Tag: bob dylan

Nelson Mandela, Sun City, and Changing Times

With Nelson Mandela‘s passing, the world mourns the loss of an amazing man. It is hard to comprehend the changes that Mandela helped make in his lifetime. Back in 1985, while Mandela sat in prison and Artists Against Apartheid released the song “Sun City,” one could not have imagined that within a decade Mandela would be president of South Africa. RIP.

Aritsts Against Apartheid was founded by Steven Van Zandt (aka Miami Steve, aka Little Steven) and record producer Arthur Baker. Sun City was a resort in South Africa, and the song called on artists to refuse to play there until apartheid ended. The song and video features such artists as Run DMC, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates, Herbie Hancock, and Ringo Starr.

Only five years after the song’s release, Steven Van Zandt would appear on stage with Simple Minds, Chrissie Hynde, Lou Reed, and others, to sing “Sun City” at a tribute concert for Nelson Mandela at Wembley stadium. They were celebrating Mandela’s release from prison in early 1990.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Little Steven and Bruce Springsteen: “It’s Been a Long Time”
  • Super Bowl Songs: I Am a Patriot
  • Lou Reed Inducting Dion Into Rock Hall
  • Paul McCartney & Bruce Springsteen: “I Saw Her Standing There”
  • Little Steven is Releasing “Soulfire”
  • Springsteen and Bono Sing “Because the Night” in Dublin

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Dylan Plays “Like a Rolling Stone” With The Rolling Stones

    In spring 1998, the Rolling Stones were doing a stadium tour in South America with a guy named Bob Dylan as their opening act. During the tour, Dylan often joined the Rolling Stones for a performance of “Like a Rolling Stone.” Although reportedly early joint performances of the song were a little rough, by the time the Rio de Janeiro performance was televised Dylan had adjusted to the Stones’s playing style on the song. Check out Dylan and the Rolling Stones on “Like a Rolling Stone.”

    The joint performance is one of the rare times Dylan has played with the full lineup of the Rolling Stones, even though he and the band are long-time friends. Before the South American joint tour, both bands were playing in New York earlier in 1998 and the Rolling Stones played “Like a Rolling Stone” in honor of Dylan, but he never joined them on stage.

    At Dylan’s 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Mick Jagger and a large number of other stars joined Dylan for “Like a Rolling Stone.” But the South American tour remains the rare time the legend and the legendary band played the legendary song.

    Who would you like to see Dylan perform with? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Man Behind the Organ in “Like a Rolling Stone”
  • A Famous Encounter and “Like a Rolling Pin”
  • High School Trauma for Pop Stars
  • One Degree of Separation Between Bob Dylan & Twilight Zone: Bonnie Beecher & “Come Wander With Me”
  • Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)
  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Bob Dylan and George Harrison: “Time Passes Slowly”

    One of the songs on Bob Dylan’s new “Bootleg” release, Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10(2013), is the demo “Time Passes Slowly #1.” featuring George Harrison on guitar and background vocals. Harrison stopped by one of the Self Portrait sessions and the two recorded this version of the song.

    Another version of “Time Passes Slowly” would end up on New Morning, but it is cool we get to hear this one from the vaults.

    Of course, the two played together on other occasions. Harrison played slide guitar on Dylan’s Under the Red Sky (1990) album. And Nelson Wilbury (Harrison) and Lucky Wilbury (Dylan) were part of The Traveling Wilburys.

    What is your favorite Dylan-Harrison collaboration? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Got My Mind Set on George Harrison
  • October 1992: They Were So Much Older Then
  • One Degree of Separation Between Bob Dylan & Twilight Zone: Bonnie Beecher & “Come Wander With Me”
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)
  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Buy from Amazon

    Remembering Bob Dylan’s 1969-1971 Period

    Another Self Portrait Bob Dylan has released a short film promoting his new CD set Another Self Portrait (1969 – 1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10. The video features studio player Al Kooper, producer Bob Johnston, and guitarist David Bromberg discussing the 1969-1971 Dylan. During that time period, Dylan produced his much-maligned Self-Portrait album as well as New Morning.

    The interesting nearly 12-minute version of the film addresses questions such as why many were disappointed in that period, what was up with Dylan’s voice at that time, and why it is worth reconsidering that period. [Update: The 12-minute version appears to be no longer available, but here is a shorter promotional film.]

    Another Self Portrait will be released August 27.

    What is your favorite song from the 1969-1971 Bob Dylan? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • New Old Dylan: “Pretty Saro”
  • One Degree of Separation Between Bob Dylan & Twilight Zone: Bonnie Beecher & “Come Wander With Me”
  • Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)
  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”
  • Vampire Weekend Saluting a Font By Covering Bob Dylan’s “Jokerman”
  • Clarence Ashley: “The Cuckoo” & “Little Sadie”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    New Old Dylan: “Pretty Saro”

    Bob Dylan Pretty Saro Bob Dylan is releasing a new box set in his Bootleg series, Another Self-Portrait, on August 27. The new set includes unreleased recordings made for Nashville Skyline (1969), New Morning (1970), and the much-maligned Self-Portrait (1970). Critic Greil Marcus famously reviewed the latter album, asking “What is this Shit?” But he is much more kind in his review of the new box set, which looks like it might have some gems.

    Rolling Stone premiered one of the songs on the new set, “Pretty Saro.” The song is an old English folk tune dating from he early 1700s. Although through the centuries the song had basically disappeared in England, it was preserved in the U.S. by singers in the Appalachian Mountains. More recently, Iris DeMent recorded the song the 2000 film Songcatcher.

    In “Pretty Saro” the singer finds himself alone away from home. He understands that his love, Pretty Saro, will not have him because he had no land. At the end, he wishes he were a poet who could write her a letter. As he sits by the river, he reveals he dreams of his lost love wherever he goes. In the version used by Iris DeMent, the song ends with the singer wishing he was a turtle dove who could fly back to Saro and lay in her arms.

    Check out the video for Bob Dylan’s version of “Pretty Saro” created by Jennifer Lebeau, who used photos and videos from the Farm Security Administration to accompany the song. Lebeau had also worked on Dylan’s 1994 MTV Unplugged video.

    What do you think of Dylan’s version of “Pretty Saro”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Remembering Bob Dylan’s 1969-1971 Period
  • Clarence Ashley: “The Cuckoo” & “Little Sadie”
  • Cowboy Jack Clement: “I Guess Things Happen That Way”
  • This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (11 Dec. 2011)
  • One Degree of Separation Between Bob Dylan & Twilight Zone: Bonnie Beecher & “Come Wander With Me”
  • Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)
    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Buy from Amazon