HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 133d - BOB DYLAN

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Today we submit our fourth episode covering the career of Bob Dylan. This episode focuses on Dylan’s work in 1964, resulting in the album, “Another Side of Bob Dylan.” If there could be any such thing as a ‘typical’ Bob Dylan album, then perhaps this is a great example. Like most of Bob’s best work, “Another Side” is alternately frustrating, fascinating, brilliant and challenging, while defying all expectations. It also somehow manages to be controversial. This is the album that started the rift between Dylan and the New York Folk scene, a rift that soon became a ravine.
The New York folkies had very specific ideas of what constituted the ‘new folk’ movement, and most of those ideas were based on stylistic limitations – namely, topical songs that addressed the political agenda and social inclinations of that specific scene. The leaders of the folk scene felt that singer/songwriters were expected to address topics that suited the scene’s agenda, and for most of 1963, Dylan ‘s musical output exceeded their wildest expectations. As a result, he was perceived as a leader of sorts. Dylan himself had no aspirations to be a spokesperson for someone else’s agenda, so quite consciously, he made a move away from ‘finger pointing songs’ and searched inwardly for his inspiration. His manner of expression also changed significantly. His interest in poetry now had a direct influence on his wordplay, and a surreal, impressionistic flow of words informed some of his best material from this era. The purists were downright rude in their assessment of Dylan’s inspired creativity, but an entirely new audience waited in the wings, an audience starving for something ‘different.’ “Another Side of Bob Dylan” does not convey a specific statement of purpose on Dylan’s part, but it definitely does convey a sense of independence.
Here’s a list of songs from today’s show. All are by Bob, unless otherwise specified;
1) Lay Down Your Weary Tune
2) Lay Down Your Weary Tune (excerpt)– The Byrds
3) Tomorrow Is a Long Time
4) All I Really Want to Do (excerpt)
5) All I Really Want to Do – The Byrds
6) Spanish Harlem Incident
7) Spanish Harlem Incident (excerpt) – The Byrds
8) Chimes of Freedom
9) Chimes of Freedom (excerpt) – The Byrds
10) My Back Pages
11) My Back Pages (excerpt) – The Byrds
12) It Ain’t Me Babe
13) If You Gotta Go, Go Now

INTERVIEW WITH PETER BREWIS OF FIELD MUSIC

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AHR correspondent Mike Tietjen conducted this interview with Peter Brewis of Field Music, who according to Mike, is also a founding member of the New Pornographers and the Futureheads. Mike turned me on to this band a few months ago, and I was somewhat startled by their originality. The interview is quite good, too, and it’s possible that you’ll find yourself won over to the world of Field Music. One caveat: Mike recorded this while backstage at the Bowery Ballroom during soundcheck – using the microphone in his laptop to record the conversation! It’s a bit noisy, but perfectly audible. And it’s definitely good enough to warrant a listen, so enjoy!

SINGLES FROM THE SUMMER OF LOVE - JUNE 1967

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I hate to be a ‘glass-is-half-empty’ kind of guy, but reviewing the song titles from today’s show, it’s kind of hard to not feel depressed about the current state of the music industry. All songs from today’s show debuted on the pop charts during the month of June 1967. All of them came to our attention at approximately the same time, in one single month. These days, we’d have to consult Billboard’s Top 40 for two years before we could compile a comparable list of memorable songs. Even that may be a long shot, and based on what I’ve seen in the4 past decade, I would not want to take those odds.
This makes me feel that today’s pop music just isn’t living up to its potential. Hey, maybe it’s because I’m older than Methuselah. Maybe young kids think that today’s hits are far superior to the songs we feature here, and I’m open to suggestion. I still listen to an incredible amount of new music, but the fact is that it just doesn’t excite me the way that it used to. In 1967, pop music defined a way of life, and gave all of us a genuine reason to enjoy our lives. It was varied, melodic and intelligent, without resorting to formula. Even more amazingly, this list does not include any songs by the era’s biggest stars – No Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no Bob Dylan. There is a hit song by that ‘little’ Stevie Wonder kid, who (at the time) offered the promise of greater things, and a new band called the Doors, but most of the other artists are fairly ordinary people who made extraordinary music. In a nutshell, this is why the Summer of Love is remembered so fondly, and this is what pop music ought to be;
1) Ode to Billie Joe – Bobbie Gentry
2) Light My Fire – The Doors
3) Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You – Frankie Valli
4) I Was Made to Love Her – Stevie Wonder
5) Don’t Sleep in the Subway – Petula Clark
6) Let’s Live for Today – The Grass Roots
7) Sunday Will Never Be the Same - Spanky and Our Gang
8) Society’s Child – Janis Ian
And the featured album tracks’
9) Early Morning Blues and Greens – The Monkees
10) I’ll Spend My Life with You – The Monkees
11) You Just May Be the One – The Monkees

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 133c – BOB DYLAN

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For our third installment on Bob Dylan, we cover the music featured on his third album, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” It might surprise (or pain) a few listeners to find our chronological coverage of Dylan has only progressed through three albums in as many shows, but in our defense I would say that “How Music Changed” is dedicated to conveying the influential importance of each artist we choose to represent. Very few recordings artists can claim to be as influential as Bob Dylan, and even less could claim to have had the impact of Dylan in the sixties. Sometimes, a good thing just cannot be rushed, and we are in particular hurry to gloss over Dylan’s relevance to the development of popular music.
“The Times They Are A-Changin’” is important in that it represented Dylan more or less fulfilling the ambitions of his fans, while simultaneously challenging them. It is a tense and bleak record, sometimes difficult in the intensity of its topicality, but the folk world of 1963 practically demanded that the singer convey a conscious awareness of social inequities. None were better at this than Bob Dylan, and no single album better conveys this than “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”
I don’t mention this in my commentary, but one thing worth listening for is the ease with which Dylan moves from one perspective to another. For example, “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” castigates our country’s legal system for showing favoritism to the wealthy and the connected, while “Percy’s Song” conveys a sense of hopelessness when the legal system proves unyielding and ruthless in the case of an ordinary man. This particular era of Dylan’s career represents an era in our country’s social climate when actions spoke louder than words, but those who took action needed words to rally them and unite them. For a short while, Bob Dylan was the standard bearer, and his fans came to expect more of this, often feeling that it was a sort of obligation on his part to provide commentary for the liberal folk agenda. It would not be long before he recoiled at the notion of being the spokesperson for a generation, but today’s represents the period of time when he did so willingly, gracefully and unflinchingly.
Here’s a list of songs featured in today’s show;
1) The Times They Are A-Changin’ (non-LP version)
2) The Ballad of Hollis Brown
3) With God on Our Side
4) Only a Pawn in Their Game
5) Boots of Spanish Leather
6) When the Ship Comes In (piano version)
7) The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
8) Percy’s Song

THE MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL POP FESTIVAL

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No single event better represents the spirit and the music of the ‘Summer of Love’ better than the Monterey Pop Festival. The year may have been 1967, but this where everybody’s notion of “The Sixties” began, with psychedelic music, self-empowered hippies, and an unfueled optimism that for a short while made all participants believe that they could change the world. For a few days in June of 1967, they did.
The lineup combined popular acts with some new faces, and the results were legendary. Unlike Woodstock, Monterey Pop’s reputation is based not only on the significance of the event itself, but also on the significance of the music that was played. Over the course of three days, a redefinition of pop culture took place. The zeitgeist had been established just two weeks earlier, when the Beatles released their magnum opus, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and the Monterey Pop Festival cemented the artistic optimism of that album into something tangible. Suddenly, pop music was being perceived as a form of artistic and personal expression, as valid an art form as any of the ‘fine’ arts. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Ravi Shankar, the Who and a host of others provided a soundtrack for this new perspective. If you want to know what this soundtrack sounded like, you can purchase Razor & Tie’s 2-disk cd set, simply entitled “Monterey International Pop Festival,” which contains excerpts from each of the above mentioned acts, plus a few more.
From today’s perspective, when there are literally dozens of music festivals taking place each summer, it is hard to imagine a time when the notion of a ‘pop’ festival was a novelty. Monterey defined the notion of what a pop festival could be, and still serves as a prime example of how nice it is when things go right. Flowers were distributed about the grounds of the festival, and they became a symbol of the event. Police officers were hired to keep the peace, and found themselves surrounded by ecstatic fans. Some ornamented their uniforms with the flowers – others placed them into the barrel of their weapon. An aura of peace and community descended onto the participants, and for a short while, the Summer of Love was more than a catchphrase, it was a statement of fact.
Here’s a list of performances from the Festival that are included in today’s program;
1) San Francisco – Scott McKenzie
2) Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
3) Ball and Chain – Big Brother & the Holding Company
4) So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘n Roll Star – The Byrds
5) White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
6) I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Otis Redding
7) For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
8) My Generation – The Who
9) Like a Rolling Stone – Jimi Hendrix
10) California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & the Papas

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 133b - BOB DYLAN

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We continue our series of shows on Bob Dylan with this second installment. The first episode focused mostly on Dylan’s early days in New York, his attempts to fit in (perhaps it's more accurate to say "his attempts to stand out"), and his eventual acceptance by the folk revival scene. Today’s show covers the sudden and dramatic improvement in the quality – and quantity – of Bob Dylan’s songwriting capabilities.

Best of all, we have the expert assistance of Bob and Arlene Levinson, a husband/wife radio duo (sound familiar?) who host the program "Positively Dylan" on 90.3 FM, WHPC in Garden City every Friday evening at 7 PM.

The intense impact that Dylan's songwriting had on the New York folk community, and eventually the entire globe, cannot be overstated. It is interesting to note that Dylan’s first album contained two original songs, while the second album contained only two that were not original. Mostly because of Dylan’s work, the folk ‘revival’ movement shifted its focus from the restoration of historical music to creating a thoroughly brand new, vital and original style of songwriting that combined surreal observation and personal expression. The effect of Dylan’s songwriting would eventually ripple through other styles as well, and change our very notion of what a ‘song’ was. These words can barely scratch the surface of Dylan's relevance at this point in his career, so click above and listen to the show!

...and once again, thanks so much to Bob and Arlene for their expertise and their kindness.

Here’s a list of songs covered in today’s program;
1) Baby, I’m in the Mood for You
2) A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
3) Mixed Up Confusion
4) Girl from the North Country
5) Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
6) Masters of War
7) Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
8) Oxford Town

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

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It was forty years ago today (more or less). As you may already know, each weekly episode of American Hit Radio celebrates an anniversary of popular music. Sometimes we look back fifty years, sometimes forty, sometimes thirty, sometimes twenty, and sometimes an even ten. For the month of June, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, we will spend each Tuesday looking back at music from that summer forty long years ago.
June 1967 was a time when music began to experience a radical shift that permanently altered the way we think of ‘popular’ music. By far, the biggest arbiter of change was “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Released in the first week of June, “Sgt. Pepper” was the Beatles’ eighth album, and the first to be released after they vowed to stop touring. Compared to previous efforts (but definitely NOT when compared to today’s snail-like pace), it took the band a significant amount of time to complete the record. Upon its release, it changed everything in its wake. The simple teen songs that once defined rock and roll were rendered obsolete, replaced with ornate melodies and elaborate orchestrations, and often full of obscure, artful references, perhaps even poetry. The new music bore literally no resemblance to the classic rock and roll that influenced the Beatles at the start of their careers. For the first time, society as a whole viewed ‘popular’ music, notably the new style of rock and roll music, as an art form.
Roll over Eddie Cochran, tell Buddy Holly the news.
For today’s show, we feature “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in its entirety, with a few comment s thrown in from time to time. We hope you enjoy the program.

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 133a - BOB DYLAN

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With today’s show, we begin the monumental task of compiling the career of Bob Dylan into a series of one-hour programs. Previous episodes often required more than one hour to compile the necessary information, but our Dylan coverage will certainly set a new precedent in this regard. We intend to look at all aspects of Dylan’s career, from its inception in the early ‘60s until his latest release, and I’d expect that we will need quite a few shows to cover his career adequately. Ten? Twenty? Time will tell.
This episodes focuses on the earliest portion of Dylan’s career, starting with early folk recordings of traditional songs, then following his quick progression to becoming a songwriter with a thoroughly unique voice (in both senses of the word). At the time when these recordings were made, virtually nobody knew who Bob Dylan was – his first album is said to have sold approximately 2500 copies upon its release. Nowadays, the entire world has become familiar with Bob’s songs. Here is how it all began;
All tracks by Bob Dylan unless otherwise specified
1) When I Got Troubles
2) This Land Is Your Land
3) Talkin’ New York
4) Man of Constant Sorrow
5) Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
6) Song to Woody
7) 1913 Massacre – Woody Guthrie
8) He Was a Friend of Mine
9) I Was Young When I Left Home
10) Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre
11) Let Me Die in My Footsteps
12) No More Auction Block
13) Blowin’ In the Wind – Peter, Paul and Mary
14) Blowin’ in the Wind

A CRAWFISH FEST IN NEW JERSEY!!

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“American Hit Radio” is based in New York, but regular listeners to our program know our connection to the music and culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Over the years, we have dedicated numerous shows to New Orleans, including an annual feature when we re-cap the highlights of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. This event has become an annual ritual in our lives, to the point where we spend much of the year longing for the opportunity to return. Well, this past weekend, we attended a ‘local’ event that helped alleviate some of our longing for New Orleans culture. For the past eighteen years, Michael Arnone has been hosting “The Crawfish Fest” in New Jersey, and the party has grown considerably over the years. This year’s fest took place at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, New Jersey. We finally made the time to attend this year’s festival, and what a wonderful time we had.
As we hoped, the Crawfish Fest resembles a local, miniaturized version of the New Orleans Jazz Fest. Full of great music and good food (including some awesome boiled crawfish, naturally) in a hassle-free environment which emphasized ease of access and maneuverability, the Crawfish Fest made us feel like we were taking part in a bit of New Orleans, while staying within an hour’s drive (or thereabouts) of New York City. The main event is spread out over two days, and features various artists performing on three stages. Food booths and beverage stands are liberally distributed, making it easy to grab a bite without missing a beat. The event is exceptionally family friendly, too, with a fourth stage dedicated to kids, and simpler fare such as burgers and French fries for those who feel less adventurous. If you wish, campsites are available to those who wish to spend the night.
For today’s program we’ll present a smattering of songs by some of our favorite artists from this year’s event, while discussing some of our own experiences. Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest is destined to become part of our annual routine here at American Hit Radio. For information about next year’s Fest (as well as previous fests), visit http://www.crawfishfest.com
We hope to see you there next year!
Here’s a list of representative songs by featured artists from Michael Arnone’s 2007 Crawfish Fest;
1) Shake Your Rugalator – Bonerama
2) Levee Town – Sonny Landreth
3) C’est Pas La Peine Brailler – Geno Delafose
4) Fortunate Son – New Orleans Social Club
5) Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket – Billy Hector
6) Forty Four – Howlin’ Wolf (with Hubert Sumlin)
7) Got to Be More Careful – Jon Cleary
8) Pine Leaf Boy Two-Step – The Pine Leaf Boys
9) Goin’ Down to Louisiana – Cedric Watson & Corey Ledet
10) Joe Strummer – Cowboy Mouth
11) Walk on Gilded Splinters – Dr. John
12) Do the Memphis Grind – Duke Robillard

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, HONORABLE MENTION - LEONARD COHEN

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Although he has remained a mercurial presence on the music scene for forty years, Leonard Cohen has produced only a dozen or so albums in that time. Never one to rush, he’s best known for meticulous craftsmanship, particularly in regard to his lyrics. Cohen was a successful writer and poet (and it is no easy feat to be successful at poetry, especially from a monetary perspective) for some time before he decided to start his music career, but his musical output has garnered the most attention from the public at large.
At first, it may prove difficult to adjust to Cohen’s deep voice and narrow range, but time has proven that the sheer beauty of his verbal imagery and the broad scope of his topicality easily overcome his musical limitations.
Today, we take a quick peak at Cohen’s career by presenting an overview of his music. Below is a list of songs covered in our program;
Note – Leonard Cohen performs all songs unless noted otherwise.
1) Suzanne
2) Bird on the Wire
3) Bird on the Wire – Joe Cocker
4) Story of Isaac
5) Famous Blue Raincoat
6) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
7) Everybody Knows
8) The Future