Bob Dylan Part One - The Hollywood Bowl - 1965

The controversy of it all! 1965, the year Bob Dylan 'went electric'.

Looking back now, it all seems so quaint.

Fans outraged that Bob Dylan had sold out, abandoning his folk roots, and daring to perform with a band, and not only that, some of them had 'electric guitars'.

It all began at the Newport Folk Festival in July of that year, with the crowd apparently 'booing' as he performed three songs with what was then most of The Paul Butterfield Band.

The legend of going electric (with the famously recorded heckle of 'Judas' the following year in Manchester - England), is of course in the scheme of things pretty unimportant, but way back then the folkies were clearly a serious bunch, not open much to their icons doing the unthinkable.

Mind you it did not do Bob's record sales any harm, and can you imagine 'Desire' or 'Blood On The Tracks' as wholly acoustic affairs?

After the Newport festival and in support of the record 'Highway 61 Revisited', Dylan was booked for two U.S. concerts and set about assembling a band.

Mike Bloomfield was unwilling to leave the Butterfield Band, so Dylan mixed Al Kooper and Harvey Brooks from his studio crew with bar-band stalwarts Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm, best known at the time for backing Ronnie Hawkins.

In August 1965 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, the group was heckled by an audience who, Newport notwithstanding, still demanded the acoustic troubadour of previous years. The band's reception on September 3rd at the Hollywood Bowl was more uniformly favorable.

This is the Hollywood Bowl concert in full.

Acoustic Set:1. She Belongs to Me
2. To Ramona
3. Gates of Eden
4. It's All Over Now Baby Blue
5. Desolation Row
6. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
7. Mr. Tambourine Man

Electric Set (with The Band):1. Tombstone Blues
2. I Don't Believe You
3. From Buick 6
4. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5. Maggie's Farm
6. It Ain't Me Babe
7. Ballad of a Thin Man
8. Like a Rolling Stone

This is a well preserved soundboard recording and very good quality.

Link in comments (23/02/2016).

The Byrds - Live In Holland - 1970

The Byrds have been credited with forging the link between the musical style's of Bob Dylan and The Beatles back in the 1960's.

They can also claim to be one of the pioneers of folk rock and country rock, whilst retaining a pedigree in the sixties psychedelia scene.

Not bad eh?

In 1969 they performed at the Fillmore West, the concert subsequently being released as an official album, and receiving good reviews and sales.

The following year (1970) the Byrds were touring and promoting that years 'Untitled' double album, (with the second half again being live).

During the tour the band were legitimately recorded in Holland by Dutch radio organisation VPRO.

This concert had a notably different set list than the Fillmore West concert.

This then is The Byrds, Live Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (Holland) on July 7th, 1970.

This is a pristine copy from the broadcast on the Dutch Radio 2 on August 10, 2006 by KRO, as direct from the original master tape - lets just say top quality.

Set list:

01 House announcement (Dutch language)
02 My Back Pages
03 Baby, What You Want Me To Do
04 Willin'
05 This Wheel's On Fire
06 Ballad Of Easy Rider
07 Jesus Is Just Alright
08 Medley: Turn Turn Turn >
09 Mr. Tambourine Man >
10 Eight Miles High >
11 Hold It > 'Encore Applause'
12 So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star
13 Mr. Spaceman
14 Chestnut Mare
15 Chimes Of Freedom

Band line:

Roger McGuinn - guitar, vocals
Clarence White - guitar, vocals
Skip Battin - bass, vocals
Gene Parsons - drums, vocals

Reloaded - 03/June/2015 - download link in comments.

Whats Up Doc - Number Four - 2007 and all that kinda thing...

I am going to avoid any pretentious personal charts for the year soon to pass.

Rather you can just skip back over the previous 'Whats Up Doc' posts, and if you are still awake, after the ordeal, get a feel for some of the more current music that has appealed to my ears.

Among those already featured have been, Vanessa Paradis, Clare Burson, Lucy and The Teenage Monster, Siouxsie, Tegan and Sara, Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Babyshambles, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The White Stripes, Pauline Croze, and plenty of others, some well known and some not so well known.

So on this edition I thought I would fill in some of the gaps, of other artists and music, that has appealed this year.

Afterwards I will probably remember some more, so lets just say, this is far from definitive.

Neil Young's 2007 release 'Chrome Dreams II' is simply wonderful! Full of a variety of styles , it exceeded all expectations by miles. Here are a couple of examples:

Links Removed - MP3 Policy.

Neil Young - 01 Beautiful Bluebird.mp3
Neil Young - 09 No Hidden Path.mp3

If you have not checked out Beirut, then please do, Zach Condon has come up with some incredible music that skips across genres with ease. I just love watching the music press trying to place them in one. From the second album 'The Flying Club Cup' here's some choices:

Beirut - 02 - Nantes.mp3
Beirut - 03 - A Sunday Smile.mp3
Beirut - 04 - Guyamas Sonora.mp3
Beirut - 09 - In The Mausoleum.mp3

The previous album 'Gulag Orkestar' has a wonderful 'Balkan gypsy style' , like I say hard to define, all I can say is check them both out!

Bjork remains as popular as ever, her album 'Volta' this year, is a favorite of mine, and watching the Glastonbury concert (albeit on TV sadly), was really superb.

Bjork - Earth Intruders.mp3
Bjork - Volta - 07 - Pneumonia.mp3
Bjork - Volta - 09 - Declare Independence.mp3

Grinderman was a rollicking blast from Nick Cave and three other Bad Seeds, gone was some of the seriousness on more recent material, and a little bit more rock'n'roll.

Nick Cave & Grinderman - Go Tell The Women.mp3

Have I mentioned Arcade Fire this year? OK so here is another shameless plug for their second album 'Neon Bible'. That's all it is, a shameless plug.

Arcade Fiire - 05 - Black Wave Bad Vibrations.mp3
Arcade Fire - 07 - The Well and the Lighthouse.mp3
Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (1).mp3

I banged on about Rilo Kiley last year on another blog, this years album 'Under The Blacklight' has gained lots of attention, and that's deserved as far as I am concerned. Its a good album, a little less indie a bit more LA classic pop, and whats more highly enjoyable.

Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld.mp3
Rilo Kiley - 05 - Under the Blacklight.mp3

Last month I mentioned Kate Nash, and commented that I was not sure what to make of her album. Yes I still here Lily Allen in there, and I can add Goldfrapp as well now, but actually I really like her music. Here's a couple more reasons:

Kate Nash - Foundations.mp3
Kate Nash - Carolines a Victim.mp3

Finally a totally unrelated song from the late great Kirsty MacColl - do I need a reason?

Kirsty MacColl - A New England.mp3

You can find all the featured artists albums in the Beehive Candy Store with some quick links HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Minneapolis Live - 1999

There are so many positive things to write about Tom Petty and his musical career. For me three things stand out immediately with a dozen or so more, hot on their heels.

First of all the music both solo and with The Heartbreakers, and whether studio or live, has been almost 'a' typical working mans (and women's!) rock'n'roll, and also so good to sing or dance along to.

Secondly he has the respect and admiration of so many other musicians and artists, and yet his personal ego appears from a far, to be permanently under control.

My third initial thought is how he has been prepared to stand up to the music industry, and maintain his principles against the cynical ways within. He has also spoken out on the dire state of commercial radio, and so gets my immediate thumbs up on that one.

This is a really good performance (well after the above comments what else would you expect), recorded at the Target Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA, on the 3rd August 1999.

The set list is:

01. Jamming Me
02. Running Down A Dream
03. Breakdown
04. Swingin'
05. Don't Do Me Like That
06. Last Dance With Mary Jane
07. I Won't Back Down
08. Listen To Her Heart
09. Diamond Head
10. Don't Come Around Here No More
11. Walls Fall Down
12. Room At The Top
13. You Got Lucky
14. Free Girl Now
15. You Wreck Me
16. Free Fallin'
17. Gloria
18. American Girl

Replacement link in comments or click on the picture (24th January 2010).

This is a stereo soundboard recording that I understand originated from the SFX Radio Network. The audio quality is excellent.

The Beehive Candy Store has a few Tom Petty Cd's for sale, including new & used at sensible prices - click HERE for more details.

The Wikipedia main article on Tom Petty, makes interesting reading, and hopefully explains some of my opening comments more clearly. Click HERE to read.