At the age of 33, Bill Callahan — still releasing music under the name Smog — recorded “Permanent Smile” as the last song on the 2000 album Dongs of Sevotion: It’s a gorgeous song, propelled by loud, intermittent drums and a tinkling piano that is reminiscent of the irregular Philip Glass-y piano on “All MyContinue reading “747”
Tag Archives: Bob Dylan
Son of the Sea
After 2013’s Dream River, Bill Callahan did not release an album of new original compositions for six years until Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest came out in 2019. During that time, Callahan and his wife had their first child, and it impacted Callahan’s mindset in many ways as he told The Creative Independent in 2019:Continue reading “Son of the Sea”
One Fine Morning
In a 2019 entry of Nick Cave’s indelible Red Hand Series in which he responds to questions from fans, Cave was asked about his favorite songs. He instead shared a list of what he called “hiding songs,” those songs that he felt were written exclusively for him. Cave further defined hiding songs by saying thatContinue reading “One Fine Morning”
Drover
In 2011, Bill Callahan released his most critically-acclaimed album, Apocalypse. Recorded in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, the tone of the album is informed by Callahan’s relocation to Texas a few years before as he recalled in a 2022 interview with Uproxx: “When I first moved to Texas, I always felt like I wasContinue reading “Drover”
Feather by Feather
From the beginning of Bill Callahan’s career when he recorded under the name Smog until the present releasing music with his given name, Callahan has been signed to the record label Drag City. In the early 2000s, while still using the Smog moniker, Callahan was one of three white male recording artists signed to DragContinue reading “Feather by Feather”
Recitations on Waitresses & Art Within Terry Allen’s “The Beautiful Waitress” and Bob Dylan’s “Highlands”
In a 2011 interview to accompany a catalog on his latest group of paintings, Bob Dylan was asked by curator and art critic John Elderfield if he kept up with contemporary art. He replied: “I don’t follow it that much. Owen Smith, Terry Allen, I like their work. I think miniature golf courses are greatContinue reading “Recitations on Waitresses & Art Within Terry Allen’s “The Beautiful Waitress” and Bob Dylan’s “Highlands””
The Delivery Man
Once upon a time, in a log cabin in the American South, there lived a woman who was charmed by three figures: Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley, and Santa Claus. Each offered a different variation of mythological masculinity. This woman’s devotion to Jesus, Elvis, and Santa Claus was exhibited by all manners of collectibles which wereContinue reading “The Delivery Man”
When I Was Cruel No. 2
Following the release of My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello received the print version of a coming out party with the help of writer Nick Kent in the August 27, 1977 edition of New Musical Express. In the feature, Costello said the following: “The only two things that matter to me, the only motivation pointsContinue reading “When I Was Cruel No. 2”
Tokyo Storm Warning
An earlier piece on Recliner Notes investigates Bob Dylan’s song “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and the different traditions from which Dylan examined and pulled, including rhyming songs, nonsense songs, Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business,” and skatting within songs. At the core of the Dylan song and these other song forms is the rhyming and unrelentingContinue reading “Tokyo Storm Warning”
Deportee
Elvis Costello and The Attractions released their album Goodbye Cruel World in June 1984. To say Costello was disappointed with the album is an understatement. In the liner notes for the re-release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello wrote: “Congratulations! You’ve just purchased our worst album.” After the release of the album, Costello took stock whileContinue reading “Deportee”
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