Obviously Five Believers Harmonica
really real
embrace my old copy of Blond on Blond - almost life size! And the huge
size go me to notice a disclaimer on the inside liner notes that Charlie
McCoy is the one playing harmonica on Obviously Five Believers.
I can't hear it though - is there a harmonica hiding in the mix of
guitars or am I just not noticing something obvious?
crazytimes
One can clearly hear it after each verse, it's kind of the lead
instrument for those breaks... The first instance of it is at roughly
31 seconds into the song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvzYJWbZk0
I always kind of took this song for granted as a rave-up of a tune
that was kind of in the majestic filler category (filler for Dylan, a
great song in all other respects), but I've grown to like it more and
more over the years...
crazytimes
> On Dec 13, 6:53 pm, really real <reallyr...@shaW.CA> wrote:
>
> > I had to move my vinyl yesterday and this gave me a good excuse to
> > embrace my old copy of Blond on Blond - almost life size! And the huge
> > size go me to notice a disclaimer on the inside liner notes that Charlie
> > McCoy is the one playing harmonica on Obviously Five Believers.
>
> > I can't hear it though - is there a harmonica hiding in the mix of
> > guitars or am I just not noticing something obvious?
>
> One can clearly hear it after each verse, it's kind of the lead
> instrument for those breaks... The first instance of it is at roughly
> 31 seconds into the song...
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvzYJWbZk0
It's also heard in the intro...
THB
yeah, btw, i saw that one, too (embrace) (i saw these posts when i was
all done) and one thing i wrote, but changed it was bye-bye, and then
i focused on the two e's, thinking about bob, and energy, and what it
means to be leaving him from computer to go to tjs, and where he will
be, how, in what sense i will think of him being with me, or not, and
then i deleted it (and of course by and by, and two cities, by is city
if you didn't know, rachel and bob, and how we are connected, i mean,
how in what sense he can be with me on santa monica blvd walking to
tjs.) you go it?
e and e and t, that makes perfect sense,
morris
really real
>>> I had to move my vinyl yesterday and this gave me a good excuse to
>>> embrace my old copy of Blond on Blond - almost life size! And the huge
>>> size go me to notice a disclaimer on the inside liner notes that Charlie
>>> McCoy is the one playing harmonica on Obviously Five Believers.
>>
>>> I can't hear it though - is there a harmonica hiding in the mix of
>>> guitars or am I just not noticing something obvious?
>>
>> One can clearly hear it after each verse, it's kind of the lead
>> instrument for those breaks... The first instance of it is at roughly
>> 31 seconds into the song...
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvzYJWbZk0
>
> It's also heard in the intro...
Thanks crazytimes. Of course I can hear it now. It was just so smooth, I
guess it didn't sound like a harmonica on a Dylan album is supposed to
sound.
Charlie McCoy say he doesn't like the way Dylan plays harmonica, saying
McCoy played like that when he was eleven. Once can definitely notice
the different style here.
really real
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQvzYJWbZk0
>
> I always kind of took this song for granted as a rave-up of a tune
> that was kind of in the majestic filler category (filler for Dylan, a
> great song in all other respects), but I've grown to like it more and
> more over the years...
Rave up filler it is, and amazingly so. Dylan always had these kinds of
blues filler songs on his albums. This one at least gives us a
transvestite joke..
But seeing as how dense Blonde on Blonde is, it does seem amazing there
was room for this song.
crazytimes
Yeah, it is real smooth... I used to think that McCoy was doing the
harmonica on Pledging My Time as well, cause some of that doesn't
sound like Dylan, either...
THB
yeah, it's just sooooooooo smooth.
President dudley
Just an aside.
> Charlie McCoy say he doesn't like the way Dylan plays harmonica, saying
> McCoy played like that when he was eleven.
A tad harsh perhaps, but not without merit. Nor the harshest critique.
Larry Adler in '97:
}
CFR: What advice do you have for young players of the instrument?
Adler: I would tell them: learn some Bach. I think all of the Baroque
composers like Bach, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Marcello, etc., they're very
good for the aspiring mouth organ player because they write beautiful
melodic lines. What I don't like is a mouth organ player who tries to
be as clever as he can be. Try to make music; to hell with being
clever!
And I don't like the blues harmonica at all; I think they all sound
alike except for Bob Dylan—who sounds worse!
CFR: Is that something that I can quote?
Adler: Oh, absolutely! I've said that if I were dictator of the world
my first act would be to forbid Bob Dylan from playing the mouth
organ! God, I think he's bad!
{
Janice
wrote:
.
> Larry Adler in '97:
.
> CFR: What advice do you have for young players of the instrument?
.
> Adler: I would tell them: learn some Bach. I think all of the Baroque
> composers like Bach, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Marcello, etc., they're very
> good for the aspiring mouth organ player because they write beautiful
> melodic lines. What I don't like is a mouth organ player who tries to
> be as clever as he can be. Try to make music; to hell with being
> clever!
Bach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePqiCoaRJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On6hAKQnJRw
Vivaldi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzRiG1psHpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbZar_U5KLA
Classical medley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfLhnkme2mE
~`~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sesEIIhzzgE
treadleson
>
> Larry Adler in '97:
>
> Adler: Oh, absolutely! I've said that if I were dictator of the world
> my first act would be to forbid Bob Dylan from playing the mouth
> organ! God, I think he's bad!
> {
I'll make this fast. But I really don't know the answer. Suppose
that for a week or a day, Larry Adler HAD been made world dictator.
Or even dictator of just this country. And then suppose he'd enacted
this act about the Bob Dylan harmonica playing. And then suppose that
the country thought better of having a dictatorship, and it returned
to elected, representative, republican government--similar to the
restoration in Grand Brittania after Oliver C., but without monarchy.
The question is: would Adler's act remain the law of the land after
the dictatorship was ended?
Will Dockery
Interesting, but damn I sure dig quite a few Dylan harp pieces.
--
She Sleeps Tight by Will Dockery & Brian Mallard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uGY157cpiU
Jumbo
You imply the country chose him as dictator in the first place, so,
I'd plump for yes, on the grounds that law is consensual.
Jumbo
While we're on the topic ... I read somewhere that Dylan sings on
Obviously Five Believers, but darned if I can hear it. Anyone want to
help out with a time spec where it's especially obvious?
crazytimes
> While we're on the topic ... I read somewhere that Dylan sings on
> Obviously Five Believers, but darned if I can hear it. Anyone want to
> help out with a time spec where it's especially obvious?
He sings double-tracked harmony during the verses... The second voice
is way down in the mix...
crazytimes
>> On Dec 14, 4:06 am, President dudley <president_dud...@myway.com>
> >wrote:
> > Adler: Oh, absolutely! I've said that if I were dictator of the world
> > my first act would be to forbid Bob Dylan from playing the mouth
> > organ! God, I think he's bad!
> > {
>
> Interesting, but damn I sure dig quite a few Dylan harp pieces.
He's limited, but he's playing guitar at the same time mostly, so I'm
not sure what people expect... Part of Dylan's instrumental style,
from his 60s days at least, was about flaunting his limitations...
treadleson
> On Dec 15, 5:53 am, treadleson <treadl...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Dec 14, 4:06 am, President dudley <president_dud...@myway.com>
> > wrote:
> > ---
>
> > > Larry Adler in '97:
>
> > > Adler: Oh, absolutely! I've said that if I were dictator of the world
> > > my first act would be to forbid Bob Dylan from playing the mouth
> > > organ! God, I think he's bad!
> > > {
>
> > I'll make this fast. But I really don't know the answer. Suppose
> > that for a week or a day, Larry Adler HAD been made world dictator.
> > Or even dictator of just this country. And then suppose he'd enacted
> > this act about the Bob Dylan harmonica playing. And then suppose that
> > the country thought better of having a dictatorship, and it returned
> > to elected, representative, republican government--similar to the
> > restoration in Grand Brittania after Oliver C., but without monarchy.
> > The question is: would Adler's act remain the law of the land after
> > the dictatorship was ended?
> You imply the country chose him as dictator in the first place, so,
> I'd plump for yes, on the grounds that law is consensual.
I did sort of imply that when I talked about the people souring on the
idea. So I think what you say would control. If, however, Adler had
seized power in coup-style scenario, enacted the Dylan harmonica law,
and then been overthrown a couple of years later, would the law still
hold? I'm going to have to think "yes" to this also, considering that
you can't pell mell undo every law or treaty made by a sovereign
government since that would be as arbitrary as the dictator (Adler)
had presumably been in issuing his Dylan harmonica Bull in the first
place. My conclusion: Dylan should be damned glad that Adler never
blasted his way into the palace like Dylan's father did in Masked und
Anonymous.
really real
>
>>> Adler: Oh, absolutely! I've said that if I were dictator of the world
>>> my first act would be to forbid Bob Dylan from playing the mouth
>>> organ! God, I think he's bad!
>>> {
>>
>> Interesting, but damn I sure dig quite a few Dylan harp pieces.
>
> He's limited, but he's playing guitar at the same time mostly, so I'm
> not sure what people expect... Part of Dylan's instrumental style,
> from his 60s days at least, was about flaunting his limitations...
When I met Charlie McCoy on that train ride, he told me how they try to
make him play Dylan harmonica on Dylan cover songs and he never gets it
right. I explained to him that Dylan plays harmonica similar to the way
he sings - full of feeling, but not technically the way it is usually
done. Dylan's harmonica often sounds great to me, but like his singing,
I guess you have to get inside the songs to appreciate it if you are a
more traditional harmonica player
THB
ALRIIIIGHT!!!!! Good morning to *you*!!!!!!!!!! (and everyone reading
RIGHT NOW!!! (oops, that doesn't work, ha ha ha) where are you
all???????? ah, good ol' planet earth. you know what i was thinking
last night before going to bed?? maybe we don't have to DIE to "go to
heaven." maybe we don't have to die AT ALL. maybe g-d will like slowly
start reversing the ageing process, or stopping it. like on bob. :)
and other people will just start coming back! :) )
THB
why does everybody copy all of my original ideas, including dylan?
M. Rick
When Dylan fans explain things to musicians, musicians nod their heads
out of politeness and pity.
M. Rick
Dylan fans take everything literally even when they pretend not to.
treadleson
---
> >My conclusion: Dylan should be damned glad that Adler never blasted his way into the palace like Dylan's father did in Masked und Anonymous.
>
> Dylan fans take everything literally even when they pretend not to.
I mean it--he should.
Jumbo
> >My conclusion: Dylan should be damned glad that Adler never blasted his way into the palace like Dylan's father did in Masked und Anonymous.
>
> Dylan fans take everything literally even when they pretend not to.
How else can you take them?
M. Rick
Do you take me for such a fool?
treadleson
> > How else can you take them?
---
> Do you take me for such a fool?
That could be one of the best parts of that entire song, now that you
brought it up. How many people do we encounter who really DO try to
hide what they don't even know from Jump St.? Posing continues to be
an awful problem.
THB
It's all Madunna's fault.
Dr_dudley
On Dec 14, 3:28 pm, Janice <jan...@dixoncreekstudio.com> wrote:
>
> Bach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePqiCoaRJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On6hAKQnJRw
>
> Vivaldi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzRiG1psHpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbZar_U5KLA
>
> Classical medley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfLhnkme2mE
>
Thank you for the lovely, lovely links.
Not to mention Mr. Adler's own mouth organ treatment of Gershwin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB9KEO8iFjI
At the same time, i don't recall Andrés Segovia being quite so
critical of bob's guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efHwnFAkuA
> ~`~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ShalomAloha,
}_{
_____________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKRj-T4l-e8
Jumbo
Regarding your intellectual capacities, I prefer to be charitable.
crazytimes
> I had to move my vinyl yesterday and this gave me a good excuse to
> embrace my old copy of Blond on Blond - almost life size! And the huge
> size go me to notice a disclaimer on the inside liner notes that Charlie
> McCoy is the one playing harmonica on Obviously Five Believers.
>
> I can't hear it though - is there a harmonica hiding in the mix of
> guitars or am I just not noticing something obvious?
Interestingly enough, from what I've read, Dylan only played this tune
in 1995-96 live... I'd imagine there's no harmonica part... You'd
think that Charlie McCoy could train down to wherever Bob was playing
that night to make a cameo on electric harmonica, a la Mike
MacDonald's work on Chris Cross' 'Ride Like The Wind'...
Will Dockery
Good thought, ho have Charlie and Bob got on over the years?
really real
>
> Good thought, ho have Charlie and Bob got on over the years?
I suspect not. I asked Charlie what he thought of Dylan's new, softer
harmonica playing and he hadn't been listening to any recent Dylan.