Bob Dylan on Hank Williams, Johnny Paycheck and Townes Van Zandt 

Ain’t that always the way..! Yikes.!

Excellent review. Makes me want to buy the book for sure 👍 Otis, we all knew what you meant to say, no worries and I'm sure Bobby would tell you it's happened before 🙂

I caught it but I knew that you knew better

no worries, but I had a moment where I thought "man, I need to check out Bobby Cochran"

Ha! LOVE this channel ... thank you so much ...

I’ve enjoyed him 57 times

global treasure

He doesn't need them. Let the people who don't have this kind of a legacy fight for wall space.

He's like Guy Clark and others, overlooked and possibly too good for the system!

Absolutely

Real deal....

I showed my musician son Miss Carousel and told him to hold that against "Like a Rolling Stone". Which doesn't hold up and seems petty and mean. And I loved that song until I heard MIss Carousel, now it sounds like a wannabee

Blaze and Townes are some of my favorite songwriters. Thanks for the story.

@@NJ-os3rn Blaze was a trip.

Townes was probably a case of , "the road to hell is paved in good intentions". People set a backburn and walk away feeling good about themselves.

@@andrewbowen6875 that best song from the movie Young sang, if I had to guess was him singing a Guy Clark tune. Townes was a legend for a reason, he was a tremendous songwriter for sure.

Wow, the humanity in this is beyond the pale. Thank you for this whole thread, & I do NOT often say that about RU-vid comments.

He always wanted to work with TVZ who never seemed interested. Must have driven Dylan nuts

Listen to some of his 'Theme Time Radio Hour' episodes here on RU-vid. Bob plays loads of country songs, as well as many other types of music. Over 100 episodes and all of them gems.

you got that right

Concur, although I say Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are both running a close second.

​@@DJBuglip I agree on both points

@@DJBuglip And Prine. And Kris . And hank Sr. And others. But all second to Bob

Kris kristoferson is up there as well. Brilliant songwriter.

I commented separately, but yeah, I say that's the best country song ever written.

I walked into my favorite neighborhood bar one day and was in kind of a mood. I asked Sally, the bartender, to play some country blues on the jukebox. She played several Hank Williams songs. She absolutely got it.

“The silence of a falling star lights up a purple sky and as I wonder where you are, I’m so lonesome I could cry.” Perfection

Agree… hank crafted frost and Blake like lyrics. What seems simple becomes deep and symbolically resonant when crafted and connected in between the notes and words like hank. Density meets economy, no easy trick. Hank sr performed breathing poetry. When I hear don’t think twice, esp the live renditions, the first image Inget in my head is a young hungry Bob finding his first love with music as he was listening to live hank being blasted across the plains on the airwaves out of Shreveport. Young Bob leaning on the radio on quiet Hibbing nites while hank sr was a living pulse is what launched the ship we know as Bob Dylan.

@@BoomerMcBoom that verse in my opinion is the greatest of any music I’ve ever heard. We all know those words and can communicate using them but how anyone can use so few and such simple ones and put them together in a way that communicates so much more .is like looking at the stars in awe. I remember thinking I know these words and many more so why can’t I do that. 50 years after hearing that song and thinking that I now realize very, very few in history had that ability. I still marvel at his greatness

One of my originals………..I JUST WANNA BE BOB DYLAN BruceWales ©️1/17/22 9:00pm (Spoken) Small thing I ask My emptiness needs fillin’ I just wanna be Bob Dylan CHORUS (sung) G. D. Em I just wanna be Bob Dylan G. D. C Prob’ly ‘cause I’m tired of bein’ me G. D. Em I just wanna be Bob Dylan C. D. G Maybe folks would like me 1. C. G Like Bob, I was raised in Minnesota C. G But from there our common paths diverged C. G Playing guitar and harmonica C. D. G Since the sixties, H’made six decades merge CHORUS repeat 2. Singing Folk or Gospel music or r rRock Standard tunes of real America He can make Pop music with a pleasing pop Influence culture with poetic dra-a-awll BRIDGE C. G He can take one word and make it - mean somethin’ C. G He can break your thought - and make it sing C. Em He can make you question - while you’re hummin’ C. D. G He shakes out the feelings - livin’ brings INSTRUMENTAL 3. Even other Players throw the question out How a man like him so long endures Finding reasons why day in, day out He still plays The Never Ending Tour BRIDGE CHORUS I just wanna be Bob Dylan Prob’ly ‘ cause I’m tired of bein’ me I just wanna be Bob Dylan Many generations could love me I just wanna be Bob Dylan Many generations might love me I just wanna be Bob Dylan Prob’ly cause I’m tired of bein’ me TAG I just wanna be Bob Dylan While he writes AND SINGS-- of me - - just being me

Perhaps you haven’t read Chronicles then - stunning writing , This one is a classic , illuminating the essence of a songwriters take on the greatest tunes of our time , he knocked it out of the park .

@@lotharroberts5978 You think it was true...that he forgot his teeth...or was the guy just covering for his hangover?

Well said. My favorite lyric of JP is from Dont Take Her She's All I Got..."she could kiss the ground in the "winner-time" ...(long pause)...and make a flower grow". I tell my wife this one's for you honey

Steve Earle used to live in all the same dives as Townes. They were friends.

The Hall of Fame of Country Music will put today’s junk singer’s in, but never Paycheck. They’re arrogant idiots just like the Baseball Hall of Fame refusing Pete Rose’s induction. Which among Eusebia have not sinned, and come short of the glory of God? These Hall’s of Fame should consider the work on the field, on the stage, and in the recording booth, but they won’t. What’s worse is that once the position of Hall has been taken, it’s impossible for it to change. 😢

me either -- every "rising start" story is a template: They struggle young and get famous with good music. They get money and go crazy. Then they get strung out on drugs and the whole thing eventually falls apart and they lose the record deal. Someone usually dies, but several will go to rehab.... .it's especially "good" when its the actual star drops dead. .....I'm being sarcastic -- but people love these tragic stories-- Judy Garland? -- At least Dylan is honest with himself - and now, us. Thanks for the upload. Great stuff. JMHO

You're right, his studious reading is part of his genius

Now you can stand on his coffee table book. 😆

I like Townes too but he's never ever written anything like this: Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child’s balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn Plays wasted words, proves to warn That he not busy being born is busy dying Temptation’s page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover that you’d just be one more Person crying So don’t fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don’t hate nothing at all Except hatred Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Make everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It’s easy to see without looking too far That not much is really sacred While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it Advertising signs they con You into thinking you’re the one That can do what’s never been done That can win what’s never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks they really found you A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit To satisfy, insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not forget That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something they invest in While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society’s pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he’s in But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn’t talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer’s pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death’s honesty Won’t fall upon them naturally Life sometimes must get lonely My eyes collide head-on with stuffed Graveyards, false gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough what else can you show me? And if my thought-dreams could be seen They’d probably put my head in a guillotine But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only

steve earle himself walked that back knowing how ridiculous it was in a literal sense

@@jmeinoff4555 And that's just one of numerous excellent examples!❤

@@jmeinoff4555 Damn......

I had a radio show for 12 years, by invitation. That was about the only Townes Van Zandt song I played and it’s still my favorite. But it’s so sad that Hank and He both chose alcohol… It’s ruined the closest people to me, my mom, my daughter, my nephew, my ex-husband. I’m glad I quit when I was 29

@@cre8lite11 I know what you mean. I had a drinking problem for a long time. I’ve learned through he years to control it, but last month I gave it up so I’m celebrating one month sobriety. My dad though is still sadly an alcoholic. But I can’t control him.

@@crystalrock18 yes I forgot to add my brother-in-law so that’s probably how my nephew got to have it. Unfortunately he was supposed to be my caretaker but alcohol ruins everything. Oh and a couple roommates also! This is true we cannot control others. We can only control ourselves…

@@cre8lite11 true story gotta look out for number one! Also too that’s awesome you had a radio show! I can’t say I’ve done anything cool like that, I’m just a fiddler for hire here the STL area.

Now THAT sounds interesting. Jimmy was, and is, amazing. Recently, I learned to play and sing Up Up and Away. It works as a folk song, believe it or not...with its five key changes and 20 something chords...but the melody flows along so effortlessly, and everyone just sings along.....I was watching old tv performances of that song by the 5th Dimension, and I thought that this might be as good as pop music ever got, in terms of spectacle. First of all: the costumes......each time they sang it, they had a different look, matching outfits of unbelievable colors: magical, far-out, beautiful. Then there were the singers...five different singers with trained, but soulful voices...each one an expert in a different style...Gospel, Opera, show music, Pop, and soul. Then the singers themselves.....two gorgeous women, each one a beauty contest winner, and three strong young men, each of a different body type, all of whom moved well.....You couldn't help but ask yourself..."Are those two a couple?" Matching up different pairings (turns out two of them did marry....but I won't tell you which ones....) Then there's the orchestration...mixing pop with jazz with classical...dozens of instrumentalists, each a master at his craft, from violins to horns to guitar, percussion, horns, etc. And the music and lyrics jsut blend so perfectly...what's not to like about this song? How can you not feel that life is worth living when you hear it? I finally did get to ride in a balloon with my beloved.....probably never do it again, it costs so much.....but it was worth it....over NYS Finger Lakes...ooh la la.....

George Harrison - give me love