Don't Criticise What You Can't Understand: Dylan

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Bob Dylan was in Singapore recently. A truly great 60s artiste with an independent mind, some of his songs are interesting reads. So looking from a different perspective and unless you are familiar with this particular song, please READ the extract of, The Times They Are A Changin' (January, 1964, Columbia Records) below. Apologies to Bob Dylan. Bracketed remarks are mine:

Bob Dylan:
"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
(Orchard Road floods?)

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
(New roulette wheel at Casino?)

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
There's a (contest) outside ragin'
It'll soon (clear) your windows
And (strengthen) your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
(Perhaps a tsunami?)

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agein'
For the times they are a-changin'
(Seniors Realisation Week?)

The line it is drawn
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
For the times they are a-changin'..."
(Formula One Night Race?)
Just wondering. If there's a need for change, is it for the better? That's important.
Image: From 'Google Images'

SINGAPORE GENERAL ELECTIONS 2011

Continue Reading | komentar

Orchard Road Floods And Johnny Cash In 60s

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Peter Chan, 70s music man and current business man, sent me some pictures of floods in Singapore. Here's one (image) that occurred at Orchard Road in the 60s. No, it wasn't the first time the recent flood devastation happened at glamorous Orchard.

.

So why is a 60s music blog discussing floods you ask. While looking at Peter's photographs and reading the papers about the recent deluge, I remember a late 50s song about "rising waters" by Johnny Cash and managed to retrieve it from a website called, starcasm.net It's got that unique Cash beat that our Man In Black specialized in.

.

The singer who had never feared "death, darkness and such apocalyptic things as floods" had put on vinyl, Five Feet High and Rising for his 1959 concept album Songs of Our Soil. Much like his gallows countdown 25 Minutes To Go, this song is an "hourglass ballad, measuring time with the rising waters of the Mississippi River flood of 1937." From historical data, waters from the massive river rose 15 feet above flood stage after 21 consecutive days of rain.

.

There are many C&W songs about floods and the more popular ones are, When It Rains It Pours by Merle Haggard, High Water by Bob Dylan, Rainy Day Blues by Willie Nelson and Steady As The Rain by Dolly Parton.

.

So to all Singapore music lyricists today, writing ditties about our achievements on this beautiful, sunny island can be a little cliched, so why not write about our recent floods at our most celebrated shopping street? Might make it to the Top 10 Singapore Song Chart, if there's any.

.

Image: Peter Chan Collections.
Information: http://starcasm.net/archives/46507
Original article: Andy Lim.

Continue Reading | komentar

Peter Paul & Mary - "Blowin' In The Wind" - Flower - Mary Travers - Gone At 72

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Mary Travers, 72, the female third of the popular 60s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died after battling leukemia for several years.

Travers and her music mates, Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey, best known for their hit, *Puff The Magic Dragon, were in the American folk music scene in the early 60s with their influential style and civil rights cause.

Blowin' In The Wind by Bob Dylan was recorded by hundreds of artistes because it was the anthem of the civil rights movement. But it was Peter, Paul and Mary who made it an international hit.

Led by Mary Travers, they had already put protest songs into the music hit parade with their version of Pete Seeger's If I Had A Hammer, but they were able to balance commercial success with their espousal of worthy causes.

In August 1963, they performed Blowin' In The Wind to a large group of black freedom marchers in Washington who had just heard Martin Luther King's famous 'I have a dream' speech.

After many hits on record that included **Lemon Tree, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, and Leaving On A Jet Plane, the group disbanded in 1970.

*Puff The Magic Dragon was banned in Singapore in 1963 for drug connotation. Was there?

** Lemon Tree was also covered by The Crescendos, a Singapore 60s group, with Susan Lim doing the lead vocals.

Continue Reading | komentar

James Brown, Bob Dylan, Cher, Peggy Sue, American Pie, Purple Rain, Stand By Me?

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

It's interesting to read snippets of "over a century of the greatest artists, albums, songs, performances and events that rocked the music world."

James Brown (image) playing at The Apollo is under 'Key Performance' in the book, "Working up his soulful screams before opting for a velvety growl, he continually took his audience to the edge and back again, women exploding with screams and hollered responses... (Page: 286)"

The Little Black Book Of MUSIC (General Editor: Sean Egan, 2007) is also worthwhile buying as it's a reference guide, so if the reader is that keen on pop music, the book costs about 17 pounds on Amazon ( about S$40.00++?).

The content consists of music from 1890 up to the present day. That's a long history and a detailed and interesting one too. This blogger is learning a lot from this book and as usual, it's available in our libraries.

With nearly 800 pages, the book is small, square and thick. But worth the amount paid for!

Image: amazon.com.uk

Original article: Andy Lim

Continue Reading | komentar

U.S. 60s Influence - Groups - Kingston Trio'

Friday, April 10, 2009

KingstoneThe youths growing up in Singapore 60s could sing, hum or whistle, "Tom Dooley". The Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 and by the following year had this very successful single at the top the pop charts. The trio, though certainly more commercially viable than some of the more authentic folkies of the late '50s, had a lot to do with the success of the folk revival in that era; folk music rang out from college campuses everywhere in the late '50s and 60s.

Whether or not they knew their music was paving the way for artists more deeply involved in these changes (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez), it did sell plenty of records. The Kingston Trio began in San Francisco.

Their first album, THE KINGSTON TRIO, included "Tom Dooley" and it was played extensively by DJs that Capitol released it as a single that eventually sold nearly 3 million records. The song was taken from a 19th century mountain ballad about Tom Dula, who was hanged for murdering his sweetheart.

Several albums ensued for the trio, all doing well commercially but, while it had 10 singles charted by 1963, only "Reverend Mr. Black" got into the Top 10. However, the Kingston Trio is remembered for other tunes like "M.T.A.," "The Tijuana Jail," "A Worried Man", "Greenback Dollar" and Pete Seegar's, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" Like "Tom Dooley", it's another pop hit turned classic.

As the more intensive folk-rock grew, making songs like the Kingston Trio's became outdated and the trio broke up in 1968. A TV reunion in 1981 had all six members together for the first time.

Whether duos, trios, quartets or quintets, the influence of vocal groups like THE EVERLY BROTHERS (2), THE KINGSTON TRIO (3), THE BROTHERS FOUR (4), THE PLATTERS (5), certainly made an impact on our local music scene. Carbon copies or otherwise our 60s musicians certainly learnt a lot from their US counterparts.

(From: Kingston Trio Website).

Continue Reading | komentar