Oh yes, he referenced an episode right out of the original Star Trek series (ep. 30, "The Squire of Gothos"). Movies seem to have profound effects on Dylan, especially as fodder for his songwriting in the 1980s. He's clearly a fan of Bogey, Brando, and Gregory Peck. With special emphasis on Bogey.If anyone writes poetry these days it's safe to say their imagination must be influenced by the media industry, with movies right at the top. Since Dylan's what these days we might call a poet, ordained by Christopher Ricks, it's fascinating to see where he draws his inspiration.

Imagine if Shakespeare had lived through the 1950s and 60s. He'd have been a screenwriter, no doubt. Or a lyric writer. Or both. Back then the theater was the silver screen, after all. (I like to compare Dylan to Shakespeare despite the obvious disparities--both of them tackle cliches like Grendel at the hands of mighty Beowulf.)
Learn more on the fascinating mind of our modern Shakespeare at the Dylan in Film website.

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Eric Andersen has maintained a career as a folk-based singer/songwriter since the 1960s. In contrast to such peers as Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs, Andersen's writing has had a romantic/philosophical/poetic bent for the most part, rather than a socially conscious one, though one of his best-known songs, "Thirsty Boots," has as its background the Freedom Rides of the early '60s. (The song has been recorded by Judy Collins and others.)

Tom Paxton discovered him that late fall of 1963, performing at the Coffee Gallery in North Beach. He heard his songs and invited him to New York City. In 1964, Eric was soon introduced to the Greenwich Village song writing circle of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. He played his first gig as an opening act at Gerde's Folk City.

Robert Shelton of the-New York Times wrote a review where he called him "a writer and performer of the first rank…possessing that magical element called star quality."


He was signed to Vanguard Records and began recording his first album, “Today is the Highway”.


Over the next three years he wrote and recorded four albums of his earliest songs, including his early classics "Come To My Bedside", "Thirsty Boots", and "Violets of Dawn", for Vanguard. The Brothers Four recorded a single of "Bedside" for Columbia Records and it was immediately banned from AM radio, on the grounds of obscenity. All were sung in Andersen's flexible tenor (he shaded toward a baritone later), backed by rapid, intricate fingerpicking.


In 1966, he made his Newport Folk Festival debut, and that same summer, he starred in the Andy Warhol film, Space. His second album 'Bout Changes and Things was released. The following year, 1967, he was about to be signed by manager Brian Epstein before he died. He met the Beatles in London and attended some recording sessions. Then Tin Can Alley, his third album, was released and he went on to record two albums, in 1968 and 1969, for Warner Brothers (Avalanche and Eric Andersen) and one more for Vanguard (A Country Dream).


In the late '60s and early '70s, Andersen experimented with country, pop, and rock music, settling on an amalgamation by the time of his masterpiece “Blue River” in 1972. This was also his most commercially successful album, but Andersen, like friends Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt, was always too serious-minded for the mainstream. In the '70s and '80s, he recorded sporadically while playing folk clubs around the U.S. and especially in Europe, where he took up residence.


His later material, including 1989's “Ghosts upon the Road”, recalls his work in the '60s as it ruefully reflects on that decade. The '90s saw Andersen collaborate with friends like Rick Danko and Jonas Fjeld, as well as release a solo album, 1998's “Memory of the Future” ;


His 2004 album “The Street was always there” was a nostalgic look back at the music of the New York Greenwich Village scene of the early to mid-'60s.

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An Australian woman stabbed her de facto husband to death after he stopped her playing her favorite Bruce Springsteen CD.

Karen Lee Cooper told arresting police: "I couldn't even play Bruce Springsteen on my stereo -- can you believe that? Can you believe that?"

She later again told police: "I mean, who doesn't like Bruce Springsteen? I'm 49 years old and I want to play my own music."

In the Supreme Courty in Brisbane Thursday, Cooper, 50, was jailed for eight years.

She pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Kevin Lee Watson on July 8, 2006.

She was originally charged with murder but the court accepted a manslaughter plea on the basis she had no intention to kill.

The court heard Cooper stabbed Watson through the aorta after they had been drinking at their Cedar Grove home, south of Brisbane.

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A gunman in Thailand shot-dead eight neighbours, including his brother-in-law, after tiring of their karaoke versions of popular songs, including John Denver’s Country Roads.
Weenus Chumkamnerd, 52, put his gun to the head of a respected female doctor and seven of her guests as they partied at her home in Songkhla Province, South Thailand.

"When I began shooting nobody pleaded for his life because they were all drunk," he said after his arrest.

He said he was so furious with their awful singing that he did not notice he had murdered his own brother-in-law.
"I warned these people about their noisy karaoke parties. I said if they carried on I would go down and shoot them. I had told them if I couldn’t talk sense into them I would come back and finish them off," he added.

Mr Chumkamnerd, who works as a rubber tapper, was arrested after going on the run after his killing spree in the townn of Hat Yai, near the Malaysian border.

The doctor who was hosting the party, Dr Suthathip Thammachart, 36, was the director of a local hospital who was due this month to get an award for her services to medicine.

One of the revellers survived by playing dead, convincing the gunman that he too had been killed.

When he realised he had shot his brother-in-law, Boontip Desaro, Mr Chumkamnerd said he was filled with remorse.

He got his son to take Boontip to hospital, but he was already dead.

A neighbour said that the karaoke group normally sang Thai pop and southern Thai ballads, but one particular western tune could be heard often - John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’.

Country Roads is a hugely popular song in south east Asia and the neighbour said the revellers had been singing it over and over again.

Daily Telegraph

Today,I came across this blog.I like it!

Did you read The Guardian ? Jonathan Richman's epic hymn to Massachusetts.Brilliant Outline of his song ".Roadrunner".i must have been up&down Route 128 several times on my one & only visit to The States.
A million miles from home,yet i found the good people in Massachusetts wonderful.I felt totally at home.A nice warm feeling in February minus20 degrees.I must go back again soon.
The photo was taken waiting for a bus in Amherst.Me Chris & Ayse must have waited an hour ,late at night in the dark.Freezing weather.February made me shiver,with every paper i deliver..Snow blah-blah-blah.So quiet.we were on our own.in a dark bus shelter..........apart from a young couple who walked nearby.they were shouting &having an arguement.In the end,she threw the shopping she was carrying at him.The bag missed.Hit the ground.They walked on.Left it.
After ten minutes , Ayse went to pick it up.Above is the photo i took of her tidying up some other Souls mess........I,m in Love with the modern World!
"...............................and I sit there with my doughnut and my coffee and my map of Massachusetts, plotting my route out towards Amherst and the University of Massachusetts, and up to Greenfield, about two hours west. I love to think of Richman making this drive, about the "college out there that just rises up in the middle of nuthin'/ You've just got fields of snow and all of a sudden there's these modern buildings/ Right in the middle of nothing/ Under the stars." There is the glorious feeling of driving for driving's sake, away from the draw of Boston, away from the ocean, and delving deep into the heart of Massachusetts......................" {read in full}


And!Yes!! the equally great British/Asian Islamic combo Cornershop did owe a wee debt to Jonothan when they wrote the song "Brimful Of Asha"............

Reprinted From Here/my other blog:july2007.

Most famous entertainers play it safe when the visit Mexico City - they’ll leave their hotels to hit up a fancy Mexican fusion restaurant or do some shopping at trendy designer boutiques, but rarely do they get a sense of the real megalopolis. Not so rock icon Bob Dylan, who, while he was in town this week for two shows, did some sightseeing on Mexico City’s notoriously crowded subway system and worked out in a gym in a gritty nook of the historic downtown.

Dylan was spotted on Tuesday wandering through the Bellas Artes Metro stop, checking out some of the Lucha Libre photography on display on the station’s walls. Apparently, he created just a minor stir, with just a few people recognizing him and taking pictures with their cell phones.

Then Dylan did a little boxing at the Nuevo Jordan gym, impressing trainer Rodolfo “Guerco” Rodriguez, who had no idea the man in the ring was perhaps the most famous singer on the planet. “I said…these old guys are going to give each other heart attacks!” Rodriguez told the El Universal newspaper. “They told me that the oldest guy was Bob Dylan, this guy you’re telling me about…He boxed with all his friends and he did well; you can tell he’s practiced for awhile because he landed some good shots and brought his own professional (equipment). He knows what pugilism is and he enjoys it.”

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