Thursday, April 24, 2008

Wednesday night in Orlando

Two of my longtime musical favorites go together as Roger McGuinn, of the Byrds, joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for what sound like very inspiring versions of both Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn, two songs from 1965. Parts of one and all of the other are on YouTube and it doesn't sound like some thrown together mish-mash. It sounds rehearsed. Lead vocals are duets or shared. McGuinn does take some extra vocals on lyrics that are from the original Dylan version, but were not part of the hit version. And as soon as I typed that Bruce joined in for:

"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow."

Now I must admit they didn't sing ALL of the song's lyrics, but after the song was over, Bruce talked about playing the first Byrds' album 200 times over in the dark when he was fifteen years old, night after night after night.
Still what struck me was how good they sounded. Of course, McGuinn sounds very distinctive, both vocally and with his twelve string guitar, and he is used to playing with anybody, but you must give the boys in the band credit for doing a great job with minimal preparation

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