Neil Young & The Santa Monica Flyers, Chicago, IL – November 20, 1973

On November 20, 1973 at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, Neil Young and his backing band The Santa Monica Flyers performed a rendition of “Tonight’s the Night” for 34 minutes and 53 seconds. That night in Chicago was the penultimate concert of the tour which had started in Toronto on October 29, moved onContinue reading “Neil Young & The Santa Monica Flyers, Chicago, IL – November 20, 1973”

35

The third song on Bill Callahan’s 2020 album Gold Record is called “35”: The song starts with a simple guitar part from Callahan before Matt Kinsey joins in on a second acoustic guitar and provides a big bluesy fill. Callahan sings the first verse: I can’t see myself in the books I read these daysUsedContinue reading “35”

Time Passes Slowly

In 1940, the German philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin wrote a piece called “On the Concept of History” as he was trying to escape from Vichy France. Within the essay, Benjamin shares a rhyme that was written in the midst of France’s July Revolution of 1830, when it was reported that people had shot atContinue reading “Time Passes Slowly”

Shelter from the Storm

In September 1974, Bob Dylan entered A & R Studios in New York with an acoustic guitar and a notebook full of new songs. Over the four days he was in the studio, he experimented with the structure of each song, but one song needed only four takes to achieve a master recording, seemingly arrivingContinue reading “Shelter from the Storm”

Foot of Pride

Like “Blind Willie McTell,” “Foot of Pride” was originally recorded in 1983, left off of Infidels, and finally released on The Bootleg Series, Vol 1-3: Rare & Unreleased 1961-1991. The song has a slinky groove with minimal instrumentation; the only musical solos are occasional harmonica flourishes by Bob Dylan. The song maintains this spare soundContinue reading “Foot of Pride”