Bob Dylan, "John Wesley Harding" (1967)

NICK DERISO: Released in the time immediately following the Woodstock basement recordings (which wouldn't see the light of day 'til the dawn -- or is that yawn? -- of disco), Bob Dylan goes twangy -- and with resounding success. Folksy, without too much folk.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

George Benson, “The Other Side Of Abbey Road” (1969)

by Pico

I was trying to get mentally prepared to actually describe a Charlie Hunter record when on a whim I decided to cue up GB’s The Other Side Of Abbey Road. That got me to thinking about Nick’s piece on the best Beatle remakes (hey Nick, I forgot one: Stevie Wonder’s sizzling 1970 version of “We Can Work It Out”) and then noticing that The Official Drummer of daSlob Idris Muhammed plays on this record made it all too much to not talk about. So here we are discussing Benson’s record instead.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Obscuro: The Sensational Guitars Of Dan & Dale "Batman & Robin" (1966)

by Pico

So you're looking at the album cover just to the left and guessing that it's a vintage children's record intended to cash in on the hit mid-sixties series starring Adam West and you would be right. But there was no such band as "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale". Nah, studio musicians were used instead. Like, uh, Sun Ra on the Hammond B-3 with members of his Arkestra contributing horns.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

One Track Mind: The Rolling Stones, "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" (1970)

by Pico

The critics all declare Exile On Main Street to be The Rolling Stones' magnum opus. Yeah, it's a great album alright but for my money, I'll take the one right before it, Sticky Fingers, anyday.

From the sass of "Brown Sugar" to the gentle country of "Wild Horses" the record is mostly a merry celebration of sleaze blues supported by some of the strongest and varied songwriting ever by Richards and Jagger.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan, "Good As I Been To You" (1992)

NICK DERISO: As noted, a "leak" of some new Dylan tracks from his own record label (ahem) got me back into the stacks - and back into Bob.

We're mixing and matching here, old and new, relevant and pee-yew. That's Dylan for you ... raising our sights, but occasionally frustrating our desires, as Rolling Stone magazine's David Fricke once said.

"GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU," 1992
Dylan goes unplugged, but without the fawning audience or the MTV residuals.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan and The Band, "Before The Flood" (1974)

NICK DERISO: Public Broadcasting always delves into its musical archives, come pledge-drive time, and this week was no different.

The local station presented an edited version of "The Concert for Bangaladesh," the early 1970s proto-benefit show organized by Beatle buddy and future Wilbury bandmate George Harrison - and it was a special moment for Bob Dylan fans.

Not just because this would become the basis for Dylan's first live album ever, when the commemorative three-album release appeared. Or that he did muscular versions of "Just Like a Woman" and "Blowin' in the Wind," both part of the PBS presentation.

This was Dylan's first appearance on stage since 1969's Isle of Wight Festival, and he didn't go on tour again until a 1974 jaunt with The Band, apart from a couple of guest shots here and there.

Got me to thinking about Dylan tours.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan, "Highway 61 Revisited" (1965)

NICK DERISO: Dylan's second electric album solified what many folkies had feared: Bob's gone crazy. But in the best of ways. A tremendous effort.

Now, let's debunk the previously mentioned blues connection.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan and The Band, "The Basement Tapes" (1975)

NICK DERISO: Recorded during Dylan's songwriting rehab, after the 1966 motorcycle wreck, and not released until a decade later.

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Bob Dylan, "Blonde on Blonde" (1966)

NICK DERISO: The third of three folk-bending electric albums may be Bob Dylan's finest release ever.

"Spin" magazine said: "He'd make simplier records, more beautiful records, but he'd never made a better record."

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Otis Taylor, Below The Fold (2005)

By Pico

Most bluesmen sing the blues with sadness, resignation or even celebration. Not Otis Taylor. He’s got the blues and he’s pissed about it.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan and the Traveling Wilburys, "Vol. 1" (1988)

NICK DERISO: Parts of Bob Dylan's soon-to-be-released record "Modern Times," his first in five years, were "leaked" by Sony last Friday - and while I get my mind around those tracks, I've begun my own never-ending tour of his old stuff.

"TRAVELING WILBURYS, Vol. 1," 1988
Recording a song a day, Dylan hooks up with old and new friends - including George Harrison and the great Roy Orbison - for some of his best and most lighthearted music of the decade. In fact, "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" may have been Dylan's wittiest offering in years.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

Bob Dylan, "The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3" (1991)

NICK DERISO: Filled with outtakes, rarities and in-studio goof-offs, this is more revealing, even, than the sprawling 50-something track "Biograph" set. And, in fact, loaded with more songs.

"The Bootleg Series" proves to be an intimate, strangely personal statement -- seeing as how Bob Dylan didn't put it together.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

DaSlobTribute: Jessie Mae Hemphill passes

The Blues Foundation Web site reports that country-blues legend Jessie Mae Hemphill passed away Saturday night, July 22.

Hemphill, whose award-winning blues career lasted decades and was heavily influenced by her upbringing in rural Mississippi, was 71.

Olga Wilhelmine Mathus, the founder and president of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation, said the artist died from complications of an infection that may have resulted from an ulcer. Hemphill died in a Memphis hospital after checking in a week ago.

Hemphill began playing guitar at age 7 or 8 and later moved to other instruments.
She lived in Memphis 20 years and played and sang in the clubs on the city's famous Beale Street before finding an international audience.

Hemphill won the W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist in both 1987 and 1988. In 1991, she won the Handy Award for Best Acoustic Album.
In 1993, Hemphill suffered a stroke that paralyzed her left side, leaving her unable to play guitar. She retired from touring and returned to Senatobia, Miss., where she lived with her dog, Sweet Pea.

She recorded one final album a decade later titled "Dare You To Do It Again."

Bob Dylan, "Bob Dylan" (1963)

NICK DERISO: While we await the August release of new record, I'll continue to mix and match from the Bob Dylan stacks:

"BOB DYLAN," 1963

In the beginning, Dylan had an affinity for folk songs stirred vigorously with the syncopations of a blues -- and that's best experienced here, and on the early 1990s compilation "The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3."

In fact, the original liner notes to this, his debut album, call Dylan "one of the most compelling white blues singers ever recorded."

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.

In Other News: Steely Dan asserts ownage over Owen

By Pico

Seems that rock music's sages of obscure references have expressed some displeasure to Luke Wilson over his brother's latest movie "You Me and Dupree". While it's questionable whether SD has dibs on all things "Dupree", even non-cousin ones, this has got to rank as the baddest public undressing by well-known musicians since Pat Metheny famously unloaded on Kenny G six years ago (although we should note that Pat's tongue was nowhere near his cheek when he wrote that).


Come to think of it, Mr. Gorelick is probably due for another fresh can of whoop-ass. Don, Walt...next time you're stuck at a seedy hotel between shows, can you please do the honors??

Ah yes...we need soundtrack music for this article:
Steely Dan - Cousin Dupree
Steely Dan - Everyone's Gone To The Movies (Demo)(disabled)
Richard Thompson - I Agree With Pat Metheny

UPDATE: Owen Strikes Back

Bob Dylan, "Oh Mercy" (1989)

NICK DERISO: Maybe it was the clinging New Orleans nights, or the burgeoning talents of producer Daniel Lanois (who was at the same time working on a very fine solo debut and perhaps the Neville Brothers' most realized studio effort, "Yellow Moon").

But Bob Dylan's bitter introspection sounds refreshingly in focus here. This solified his Second Comeback.

WE'VE MOVED!: Dablog by DaSlob is now ... SOMETHING ELSE. Find the remainder of this review through the new link.