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A C A D I E
The Internet newsletter for Daniel Lanois
Number 27, Friday, 21 June 1996
Today's Topics:
apologies
Re: Oh Mercy and Lanois
Dylan and Lanois' #1 hit?
Emmy Lou/Ron Sexsmith
Lyrics - Death of a Train
Missing Dylan/Lanois track
Musicians
Musical and engineering background
Oh Mercy outtakes
Lanois singles
excuse the bad reporting
Dylan's potential 31
Michael Brook/Eno
Fan to Fan
re: Michael Brook/Eno
Lyrics - finally! :-)
Lyrics: The First 3
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POSTS: Please send all posts to lanois@sfbayconcerts.com
WWW: http://www.sfbayconcerts.com/lanois/home.html
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From: Kenley
Subject: apologies
Sorry for missing a week of the Digest; work ended and I am on summer break.
Adjustments and elations ensued! Shouldn't happen again. Enjoy this week's
long digest. :-) Happy Summer Solstice.
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From: "Kevin Foss"
Date: Sun, 09 Jun 96 13:37:36 -0400
Subject: Re: Oh Mercy and Lanois
Nick Jacquet wrote:
>A while ago in the summer of '95, driving down the Jasper highway,
>the CBC had a interesting 1 hour program on Danny :>. Danny said
>even though he was very happy with the Oh Mercy album, he said he
>was also very sad because Bobby has never had a number 1 single and
>there was one on the Oh Mercy Album. Danny goes on to say that
>Bobby would not let him put it on the Album. A few months later I
>heard the song at a friends place in Montreal. It was a bit U2ish,
>Dylanish and Lanoisish....
>
>The Question is anyone else has anything to add to this ? Where is
>the track that would have given Bobby a number 1 hit ?
The tune is probably "Series of Dreams."
Quoting Lanois from the liner notes to the Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3:
"I did say that I didn't think certain songs belonged on the record. He
took it fine, but he bucked me on a few of those decisions. We did try a
few things that didn't make the finish line. That's the least you can do
for an artist, show respect for their own ideas. We had four or six songs
we recorded and didn't use. One track, "Series of Dreams," was a
fantastic, turbulent track that I felt should have been on the record but
.. he had the last word."
In my opinion the song sounds way too U2-ish (not a positive quality in my
mind), and would not have been anywhere near a #1 for Dylan. It is a good
song (lyrically) however, and probably would have been a better choice for
inclusion on On Mercy than say "Disease of Conceit."
The other song left off of Oh Mercy and later released is "Dignity,"
-Only- Bob's original piano and vocal tracks were retained and the
supporting parts were re-recorded (produced by Brendan O' Brien) for
release on Greatest Hits V. 3. But the track is still listed as being
co-produced by Lanois on the album.
N.B. even "Series of Dreams" had overdubs added before release, apparantly
without Lanois present.
[There are two other tunes from Oh Mercy which circulate, "Born in Time"
and "God Knows" -- although only on bootlegs of the Oh Mercy sessions.
Lots of outtakes exist of the Oh Mercy sessions (including some tunes with
alternate lyrics as well as Series of Dreams/Dignity undubbed and
unremixed.) Despite that, to my knowledge two of the six tunes that
Lanois mentions as unreleased have never surfaced, and even the titles are
unknown.]
-Kevin
----
Kevin A. Foss (io20816@maine.maine.edu)
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Date: Sun, 9 Jun 1996 23:55:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: AARON TODD ROSSETTO
Subject: Dylan and Lanois' #1 hit?
> A while ago in the summer of '95, driving down the Jasper highway,
> the CBC had a interesting 1 hour program on Danny :>. Danny said
Mmm! Anyone got a copy of that? I'd love to hear it. I'll see if the
CBC website has anything about it.
> even though he was very happy with the Oh Mercy album, he said he
> was also very sad because Bobby has never had a number 1 single and
> there was one on the Oh Mercy Album. Danny goes on to say that
> Bobby would not let him put it on the Album. A few months later I
> heard the song at a friends place in Montreal. It was a bit U2ish,
> Dylanish and Lanoisish....
I guess you would be talking about "Series Of Dreams", which was the
reason I recently (about a year ago) got heavily into Dylan. I was
watching MuchMusic and heard this incredible song thinking, "My God, a
new U2 song. This is simply amazing!" It had all the criteria--ethereal
keyboard word, echoy guitars, heavy drum toms :-). Then I was shocked to
learn it was this Dylan song. So, I purchased _Greatest Hits, Vol. 3_
for "Series Of Dreams", and was not one bit surprised to see that the
track was produced by Lanois. I knew there was something to my theory!
As for it being a number one single, hmmm... that's tough. I don't think
it would have made it, actually. Would alternative stations have played
it? AOR? I don't hear Dylan getting an awful lot of airplay these
days. But to me it's a number one song, and 11 or so albums laters Dylan
is a new musical hero of mine, along with (of course) DL, Michael
Brook[sp?] et al.
I would love to hear some of the _Oh Mercy_ outtakes, available from what
I hear on bootleg. There are some songs that were recorded for the
disappointing follow-up to OM, _Under The Red Sky_ that were apparently
recorded during the OM sessions. "God Knows" and "Born In Time" are the
only ones that come to mind, but wouldn't it be a treat to hear them
with the Lanois touch?
One more thing: A while back, there was some talk of Michael
Phillip-Wojewoda on this list. He does quite a bit of work on Jane
Siberry's fantastic _When I Was A Boy_. There are tracks on there that
are scarily reminiscent of DL's work (e.g. "Love Is Everything"--any
Lanois fan could not possibly miss the infinite guitar in that track.)
Just my $0.02 worth.
Regards,
Aaron
---
Aaron Rossetto [ar94am@badger.ac.brocku.ca]
http://www.cosc.brocku.ca/~ar94am
Chinese Food and Bob Dylan rule!
"Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer"
- Bob Dylan
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Date: Sun, 9 Jun 1996 23:48:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: soundwel@well.com (Richard Crowl)
Subject: Emmy Lou/Ron Sexsmith
I was very intrigued when I first heard about the Wrecking Ball album since
Emmy Lou had been one of my favorite musicians during the late seventies
and DL has been at the top of my list since the late eighties. I was very
suprised to hear they'd done an album together.. As much as I really like
Wrecking Ball (for sure the best thing she's done in years!) it really
sounds more like a Lanois record than a Emmy Lou Harris one to me. I shared
Wrecking Ball with a friend who originally introduced me to her music 20
years ago (who didn't know who DL was) and after initally thinking it was
weird and over-produced ended up thinking it was great.
I guess my point to all this rambling is that while I think WB is a great
record-some of Emmy Lou's stuff from the past is also great and she
shouldn't be written off as "just" a country artist. While her albums from
the 70's had a country twist to them they were several cuts above the usual
over-produced,glitzy Nashville stuff that passes for C&W music these days.
I'll dig through my LP collection and list my favorites on a future post.
I agree that Ron Sexsmith can sound a lot like Jackson Browne sometimes. A
little rougher around the edges perhaps (like Jackson before he had voice
lessons?) but I think thats what I like about him.
Happy Listening all. Rich+
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Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 07:45:37 -0500
From: Virginia Wagner
Subject: Lyrics - Death of a Train
Dear Kenley,
I live within sight of the rail lines and many times, as I've
looked out the window I've seen big box cars with the words "SOO
LINE", so my guess is that is what DL is referring to in Death of a
train..."I've been 20 years on that Soo Line, I don't ride that train
no more."
Take care,
Virginia Wagner
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Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 15:29:08 +0200
From: Stephen.Fruitman@idehist.umu.se (Stephen Fruitman)
Subject: Missing Dylan/Lanois track
Bobby would not let him put it on the Album. A few months later I
>heard the song at a friends place in Montreal. It was a bit U2ish,
>Dylanish and Lanoisish....
You're probably talking about the song 'Series Of Dreams' which was
released on the three CD boxset "The Bootleg Series vol. 1-3" in 1991. At
Sony they felt it was necessary to add some more keyboards to the Lanois
produced track - luckily the end-result still sounded very much like an "Oh
Mercy"-track. It was actually released as a single and even though it was
accompanied by a very nice video (a first for Bob Dylan - I mean: not his
first video but his first good one) it didn't make it to number one (in
fact: I don't think it was a hit at all). In my opinion there was a
potential hit on "Oh Mercy": the excellent 'Most Of The Time'. This was
released as a single as well but it was 'promoted' by a dysmal live-video
of the song (which didn't sound like the original at all). Needless to say
it didn't become the hit Bob and Daniel deserved to have.
The other (known) songs recorded for "Oh Mercy" which didn't end up on the
album are 'Dignity', 'Born In Time' and 'God Knows'. 'Born In Time' and
'God Knows' were rerecorded for Bob's next album "Under The Red Sky".
'Dignity' was released on "Greatest Hits vol.3" in a version 'produced' by
Brendan O'Brien. This meant he removed all of the backing instruments
(which were great on the original version), leaving only Dylan's vocal
intact, and then he recorded some drums and guitars on top of it. The
result sounds like a very boring Traveling Wilburys-outtake. I guess this
shows it's wrong to think you can improve on a Daniel Lanois-track.....
All these songs can be heard in their original versions on the bootleg 'The
Deeds Of Mercy' and what a joy it is! Let's keep our fingers crossed that
Bob will work with Daniel Lanois again.
Hope this helps,
Daniel Baars.
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Date: Wed, 12 Jun 96 11:52:56 -0700
From: Carsten Kroon
Subject: Lanois singles
Hello fellow Lanois lovers. I bought the Ron Sexsmith cd and didn't like
it. I hear its hard to find. Does anyone want to buy or trade for mine??
I am waiting very impatiently for DL's next solo album. If anyone hears
anything about it, please let us all know!!!
Does anyone have any Lanois cd singles? I will pay top dollar!
Thanks.
Carsten
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Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 20:48:34 +0100
From: yun@alumni.caltech.edu (Shu-Shu Loh)
Subject: excuse the bad reporting
Excuse me for the bad reporting but Emmylou is on the cover of this fat
magazine (about the size of those lit. magazines like Story or Glimmer
Train). I don't know what the magazine is called--it begins with a "S",
something like Spectrum or something (the font was horrible) but it's a
magazine that gives reviews of CDs in all genres.
There is a Q & A article on her about "Wrecking Ball." I didn't read the
article, because the questions were like "Sweet Old World is a really good
song. . " Emmy comments, "Waltz Across Texas Tonight is a really good
song. ." Emmy comments. But unlike the Dirty Linen article that
encompassed her entire career, this interview seemed exclusively for
"Wrecking Ball."
I found this magazine at Barnes & Noble.
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Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 01:46:24 -0700 (MST)
From: "Antonio S Abeyta" <21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu>
Subject: Dylan's potential #1
>A while ago in the summer of '95, driving down the Jasper highway,
>the CBC had a interesting 1 hour program on Danny :>. Danny said
>even though he was very happy with the Oh Mercy album, he said he
>was also very sad because Bobby has never had a number 1 single and
>there was one on the Oh Mercy Album. Danny goes on to say that
>Bobby would not let him put it on the Album. A few months later I
>heard the song at a friends place in Montreal. It was a bit U2ish,
>Dylanish and Lanoisish....
>
>The Question is anyone else has anything to add to this ? Where is
>the track that would have given Bobby a number 1 hit ?
Perhaps he was talking about "Series of Dreams" - a snippet of
it can be found on the Lanois "Rocky World" video. I heard Dan talking
about this song once saying that it was HIS decision not to put it on the
record because it sounded too much like U2, and he was saying that in
retrospect, it was a big mistake not to put it on. Eventually, it came
out on Dylan's 'Greatest Hits 3' or something like that - about a year
ago, I think - along with one or two other 'Oh Mercy' out-takes.
Nice song - and nifty video!
Ant
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Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 02:13:25 -0700 (MST)
From: "Antonio S Abeyta" <21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu>
Subject: Michael Brook/Eno
>Have you checked out the the other earlier DL/MB collabs ie the ones icl
>Mr Eno??
I'm still trying to get ahold of "Cobalt Blue" as I've heard that this is
one of Brook's best. I had "Hybrid" for about a week before I lost it
(long story) and haven't replaced it yet... Does anyone have the
soundtrack to the movie "Captive" that Brook did with the Edge? (from U2)
Very interesting! You can definitely pick out what may be Lanois influence
in both artists' work.
It kind of reminds me of Eno and David Byrne's "My Life in the Bush of
Ghosts," another recommended album. I'll give fair warning, though -
this album may be a little scary (but in an Eno sort of way :) ) to some.
The album is pure genius, IMO, expecially considering that it was
recorded nearly 17 years ago (!) and the sounds on it are incredible.
Don't go by the first song, though - listen to the whole thing. Try it! :)
Speaking of Eno, though - does anyone have the recent U2/Eno CD
"Passengers"? Opinions?
Too much to say and afraid to bore people - Ant :)
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Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 23:50:04 +0000
From: Alan Dean
Subject: FAN TO FAN
Hi In your song list under" Lotta love to give " you have a ? mark for
what should be Wasaga Beach {probably the wrong spelling but a popular
resort in Ontario Canada} Guess you are a huge fan, his music great,
enriching ,and touches my soul. Any ideas when his next release will
be? Also what part of the world are you in?? A D
--
Alan Dean Photography
alandean@cyberus.ca
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From: Kenley
Subject: Re: Michael Brook/Eno
Two people I listen to regularly and love. Cobault Blue is a wonderful CD and
my introduction to Michael Brook. I actually got turned on to MB through my
King Crimson/Robert Fripp habit. Hybrid is a little quieter than MB's other
stuff.
>Speaking of Eno, though - does anyone have the recent U2/Eno CD
>"Passengers"? Opinions?
I have the Passengers CD and love this one two. U2 is one of my favorite pop
groups and what more needs to be said about Eno (the genius). It lulls in
some areas but it has some great tunes on it. If like Eno and you can tolerate
U2, you should at least check out the CD.
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Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 02:46:50 -0700 (MST)
From: "Antonio S Abeyta" <21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu>
Subject: Lyrics - finally! :)
Okay everyone - here's the deal with the lyrics: Juan and I have gone
through and updated them to everyone's suggestions - these are as complete
as we can get. There were sometimes several different suggestions for
some parts - I guess everyone hears some things differently :) - so we
took what sounded best, based both on the suggestions and repeated
listenings (!).
If everything is okay with Kenley, we'll post 3 lyrics to each newsletter
and you guys can tear them apart again and hopefully clear up any question
marks.
***
*** PLEASE send your suggestions for the French lyrics directly to Juan
(juani@intergate.bc.ca) and for the English lyrics to me
(21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu) and NOT to the list - Save Kenley from having
to deal with all of them! :)
We'll go in order of the albums - the first 3 to follow.
Thanks to EVERYONE for the help!!
Ant
[Ant & Juan -- You guys are awesome! Great solution. I will try to hold onto
any lyric suggestions I recieve until they come up in the discussion. We may
not get to three per week; maybe do it every other week. Or maybe sending
out a "needs comment" version one week and then a "final version" the next
week? Let me know. Once again...this is great!]
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Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 02:55:30 -0700 (MST)
From: "Antonio S Abeyta" <21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu>
Subject: Lyrics: The First 3
^^Remember - French suggestions to Juani (juani@intergate.bc.ca) and
^^English suggestions to Ant (21113@ef.gc.maricopa.edu) - thanks!
***Still Water
Sad eyes, sad eyes
Where're you going with that confidence?
Sad eyes, sad eyes
Where're you going with that confidence?
I'm going to where the boats go by
Caledonia river flow so wide
I'm going to where the boats go by
Caledonia river flow so wide
Still water - Laying over
Still water - Laying over
Still water - Laying over
Caledonia river oh, so wide
Wild eyes in the wilderness
Where're you going with the devil in hand?
Wild eyes in the wilderness
Where're you going with the devil in hand?
I'm going to build the bridges high
for working money, for working money
I'm going to climb the bridges high
Caledonia brother far away
Still water - I'm laying over
Still water - Lay my body down over
Still water - Laying over
Caledonia river far away...
Sad eyes in the weary night
Have you seen your brother,
have you seen your brother?
Waiting by the river (???)
Caledonia river oh, so wide
Going to where the rain falls
Look for my brother,
look for my brother
Going to where the rain falls
Caledonia river far away
Still water - Laying over
Still water - Lay my body down
Still water - Laying over
Caledonia river far away...
***The Maker
Oh, oh deep water, black and cold like the night
I stand with arms wide open,
I've run a twisted line
I'm a stranger in the eyes of the Maker
I could not see for the fog in my eyes
I could not feel for the fear in my life
And from across the great divide, In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste's walking to me with the Maker
My body is bent and broken by long and dangerous sleep
I can't work the fields of Abraham and turn my head away
I'm not a stranger in the hands of the Maker
Brother John, have you seen the homeless daughters
Standing there with broken wings
I have seen the flaming swords
there over east of the eden
Burning in the eyes of the Maker
Burning in the eyes of the Maker
Burning in the eyes of the Maker...
Oh, river rise from your sleep...
***O Marie
(Il) y a quelqu'un qui appelle mon nom (2x)
On travail aujourd'hui, on travail sous la pluie
On travaille au tabac, hostie!
Mes mains sont noires a cochon (2x)
trente jours, et trente nuits
On travail au tabac, hostie!
Oui ma blonde elle attend apres mois (2x)
Je vais retourner avec beaucoup d'argent
On travail au tabac, hostie!
Oh driver donne moi une chance (2x)
Avez-vous du feu pour ma cigarette?
On travail au tabac, hostie!
Ce soir, on va au village (Oui, 2x)
Chanter le chanson, boire la boisson
On travail au tabac, hostie!
O Marie, j'ai mal a la tete (2x)
Donnez nous l'esprit, l'esprit du corps
On travail au tabac, Marie
Le bleu du ciel a change (Oui, 2x)
Apres quarante jours et quarante nuits
On ne peut pas travailler au tabac
Il y a quelqu'un qui appelle mon nom (2x)
On travail aujourd'hui, on travail sous la pluie
On travail au tabac...
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The views expressed in ACADIE are those of the individual authors only.
ACADIE is released for the personal use of readers. No commercial use may
be made of the material unless permission is granted by the author.
Kenley Neufeld, ACADIE editor
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