The Days of Lore

Glen with one ‘n’

Thursday, February 26th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | 3 Comments

“What kind of music do you listen to?”

That question came early on in the day, the day I worked with Glen. And from that point on, music was all we talked about. Glen is 41. Has a wife and a 3-year-old kid. Owns 1,500 CDs. Has seen the Ramones three times. Slayer twice. Alice In Chains is his favorite Seattle band. And he claims emphatically that 1970 was the greatest year for music.

Glen and I stock ice cream. It’s the first job I was able to get since moving to Portland five months ago. He’s been doing it for almost two years. We go from store to store slapping Eskimo Pies and Rocky Road (invented by Dreyer’s in 1929 and named with the Great Depression in mind) on to the shelves. No thinking involved, just talking about rock ‘n’ roll. When a song would come on over the intercom, he would call out the artist and the year it came out. “Julian Lennon (the less cool Lennon), 1984,” he said while “Too Late For Goodbyes” rang through the store’s tinny speaker system. “Foreigner, 1984,” when we heard “I Want To Know What Love Is.” One time I thought Glen was working a few doors down the aisle, when I heard out of nowhere: “Bob Seger, 1976.” It was “Still the Same.” And it was awesome.

Later that day we had to drive a ways to get to some of stores located in these podunks outside of Portland, so we carpooled. Wet gloves lined Glen’s dashboard, drying over the heater vents, which smelled like a mixture of wet dog, dirty socks, dreadlocks and cookies ‘n’ cream. There was music, of course. He’d made a mix that pulled one song from each of his Top 30 albums … no easy feat. The rest of the afternoon we listened to Bob Dylan and The Doors, the Dead Kennedys and the Ramones, Neil Young and The Who, from albums like Highway 61Revisited, Leave Home and Live at Leeds, which Glen proclaimed as the greatest live album ever. I couldn’t argue. I was glad to discover that Glen was a smart person, even if he looked at me funny when I told him I didn’t own Live at Leeds. “I should make you walk!” he threatened.

Glen told me that he asks everyone he meets what they listen to. And when they give the stock reply, “I listen to everything” he’ll follow up with “Do you listen to Slayer? Do you listen to the Carpenters?” I probably redeemed myself by answering yes to both. Of all the songs I heard that day it was “Ramble Tamble” from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory record that slayed me … released, of course, in 1970. Here’s to Glen, a true music freak. Here’s to the underrated CCR, who’s influenced every band worth a damn. And here’s to the fact that I didn’t have to sit in a (slightly) smelly car listening to stinky FM radio.

“Ramble Tamble” - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Tags: Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Carpenters, Cosmo's Factory, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dead Kennedys, Foreigner, Julian Lennon, Live at Leeds, Neil Young, Ramones, Slayer, The Doors, The Who

Lost Bob Dylan tape: Pay lady pay

Thursday, December 18th, 2008 | musiX | 4 Comments

I’m one of those few fools who likes Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline record over most of his other recordings. Am I a fool? Or aren’t I? Well, I’m definitely one of those poor saps who can’t afford to bid on an original master recording of “Lay Lady Lay.” But it can be yours …

The one-inch, 8-track analog tape, which includes five outtakes of the song as well as a never-released jam of “Going Back to Chicago,” is currently sitting on eBay at a current bid of $9,000, as of 9:38 a.m. (it jumped a cool six grand overnight). [Update: Sold! For $30,000, Dec. 23.] The reel has been stored in its original box, in a warehouse, in New Jersey for almost two decades. Listen to a few snippets by hitting the play button.

[Note: If you listen closely, Mr. Record Label incorrectly refers the album as Nashville Skyline Rag, but that's just me being nit-picky.]

Of course, Nashville Skyline was Dylan’s country album, recorded in 1969 much to the chagrin of Columbia Records. He did it anyway, and ended up with one of his highest charting songs in “Lay Lady Lay.” The album also includes “Girl From the North Country,” recorded with Johnny Cash, and one my favorites, “One More Night.” I can’t afford to bid on the tape, but I did purchase the CD a decade ago for a measly 10 bucks. Maybe I’m not such a fool after all.

“One More Night” - Bob Dylan

Tags: "Going Back to Chicago", "Lay Lady Lay", Bob Dylan, eBay, Johnny Cash, Nashville Skyline

Wilco will love you, baby

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 | musiX | 1 Comment

Joe the Plumber meet “Wilco the Song.” Jeff Silky … err … Tweedy braved Stephen Colbert’s relentless grilling on Oct. 30, and Wilco debuted a new tune. It’s a shame the song was a one-time deal for the show … it’s pretty gosh-darned good. And in the spirit of voting the band is offering a free download of its performance of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” with the Fleet Foxes to those who pledge to hit the polling booth. As Colbert put it, sounds like socialist behavior.

Tags: "I Shall Be Released", "Wilco the Song", Bob Dylan, Fleet Foxes, Jeff Tweedy, Stephen Colbert, the Colbert Report, Wilco