Sunday, September 19, 2010

Blank and Blues / For The Birds: Black Crow Blues


Townes Van Zandt: Black Crow Blues

[purchase]

Bob Dylan: Black Crow Blues

[purchase]

A twofer transition today gets us from the blues to the birds in one fell swoop.

First, it's been seven months since we last posted a Townes Van Zandt song here on Star Maker Machine - the longest we've gone without a tune from the cowboy troubadour since our inception. Happily, his Black Crow Blues - recorded early, and ultimately collected on 2003 posthumous release In The Beginning - is a typically sparse, morbid ballad.

Meanwhile, as befitting his early folk incarnation, Bob Dylan's Black Crow Blues uses a much more traditional form. The first song Dylan ever recorded on piano, it's has never been performed live, but the combination of Dylan's pre-rock tone, those cryptic lyrics, and the barrelhouse blues is certainly worth celebrating.

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