Thursday, September 20, 2018
For a long time I was really interested in hearing the New York sessions for Blood on the Tracks. The story goes that Dylan cut most of the songs that ended up on the album with a group of New York session players, including the cats who recorded the music for Deliverance. He went home for Christmas and played the songs for his brother, who thought they could be done better, so Dylan assembled some Minnesota musicians and re-recorded the material. Thing is, a fair amount of the New York material has found its way onto Bootleg Sessions releases already. The material is interesting- lyrical changes, different tempos and instrumentation, all that sort of stuff, but I feel as though more of it would be too much. Some of the Bootleg Sessions sets are invaluable: the Basement Tapes set, for example, is closer to what went on at Big Pink than the original official release and is therefore essential, and I think Tell Tale Signs is one of my favorite Dylan collections. At least half of the Royal Alber Hall set is essential, and the first set in the series, Bootleg Collection Vol. 1-3 is a great alternative way into the work. I actually like the Self-Portrait material too, although I'd say it is really mostly for obsessives, scholars and completests. So I don't know, do I really need a half dozen more versions of "Meet Me in the Morning"?
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Without my even knowing it until years later John Wilcock had a huge influence on my life
Thursday, September 13, 2018
40 and 41 at our polling place at 8:35.
Wednesday, September 05, 2018
EGC says that I told her once that cooking is taking something and doing something to it, then doing something else. I don't recall this, but it sounds like something I'd say. Another thing that sounds like me is saying that fruits and vegetables are ingredients. These cherry tomato raisins are a good example of both concepts. I suppose if I were a Legumier I'd be fussier about appearance, but since these little jewels cook down so much I have been pretty slapdash about that. Three pounds of cherry tomatoes sounds like a lot, but they are so delicious that you are going to be glad you made a bunch. Had some with pesto pasta the other night, and it was sublime. Core, score, blanch, shock, peel and season with a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 3 tablespoons olive oil, roast.
