Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1963) – MAYBE
By Chris Moore:
Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (1963)
(January 13, 1964)
Review:
There is no question that this is one of the all-time classic Dylan albums, its name giving a title to the general feeling shared by many in the sixties, but it is also an album that comes across as purposely topical, facts blurring in the name of poetic license at times; it may not be among his strongest albums, but it is an album that hosted several gems and made the great potential of this young singer/songwriter even clearer than before.
Top Two Tracks:
“With God on Our Side” & “Only a Pawn in Their Game”
This is a brief note to address a couple of issues. First of all, I let time slip away from me this beautiful Sunday afternoon and evening, so your regularly scheduled Weekend Review will now become the Temporarily Monday Review. In its place for now, I’m posting a “Yes, No, or Maybe So” review that I had originally planned to post later this week.
To further make up for the switch, I can promise you a full week here at the Laptop Sessions. This will be our first week in a while where there is a new post each day. This includes the Weekend Review, another one-sentence review, an Original Wednesday post, an article, a Guest Session, and next weekend’s usual festivities.
So, don’t blink, ’cause you’ll miss all the new material here at the blog.
So, can you tell I’m on a George Harrison kick? 🙂 It’s another edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!
One small piece of business before we get started: From now on, I’m going to try to post my videos at midnight on Thursday morning so you can wake up on Thursdays and see a new cover song music video or read an article. Lately, I’ve been staying up late on Thursdays and posting at like 1 am on Friday…that’s not really what I was going for with Jim Fusco Thursdays! So, make sure to grab a cup of coffee every Thursday morning and head on over to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog for a great post each week. Now, onto tonight’s video!
On my way back from the Mets game I went to two Fridays ago, my friend John was flipping around to different radio stations in the car. He came across one station and I said, “Wow, I really think that’s George Harrison singing, but I’ve never heard this song before!” So, I whipped-out the Shazam app on my iPhone and it found the song: “It’s What You Value” from George Harrison’s solo album, 33 1/3. The song sounded great, so I decided to listen to the album. Well, I loved it and now I’m going to listen to all of his solo albums! I’m onto “George Harrison” (self-titled) now and I’m enjoying that one very much, as well.
“33 1/3” is not only an interesting title because of the RPMs of a vinyl LP on the turntable, but (as my father informed me) is also how old George was when he released the album! How cool! I guess I’ll have to come out with a vinyl single when I turn 45… 🙂
I’ve known “Crackerbox Palace’ since I was little. Back in the early 90s, I believe, they came out with George Harrison’s “Best of the Dark Horse Years” CD, which chronicled his greatest solo hits while on the Dark Horse label he created. So my father played it in the car all the time. That’s probably why I love George’s “Cloud 9” album more than any person should love an album: it’s embedded in my mind from when I was four! Getting back to the “Best Of” album, songs like “Crackerbox Palace” have been with me for a long time and it feels great to finally perform it.
I was surprised to learn that “Crackerbox Palace” is one of my brother Mike’s favorite George Harrison songs, as well. Plus, Becky seems to really love it, too. If you haven’t seen the original music video (that he did with the help of the folks from Monty Python), then you should really check it out. I think that’s why Becky likes the song so much now- it’s so lighthearted and fun.
On that note, I always look so serious when recording these songs- I just want them to sound right, so I forget to smile a lot of the time. On a lighthearted song like this, I hope it doesn’t detract from the general mood.
Okay, that’s all for me this week- make sure to stop back next Thursday for a great Moody Blues “Best Albums Ranked In Order” list my father came up with. Which album is the best? Or, maybe even more importantly, which album is the WORST? Find out next Thursday here on the music blog. Have a great week and see you then!
The Guest Sessions tonight comes at you with a great ELO tune written by the one and only Jeff Lynne. “Turn To Stone” is an ambitious tune and definitely one that’s hard to capture just using an acoustic guitar. But, my friends, Mr. Les Groby has done it here with this acoustic cover song music video. His sweet singing voice and solid playing have made this just the second ever Guest Session here on the Laptop Sessions music video blog!
Here’s what Les had to say about his submission:
“I love finding good songs hiding under complex arrangement and production. Solo performers rarely cover ELO, but under their lavish recordings are some good, simple songs that work well solo.”
And isn’t that the the essence of the Laptop Sessions right there? I tell you, Jim’s videos with the most views are the ones where he took a very lavish song and turned it into an acoustic solo performance. And that’s what Les has done here with this fine cover song. We hope that you’ll continue sending in your submissions, as a new video will be featured once a week here on the best music video blog ever created- the Laptop Sessions! Congratulations Les!
