Brookswords

Bob Dylan Killed My CD Player

In 1986, 'the most famous Bob Dylan bootleg of all time' was released. Called Ten of Swords, it was a 10 album comprehensive compilation of Dylan's unreleased work from 1961 to 1966. Dylan bootlegs have always had a strong cache to collectors, since he has always had the peculiar habit of leaving some of his best work unreleased. Ten of Swords brought together unreleased songs that had been released on dozens of bootleg albums, and the quality of the recordings--usually pretty poor on previous bootlegs--was virtually up to the quality of official releases. Ten of Swords was, unfortunately, hard to find--and quite expensive, to boot. (No pun intended.)

Many years later, however, Ebay came to my rescue. I found copies (now on 7 CD's rather than 10 records) for a relatively nominal price--as Ralph Kramden might have put it, for "a mere bag of shells".  So I bought it, popped the 7 CD's in my 10 disc CD player -- along with 3 of my other Dylan CD's -- opened a pint of Guinness, and sat down to listen.  I hit 'play' on the remote...and nothing happened   Absolutely nothing.  I know that's redundant--but how else can I convey the frustration I felt that night?  No matter what I did, my stereo just sat there, insolently glaring back at me.

Before hurling my pint of Guinness at it, I decided to calm down, take the CD's out & listen to them one at a time on the CD player in my computer.  But not only was 'play' not working, but 'eject' wasn't either.  Not only could I not listen to the CD's -- now I couldn't even get them out of the CD player. I spent that night with a screwdriver in my hand, trying to take apart the machine & retrieve my CD's. I never was able to take it apart. If I'd have had a baseball bat in the house that night, I know what I might have done.

The next night I talked to my older daughter and told her what had happened. She spent her childhood with Bob Dylan as part of the soundtrack of her life, and she knows more than most that he is an acquired taste. (I remember my first wife waking up one morning & telling me she'd just had a horrible nightmare -- she'd dreamed that Bob Dylan had moved in with us and wouldn't leave!)

When I told my daughter that I'd loaded up the CD player with 10 Dylan CD's, she thought that explained everything; after all these years being forced to play Dylan CD's, this was the final, last straw for my CD player. It just couldn't take it anymore.

So, I guess I can sort of understand why the CD player decided to go to that big stereo store in the sky.  But why wouldn't it let me have my CD's back?  Besides being suicidal, did it also have to be spiteful?

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire, which had me as transfixed as its predecessor, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The 'girl', Lisbeth Salander, is one of the most unusual & unpredictable protagonists I've ever come across. It will be quite a challenge for the actress just chosen to play her in the Hollywood version, Rooney Mara. In the weeks before the choice to play Salander was announced, there was quite a frenzy in Hollywood -- comparable to the protracted Scarlett O'Hara search which eventually handed stardom on a silver platter to Vivien Leigh. I like the fact that Mara, a virtual unknown, was chosen over big names like Scarlet Johansson -- said at one point to be a shoo-in for the role -- Ellen Page and Natalie Portman. And I also like the fact that, like me, she has a last name for a first name.

The Past, With Prologues

Back in the day, American popular songs often began with a prologue. Two of my favorite songs that employ that convention were both written in the 1920's, "If You Want a Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain)" and "What'll I Do". Here are two clips; first, Annette Hanshaw performs "Rainbow", which was released, of all things, on the "Diva" label. I first heard her music only recently, after I watched Nina Paley's multicultural phantasmagoria, Sita Sings the Blues, where her music provides the soundtrack to a vivid reinterpretation of the Ramayana. Hanshaw was only in her 30's when she performed a disappearing act & quit show business. The story goes that she was just tired of it. Her song not only has a prologue--it also ends with her trademark signature "That's All". And that's just what she said to her singing career.

The second clip is Harry Nilsson, from his 70's retro album of pop standards, performing Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do". Berlin wrote everything from "White Christmas" to "God Bless America", but of all his hundreds of songs, this is my favorite. Anyone hearing this song can probably guess that its writer must have been well-acquainted with heartbreak. Irving Berlin certainly was. His first wife died from an illness she contracted on their honeymoon. (His second marriage would last 63 years.)