Adventures with Johnny, Part 110

Johnny attends President Obama's press conference, marking his first 100 days in office.

Adventures with Johnny, Part 109

Johnny is in the Oval Office as President Obama calls Sen. Arlen Specter, congratulating him and welcoming him to the Democratic Party.

First Impressions

Well, I've listened to Together Through Life about 6-7 times all the way through...like 99.5% of Bob Dylan's work, it holds up--nay, gets better--with repeat listenings.

Listening to it the very first time, I had pretty much the same reaction I did to 2006's Modern Times, and 2001's Love & Theft--I knew I liked what I heard, but I needed a lot of time to really digest it all, and see how much of the album I ended up listening to as time wore on (for instance, I don't think I've gone a week since Modern Times came out that I haven't listened to "Someday Baby").

So here's how the songs sound to me, as of right now:

"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"--The song I'm most familiar with, because it was made available a month ago, so I've had time to learn all the words. Amid descriptions of a bleak, desolate landscape ("boulevards of broken cars"), the singer assures the love of his life that nothing means anything outside their feelings for one another, a theme that will be reinforced many times over the album.

"Life Is Hard"--A very slow (it seems to almost come to a full stop at times) ballad, but with a nice hook, but one that sort of sneaks up on you. Heartfelt, direct lyrics.

"My Wife's Hometown"--A black humor song, a slow blues, ending with a devilish cackle by Bob as it fades out. Kinda creepy.

"If You Ever Go To Houston"--One of my favorites on the album, and as I listened to it all the way through the first time, the first tune that jumped out at me as being a future classic. Intriguing lyrics that seem to be a warning to the listener mix with a sweet, upbeat tune with wonderful accordion by David Hidalgo, who is all over the album.

It features one set of lines that is goofily, classic Dylan. He mentions going to Dallas, and "saying hello to Mary Ann." He then adds seeing "her sister Lucy", and then pushes the bit even further by mentioning "their other sister Nancy", leaving the imagination to wonder how many sisters in this particular family the singer has run into, and in what capacity!

"Forgetful Heart"--Probably my least favorite song of the bunch, this sounds the most like the kind of performances and arrangement you heard on Time Out of Mind. Not a bad song by any stretch, but to my ears it sticks out on this album and kind of stops the momentum built up by the previous song, and continued by the next one.

"Jolene"--Another fun tune, Bob's tribute to some sort of amazing woman he knows, either in real life or just in his imagination.

"This Dream of You"--The longest song on the album, a quieter, sweeter song with Bob in his schmaltzy mode, like he was in for "Beyond the Horizon" on Modern Times, "Moonlight" on Love and Theft, and "Make You Feel My Love" on Time Out of Mind. His vocal here is quite crisp, and features less of the craggy sound than on the other songs.

"Shake Shake Mama"--Like "Someday Baby" from Modern Times, a classic, old-timey rock boogie, full of odd characters (a "Judge Simpson" who hangs around by the river and who the singer calls "an old clown" ), and sung with real gusto. And at 3:37, gets outta town before you might get bored.

"I Feel A Change Comin' On"--The most anthemic of the songs, this one sounds very much like the air most of us were breathing back in October 2008 (when he recorded it), merely a few weeks away from the most exciting presidential election in most of our lives. Sweet and bitter co-exist in the lyrics here, and even though there's a lot of darkness, I still feel uplifted after hearing this.

"It's All Good"--Of all the songs on the album, this sounds the most classically "Dylanesque". After rattling off events and things that signify the end of civilization, Bob follows each verse with a sneering "It's all good", sounding like a combination of an Old Testament prophet and a modern day hipster. Which is, of course, what he has sounded like most of his career.


So far, its "Houston", "Shake", "Change", and "Good" that are sticking in my head the most, and the ones I most want to hear again (and again, and again...).

On first blush, Together Through Life seems to stand on a par with Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times, as yet another collection of heartfelt, ragged, and thought-provoking songs from the Bard. He seems to be having a lot of fun on these records--even with the bleak subject matter--and he sounds like he is in full command of his powers, saying what he wants to say, and saying it in the ways he wants to say it.

I always wonder with each new album whether this is the Last Bob Dylan Album. After all, the guy's 68 years old, and you have to figure at some point he'd want to take it easy. But it seems like he has no intention of stopping, and for that I am so glad.

I plan to enjoy Together Through Life over and over...and probably won't stop listening to it until the next album!

Gone Listenin'

A Month of Bob, Part 10

Our last Bob video before Together Through Life hits the streets tomorrow is this 1975 live performance of "Simple Twist of Fate", another song from Blood on the Tracks.

The setting is a televised tribute to John Hammond, the legendary Columbia Records executive who "discovered" Bob, along with other artists like Billie Holliday and Bruce Springsteen. The man clearly knew talent when he saw it.

One of the reasons I find this performance so amazing is that he takes a song that is nigh perfect on the album--a song of infinite layers of loneliness, melancholy, and regret--and ends with an entirely different set of verses, and yet makes this version work all on its own:

A Month of Bob, Part 9

Less than a year after releasing what could arguably be called his (or anyone's!) finest album, Blood on the Tracks, Bob went out on a tour called The Rolling Thunder Revue.

All the songs in his songbook performed on this tour went underwent massive changes. Bob's marriage was crumbling, the tour was a huge, sprawling enterprise, and you can hear that sense of...desperation, confusion at the very least, in the performances. On some of the shows, like this one, rain started to fall, causing minor electrical shorts all over the stage!

To my ear, the best example of this unique sound was this version of "Shelter From The Storm." What was a gentle melody on Blood on the Tracks becomes a full-on frontal assault:



...I love the way he yells the "Someday I'll make it mine!" in the final verse.

I first heard this version on the live album Hard Rain, one of the first Bob albums I ever bought. I must have played it 1000 times over the first few weeks of buying the record.

A Month of Bob, Part 8

This is one of my favorite "Bob moments" and he's not even in it!

This clip is from the "30th Anniversary Concert" celebrating the work of Bob, held on October 30, 1992. I was lucky enough to have been there (thanks for the scratch, Mom and Dad!)

It featured a true all-star line-up of people performing Bob songs, ending with the man himself.

Amid all the legends singing Dylan songs--Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Steve Wonder, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, etc.--my favorite cover of the night was by the one-off team of Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Roseanne Cash, and Shawn Colvin singing one of my favorite Bob songs, "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere":



...I loved this cover so much I wished the three of them had formed a CSN-style band. I thought they were terrific, and delivered a wonderfully upbeat, rousing version of this song.

A Month of Bob, Part 7

There was no way I could not post this during our tour of great Bob moments. Here he is, singing his song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" where he pretty much single-handedly invents the rap song as well as the concept of music videos:

Adventures with Johnny, Part 108

Johnny accompanies President Obama as he greets Mexican President Felipe Calderon's family (and golden retriever) on April 16, 2009.

A Month of Bob, Part 6

This is one of my all-time favorite live performances Bob ever gave--sometime in 1980, during his so-called "Gospel Shows", covering the classic tearjerker "Abraham, Martin, and John".

There's no video per se, since this recording is a bootleg, but some intrepid YouTuber made their own video just so they could post the song:


...I love, just as the song is ending, someone in the crowd yells out "I love you, Bob!" or something like that.

I feel the same way every time I hear this haunting version of the song.

Adventures with Johnny, Part 107

Johnny skips ahead as President Obama runs down the hall with the new Obama family dog, Bo.

Johnny's first lesson for Bo: Barking Crazily!

Adventures with Johnny, Part 106

Johnny attends President Obama's reading of Where The Wild Things Are to a group of kids on The White House lawn yesterday.


(And in case any of you are wondering: no, Johnny did not attend any of today's "Tea Party" events, either as a spy or to simply piddle on people's legs. I wouldn't let my little girl anywhere near that group of deranged know-nothings).

A Month of Bob, Part 5

One thing that cheers me up is when The Legendary Bob Dylan acts goofy. Which, surprisingly, he does a lot.

Case in point, here was his bewildering yet charming guest appearance on ABC's Dharma & Greg, of all things, in 2000:


...and here was the second part, after the initial credits:



...thanks, Bob. You make me laugh.

Coming Home

We went to the Veterinary Hospital today to pick up Berry's ashes. They were in a small box, along with a tuft of his hair, and a cast of his paw print.

For all of my life, I've never put much meaning into visiting people's graves. Partly because hardly anyone very close to me has ever died, but also because I deep down just don't believe that the body is anything but the vessel that the spirit/soul inhabits, so therefore once the body has died it doesn't mean a whole lot.

But--something came over me in the couple of days between Berry passing away and today. I felt like, in some way, we had "left" him there, with strangers. I knew intellectually that wasn't true, but I kept getting that feeling.

So I was relieved to pick up his ashes today. The tuft of hair (sealed in a small plastic bag) perfectly represents the amazing spectrum of colors and designs he had in his coat--as he himself said, God was really paying attention to his work the day he made Berry.

Tracy and Johnny were waiting for me in the car, and once I climbed back in, she and I were quiet for a moment, held hands, and wept. Our boy was back with us, and I'm glad to have him home.

The Odd Couple

Johnny's adventures will continue soon; but for right now she is mourning the loss of her big brother.

Berry

Our beloved cat Berry passed away tonight.

After coming home, we heard him in the closet meowing in distress. Tracy determined he couldn't move his back legs, which prompted me to call the emergency vet hospital.

We brought him in, and the doctor hold us that he had a huge blot clot in his aorta, which cut off the blood to his legs, causing the paralysis. Berry had had a heart murmur for the last few years, which he was on medication for.

The doctor told us that while it was possible to give him medication to try and eliminate the clot, it would be a long procedure, require him to stay at the hospital the whole time, wouldn't prevent other clots down the line, and, worst of all, it almost had no chance of working.

Tracy and I talked for only a moment when we decided the only thing to do was to have Berry put to sleep. The idea of prolonging his life by a few days, just to have those days filled with anxiety and pain, was intolerable to us.

Later, they let us visit him, and even though he was sedated, he recognized us and meowed. We stroked him, told him what a good boy he was.

Finally they brought him in, unconscious. His big green eyes, like his Daddy's, were glazed over and dull. We petted him some more, stroked his fur, and the doctor gave him the shot. It only took a few seconds.


At a moment like this, there's not much to say but cliches. But--Tracy and I have decided we don't want children, instead we find our calling in life to give a home to as many animals as possible. While we still live where we do, a dog and a cat was the limit, but we both dream of a house on a nice piece of property where we have the room to take in every animal that needs a home.

Berry was the first animal that looked to me as a Daddy. It took many months (and even more bloody scratches) to get Berry to accept me in his and his Mom's life, but eventually he did. It made me smile every time I used to come home, and he would awaken from his deep cat slumber and run to the door to greet me.

Even better, was at the end of the night, when he would insist on laying on me for a good 45 minutes at a time, preventing me from rolling over and going to sleep. And while I bitched about it, deep down I loved it.

I loved being his Daddy, loved that this very standoffish little creature, rescued, as he himself used to put it, "From the mean streets of Marlton", came to feel so secure with me that he would crawl up on me, every night, and go to sleep. He was my buddy, my little pal. I--we--loved him so very, very much.

We miss you Berry.

Adventures with Johnny, Part 105

Johnny stands on guard as President Obama meets with GOP members Mitch McConnell (R-Asshat) and Eric Cantor (R-Schmuck).

Grrr....

A Round of Applause

Well done, Iowa Supreme Court.

A Month of Bob, Part 4

Here's Bob, in 1995, performing his song "Restless Farewell" for Frank Sinatra at this 80th birthday TV special.

Almost everyone who performed that night sang Sinatra songs, but Bob sang one of his own. I think I read somewhere this was specifically requested by Sinatra himself. Which makes sense, since this song is very Sinatra-ish, in its "I shake off all this crap people say about me" tone.

Its a very sweet, lilting performance of the song, capped off with Bob wishing "Mr. Frank" a happy birthday:

Adventures with Johnny, Part 104

Johnny, along with her new assistant Colby, flank President Obama at a photo shoot of all the leaders of the G20 countries.

A Month of Bob, Part 3

This is one of my favorite moments with Bob ever.

Its 1991, and Bob is receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by Jack Nicholson.

After Nicholson gives a wonderfully idiosyncratic tribute, followed by a montage of Bob songs, the man himself comes on.

As the (first) war with Iraq rages on the other side of the world, Bob comes out with his band, all of them looking like a bunch of shifty crooks, and they blast their way through a scalding, atonal, near-punk version of Bob's 1963 anti-military industrial complex song, "Masters of War", followed by one of the oddest, yet profoundly moving, acceptance speeches I've ever heard anyone give: