also, click here to get the Cambridge Forum: Bob Dylan interview for free.

The greatest music video of all time:

It’s “Elvis in the ground, waiting on me tonight,” not “Elvis in the ground, there’ll be no beer tonight”.

“Elvis in the ground, waiting on me tonight.”

“Elvis in the ground, waiting on me tonight.”

“Elvis in the ground, waiting on me tonight.”

Download The Replacements

Rick Danko was the coolest guy who ever lived. I just rewatched The Last Waltz this weekend for at least the 6th time. I saw it in the movie theater in high school when it came out. My sister, my best friend, and I drove down to the nearest “big city” (Des Moines, Iowa), a 2 1/2 hour-drive, so that we could see it and sat through 2 showings in a row. I bought it on VHS and watched it then. I bought it on DVD and finally got around to watching it last week. At first, I thought that would be a bit of a chore: there are 2 commentary tracks, and, of course, the movie without commentary. But, it wasn’t a chore at all—each viewing was interesting.

There is one scene where Rick Danko is showing Martin Scorsese around Shangra-La studios. They eventually go back to the master control-room. Scorsese asks Rick what he’s been up to. Rick is a person who doesn’t talk too much. He says he’s been “keeping busy” and “making music” and something else that I couldn’t make out. Then Rick says something you can’t hear to the engineer, but it’s almost as if the engineer has read his mind, because he’s already cued up “Sip the Wine”. It almost seems as if it might have been scripted, but it doesn’t look like it was. Rick pushes his hat down on his head and his face is in shadows as the beautiful melody plays. If I could write one melody that nice, I’d die happy. I hit the ‘scan back’ on my DVD remote control and watched that scene a half-dozen times.



Download Rick Danko and Garth Hudson.