So, that poem purportedly written by Bob Dylan at camp in the ’50s that’s supposed to fetch at least $10,000 at auction next month? If you press “play” on the above YouTube embed you’ll find out that a variation on those words has been put to song–and not by the teenaged Dylan, but by the Canadian country singer Hank Snow, from whom those words were appropriated. “Little Buddy” appeared on a 78 in the late ’40s, then was included on Snow’s 1958 album When Tragedy Struck, which also included such mood-lifters as “Don’t Make Me Go To Bed And I’ll Be Good,” “Nobody’s Child,” and “I’m Just Here To Get My Baby Out of Jail.” Christie’s had this to say: More »
A poem handwritten by a teenage Bob Dylan, which was published in his camp newspaper during the 1950s, is one of the many Dylan-related pieces of memorabilia that will be up for auction at Christie’s next month. The poem is expected to fetch at least $10,000 from some Dylan completist out there, with proceeds going to the camp; it’s after the jump. Be warned: If the idea of a drunk man beating a dog to death (because the dog “barked in joy”) is something that upsets you, you might want to proceed with caution. (Although I rather do like the meter employed by Dylan here, I have to say.) More »
In today’s wrapup of lunchtime headlines: Jamie Foxx and Def Leppard try to cross over on TV, the Rothbury festival gets even greener, and Pete Doherty might not be all that healthy! More »
Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Together Through Life, the 33rd studio album by Bob Dylan: More »
Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp are bringing what seems like a traveling version of Farm Aid to minor-league baseball stadia around the country this summer. Tickets for all shows are priced at a flat rate of $67.50 and the seating is general admission, so those people who want to set up shop near second base to watch the show can do so. (They’ll probably have to get there early, though.) Dates after the jump. More »
Boy, who did the Bob Dylan cheese off over at Rolling Stone HQ to lose his Most Favored Artist status? His new album Together Through Life only received four stars from Jann Wenner’s ostensibly rock-and-roll magazine. Usually, they hand out five-star raves to Dylan records like weird versions of Mountain Dew at college radio conventions. Heck, isn’t the “give superstars good ratings even if their records are terrible” rule called “The Dylan Rule”? Did Rolling Stone suddenly grow a conscience about the five stars they gave that Mick Jagger record a few years back and decide to start rating things on a semi-reasonable level? Perhaps, but what does a four-star review from RS even mean? More »
We are now less than seven days out from the 2009 Grammy Awards, the most important night in music that few people truly care about. We wanted to do something to pay tribute to this great institution that, once a year, reminds us that long past their prime artists are still making records people enjoy. And so, Idolator is proud to announce the 2009 Grammy Awards Awards, recognizing the most Grammy-esque things the Grammys have done in the past year.
There are two reasons that I’m glad I kept putting off my treatise on the very unfortunate Bob Dylan vs. will.i.am smackdown in honor of Pepsi: First, MTV News’ James Montgomery pretty much summed up my thoughts on the overall “the present is kinda crappy, let’s just OD on sugar” feel of the ad; and second, I found out that the Coca-Cola-sponsored collaboration between Cee-Lo, Patrick Stump, Janelle Monae, Brendon Urie, Travis McCoy, and Butch Walker had debuted online today. Guess which one is about 50 million times more pleasurable to these ears? I’ll give you a hint: It’s the one without Shrek in its attached video. Embeds of both tracks after the jump.
