Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Stephen Malkmus "Brain Gallup"

i finally figured out "come and blow you away" reference in Brain Gallop.... knew i had heard it before.... it's from Bob Dylan's Joey about gangster Joey Gallo. Of course, Malkmus is a not-so-closeted Dylan head. When i saw him at Big Sur, he played Dylan's Hurricane before taking the stage (hope he wasn't too annoyed i sang the whole song really loud, to the delight of some nearby and the horror of others)... Malkmus also contributed some excellent cool versions of Dylan songs for the I'm Not There soundtrack: What Kind Of Friend Is This, Ballad of a Thin Man, Maggie's Farm, and Can't Leave Her Behind....

by the way, if you haven't yet heard the soundtrack to the Dylan tribute film I'm Not There (2007, director: Todd Haynes, starring Kate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, and many others) do yourself a big big favor and check it out asap...

the two-disc soundtrack (not really used much in the film itself) is so freakin good.... highlights include versions of Dylan songs by Iron & Wine, Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, John Doe, Sonic Youth, Antony & The Johnsons, The Black Keys, Los Lobos, Cat Power, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and The Hold Steady.....

by the way, i have to add that one of the most bizarre songs i ever saw in concert was Joey, with Dylan & The Dead at JFK Stadium in Philly, July 10, 1987 with Tor and my late great friend Lori Sowers.... on the way to the show, i horrified my traveling companions by revealing that i despised the Grateful Dead and was only going to see Dylan.... it seemed to me most of the Deadheads didn't know what to make of Dylan... hard to dance to... although of course, Dylan & The Band really excelled and perfected the fusion of psychedelic country folk blues rock that The Dead traded in for decades....

Hey Lori.... here's to yew....

toward the end of her life, she ended each and every phone call with, "I love you".... i miss that....

No comments:

Post a Comment