How Does it Feel (To See Bob Dylan Live in Concert)?

“Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the poet laureate of rock 'n' roll. The voice of the promise of the '60s counterculture. The guy who forced folk into bed with rock. Who donned makeup in the '70s and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse. Who emerged to find Jesus. Who was written off as a has-been by the end of the '80s, and who suddenly shifted gears releasing some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late '90s. Ladies and gentlemen — Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan!”

That is how Bob Dylan is introduced at his concerts. Last night, the never-ending tour made a stop at the Mullins Center on the UMass Amherst campus. Bob Dylan has been touring with his band since 1988, giving his legion of fans a myriad of opportunities to see him. Consequently, there are a number of clichés surrounding Dylan concerts. Namely, his voice is gone, he can be almost impossible to understand, and that he reinvents songs however pleases him and is there to play his music, not please his fans. These stories are largely true. This does not render the concert unenjoyable, however.  Far from it!

Bob Dylan’s voice has always been unconventional. He’s perhaps best remembered for his dry, nasal vocals on “Blowin’ in the Wind” and other protest songs from the early 1960s. But he left that behind pretty early. His enunciation was always idiosyncratic, but he was a tremendously expressive vocalist in his prime. Nowadays, however, Zimmy’s voice has deteriorated. There’s no way around it. He’s reduced to talking on pitch, resembling—in an odd way—Rex Harrison. This does make him difficult to understand. Dylan’s concerts necessitate an encyclopedic knowledge of his catalog and ability to recall song lyrics verbatim. Fortunately, there were few songs with which I wasn’t familiar, and a great many classics included in the evening’s set. Dylan is no longer a great vocalist. He is still a great artist. Though his vocal range was limited, his use phrasing and intonation was superb.

Dylan played his way through 16 songs without any patter, any introduction for the songs, just playing them. The concert was very much in the rollicking, bluesy rock vein that has characterized Dylan’s recent albums, and most of the songs were transposed to that style, whether or not they were originally written that way. This was Dylan doing his thing, and he did it well. He spent most of his time playing the keyboard over to one side of the stage, but would periodically wander over to center stage, sometimes with a guitar. His black suit had gold piping on the jacket and a gold strip down the trousers, and his broad-brimmed white hat was hard to miss.

Dylan at the keyboard for "Highway 61 Revisited"

Bob Dylan was clearly energized, bobbing behind the keyboard as he played. His harmonica solos were nothing short of inspired. His vocals were limited, but delivered with great gusto. Actually, he would have been a great deal easier to understand if the band wasn’t amped up quite so loud. But that is beyond the point. That’s how Dylan likes it, that’s how it is. The band provided some cracking accompaniments. They were led by virtuosic guitarist Charlie Sexton, who ended up in center stage most of the time that Dylan wasn’t. Sexton clearly enjoyed the attention, but was a bit distracting. Bob is a legend and can do as he pleases. Charlie, you aren’t.

The set list was extraordinary. With a catalog as vast as Dylan’s, there is so much to choose from, but he delivered a well-rounded set on Friday. I was hoping to hear something from Slow Train Coming. Dylan did not disappoint, starting off with “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking.” I had actually never heard “Shooting Star” before last night, but Dylan made it a touching ballad. There was plenty from his recent, bluesier albums like Love and Theft, Modern Times and Together Through Life. But there were also plenty of classics.

Dylan thrilling the crowd with a harmonica solo during "Shooting Star"

“Tangled Up in Blue” was a crowd-pleaser. It was a substantially different melody at times, but it’s a song that any halfway-credible Dylan fan can follow along. “Ballad of a Thin Man” was exceptional (see below), perhaps better than his original recording of it. The stage was lit severely as Dylan barked and growled ominously at the fictional Mr. Jones. This was not a young man who was peeved, this was a reckoning. Each time the chorus rolled around and Dylan asked Mr. Jones if he knew what was happening, it was as if the subject of the song was being interrogated by the jaws of Hell itself. “Like a Rolling Stone” ended the concert on a high note. Bob Dylan couldn’t hold the notes like he had in decades gone by, but age hadn’t withered his spirit at all. Miss Lonely still got raked over the coals with every “How does it feel?”

Some will complain that Dylan isn’t what he was. Obviously, he sounds different now than on most of his records, or on the legendary Rolling Thunder Revue. Some people are not just glad to see a living legend; they want to say the emperor has no clothes. Bob Dylan is not what he was? Hogwash, Bob Dylan is exactly what he’s always been: Bob Dylan. And I now have a 16-song playlist that is an excellent synopsis of his career. Not an exhaustive one, certainly; no concert could do that. But I heard protest music, folk-rock, gospel, blues and more, accompanied by bravura harmonica solos. All interpreted by a living legend. Good enough for me.

Your humble correspondent after the concert

Friday evening's set list:

1. Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2. Shooting Star
3. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
4. Spirit On The Water
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Honest With Me
8. Can't Wait
9. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
10. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
11. Highway 61 Revisited
12. Workingman's Blues #2
13. Thunder On The Mountain
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man
15. Jolene
16. Like A Rolling Stone

I think Dylan's most spectatular tune of the night was his spooky take on "Ballad of a Thin Man." Here you can see him perform just that song.  This was recorded 17 November 2010, two nights before Bob Dylan appeared at the Mullins Center (he had the intervening night off, so this was  his last concert before his UMass appearance).  If you need

Read It and Weep

Over at FrumForum, Kenneth Silber offers a tantalizing tale of the GOP embracing a Responsibility Movement. By emphasizing coalition-building and policymaking, Republicans are winning big and not embarassing themselves.

But there's a catch: this is all taking place in an alternate universe. Why not this one, you ask? How can we get to this alternate universe? Well, it would seem that this universe does not actually exist. Bummer.

Marv Wolfman, I'm blaming you for this.

Holy Squealing Pugs, Batman!

I think one reason for Batman's continuing popularity over the decades is the remarkable breadth of the Batman universe. It encompasses classic sci-fi and gritty crime stories. Camp to noir, Adam West to Frank Miller, there is a Batman for all seasons. It just isn't always the same one. But here's something novel, even by the standards of the Batman canon.

I Think I'll Be a Clown When I Get Grown

11 July 2010 marks the 50th Anniversary of Harper Lee's legendary To Kill a Mockingbird. There will be no shortage of literary criticism, I am sure, from writers able to assess literature far better than I. For a thought-provoking sociological perspective, I recommend Kathleen Parker's "To Kill a Parable." Surely other commentators will discuss the book's themes, Harper Lee's solitude, or the motion picture starring Gregory Peck. Perhaps a thorough correspondent will even note (as Micah 24601 did) the stage plays inspired by the novel.

Since To Kill a Mockingbird has previously been a subject of interest at this blog, I thought it only appropriate to mark its quinquagenary. So here, without comment or qualification, is my favorite passage from To Kill a Mockingbird:

"I think I'll be a clown when I get grown," said Dill.

Jem and I stopped in our tracks.

"Yes sir, a clown," he said. "There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off."

"You got it backwards, Dill," said Jem. "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them."

"Well I'm gonna be a new kind of clown. I'm gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks. Just looka yonder," he pointed. "Every one of 'em oughta be ridin' broomsticks. Aunt Rachel already does."

You're Never as Young as You Feel

I know, been gone for a long time and all that. But let's get right down to business: the news business. Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, a.k.a. Larry King, decided to end his show of 25 years and scale back his contributions to CNN. King is a legend in TV news, and there have been a number of commentaries to that effect by observers far more knowledgeable than I. He certainly was quite influential politically in the early 1990's, first with Perot's candidacy in 1992, and then hosting the Gore/Perot debate on NAFTA in 1993. He's also spawned a variety of parodies, which in turn vary pretty widely in terms of quality. One of the better ones has Phil Hartman as King while Dana Carvey captures the madcap self-promotion that was H. Ross Perot.



But before King was a CNN superstar, he was a Miami icon. He was a disc jockey, he hosted a talk show for WIOD, he was with Channel 10 before it was WPLG, he was the Miami Dolphins' color commentator, he had a column in local papers. (A sample of his work in Miami can be seen in this fascinating interview preserved over at SFLTV, a blog dedicated to the news in South Florida.) And, yes, he was arrested in Miami (the charges were later dropped). The mugshot is famous enough, certainly. But I was wondering if there were any other photographs of a younger (was ever young?) Larry King from those Miami days.



Naturally, the solution in such instances is to turn to Google Images. And so I did. That's where I came across this gem. What is he wearing?? I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but being petrified isn't the same thing as being Peter Pan. Act your age, not your shoe size? Bad jokes abound. I know, I know. I'm sure I'm rushing in where angels fear to tread. "When I became a man, I put away childish things," is virtually a cliché by now. But those clichés get repeated for a reason. The only thing sadder than a grown man acting like an adolescent is a near-octogenarian acting like an adolescent. Ah, well. Enjoy Twilight this weekend, Larry.

The Internet

National Humor Month marches on, and it's high time the Muppets made a guest appearance on this blog. Statler and Waldorf are my favorites, and they stopped by to tell us all about the internet:

My Funny Valentine

It's a bit late for V-Day, but these are just perfect for National Humor Month. They allegedly hail from a Washington Post contest to compose a rhyme with the most romantic first line and the least romantic second line. I think that's an urban legend; these couplets have been circulating via e-mail for over a decade. Nonetheless, they're still hilarious, so enjoy!

• I thought that I could love no other
  Until, that is, I met your brother
  
  
• Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
  But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head
  
  
• Of loving beauty you float with grace
  If only you could hide your face
  
  
• Kind, intelligent, loving and hot
  This describes everything you are not
  
  
• I want to feel your sweet embrace
  But don't take that paper bag off of your face
  
  
• I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
  Darn, I'm good at telling lies!
  
  
• I see your face when I am dreaming.
  That's why I always wake up screaming
  
  
• My love, you take my breath away.
  What have you stepped in to smell this way?

Historical Humor

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... It's April. And April, you may remember from last year, is National Humor Month.

To start off our commemoration of National Humor Month, Micah 24601 revisits one of the anecdotes from last year. If you don't you can read all about the "B.C." This year, I present you with a more famous version of that same joke. Jack Paar read a variant (he called the item in question a "W.C." instead) on the Tonight Show in 1960. The monologue was censored, and a frustrated Parr quit the show for a period.

This is a timely entry, given the late-night turmoil that was in the news several months ago. There is no one quite as witty and urbane as Paar anymore. Considering some of erstwhile Tonight host Conan O'Brien's gags, it's quite an indication of the differing periods that this piece was even censored. But is isn't censored here, so enjoy this classic bit of humor from a comedy legend.

The Influential Books Game

Greetings, readers! First, allow me this admonition: if you do not read New York Times opinion columnists Ross Douthat, then do attempt to rectify that deficiency at your earliest convenience! Douthat's weekly columns are insightful, and his blog is pithy and updated daily, or even more frequently. I came across a recent blog post of Douthat's(full disclosure: from which I have shamelessly stolen my title for this post), and it seems that the blogosphere parlor game recently has been to list “10 books which have influenced your view of the world.” If you'd like to see which books have influenced Douthat, then by all means drop by his version of The Influential Books Game.

But I thought I'd join in, particularly because books have been woefully underdiscussed on this blog (Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be grad students!). So here are ten books which at various points influenced how I saw the world. The rule is "go with your gut," so here are the picks which sprang off the top of my gut. This is not every influential, or even the most influential. I don't hold all of these books as equally important now, but they all made an impression somewhere along the road. The list is alphabetized, but in no particular order otherwise. Any Micah 24601 readers who enjoy being readers more generally are encouraged to post their own influential books via comments or on your own blogs. I'd love to see what you're reading. And without further ado...

Animal Farm is a slender volume, and unbelievably clever. It is the story of a revolution gone awry, of animals who are so near people that we can't help but shudder how much we resemble animals. It is a cautionary tale of the dangers of power. And it is a darn good "fairy story," mixing it's profound insights with a surprising, but hardly cloying, dose of whimsy. Given my profession and my hobby (quick--can anyone tell me which book on this list provided me that phrasing?), there are a number of books concerned with politics on this list. But if you want to understand politics and can only read one, make it Animal Farm.

Speaking of the New York Times, if you only read one op-ed columnist, make it Douthat's colleague David Brooks. Attentive readers will surely have seen this name before, and for good reason. Brooks' analysis of American politics and society is original and incisive. He grapples with great thoughts without being intellectually ostentatious. He is witty, urbane and conservative--and avoids reducing conservatism to simple-minded demogoguery. Bobos in Paradise exemplifies Brooks' observant sociological style, as he details the ascendance of an improbable new class: bourgeois bohemians, or Bobos.

This is a dark, dense, oppressive novel. It is also a captivating psychological thriller. Raskolnikov thinks himself above all law and wants to commit the perfect crime. He might have gotten away with it--if his conscience had allowed him. Instead, he finds God via a forlorn girl forced into prostitution to feed her orphaned siblings and redemption via confessing crime. The ending may not be what you'd consider happy, but it will be unforgettable.

A great deal of "history" is marshaled in favor of some cause or other. Amherst resident Joseph Ellis, though, simply captures the period. More precisely, he captures the brilliant personalities as they operated in their element. Ellis' work is nuanced, insightful, and filled with fascinating details about the early Republic.

This was Mark Twain's favorite book among all his works. There is a reverence which does not appear in any of his other works. Twain was the ultimate cynic, but his cynicism melts when confronted with Joan of Arc. How else do you explain such monumental accomplishments with so little self-aggrandizement? If nothing else, Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc is worth reading to see Twain in a completely different, and far more humble, light.

Were I not alphabetizing the list, this would be at the top. I've read The Lord of the Rings seven times. I've cheered, puzzled, trembled and wondered as I read. Tolkien did not merely tell a story. He created a whole new world, filled with different languages and cultures, myths and traditions, histories and nations. But he told a brilliant story all the same.

It is only fitting that we include works of drama on this list. I was introduced to this play via the 1966 motion picture starring Paul Scofield, who originated the role of Sir Thomas More in London and on Broadway. More is famous for refusing to assent to King Henry VIII's divorce, and as a result being executed. More famously said "I die the King's good servant, but God's first," and he is a fitting patron saint for politicians. He is hardly the last statesmen to try to keep his head without losing his soul. Robert Bolt's dialogue sparkles with flashes of wit and wisdom, and I highly recommend seeing Scofield's pensive performance in the Oscar-winning film.

Chesterton subtitled this surreal novella "a nightmare." And it is. The Man Who Was Thursday is nightmarishly good, and nightmarishly clever. But there are dark, desperate passages where you can feel the isolation and uncertainty rolling off the printed page. And at those moments, no qualification is needed. You are sharing in the protagonist Gabriel Syme's nightmare. Of course, Chesterton being Chesterton, the nightmare is simply a paradox, and the truth is all so simple at the end. This was one of the most confusing books I ever read on its first reading, and one of the most rewarding and thrilling with each subsequent reading.

It is only appropriate that Chesterton's dear friend George Bernard Shaw follow him. No musical, per se, appears on this list. But we do have Pygmalion, which became the basis for one of the greatest stage musicals of all time: My Fair Lady. I saw the classic 1964 film based on the Lerner and Lowe musical and was enchanted (who could not be?) by Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins. I had to find the original stage play and see my hero in the original. Pygmalion is not a long play, and it did not take more than 90 minutes to read. But every minute was sheer delight. Shaw's Higgins is a different animal: even more cynical and cutting. But he is such a clever curmudgeon, it's hard not to love him. Furthermore, Higgins' strong attachment to the English language comes through even more clearly in Pygmalion than it's successor. I recommend finding an edition with Shaw's "What Happens Afterward" addendum, written three years after the play originally debuted. With a brilliant wit, Shaw explains why Higgins and Eliza could never, ever end up together, and ends up giving us a number of hilarious but pointed observations aboutrelationships not appearing on stage.

This is a difficult book to write about. In some ways, it's because I haven't looked at the book in over a decade. As I recall, Roche's general thesis was that egalitarianism has produced a world without heroes, where society is afraid to call things good or bad, heroic or craven, for fear of promoting inequality. The book is a massive tome (though a highly abridged lecture based on the book is quite a good summary), but as a young teenager, I gobbled up the central point: some actions are manifestly unequal, and it is a disservice to the heroic to pretend it is on par with baser actions. Roche was the president of Hillsdale College, a conservative-leaning liberal arts college in Michigan. A World Without Heroes was published in 1987, and I read it in the mid-1990's. In 1999, Roche was involved in a scandal that led to his retirement from Hillsdale. His daughter-in-law alleged that she was in a nineteen-year affair with Roche, and shortly after committed suicide. I don't know if she was telling the truth or not. But she very well could have been. I don't intend to slander Roche, who passed away in 2006. But whether he was guilty or not, he wouldn't be the first person to leap rashly from his (or her) own high ideals. Ever since 1999, Roche's book has reminded me that there are, in fact, several reasons why the world is bereft of heroes. And it isn't just postmodernism or any system of thought that can be blamed. Unfortunately, more than one hero has been known to murder their own heroism. No man can be a hero to himself, wrote Chesterton. A tragic, but tragically necessary reminder.

Happy Birthday, Les Mis!

On 12 March 1987, the world's most popular musical opened on Broadway. In the 23 years since, Les Miserables has seen two separate Broadway productions (the original, which ran for 16 years, and a revival), three national tours, an upcoming national tour, hundreds of school productions, and a number of regional productions. Not to mention the original London production, which will mark its 25th birthday this October, as well as innumerable foreign productions and tours. Les Mis truly is The World's Most Popular Musical! To commemorate, feast your eyes on the original Broadway cast as they sing "At the End of the Day" and "One Day More" at the 1987 Tony Awards. As an added bonus, the late Jerry Orbach introduces the clip.