• The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man" at 50: Ranking The Original (Bob Dylan) and Covers (Stevie Wonder, William Shatner, More)

    On this date 50 years ago The Byrds recorded "Mr. Tambourine Man." That band wasn't the first to do it—Bob Dylan wrote the original version of the song and recorded it just five days prior to The Byrds entering the studio with it—but it would end up that the latter ended up more famous than the first. The song reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been cited as the birthplace of "folk rock" (fans of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and everything to follow are thankful). Many acts have gone on to cover the track (aside from The Byrds) so Music Times gathered a few of the more famous versions and ranked them accordingly.
  • Bob Dylan's 'Blood On The Tracks': 10 Songs Ranked For Its 40th Anniversary

    Today, Jan. 20, marks the 40th anniversary of Bob Dylan's classic album Blood On The Tracks, a highly emotional and devastating set of songs which was seen by many as a stellar return to form for the iconic singer-songwriter, and is arguably his last truly great album. In celebration of this incredible album, here are its 10 songs ranked, from weakest to best.
  • Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream Speech" and The Opening Acts: Mahalia Jackson, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and More

    Go to any concert, any music festival, and there will be scores of opening acts. They serve to get the crowd warmed up, get the crowd ready to rock with the headliners at the end of the night. This same thing used to happen at political events: Sometimes other political figures aside from the "headliner" would give speeches of their own for the cause and often musicians with sympathizing views would perform as well. This same thing happened at the conclusion of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which culminated in Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" Speech. There was no doubt that King was the "headliner," but he had a heck of an opening set from a series of iconic musicians. Here's a list of the esteemed performers who played at the same podium as Dr. King that did.
  • [REVIEW] Bob Dylan Takes on Sinatra's 'Stay with Me' with Swagger, Grace [LISTEN]

    At first, the concept seemed questionable: Folk legend Bob Dylan recording an entire album of Frank Sinatra covers. Then the lead single "Full Moon and Empty Arms" surfaced, causing some naysayers to second guess their initial judgments. Dylan has followed the tune with "Stay with Me," another sublime cut from the upcoming "Shadows in the Night" LP. Dylan is apparently not just a Sinatra fan — he is also an admirer of the 1963 film "The Cardinal." "Stay with Me" is a pleading love song used as the theme for the movie. Now, we are dealing with two different voices at different points in their careers — Sinatra would have been 49 whereas Dylan is now 73.
  • Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech and More Included on Epic Spotify Playlist with Music by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, John Legend and More

    Spotify and the role it plays in the spread of music in the modern era will continue to inspire controversy and legal battles into the future. No one, listeners or musicians alike, can deny that the streaming service's playlist in honor of Martin Luther King on the Civil Rights leader's national holiday is spot-on. Spotify has assembled an epic playlist of King's most influential speeches and the music inspired by his actions, available for listening now.
  • The White Stripes To Release Live Album, DVD 'Under Amazonian Lights'

    asdAs part of Third Man Records' Vault subscription series, Jack White will be releasing a White Stripes live album and DVD titled Under Amazonian Lights, which documents a concert in Manaus, Brazil on June 1, 2005 during the tour in support of the duo's fifth album Get Behind Me Satan. According to Consequence of Sound, the album will be pressed "blood red vinyl with stark black wisps," and features covers of songs by Bob Dylan, Howlin' Wolf, and Son House alongside the expected White Stripes classics.
  • The Beatles Engineer Glyn Johns Calls 'Let It Be' Album 'A Bunch of Garbage'

    Glyn Johns, a sound engineer and producer who has worked with The Rolling Stones, The Clash and The Band, is promoting a new book titled Sound Man. Back in November, an excerpt of the book made headlines after it was revealed that Bob Dylan wanted to record an album with The Stones and The Beatles. Johns, who also worked with the Fab Four, talked to The New York Times about his experience with the group's final album, Let It Be. Even with tunes like "Across the Universe," "The Long and Winding Road" and "Get Back," Johns labeled the record "a bunch of garbage."
  • Paul McCartney Calls College Courses on Beatles 'Ridiculous Yet Flattering'

    Colleges across the country offer a variety of courses that focus on specific genres of music or musicians who had an enormous impact on history. The Beatles are one of those acts that can be studied at different campuses across the world. Paul McCartney has mixed feelings about this. He revealed in a Q&A recently that John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and himself never actually studied the music they loved. They just listened and played what felt right to them. "For me it's ridiculous, and yet very flattering," McCartney said when asked how he felt about Beatles courses. "Ridiculous because we [The Beatles] never studied anything, we just loved our popular music: Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, etc. And it wasn't a case of 'studying' it. I think for us, we'd have felt it would have ruined it to study it." The band members studied by listening to the music: That was all they needed. "We wanted to make our own minds up just by listening to it. So our study was listening. But to be told — as I was years ago now — that The Beatles were in my kid's history books? That was like, 'What?! Unbelievable, man!' Can you imagine when we were at school, finding yourself in a history book?" he added.
  • 6 Biggest Drops in Quality Between Albums

    Following up a great album is always a daunting task for a musician, and though plenty of artists managed to do this successfully, (Radiohead's Kid A, Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet), many others have fallen completely short. Here are six of the biggest drops in quality between albums.
  • 10 Best Cover Songs Of 2014

    Because cover songs don't garner nearly as much traction on the radio or the charts as they once did, artists these days treat them more like fun little experiments, where they can try out things they normally wouldn't on one of their albums or original singles. This has resulted in plenty of inventive and fascinating covers, especially this past year. Here are the year's 10 best cover songs (in no particular order).
  • Bob Dylan Reveals Tracklist, Release Date For New Album 'Shadows In The Night'

    Back in October, Bob Dylan confirmed that his next studio album Shadows in the Night, a collection of Frank Sinatra covers, would be released at some point in 2015, and today, Dec. 9, Dylan has revealed more details about the album, including its release date and tracklist. The album is set for release on Feb. 3 through Columbia Records, and was reportedly recorded entirely live.
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