In which John Sebastian confesses how The Spoonful’s urban heat hit was influenced by a pastoral Israeli folk song. I kid ye not. Back o’ my neck gettin’ dirt and gritty.
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262: Bob Dylan, ‘Went to See the Gypsy’ (“Another Self-Portrait”)
In 1970, Dylan was so set on releasing a terrible album that he left out all the good stuff.
Here’s the good stuff.
Welcome to Dylanland.
260: David Crosby/Joni Mitchell, ‘Yvette in English’
David Crosby.
Sometimes he gives you a high.
Sometimes he makes you want to jump off something high.
In 1993, he and Joni Mitchell wrote a beautiful, enigmatic song together.
261: Kurt Elling/Sting, ‘Practical Arrangement’
Love songs ain’t what they used to be.
Love ain’t what it used to be.
Kurt Elling brings something new to the table.
259: Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau: ‘Marcie’ (Joni Mitchell), ‘Don’t Think Twice’ (Dylan)
You don’t need Thile and Mehldau to justify the standing of Dylan or Mitchell. But their fresh new readings may still amplify and even enhance the originals.
Continue reading...258: Stephen Stills, ‘Do For the Others’
Still–he’s still Stills.
A 1970 gem you may have missed.
111: The Byrds (David Crosby), ‘Everybody’s Been Burned’
David Crosby’s best songs with The Byrds employed a psychedelic sensibility – floating, meandering, precious, delicate, shimmering, as unfettered and fragile as a soap bubble wafting in a marijuana cloud above a Tribal Gathering. ‘Everybody’s Been Burned’ is one of his finest. It has the weight of melody and lyric content and meaning and emotion and passion, and yet it still floats.
Continue reading...256: The Mamas & The Papas, ‘Once Was a Time I Thought’
They indeed really were a fine group. Go listen to half a dozen cuts you don’t remember.
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