Hopalong Zimmerman

He Held Your Hand

And He Sang You A Song

Ima kill the discourteous motherfucker.

This is one of the great SUN Records classics, completely hit out of the park by Balladeer Bob Dylan, the rockabilly troubador. I’m serious. Click the picture of Bob to hear the original. I’ll wait. … not bad, right? A bit tinny, and too fast maybe, but a really good song.

Now listen to Bob Dylan’s cover. It’s a zillion times better, and it’s (relatively) recent (2003 I believe).  It’s got swagger, groove, and some of that swampy creeping darkness. Like that point just outside the reach of the streetlight,  where there could be trouble. Dylan growls and wheezes the undercurrent of menace that the song has. Heartbreak and betrayal make guys kill people. They make people crazy. Who you been lovin since I been gone? Answer me.

He was long and tall, had plenty of cash. He had a red Cadillac and a black mustache.

[I just deleted some of the darkest, funniest, most alienating stuff I've written in years. Those who know me know how dark and mean and evil I can get... it was like that but funnier. Horribly, unforgivably awful. I'd rather run through Birmingham on MLK day in a white hood, yelling the n word with middle fingers upraised, than publish what I wrote. Lou Reed and William Burroughs would get up and leave. So.. um... listen to the damn song. It's good]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmTWrBmjRsE

Pablo Is Director Jesse Dylan's Son, and Bob's Grandson

10 Minutes Is His Mixtape

When I saw this posted on The Sun’s website, I hoped this would be awful… awful funny. It isn’t though. It’s perfectly fine. By that I mean that it’s no worse than anything I hear being released lately, and it’s a zillion times better than the music I wrote at 15, which was all about getting Satan to find me a girlfriend.

There is a good post about Pablo Dylan, including an interview on the music blog Gossiboo Crew, if you’re interested. It may be the Craziest Shit Ever.. but it isn’t the worst.

I posted a PSA in support of mono sound, featuring Bob Dylan awhile back. Do you like it?

 

“I mean, really, my grandfather, I consider him the Jay-Z of his time, and he definitely has a legacy that a lot of people look up to.” – Pablo Dylan (Age 15)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeQc_MDyyZU

Fear not, Youdopia. The great Bob Dylan is just as inscrutable as ever. He has not lowered himself to shill his newest box set (the one pictured above). Sony’s marketing team did a great job with this old school style PSA. They have answered Frank Zappa’s question, “Does humor belong in music?”  Yes, it does. Look at Slipknot.

Part of me thinks the marketing team is awesome, the other part of me thinks that the marketing people are all under 30, and consider mono to be the equivalent of silent movies, or leaded gas. As my daughter says, “whatevs”. I don’t give a fuck. I am neither Bob Dylan nor a marketing exec. I am a cowboy astronaut rock star, from outer space.

Enjoy the funniest psa ever.

All thanks to Dangerous Minds, for bringing this to my attention.

This song has been rolling around my head this weekend, Youdopia. I love me some Bob Dylan, and this particular version is off the Biograph Box Set, which I purchased on Vinyl from Lechmere in 1985… to impress a girl. However, the music is awesome, so it was worthwhile. Visions of Johanna resonates with me on many levels. First, it’s a beautiful song. Second it’s a brilliant song. Third, it’s a sad song. The lyrics touch my soul, and I can close my eyes and lose myself in them.

The ghost of ‘lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place

I imprinted on this acoustic version, so the studio version does nothing for me. You know how that is. We bootleg collectors tend to imprint on love versions often. Such is the case here. Music is very personal.

Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while

The cartoon above has no occult meaning. It’s just a cartoon. I first saw it in 1985, when I purchased the book, The Biggest Tongue In Tunisia, by B. Kliban. It made me laugh then, and it makes me laugh now, and the Wheel rolls on.

My heart is telling me, I love you still.

I can see the turning of the key

I’ve been deceived by the clown inside of me

I thought that he was righteous but he’s vain

Something’s telling me, I wear the ball and chain

My patron saint is fighting with a ghost.

He’s always off somewhere when I need him most.

The Spanish Moon is rising on the hill,

But my heart is telling me, I love you still.