Monthly Archives: September 2010

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Song of the Day #798: ‘Like a Rolling Stone (Live)’ – Bob Dylan

I’ve read comments from Dylan fans along the lines of “If I had access to a time machine, the ‘Royal Albert Hall’ concert is the moment in history I’d revisit.” As for me, I’d probably opt for sometime during the Roman Empire, but I can appreciate the sentiment. Certainly it would have been something to watch this concert live, both for the music and the history.

Yesterday I featured the performance that closed Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There and today I’m moving to the song that closes Martin Scorsese’s fabulous Dylan documentary No Direction Home. (If you haven’t seen that film, do so immediately.)

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Song of the Day #797: ‘Mr. Tambourine Man (Live)’ – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan’s “Royal Albert Hall” concert (which actually took place at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall) is one of those seminal moments in music history that has gone down as legend. Think The Beatles’ or Elvis’ first appearances on Ed Sullivan’s stage, or Dylan’s own electric coming out at the Newport Folk Festival.

The “Royal Albert Hall” show was just one stop on that year’s tour, but the shout of “Judas!” by a fan toward the end of the show turned this particular show into an encapsulation of the atmosphere that surrounded Dylan as he embarked on this new leg of his career.

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Song of the Day #796: ‘Sentimental Favorite’ – Owsley

I don’t know why it is that some artists go on to have Ben Folds’ career and some artists wind up forgotten (and, in Owsley’s case, dead).

Talent plays a role, certainly, but lord knows there are enough popular and untalented (or moderately talented) artists out there to suggest it’s more than that: Attitude, connections, just plain luck.

Obviously it’s a roll of the dice for anybody seeking to make a living in the arts, and the percentage who actually break through and land a recording contract is minuscule. And in that sense, Owsley was better off than most people who started down the same path he did.

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Song of the Day #795: ‘Sonny Boy’ – Owsley

I discovered Owsley through a Ben Folds Five fan site, in a thread along the lines of “If you love Ben Folds, you’ll probably like this guy too.” Their sounds weren’t very similar (Owsley’s instrument of choice is the guitar, for one thing, while Folds has almost always recorded without one) but I did recognize a similar vibe and sensibility.

In their early days, Ben played drums in a band Owsley started called The Semantics, before leaving to form his trio. Several websites report that Ben wasn’t actually a member of The Semantics, though he did record with them… just semantics, I guess (my apologies for the weak joke).

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Song of the Day #794: ‘Good Old Days’ – Owsley

Often I’ll reach back for some forgotten artist as a Song of the Day candidate with absolutely no idea what he’s up to now.

A quick Google search reveals that the pop singer I listened to back in college went on to produce one more album before opening up a coffee house in a small Midwestern town.

Or maybe she’s been toiling away at a musical career, worshiped by a small but passionate fan base, with seven underheard albums and hundreds of live shows under her belt.

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