The Free Peein’ Bob Dylan

 Posted by
Mar 182009
 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bob Dylan has sung about wind many times — winds of change, the “Idiot Wind,” and the winds that hit heavy on the borderline.

But some of his California neighbors on Tuesday were singing a new tune about what is blowin’ in the wind from his Malibu toilet.

A family living near the 67-year-old folk and rock icon’s house in the posh California beachside community of Malibu have complained to city officials about an outdoor portable toilet, which is apparently used by guards on Dylan’s compound.

Cindy and David Emminger say the toilet wafts fumes from waste treatment chemicals, and that the smell carried by breezes from the Pacific Ocean makes their family feel ill.

“It’s a scandal – ‘Mr Civil Rights’ is killing our civil rights,” David Emminger told the Los Angeles Times.

Full story here- Bob Dylan’s toilet smell blows in the wind

Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is top both my and Reuter’s headlines for this story. Should any Townsman, or Townswoman be “caught or killed, The Back Office will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

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Win-Win Collaborations?

 Posted by
Feb 122009
 

Rock collaborations between major artists can result in fantastic outcomes. I’m not talking about rock’s legendary one-shot duets, such as Ja-Bo or “Ebony and Ivory,” but full-blown collaborations or instances in which one established artist produces a slightly less-established artist. I would think that fans of one artist or another may feel that their favorite in the collaboration either lifted his or her collaborator by the bootstraps or, if the favorite artist was the perceived submissive partner in the collaboration, been held down or otherwise tainted by the more-popular partner. Following are just some collaborations. You tell me which artist benefitted most from the collaboration, which artist suffered, or if the collaboration was a rare case of a win-win partnership. In other words: Who wins? Who loses? Feel free to focus your thoughts on any one of these pairs. Feel free to call in a new pair for discussion. I expect we will have some initial disagreement.

  • David Bowie and Iggy Pop
  • Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
  • Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra
  • Eric Clapton and Duane Allman
  • Robert Fripp and Brian Eno
  • David Bowie and Brian Eno
  • Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers
  • Buckingham-Nicks and Fleetwood Mac
  • Daryl Hall and Robert Fripp
  • Lou Reed and David Bowie
  • Brian Eno and Talking Heads
  • Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds
  • Jefferson Airplane and Papa John Creach
  • Bob Dylan and The Band
  • U2 and Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois
  • Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne
  • David Bowie and Mott the Hoople
  • Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart
  • Brian Eno and Coldplay

I look forward to your responses.

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Your Choices for Worst Song by These Major Artists

 Posted by
Dec 112008
 

Songs from this album are not eligible for nomination.

Sometimes you learn more about people’s taste from what they don’t like than from what they do like.

Keeping that in mind, I’m asking people to post their choices for worst song by each of five key ’60s/’70s artists. The only caveat is that the songs should be from the prime parts of their career (ie, nothing from Empire Burlesque from Dylan, no ’90s Stones songs, no solo McCartney, and no live or otherwise alternate versions of songs.) I’m more interested in the “why” than I am which song people choose, so please back up your choices!

The artists are

  • The Beatles
  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Who
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Bob Dylan.

My choices follow the jump.
Continue reading »

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Softcore Artist Porn

 Posted by
Jun 192008
 


Now don’t get all sensitive and/or hung up on me: Are there artists whose images alone, at a certain point in their career, you are happy to gaze at until you snap out of it when some drool drips onto your shirt? I suspect Don’t Look Back-era Bob Dylan has this effect on more than a few of us. I’ve been known to space out watching John Lennon as well, just thinking how cool the guy was. This is an innocent question about an innocent phenomenon. Don’t get freaked out thinking that I’m questioning your sexuality, which we all know is as manly as it comes. Of course, if your sexuality comes into play, that’s fine too.

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The Evolution of a Rock Face: Robbie Robertson

 Posted by
Jun 092008
 

Are ya watchin’ me, Bob?

A while back we analyzed the legendary duel in The Last Waltz between Eric Clapton and The Band’s Robbie Robertson. Using cutting-edge technology and the better part of three lunch breaks, we compared the efficacy of Clapton’s Guitar Solos to Robertson’s Rock Faces. This groundbreaking study has led to similar inquiries in development and not yet reported, such as a comparison of the efficacy of Aretha Franklin’s pipes to Mariah Carey’s tits and ass from this legendary VH1 Divas performance.

While this and similar studies are ongoing, I’ve been thinking about the concept of the evolution of Rock Faces. How much of what an artist hits the stage with is owing to God-given talent and how much of an artist’s facial means of communication is developed through hard work and study? I decided to kick off this inquiry with an examination of the evolution of the Rock Faces of The Band’s Robbie Robertson. The conclusions we draw from this analysis are only the tip of the iceberg. In coming weeks, as we discuss these findings and examine the evolution of Rock Faces by other artists, we’ll surely develop a more comprehensive picture.

As you know, many members of what would become The Band backed up Bob Dylan on some of his first electric tours. Here’s a young, studious, respectful Robbie accompanying Dylan on acoustic guitar in a hotel room. In a wholly subservient role, Robbie’s all about respect. The closest he gets to flashing anything remotely resembling a Rock Face, is around 56 seconds into the clip, when he engages in an empathetic head dip in rhythm with the descending chord progression.

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Rock Squeezes

 Posted by
May 152008
 

Wouldn’t it be nice?

Were you ever young and wishing you were in love, with someone, anyone? Did you ever gaze at the iconic image of Bob Dylan and his squeeze, Suze Rotolo, on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and think something to the effect of, “Wouldn’t it be nice?”

I’m not sure how long into adulthood the effect of a rock squeeze lasts – and the artist can’t be too much older than his squeeze without the whole thing coming off as sleezy and cliched, but a good Rock Squeeze at the right time in an artist’s career – and the right time in the artist’s fans’ lifetimes – softens the image of the rock star, brings him down to earth, makes him even more like you as a young, idealistic rock nerd, that is, if you had more charisma and a more happening social life.

Think of the role Anita Pallenberg played in softening the image of at least 2 Rolling Stones:

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