Hot Ptah

Ornette Coleman's alto sax playing smells or tastes like...

A delightful woodland meadow, filled with spring wildflowers.

Oh, don't forget the Griefs. They could go 1-15 if Trent Green can't make it back.

Somehow I missed the release of the Bear Family "Blowin' The Fuse" series of R&B recordings. It looks like there is one for each year from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. Does anyone have an opinion about these sets? It looks like it would be somewhat pricey to get all of the years, but the song titles look intriguing, so I am hoping for some feedback and advice.

It is my personal opinion, which no one needs to agree with, that Dylan went beyond borrowing, sampling and using influences here, and that one or more old bluesmen should be given songwriting credits for at least the music, if not the lyrics, of at least two songs on Modern Times. The music is indistinguishable from old recorded and copyrighted blues songs. Because Muddy Waters did not fight Phil and Leonard Chess in 1952 and gain control of the copyright and publishing process at Chess Records away from the owners of the company, and then credit others besides himself for the composing of "Trouble No More"--to me this is no excuse at all for Dylan to steal the music of two old blues songs in 2006 with no credit to anyone. Dylan has great knowledge of older music; virtually unlimited resources at his disposal; teams of attorneys, accountants and publishers working for and/or with him; and the clout within the industry to insist on a change in his CD booklet. There is no comparison in my mind between his situation and that of old bluesmen from the 1930s and 1940s recording old songs and having the record come out with their name on it (frequently with the owner of the record company as "co-composer.") Dylan does not deserve to be cut so much slack on this issue, in my opinion. He is hardly a naive bumpkin.

Blair Kiel Anthony Dilweg Randy Wright

Kathleen Turner Moe Howard Lou Gehrig

Are you as rigid in judging your own self, too? Sorry to hear you won't be able to listen to none of that jazz any more, it's all a ripoff... maybe build yourself a monochord, instead of listeing to all those folks ripping off each other? I find it fascinating that some posters on this board and also on Blindman's Blues board are quite passionate about defending Bob from these issues. What has Bob done to inspire such devotion? I have been a big Dylan fan for over 35 years and have over 100 of his albums, but I do not feel that he is always right, that he must be defended and that his attackers must be vanquished. But some people seem to feel that way. I genuinely wonder why.

I have thought about it some more. Your post has caused me to lose all respect for Dylan from the beginning of his career. I will not be able to listen to his music without thinking that it is all a ripoff of one type or another.

He is not exactly unknown, but for his talent compared to the attention he gets (little), I would argue that he is a Kansas City home town hero and under-the-radar talent: Jay McShann.

He does more here than lift an old folk tune and put words to it (which Woody Guthrie often did), or borrow a few phrases and turn it into a unique work. If you listen to Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" on his Chess box, or any greatest hits package with his recording of it, and then listen to Dylan's "Someday Baby" on "Modern Times"--they are the same song. Dylan has changed/added a few words, but not much. It reminds me of an elementary school student who copies an encyclopedia article for an assignment and changes three words in it to not get "caught." Same thing with Muddy Waters' "Rollin' and Tumblin'". Dylan even steals the title of this one. It is the same song. Dylan is not using it as mere base material for a unique lyrical quest, as Dylan was doing in the "Blonde on Blonde" era. Are the copyrights expired on "Rollin' and Tumblin'" and "Trouble No More"? I don't know that. When the Allman Brothers record "Trouble No More" they always credit it to Muddy Waters--are they just dumb?

Jif Extra Crunchy is great. It is not good for you. I eat it rarely, as a treat.

Jackie McLean Rene McLean Rene Auberjonois

The photo can be seen in enlarged form at www.woodyshaw.com I could not get the enlarged photo to post.

No--something much better! a photo of Woody Shaw giving a trumpet lesson to Wynton Marsalis.

Ellington and Strayhorn

My favorite:

"Electrifying Miles" by the Umo Jazz Orchestra with special guest Tim Hagans. The cut "High Speed Chase" is quite exciting, and the rest is excellent, to my ears. "Drab Zeen", by Toufic Farroukh. A very appealing combination of jazz, Arabic sounds, and more contemporary elements. It is what I imagine Jim Sangry might be talking about when he discusses the need for fresher approaches in jazz.

I think that there are all kinds of issues about "borrowing" older songs, who really wrote them, etc. However, to my ears Dylan has blatantly stolen at least three copyrighted songs, "Red Sails in the Sunset", "Trouble No More" and "Rollin' and Tumblin'". The CD packaging says only, "all songs written by Bob Dylan". As I have read recently on Blindman Blues Forum, in their thread on this issue, there were at least two places in the process of having this album released when Dylan would have had to take affirmative steps, and signed something, which explicitly stated that these songs were his compositions and no one else's. Even if there are excuses/reasons for doing it, why would Dylan think it is right to do it? He has championed early recording artists in print and on his radio show, at times becoming almost aggressive about his love of them. One would think that he would be sensitive to this issue, if anyone was.

It seems that my request for forgiveness was warranted. I should have done a search. Thanks Chuck.

If he was going to steal a copyrighted song, he shouldn't have picked "Trouble No More", which every Allman Brothers fan knows well, and which was credited to Muddy on "Eat A Peach."

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I am thinking of ordering the Jelly Roll Morton boxed set on Rounder--is there another issue of this material with better sound quality? I seem to vaguely remember an issue of that sort back when the set was initially released. Thanks for any help that anyone can give.

Shouldn't Bob give Muddy Waters half a songwriting credit on the songs where he uses the music for "Rollin' and Tumblin"--he uses the title of that one too--and "Trouble No More"? They are not just influenced by the originals--to my ears they are the originals with new lyrics. But nary a mention of McKinley Morganfield in the credits--shouldn't Muddy's estate get some money out of this?

This is an accurate photo of a tiny fraction of the Music Exchange's collection.