The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – 5/27/63

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The Mothers of Invention – Absolutely Free released 5/26/67

Absolutely Free was the second Mothers of Invention album and is the most accessible album by the original lineup. The longest, most complex, and best track is “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It”.

One of the songs is “Duke of Prunes”. Around that time, I was running for office in my junior high school and decided to give out prunes to students, inspired by the song. One of my friends and I were in the Acme supermarket looking at prune boxes trying to figure out how to get the most for my limited budget. An old lady passed by, pointed to a box, and said to us “This kind is the best”. I guess she thought we wanted a laxative.

“Uncle Bernie’s Farm” is about how toys embrace violence and has the great lines “We gotta send Santa Claus back to the Rescue Mission. Christmas don’t make it no more.”

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YouTube videos of Bob Dylan and the Band at the Isle of Wight (1969)

The performance by Bob Dylan and the Band at the Isle of Wight is great. Dylan is using his Nashville Skyline voice and the Band sounds very relaxed. A few songs were included on 1970’s Dylan album Self-Portrait. The rest weren’t released officially until 2013 on the Bootleg Series set Another Self Portrait.

There are several videos of the performance including one posted just this month.

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Bob Dylan is interviewed at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969.

“I don’t have any of those views. I wish I did—I’d be glad to share them with you, but I think everyone should lead their own life, you know.” pic.twitter.com/la1XK2kxBC
— Melanie Young (@FreewheelinMY) August 31, 2023

The Dylan and the Band setlist

On August 31, 1969, Bob Dylan and The Band performed at the Isle of Wight Festival. Here, they are playing the beautiful I Threw It All Away, a version included on the album Another Self-Portrait.#DankoDylan pic.twitter.com/JsbM3AITbe
— Rick Danko Page (@rickdankopage) August 27, 2023

John Lennon, Yoko Ono, George and Pattie Harrison, Ringo Starr and Maureen Starkey watched Bob Dylan play the Isle of Wight Festival on 31 August 1969.

Also in the audience were Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Syd Barrett, Eric Clapton, and Elton John.https://t.co/JuQVziWOVH pic.twitter.com/RhFlqs1bDV
— The Beatles Bible 🍏 (@beatlesbible) August 31, 2023

Bob Dylan Isle of Wight August 31st pic.twitter.com/1TB1tmbeJU
— Pat Thomas (@PatThomas1964) August 26, 2023

Bob Dylan explores the Isle of Wight ahead of performing at the festival, 1969. #BobDylan #Dylan pic.twitter.com/bkpUSo5kHk
— Bob Dylan Pictures (@BobDylanPics) September 19, 2024

Covers: Bridge Over Troubled Water

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a great song from Simon & Garfunkel. It was released in January 1970. Covers include versions by Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley.

“Anyway this is how partnerships break up.”

PAUL SIMON talks with Michael Parkinson in 1975 about how the dynamics in a creative relationship can collapse, using ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ as an example.

pic.twitter.com/KntoeiQwLA
— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) November 25, 2022

Al Kooper interviews on YouTube

Al Kooper has had a great career. He played on Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde. He produced Lynyrd Skynyrd albums. There are several interviews with him on YouTube.

Long video of Mike Bloomfield

Mike Bloomfield was a great guitarist. (No, I didn’t watch the long one yet.) There are even videos on his guitars.

Great Alice Cooper photos on Twitter

He’s drinking a beer in a lot of them. Make sure to follow the people on Twitter who post this stuff.

"It doesn't matter how many drugs I take, I'm not fulfilled. There's a spiritual hunger going on. Everybody feels it.

Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call. That's the real rebellion."

ALICE COOPER + Salvador Dali pic.twitter.com/vhmFF6Dstm
— Hollywood Horror Museum (@horrormuseum) September 25, 2020

Vincent Price and Alice Cooper having a beer and a whiskey in 1975….. pic.twitter.com/z2FF3FINMV
— Hammer Horror Films (@HorrorHammer1) April 6, 2020

Alice Cooper drinking a beer with Colonel Sanders, motherfucker. pic.twitter.com/2vSi2ZrQGO
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) May 20, 2022

In 1974, Alice Cooper met Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Amsterdam while they were staying at the same hotel. pic.twitter.com/eSLz8aQunu
— AXS TV (@AXSTV) October 21, 2023

And now here’s Alice Cooper drinking a beer with Groucho Marx … pic.twitter.com/hK7ed7jcdq
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) May 20, 2022

Here’s Alice Cooper leaning on a plane, drinking a beer, and wearing shorts with roughly the same amount of fabric as the doily your grandma’s candy bowl used to sit on. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/QORV9TCwDH
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) March 23, 2022

Your tree may be lit, but not Alice Cooper high as a kite, dressed as Santa, drinking a beer on Christmas Eve lit. pic.twitter.com/vV9c1sOBVr
— The Cultured Ruffian (@CulturedRuffian) December 22, 2017

Alice Cooper’s Got Milk: you wouldn’t expect the former alcoholic to launch his own beer brand, but Alice Cooper Flavoured Milk? Our scoffing report comes complete with a mini-gallery of Cooper getting drunk with unlikely celebrity chums in the 1970s. https://t.co/6gjGbId69E
— The Reprobate Press (@reprobatepress) July 12, 2020

Alice and Groucho, 1975: pic.twitter.com/JAtbGTMdv0
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 9, 2023

Music used for torture

I would use “Kung Fu Fighting”.

The Top 20 Songs the CIA Used to Torture Inmates

Read Robert Christgau on music

He has written the Consumer Guide for decades and also several books. I strongly recommend his website and newsletter.

On and for my birthday Monday, my longtime colleague and sometime editee and even literal student Wayne Robins wrote this reminiscence I'm proud to humbly share with the world. https://t.co/Tz2KdyMqWb
— Robert Christgau (@rxgau) April 20, 2022

I recommend going to his website and subscribing to his newsletter. I've been reading his concise Consumer Guide reviews since the 1970s. He does a great job on a wide variety of music. https://t.co/COI17La29V https://t.co/r7Evdu63oA
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) April 18, 2022

For all music obsessives, but especially for fanboize young and old, my list-laden report on Rolling Stone's 500 best albums of all time extravaganza. I said LISTS–three more or less different ones. Have fun!!! https://t.co/JTYVU1X028
— Robert Christgau (@rxgau) September 24, 2020

Happy 80th to the inestimable Robert Christgau. I owe his writing so much. If you're reading this, I'm betting you do too!

Here's a New Yorker piece I wrote about his work a few years ago: The Rock Critic Robert Christgau’s Big-Hearted Theory of Pop https://t.co/y6mJvI2FiG
— The Running Kind: Listening to Merle Haggard (@dlcantwell) April 18, 2022

Here's why you should be reading 'Going Into the City' by Robert Christgau: http://t.co/BTzi2vNGL2 pic.twitter.com/YybfXLAf2U
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) March 15, 2015