“It makes you want to do cool shit.”

This week’s episode features 1965’s “Outlaw Blues” off Dylan’s “Bringing It All Back Home.” | We talk blues, appropriation and get deeper into w1hat we want from this podcast. | Full show notes at sotwpod.wordpress.com

• (0:00) Just need my Introduction rug and I’ll be set
• (1:04) We’re like Old Faithful / “this song kicks so much ass” “it makes you want to do cool shit” – Kelly / Having fun & pent up aggression from the original trilogy with just Bob and his guitar
• (3:10) “Outlaw Blues”
• “It made me just want to day-dream and not do anything” – Kelly (4:13)
• (4:42) Harmonica
• (4:50) “My Generation” – The Who
• The first of many talks about The Blues (intro with “Little Wing” by Mike Bloomfield)
  • Musical bonades: Kelly is a weirdo – loves 90s music and music from the 30s-40s
  • Blues schisms: blues and jazz moving apart after WWII
  • “Liza (All the Cloud’ll Roll Away)” by Thelonious Monk
  • Alan Lomax (8:00) on blues / talking about styles (8:52)
  • Cultural appropriation contours (9:15)
    • (19:00) The point of this podcast – to view Dylan through a bunch of lenses – art, history, music, etc – and while this one may be the simplest, it also lent itself to a great conversation about the blues
    • Appropriation is misappropriation (see Great Wall, Ghost in the Shell / Avril, Katy, Aston, etc.)
    • Broad brush (10:00) and super overview of “blues” in the US and the differences between reverence and revenue, stealing and borrowing. To conflate, in a sentence, that all culture is stolen from black people in the US is shallow and wrong. The systemic tide that keeps black people under boot in this country aren’t a one-to-one for Dylan stealing from Leadbelly or something. (10:40) “A political, cultural, social apparatus” versus “stealing from black people.” / tempting to keep them separate – the human from the machine, if you will – and see the intersections of art and politics, violence and creation; (maybe quote Stamped From the Beginning here?)
    • (13:55) In the end, the argument is about racism, about loving rock music  but hating black people, which happens. We discuss Lomax’s view in “I Wanna Be Your Lover” so I’ll repeat what he said and reiterate that now.
    • Little Richard (11:50)
    • The human element of the blues – the depth of feeling that you just know, apropos of history, culture, time, location. Like all good music – 
    • Leadbelly, Woody, Cisco – “We Shall Be Free” (12:50)
    • (14:55) “You should be able to enjoy music if you’re a shitty racist” – Kelly
    • Dylan quote in 2004 on folk tradition (16:10) / (16:35) Bob Nolan – “Tumbling Tumbleweeds”
    • (17:20) Seegar’s view on Dylan / Ramblin’ Jack quote
    • (18:00) Marc Maron & Amy Shumer joke stealing incident – we all listen to each other and get stuff stuck in our heads – or we both had the same thought at the same time / to have an “original idea” (if there is such a thing) one needs to listen, open up, be honest and have a sense of integrity – be willing to learn
  • (20:50) “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
  • The song (21:10) verse-by-verse
    • Is it a narrative or vignettes?
    • (24:30) Verse 2 on Jesse James and Robert Ford / comment on folk scene
    • (26:18) Verse 3 on Australia
    • (26:48) Verse 4 on good-luck black tooth & sunglasses / “don’t ask me nothin about nothin I just might tell you the truth”
    • (28:03) Verse 5
  • (28:10) The closing of the episode / memory is so short in the country and we want to rail against it! 
  • Recommendations:
    • Kelly: Sneaker Pimps Becoming X (with Buffy shout) “Spin Spin Sugar”
    • Daniel: Chuck Berry – all, “Big Boys”; Mt. Eerie A Crow Looked At Me
  • Surprise end with Triplicate announcement!
  • 1-658: 000
  • 36:40: Dead Kennedy’s “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”