Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan, “The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window”

Bob Dylan met Columbia Records’ John Hammond on September 14, 1961 at the apartment of folksinger Richard Farina and his then-wife Carolyn Hester.  Dylan had been invited to Carolyn’s rehearsal session as a harmonica player.  Hammond later told the story of being so impressed with the young man from Hibbing, Minnesota that he decided to sign him on the spot.  A subsequent audition took place, and when Dylan – then dazzling audiences at Gerde’s Folk City on a bill shared with The Greenbriar Boys – showed up for Hester’s Columbia session on…

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I Was Young When I Left Home: Bob Dylan’s New Bootleg Series Entry Covers His Earliest Beginnings

Bob Dylan met Columbia Records’ John Hammond on September 14, 1961 at the apartment of folksinger Richard Farina and his then-wife Carolyn Hester.  Dylan had been invited to Carolyn’s rehearsal session as a harmonica player.  Hammond later told the story of being so impressed with the young man from Hibbing, Minnesota that he decided to sign him on the spot.  A subsequent audition took place, and when Dylan – then dazzling audiences at Gerde’s Folk City on a bill shared with The Greenbriar Boys – showed up for Hester’s Columbia session on…

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Release Round-Up: Week of January 11

Welcome to today’s Release Round-Up! Taking Back Sunday, Twenty (Craft Recordings) 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This 21-track anthology, available on single CD, double LP, and digital formats, celebrates 20 years of Taking Back Sunday drawing on all seven of the band’s studio albums as well as newly-recorded material.  Watch for more coverage of this title later today! The Flying Burrito Bros., Burrito Deluxe (LP) (Intervention Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD) This deluxe,…

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Can’t Help Myself: Smithsonian Folkways Announces Dave Van Ronk, Lead Belly, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee Vinyl Reissues

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is one of America’s iconic record labels. When Moses Asch started Folkways in 1948, his goal was to create an audio encyclopedia of the world.  And 70 years and one Smithsonian Institution acquisition later, it’s safe to say they’ve stayed on track with that creed.  Their repertoire now includes the 2,000+ classic Folkways titles, as well as the back catalog of other legendary labels like Cook, Paredon, Dyer-Bennett, Arhoolie, and The UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music, plus new releases by the current torchbearers of folksong. That extensive catalog boasts…

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Folk Heroes: Omnivore Celebrates Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk

This month, Omnivore Recordings turns its attention to two singer-songwriters who could be said to embody the spirit of American music, Hank Williams and Dave Van Ronk. Though he died just aged 29 in 1953, Hank Williams remains a towering figure in country-and-western music.  The likes of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” and “Hey Good Lookin’” have been recorded countless times in country, pop, R&B and rock renditions by artists young and old.  Naturally the appetite for unheard Williams music has…

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