After a break, the latest radio appearance on BDiA, this time with Vincent Woods on the Arts Tonight program, recently broadcast in Ireland on RTE Radio One, here.
Blog
Michael Bloomfield & “Like A Rolling Stone”
The stories about the great Michael Bloomfield and the making of “Like A Rolling Stone” are many and oft-repeated. Not least interesting: the one about how Al Kooper showed up at the Columbia studio hoping to play guitar, heard Bloomfield play and knew he was overmatched — but then snuck back in to play the organ, and, with Bloomfield, helped make the recording all that it was and is.
The larger story of Michael Bloomfield, though, and where that 1965 session fit in, is in danger of fading. All the better to have “The Michael Bloomfield Story,” a video that goes back to the beginning, tracing Bloomfield’s early connections with, among others, Charlie Musselwhite, Moses Asch, John Hammond (Senior and Junior), and Robbie Robertson, as well as Butterfield and Dylan.
Here is the second part of the video as it appears on YouTube, covering the “Rolling Stone” sessions and a great deal more. The entire film is worth watching.
And, just for kicks, here is Al Kooper telling in part about the “Rolling Stone” session, with his impression of producer Tom Wilson.
Al Kooper on Tom Wilson and “Like A Rolling Stone”
SW on Political Violence: Charlie Rose, 1/13/11
SW appeared along with George Packer and Ross Douthat on the Charlie Rose show to discuss the recent shootings in Tucson, President Obama’s speech honoring the victims, and the rise of violent political rhetoric in recent years. See video here.
Mojo on Dylan; Phil Ochs on Film
SW: After a good long holiday break….
In the interim, Mojo magaine published an issue on Bob Dylan’s early years in New York, which, to my delight, included selections from Bob Dylan in America alongside a lengthy wonderful interview with Izzy Young and a bevy of other treats. More information is here.
Also, a fine new documentary film on Phil Ochs, There But For Fortune, will open in cities around the country this Wednesday, January 5. For those of you in New York, the director, Kenneth Bowser, will be appearing with Michael Ochs, Phil’s brother, on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the film at the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue and Third Street; more information here.
Happy New Year!
SW Review of Terminal 5 Shows
SW’s Daily Beast review of Bob Dylan’s NYC Thanksgiving week shows at Terminal 5 appears at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-27/bob-dylan-concerts-at-terminal-5/
SW discusses Bob Dylan in America at the Aspen Institute: Video
The video of SW discussing Bob Dylan in America with the poet and arts leader Dana Gioia at the Aspen Institute in Washington on 11/23 is available at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/video/dialogue-featuring-sean-wilentz-author-bob-dylan-america
L.A. Doings
SW: Since back in L.A., I’ve been able to rest up from the most intense to-ings and fro-ings connected to Bob Dylan in America and settle in a little. Weekdays generally find me working at the Huntington Library, with its wonderful accumulation of manuscripts and rare books on U.S. history. And the weekends? This past one started out in Topanga Canyon, the closest thing I’ve found out here to Woodstock, NY, for a swap meet and chili cookoff. The sign pretty much sums it all up.
That’s Topanga, kids!
Sunday brought a rare private screening of the great director Les Blank’s film, “A Poem Is a Naked Person,” on Leon Russell in the early/mid 1970s. A wonderful movie, one of the best rock & roll films I’ve ever seen. It would be too bad if the snags still holding it up prevented it from seeing the light of day with the general public.
Now back to the work-week, before heading back to NYC — for Thanksgiving and, among other things, Bob Dylan and his Band at Terminal 5.
ALERT, though: For friends and others in the D.C. area, I’ll be doing a reading/conversation with Dana Gioia at the Aspen Institute on Dupont Circle on Tuesday, November 23, at noon. Details here.
Bob Dylan in America Barnes & Noble Reading Online
For those of you who were unable to attend last September’s Bob Dylan in America reading in New York, or who missed the C-SPAN broadcast last weekend, the video is now available for viewing and downloading here.
SW and BDiA on C-Span Book TV
C-Span 2 Book Notes is broadcasting the book reading held at Barnes and Noble in New York in September. The first airing just occured (it caught us by surprise), but it will air again on Sunday, October 31, at 10 AM and 4 PM, Eastern Time.
Back to L.A.
SW: The week back East brought great fun and pleasure. On the Dylan front, the New-York Historical Society sponsored the long-scheduled event on Thursday night involving Rosanne Cash, Bill Flanagan, and myself. Bill was his usual witty, engaging, provocative self, asking questions raised by his reading of BDiA. Rosanne reflected on Dylan’s music, her dad’s, and folk music generally, and sang and played beautifully, including a moving rendition of “Girl from the North Country.” I tried to hold up my end answering Bill’s queries and questions from the audience. A wonderful occasion; pix (I hope) to come.
The afternoon before, I got to be part of a “Soundcheck” show on WNYC devoted to remembering Gerde’s Folk City. The reminiscing was great fun; Bob Porco (the grandson of Gerdes’s owner, Mike Porco) called in, as did Tom Chapin; and the Roches were in the studio along with Suzzy Roche’s daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche, to sing beautifully of Folk City, America, and love and loss. An amazing treat for me.
You can download the entire show, with host John Schaeffer, here.
Also, if you’re in and around New York, catch Lucy this week at the City Winery this coming Thursday, October 28. Details here.
Friday’s scheduled confab with Charlie Rose had to be put off, alas (more on that as soon as information is available). But on Saturday, I trained down to DC for a reading at the Jewish Book Festival. For some reason, the topic of religion barely came up. The audience was large and lively and knowledgeable (there was even a question about Under the Red Sky!) and the evening was, for me anyway, a delight.
Just off for the return to LA, I received a photo from the book launch party back in September, which gives me a chance to say some nice words about friends. The party hit a high point late, when Henry Butler, Davell Crawford, and Al Kooper all held forth on the piano. A festivity turned into a glorious concert high above Central Park West. As we were leaving, the inquiring photographer Bernette Belgraier caught three suspicious characters heading out — Koop, Davell, and yrs truly:
I proudly hold up Al’s book endorsement!
For those of you unfamiliar with the sounds of the great young Mr. Crawford, here’s a clip of him performing “Iko Iko” aka “Jock-A-Mo” with Dr. John — in the version composed, so I hear, by Davell’s grandpa in 1953: