(Personal reflections
inspired by Bob Dylan songs)
Song: “Mr. Tambourine
Man”
Album: Bringing It All Back Home
Release Date: January,
1965
It was a cold winter’s night, I’m thinking 1987-88. I’d driven into ‘Boston Town’ to meet good
friends, Phil and Mac and catch some live music at a jazz club. First order of business was finding a metered
parking space, particularly seeing that in those days every penny counted and
meters ran free after dusk. After a few
circles around the block, I spied a prime spot near the club, and shoehorned my
barebones white Datsun into the questionable car space available. As was always the case in the 80s, WBCN FM,
the “Rock of Boston”, was blaring on my radio, and as I proceeded to turn off
my ignition - and in turn the music - the DJ just happened to be in the middle
of introducing the next song. Out of
curiosity I hesitated: WBCN DJ’s were
known to throw deep cuts and curve balls at the listener in those days, and experience
told me to hear her out. It was a wise
decision.
Over the airwaves, the opening guitar salvo to the live Bob Dylan
and the Rolling Thunder Revue version of “Shelter from the Storm” (off the live
Hard Rain album) permeated through my
speakers. To my knowledge, I’d never
heard this song, not even the studio version off of Blood on the Tracks. It
immediately resonated with me, and despite its length (the studio version
clocks in at a bit over 5 minutes) and my running a tad late, I sat and
listened to it in its entirety. It was
the tipping point moment in my connection with the music of Bob Dylan.
In the years previous, I’d slowly been perking my ears to Dylan’s
music. All my other major music
influences from the 60s and 70s, including the Beatles, the Who, the Rolling Stones,
Neil Young, the Kinks, and Van Morrison, had already made serious inroads into
my rock and roll heart. But Bob Dylan
had remained elusive, despite being mentioned as a major influence by these
musicians, and so many more who I already had the utmost respect for. Dylan’s songs were also covered more often
than anyone else’s music at shows I attended.
What was it that they were drawn to?
What did these incredible musicians connect to that I did not quite
grasp? Sure I had respect for the man
who had written a handful of timeless protest folk songs like “Blowin’ in the
Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’.
But why all the seemingly
over-the-top accolades? What did they
hear in this gravelly voiced soothsayer that blew their minds? I - wanted - to - know.
That Boston car-parking moment was the first real clue for
me. Since then it’s been an avalanche of
head shaking, jaw dropping wonder. Very
few people I know understand this fascination, and since I have been so moved
by this artist, I see it as my duty to try and explain. And so, over the next year or so, I’ll attempt
to do just that through my standard approach; blending personal reflections
that are inspired by music (as I’ve already done with 50 blog entries respectively
in relation to the music of the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and the Who). Bob Dylan is truly the cream of the
crop. He’s poetry in music. His greatest strengths are inspiration and
truth. He ceaselessly seeks
redemption. He’s a man who is always
busy being born. He is the artist of our
times who will above all others, not just survive the test of time, but thrive
the test of time. And oh boy, does he
ever have a body of work. There’s no way
I can fit it all in with 50 entries, but I welcome that challenge.
I can’t think of a song more apropos to launch this series than
“Mr. Tambourine Man” (I’ll get to “Shelter from the Storm” later). There are several reasons for this. The first
is related to the only personal connection I ever made with Bob Dylan. It was at the Roy Orbison tribute show at the
Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles in the spring of 1990, which I have
written about in a previous entry (see http://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2009/02/gmvw-59-got-it.html ). My wife, Nancy and I
had won tickets to this show and were seated in the second row, center
stage. Every musician that performed
that night covered a Roy Orbison song, except for a surprise, somewhat out-of-context,
one-off reunion of three of the original members of the Byrds (David Crosby,
Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn) who played a short set of several of their
most famous songs from the 60s. If that
were not shocking enough, who comes roaming onstage with them halfway through
their set, but Bob Dylan! After he playfully
tussled with Crosby for a moment they all got serious and broke into “Mr. Tambourine
Man”, a Dylan song made into a hit by the Byrds in 1965.
I knew right away it was a historic music moment and, in a rare
move in relation to the plethora of concerts I have attended throughout my
life, I pulled a camera out, not heeding a warning from friend Jeff Strause
that Bob Dylan was averse to any means of recording him in those days (Jeff having
his tape recorder swiped from him by security at a Boston show earlier that
year). As the song played out, and I
snapped a few shots, Dylan honed in on me, drifted to the edge of the stage in
front of us, and glared at me and my camera. My one encounter with this musician-icon, as
with another, Pete Townshend, years later ( http://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2016/01/under-big-top-1-pete-meet-and-greet.html ), was not a warm and fuzzy.
But after all the stories I had read about how Dylan sometimes works
with studio musicians and how he often deals with reporters and fans, at least I
did not feel completely isolated in my supposed wayward moment. Regardless it felt in that instance as if
daggers were emanating out of Bob Dylan’s eyes, cutting clear though to my
soul. This was one intense man, and I
got a self-inflicted taste of his medicine, momentarily losing my good
vibrations on that otherwise glorious evening.
I got the hint, put my camera away, and simply took in the show for
memory alone from that moment on.
The second strong connection I made with “Mr. Tambourine Man” was
while watching the live simulcast of the 1992 Bob Dylan 30th
Anniversary concert (I plan to write more on this show in the months ahead, seeing
as there were so many highlights). The
song was performed that night by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, along with
the aforementioned Roger McGuinn. I
recall as I listened to it thinking at the time that Petty and crew had in mind
Dylan himself as they sang the lyrics.
And then near the end of the song, Tom Petty catches McGuinn’s eye and
offers a knowing wink. At that moment, I
felt a kinship with these musicians. A
common sense of wonder in relation to the man they were honoring, not only through
a song written by him, but now being interpreted as also being about him. Not long after, I purchased the VCR tape of
the show and every time I get to that Petty-winking moment, I feel that same
connection (most recently in a slightly different light after the sudden death
of Tom Petty this past October).
Which brings me to the meaning of “Mr. Tambourine Man”. Let me say right off, I’m not going to make
any claims in this series to know precisely what Bob Dylan means when he puts
pencil to paper when composing. All I
can do is to try and relay how I interpret his songs, which often evolves with
each listen. Anyhow, to me this song is
about being astonished by the strength of someone’s (or God’s) character, which
is conveyed here in that being’s ability to emit unearthly beautiful music, and
you yourself wanting nothing else but to listen. Dylan gets this across with the aura of an early
morning urban setting after an all-night escapade, the protagonist weary but
somehow energized. We’ve all been
there. Dylan is an expert at this sort
of thing - tapping into your conscience through common life experiences - like
no other songwriter I know.
I’m thinking this series on Bob Dylan will be fairly unique. Unlike other series on the Rolling Stones,
Who, and Neil Young, I’ll be discussing the instrumentation much less
here. Dylan is more about the spoken
word, the lyrics, the cadence, and the meaning (although the meaning is a
commonality with all these series’, it’s a bit more so here). I’ve dubbed this series “Master Blueprints”
because part of what fascinates me with Dylan is that he never appears to try
and perfect his delivery on stage or in studio.
He lays it out there, for others to work with, even more so than for
himself. These are blueprints you hear
on his records, which in some miraculous way, makes his songs even more
profound than if they had been expertly crafted. I will strive to make this blueprint concept a
common theme in this series, particularly in regards to how I write my part of
the story.
Also, unlike other series, I’m not going to make a regular attempt
to add a url link of the song of choice.
The original studio versions are too hard to find on the web. I suggest if you find yourself intrigued or
curious that you go out and purchase the given record if you don’t have it, or
borrow it from the library. And finally,
these entries are likely to be more sporadic than the weekly output In typically try to pull off, as I’m
multitasking with all sorts of things these days. I’ll try my best to keep a routine though.
Happy New Year.
- Pete
Monday, January 1, 2018
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Under the Big Top TOC: Titles, Song Inspirations, and url links
Below are links to each of the 50 Under
the Big Top entries (personal reflections inspired by Who songs), which were
written weekly throughout 2016. The
italicized green text is my title for the entry. The brown text in quotes is the song that was
the focus for that given entry. The url
link is below each title. The next
series will focus on the music of Bob Dylan, likely starting in January of 2018. If you are interested in a future series, please
sign up as a member of this Blog and I will send a notice when I get started
again.
# 1
A Pete
Meet-and-Greet
Inspired by the song "The Seeker"
# 2
The
Awakening
Inspired by the song "A Quick One, While He’s Away”
Goodbye - Hello
Inspired by the song "Eminence Front"
# 4
Connecting the Dots
Inspired by the song "Blue, Red and Grey"
# 5
Of Wit and War
Inspired by the song "I Can See For Miles”
# 6
A Texas Two Step
Inspired by the song "Keep Me Turning"
# 7
A Change of Plans
Inspired by the song "The Song Is Over"
# 8
Access
Who-llywood
Inspired by the song "You Better You Bet"
# 9
A Symphony of Four
Inspired by the song "The Punk Meets the Godfather"
# 10
A Who Album Review: Who Are You
Inspired by the song "Who Are You”
# 11
A Who Concert Review: The Last Who-rah
Inspired by the song "Join Together"
# 12
A Wholesome Set of Thunderfingers
Inspired by the song "Old Red Wine"
# 13
Poetry in Fluid Motion
Inspired by the song "The Sea Refuses No River"
# 14
Risk, Reward (and other reverberations)
Inspired by the song "Amazing Journey”
# 15
Stoked
Inspired by the song "After the Fire"
# 16
The Exquisite Tune in My Silver Spoon
Inspired by the song "Long Live Rock"
# 17
LOL
Inspired by the song "Happy Jack”
# 18
Parallel, Interconnected Worlds
Inspired by the song "Mike Post Theme"
# 19
Gravitational Pull
Inspired by the song "My Generation"
# 20
Tug of War
Inspired by the song "The Kids Are Alright"
# 21
Filling the Glass
Inspired by the song "Empty Glass”
# 22
Learning the Hard Way
Inspired by the song "Slip Kid”
# 23
Music Is My Yoga
Inspired by the song "Won’t Get Fooled Again"
# 24
Unfinished Business
Inspired by the song "Zelda"
# 25
Bloody Good Use of Cockney
Inspired by the song "Bellboy”
# 26
A Watershed Moment
Inspired by the song “Guitar and Pen”
# 27
Friendship
Inspired by the song "A Friend Is a Friend"
# 28
A Balancing Act
Inspired by the song "Don’t Let Go the Coat”
# 29
Secrets to Success
Inspired by the song "Success Story”
# 30
The Townie in All of Us
Inspired by the song "Come to Mama”
# 31
Music and Memory
Inspired by the song "Love, Reign o’er Me”
# 32
Twenty Four Magnificent Set Lists
Inspired by the song "Substitute”
# 33
Pop Art
Inspired by the song “Magic Bus”
# 34
Rising to the Occasion
Inspired by the song “See Me Feel Me/Listening to You”
http://pete-gemsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2016/08/under-big-top-34-rising-to-occasion.html
# 35
Transition
Inspired by the song "Outlive the Dinosaur”
# 36
Eye Opening Experiences
Inspired by the song "Bargain"
# 37
This Machine Kills Fascists
Inspired by the song "I’ve Known No War”
# 38
Fortunate Son
Inspired by the song "Heart to Hang Onto”
# 39
Disco Still Sucks
Inspired by the song "Sister Disco”
# 40
Odd Man In
Inspired by the song "Tattoo"
# 41
Been There
Inspired by the song "Slit Skirts"
# 42
First Impressions and Expectations
Inspired by the song "I Can’t Explain"
# 43
When Fiction Becomes Fact
Inspired by the song "Pure and Easy”
# 44
Love Undetached
Inspired by the song "A Little Is Enough”
# 45
Wash Over Me
Inspired by the song "Drowned”
# 46
Big Brother
Inspired by the song "Boris the Spider"
# 47
Valediction for an Old Faithful
Inspired by the song "How Many Friends”
# 48
Rising From the Ashes
Inspired by the song "Real Good Looking Boy”
# 49
Who Dunnit: 100 Who Anecdotes
Inspired by the song "Behind Blue Eyes”
# 50
Deja Who
Inspired by the song "Baba O’Riley”
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