I'd like to say I really enjoy today's chart music but apart from one or two tracks I don't care for it. I try to listen though from time to time just to keep my ear in. I have a fear of getting behind the times. I come across people, many who are a good few years younger than me, who don't have a mobile phone or don't use the internet and even one or two people who don't use a credit card and I can't believe they admit to this. Why would you want to live in the middle ages?
I have wrinkles, aches, pains and my hair is going grey but I try to keep my brain up to date. It's getting increasingly difficult. Nowadays my head is so full when one bit of info goes in another has to leave to make way.
Anyway I do computers, smart phones, MP3 players etc so I think I'm keeping up quite well but... Lady Gaga? I don't have any track listings - any info at all - so just put the CD in and off we went. Well I'd like to be able to tell you that I love the album but I'm not sure if I really do. It's OK but I wonder if I am forcing myself to listen because I don't want to feel old.
I knew Clarence was playing on one of the tracks - didn't know which one. There is one song though I have played a good few times - yep really love this one. Surprise surprise it has saxophone on it and yes there's the Big Man. Here it is from The American Idol finale
Back to more usual stuff. On Friday we, along with a few hundred other middle aged music lovers, went to see Nils Logfren in Bradford. It was more or less that same show we saw last year, and although I enjoyed it more this time, I don't think we would have gone if we had realised we had seen it before. I recognised more of the songs this time but as I have mentioned before I'm not so keen on long guitar solos. This is a problem when you go to see Nils because most of the audience are waiting for ... the long guitar solos!
Of course he did Because The Night but I'm a bit bored with this at the moment. A request for If I Should Fall Behind was a surprise. This is one of the songs that Mike would like to hear live. Well he's heard it now but I expect this isn't exactly what he meant.
Next up for us John Mellencamp in July then Bryan Adams later in the year. Well gotta do something when Bruce isn't touring.
Had we not booked for Nils we may have mortgaged the house and bought two tickets for Rod Stewart at Elland Road. I understand they were expensive seats, but as we could have walked there, we'd have saved on transport costs. I've seen Rod before and have a soft spot for him because he was my first credible music hero back in the early seventies. By credible I mean he wasn't a teen idol. He was a well respected musician until he 'sold out' and moved to America.
Mentioning Rod reminds me that I was going to talk about Bob Dylan the other week. Rod does some great covers of Dylan songs on his early albums. I'm not a huge Dylan fan - I like a lot of his well known songs but don't know any of the more obscure stuff. I hear he's very charismatic on stage but I can't imagine it myself.
Anyway Bob was 60 the other week and Radio 2 did a series of programmes about him. I'm sure I've seen pieces in the past suggesting Bob doesn't like Bruce. Perhaps some of it stems from this Travelling Wilburys' song which Dylan wrote and is obviously a piss take of Bruce.
It makes me smile, actually, and I can imagine Bruce having a little chuckle when he heard it.
Bruce has done many a Dylan cover and there is a great blog here with some links to some of them.
Chimes of Freedom is a favourite of mine. I heard the Bruce version first - didn't even know it was a Dylan song at the time.
And finally this week a blog from a non Bruce fanatic. I found it an interesting read - somebody who admires our man but not necessarily for his music.
Although the writer doesn't realise it I think there are many many of us who admire Bruce for his integrity, his work ethic and his power to inspire us in a way that isn't necessarily just about the music.
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