Throwback Thursday: Everythng Is Broken

"It's nice to be known as a legend, and people will pay to see one, but for most people, once is enough. You have to deliver the goods." ~ Bob Dylan, Chronicles

Maybe one reason some people like Dylan is simply because of the durability of his career. Like the Energizer Bunny he just keeps going. Like the Cinderella Man he keeps coming back.

Yesterday I noted that John Hinchey called John Wesley Harding "the comeback of comeback albums." Others have hailed Blood on the Tracks as Dylan's great comeback, and it certainly was an exceptional album after the early Seventies period that produced the critically dissed Self-Portrait, Dylan and Planet Waves. When Dylan released Time Out of Mind in 1997 it was yet another comeback level achievement, winning a Grammy and receiving flurries of critical acclaim. His Never Ending Tour had been on the road nearly ten years, but now people were beginning to notice.

I don't recall many people calling his Gospel Period a comeback, though Slow Train Coming is a superfine album for its production values, cohesiveness and earnestness. Songs like "Serve Somebody" and "Precious Angel" are written in the old Dylanesque style but with a new born-again sensibility. You don't fake the emotion he conveys in "I Believe In You."

The comeback I wanted to talk about this morning, though, occurred in 1989 with the release of Oh Mercy. Rolling Stone gave the album high marks and I remember wondering if that was only because they're so predisposed to liking Dylan. Still, I bought the vinyl and continue to listen to it to this day.

Oh Mercy was hailed as a comeback, not just because it had songs noticeably more meaningful than anything Bob Dylan had recently released, but because Daniel Lanois' production gave it cohesion. There was cohesion on Empire Burlesque, of course, but that cohesion was a little too slick, a little too commercial, whereas this record was filled with atmospheric, hazy production -- a sound as arty as most assumed the songs to be. And Dylan followed suit, giving Lanois significant songs -- palpably social works, love songs, and poems -- that seemed to connect with his past. And, at the time, this production made it seem like the equivalent of his '60s records, meaning that its artiness was cutting edge, not portentous. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In Dylan's Chronicle: Volume One, he devotes an entire chapter to this period of new fertility when Oh Mercy was birthed. Keep in mind that the book is only five chapters, so that's 20% of the book. The events of this time were important enough to dive into at length. 1987 was a difficult year because he's injured his hand in a freak accident that winter, and was scheduled to do 100 concerts beginning in the spring. It was also a difficult time because Dylan himself was not sure who he was. "There was a missing person inside of myself and I needed to find him."

Dylan states that he had not been writing songs for a while, but then the muse returned. He'd be sitting at a table and twenty-some verses for "Political World" flowed out from his pen. He placed these in a drawer, and they were soon joined by verses for a song called "What Good Am I?" More songs followed and he would see what their relationship would be to one another.

The reason I found Oh Mercy to be such a meaningful album is that it became clear that his "Gospel Phase" had not just been a phase. The heart of his spiritual experiences now seemed integrated naturally into a world view that was less about preaching, but true to a vision of how things are.

Another feature of Oh Mercy is that it is primarily slow songs, reflective and thoughtful songs. It's a nice album to put on at the end of the day when you want to unwind. The only two fast-paced pieces here are the kickoff opener, "Political World" and "Everything Is Broken". "Political World" just lays it out there, an indictment of how things work in our modern age. "Everything Is Broken" gets more specific. It's a "list song" on a theme. It's a broken world, "you'd better get that in your head." Perhaps formulaic stylistically, it makes a point.

This is not a new theme. It hearkens back to Hard Rain. It hearkens back to the Fall and humanity's exile from Paradise. And it implores us to be realistic about what we expect next.

Several songs give direction on this point. Don't catch the disease of conceit. Don't neglect the needy, forgotten and disenfranchised among us. And keep ringing them bells.

Everything Is Broken

Broken lines, broken strings
Broken threads, broken springs
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain’t no use jiving
Ain’t no use joking
Everything is broken

Broken bottles, broken plates
Broken switches, broken gates
Broken dishes, broken parts
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything is broken

Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Broken cutters, broken saws
Broken buckles, broken laws
Broken bodies, broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you’re chokin'
Everything is broken

Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Broken hands on broken ploughs
Broken treaties, broken vows
Broken pipes, broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking
Everything is broken

Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

Spotlight on Minnesota Singer/Songwriter Arne Fogel

Robert Behrens of JazzMN wrote that Arne Fogel is "arguably the best male vocalist in the region and most certainly is one of the best-informed jazz vocalists in the nation. Over several decades, Arne has earned his place as a professional singer, a sensitive mentor and a respected historian….”

May 17 Fogel will join a host of other talents for A Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan for the kickoff event of this year's North Country Dylan Celebration. It will be a night to remember.

EN: What has been your career path from teen to professional jazz vocalist and historian?

Arne Fogel: It’s been a long and winding path. My interest in the history of the things that I'm into goes all the way back to my childhood. As soon as I would become a fan of this or that childhood interest (cartoons, three stooges, etc. for instance), I would do my best to learn the history of that subject. And, I've been interested in performing all of my life. So, it was always a double-edged process: learn about the background of that with which I'm interested in, and then learn how to do it myself. All of the other things in my career, such as radio, teaching, being in the advertising business as a writer-producer, jingle-singer, etc., are or were parts of whatever I needed to do to sustain my interests. I started in RnR bands, graduated to studio work, got into teaching in college, and eventually got into radio as a presenter of the music I love - another form of "teaching", you might say.

EN: When did you first realize music was your passion?

AF: When I was about 13 years old. I always enjoyed music, heard a lot of it around my house when I was growing up (although no one in my family was a musician or performer.) But it really became my greatest interest in my early teens.

EN: What is it that sets Arne Fogel apart from other jazz singers?

AF: Oh, I don't know... I'm not sure that I am a "jazz singer" anyway... I sometimes have trouble with that term. I know too many people who don't have even a rudimentary knowledge of how to handle a jazz beat, but think they can learn a couple of Tin Pan Alley standards and call themselves "Jazz Singers." I think I am a guy who sings classic standard pop music from America's early mid-century, and I sing it in a more-or-less authentic way, which means there is an underpinning of jazz in my approach. But does that make me a "Jazz singer"? I don't know. What makes me different? Well, in the Twin Cities area, just the fact that I am male makes a big difference. This is a field almost completely dominated by women. Also, I suppose the fact that when I am singing this music, I try to keep it as true to form as possible, which means there are little or no R&B or R&R devices apparent in my style. Almost everybody else does those things, but I don't. So I guess that makes me different too.

EN: Are you also a songwriter? What do you like most, creating or performing?

AF: Yes, I'm also a songwriter. I used to write tons of songs in my R&R days, then after that, used that ability to write & produce advertising music, both free-lance and with ad agencies. I learned from the best: Barry Thomas Goldberg & Gary Paulak were band-mates of mine in The Batch, and they were the principal writers of that band and geniuses. I emulated them as well as I could. I also learned a lot from a brilliant guy named Dale Menten, writer and producer. My friends and my teachers. I love both writing and performing! I stopped writing for many years, but started again recently through my work with NYC vocalist Nancy Harms. We've written several tunes together, which she records and performs.

EN: How did you get connected to A Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan?

AF: Through my friendship with frequent contributor to the concerts, Barry Thomas Goldberg. It was while visiting him backstage at one of the concerts that a few of the folks there, whom I also know, suggested I participate. Mainly it was Steve Grossman who really convinced me that I wouldn't be out of place and that it would be great fun. Thanks Steve! Thanks, Barry!

EN: When did you first take an interest in Dylan’s music?

AF: Oh, geez, I guess when he first became popular, around "Like A Rolling Stone" time -- summer of '65. I was aware of him beforehand, and always took note of his earlier Columbia albums, but I wasn't really a folk music fan and didn't go back to them until I had come to enjoy his "electric" period in the mid-60s. After that, I went back and discovered the beauty of his earlier work.

EN: Do you have a favorite album or handful of songs?

AF: I love everything from his earliest recordings up through the 70s, and into the 80s. I can enjoy his later work too, but I'm not quite as crazy about him after the 80s. My favorites are things like Highway 61, Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home, John Wesley Harding, and I love his stuff with the Band: Planet Waves is a big favorite of mine. I love Blood On The Tracks and Desire, of course.


EdNote: This blog entry and others like it have the aim of raising awareness for the upcoming Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan concert which will kick off the 2014 North Country Dylan Celebration in Duluth and Hibbing. Sacred Heart Music Center, May 17, 2014. For tickets to this great event visit dulutharmory.org/events.

If you wish to help, visit the Salute Facebook page and share with your friends by clicking the Invite button. 

A Salute to the Music of Bob Dylan is a presentation of the Armory Arts and Music Center and Magic Marc Productions.

PHOTO CREDITS: Top to Bottom
1.Travis Anderson   2. Ann Marsden   3.Andrea Canter   4.Travis Anderson   5.Andrea Canter

Dylan Notes from the AAMC and Three Predictions About Tonight's Show

As is well-known here, Duluth is Bob Dylan's birthplace and a city he often visited while growing up in Hibbing where his family moved when he was age six. What follows are some references to this connection between Dylan and our city on a hillside that he references in "Something There Is About You" from Planet Waves. "Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin' the hills of old Duluth."

Duluth's Armory Arts & Music Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to renovating this city's historic Armory. Here are some notes they shared with me about why Dylan's performance tonight has the air of a homecoming for many.

BOB DYLAN’S DULUTH TOUR

“I’d grown up there in Hibbing but had been born in Duluth, about seventy-five miles away to the east on the edge of Lake Superior, the big lake that the Indians call Gitche Gumee….What I recall mostly about Duluth are the slate gray skies and the mysterious foghorns, violent storms that always seemed to be coming straight at you and merciless howling winds off the big black mysterious lake with treacherous ten-foot waves. People said that having to go out onto the deep water was like a death sentence. Most of Duluth was on a slant. Nothing is level there. The town is built on the side of a steep hill, and you’re always either hiking up or down.” Chronicles vol. 1, pgs. 229-30

Historic Armory today.

“I ask Dylan if he minds people visiting Hibbing or Duluth or Minneapolis searching for the root of his talent. ‘Not at all,’ he surprisingly says….As for Duluth, where his grandparents lived, he thinks it’s one of the country’s forgotten gems. ‘You’ll never see another town like Duluth,’ he says. ‘It’s not a tourist destination, but it probably should be. Depends what season you’re in there, though. There are only two seasons: damp and cold. I like the way the hills tumble to the waterfront and the way the wind blows around the grain elevators. The train yards go on forever, too. It’s old-age industrial, that’s what it is. You’ll see it from the top of the hill for miles and miles before you get there. You won’t believe your eyes. I’ll give you a medal if you get out alive.’…Dylan is so down-home that he considers the boondocks of Hibbing-Duluth to be far grander than Paris.” ~“Bob Dylan’s America” by Douglas Brinkley, “Rolling Stone”, May 14, 2009

Where the stars have been.

Historic Duluth Armory—13th Av. E. and London Rd. (historic US Hwy. 61) “When I was about 16 or 17 years old, I went to hear Buddy Holly play at the Duluth National Guard Armory, and I was three feet away from him, and he looked at me and,…I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way.” ~Bob Dylan accepting the 1998 Grammy for “Time Out of Mind”, Album of the Year

“Buddy was royalty, and I felt like…was my connection to it, to the rock-and-roll music that I’d played earlier, to that spirit.” ~Chronicles vol. 1, pg. 277

“Sometimes on the road Dylan stops by the homes or graves of musicians he admires….He’s made pilgrimages in Texas to search out Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison.” ~“Bob Dylan’s America” by Douglas Brinkley, “Rolling Stone”, May 14, 2009

Historic US Highway 61—London Road, Superior Street “Highway 61, the main thoroughfare of the country blues, begins about where I came from…Duluth to be exact. I always felt like I’d started on it, always had been on it and could go anywhere from it, even down into the deep Delta country.” ~Chronicles vol.1, pg. 240

Leif Erickson Park and statue—London Rd., across from Armory, and down to Lakewalk level “One time my parents took me to see Harry Truman speak at a political rally in Duluth’s Leif Erickson Park. Leif Erickson was a Viking who was supposed to have come to this part of country way before the Pilgrims…. ~Chronicles vol. 1, pg. 230

Former home of Louie Kemp—3700 London Road. Dylan visited and stayed there many times over the years that his old friend owned the house.

Dylan’s childhood house—519 North Third Avenue East. Dylan and his family lived in the second floor flat until they moved to Hibbing when Dylan was six years old.

Nettleton Elementary School—First Av. E. and Sixth Street. Dylan attended school here until moving to Hibbing.

St. Mary’s Hospital—407 E. Third Street. Dylan was born here May 24, 1941 (Robert Zimmerman)

Predictions for This Evening's Concert
1. Bob will open tonight's show with "Things Have Changed".
2. Bob will not play trombone during "All Along the Watchtower".
3. Because his son Jakob is performing with The Wallflowers tonight in the Twin Cities, he will not join his dad onstage during the encore Ballad of a Thin Man. (But since Bob is in St. Paul tomorrow evening, anything is possible there.)

I'll see you there.

Photo credits: Bottom two Armory shots, Nelson French. Top right photo of my Dylan Memorabilia collage by Andrew Perfetti.