I have an unwritten rule for this blog that Beyoncé should make an appearance every couple of months or so. Today’s post marks the fifth appearance this year by Ms. Knowles, which frankly seems a little low.
My mission is complicated by the fact that I don’t actually own any of Beyoncé’s albums and I’m not a big fan of most of her songs. And I’m not looking to embarrass myself (any more than I already have) by gushing about her appeal in areas unrelated to music.
As I mentioned yesterday, Volume 7 is in some ways the weakest of the Bootleg Series because it falls back mostly on songs that are already known.
In fact, it breaks a cardinal rule of bootlegs in general by including material that has already been released — Dylan’s ‘Song to Woody,’ which appeared in the same form on his debut album, and the live Royal Albert Hall versions of ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’ and ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ which had not only been released but been released on this same Bootleg Series just two volumes back.
Volume 7 of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series is a companion soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and, as such, has less to offer than the previous volumes I’ve covered on the blog.
The songs here are mostly unreleased versions of old classics (either live, demo or alternate takes). But despite its not being a treasure trove of new material, this 2-disc set does offer some illumination into Dylan’s early work.
I have a complicated relationship with Don Henley. It probably stems back to my active dislike of The Eagles, because Henley is the most prominent Eagle of all.
He’s immensely talented, no doubt. It’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of a song such as ‘Desperado,’ even as its sibling ‘Hotel California’ makes me want to pull my hair out. And sometimes his vocals just annoy me, while at other times it seems like he has the perfect rock voice. What is it with this guy?
Meet Me In Montauk 