bob dylan wrote the song on the road again.
bob dylan wrote the song on the road again.
who wrote the song on the road again?
bob dylan
joe boyd wrote in "the guardian" “for two hours we revel in filmed performances in front of that single microphone, as the camera lovingly follows the sound through anaconda-like cables to the cutting head. as soon as the blank disc starts spinning, our soundtrack switches from the film-maker’s 21st-century handheld digital stereo to the glorious mono of the single microphone. there are no faders; if burnett or white want more of this musician and a bit less of that one, they move them closer to or away from the microphone. it’s brilliant theatre, beautifully filmed and makes for glorious television. miss it at your peril.” stephen dalton in "the hollywood reporter" wrote that the film was “a mammoth project with worthy intentions and a big heart - a feast of musical and educational riches.” steve appleford in "rolling stone" observed that “in the final performance of "sessions", willie nelson and merle haggard perform the duet "the only man wilder than me." haggard has a look of complete joy on his face throughout the session in the old-timey recording set-up once used by his musical heroes.” mike bradley in "the observer" said "the american epic sessions" was “one of the most interesting music programmes ever broadcast. wonderful.” michael watts in "the economist" wrote the film was “unmissable and uncovers the origins of popular music.” iain shedden in "the australian" noted “one of the highlights (and audience prizewinner) of last year’s sydney film festival was the "american epic" series of documentaries by british filmmaker bernard macmahon and producers allison mcgourty and duke erikson. "the american epic sessions", brought together a wealth of contemporary talent. it’s an exquisite representation of the primitive power of american roots music and its enduring charm - music that stirs the soul.” greil marcus in "the village voice" praised the film for “performances so good you can hardly listen without thinking of how close each recording is to not existing at all.” liz jobey in the "financial times" hailed the film as “an extraordinary journey back through american song recording” and ludovic hunter-tilney in the same paper remarked that “new york rapper nas does a superb cover of the memphis jug band’s “on the road again”, exposing the hip-hop blueprint within the 1928 stomper.” danny eccleston in "mojo" pointed out that “in one of the series’ most extraordinary moments, elton john arrives toting a box-fresh lyric by bernie taupin and works it up in an instant, the song materializing in front of the viewers eyes before john and jack white go for the take. there's the magic right there.” l. kent wolgamott in the "lincoln journal star" praised it as “a fascinating picture. among its highlights: a killer performance in spanish by ana gabriel on a song originally done by lydia mendoza; taj mahal’s powerhouse take on charley patton’s “high water everywhere”; and bettye lavette's heartfelt recollections of being pushed away from early blues as “uncle tomish” in the ‘60s before she nails “when i woke up this morning.” stephen thompson at "npr" wrote that “watching alabama shakes' members tear into this brief but potent cover of "killer diller", you get insights into the magic of the equipment and studio, the timelessness of the song, and alabama shakes' own genre-and era-busting charisma.” james moore in "gigwise" observed “this need for greatness within that three-minute take is captured perfectly in the film, moments of silence before a blue light indicates “go” seeping with nail-biting tension and atmosphere. in every case, the results are astounding and the artists always deliver. when you watch, this cinematic choice feels absolutely perfect, the lack of cuts capturing the immediacy of the song and reflecting the fact that the musicians have no choice to cut and start again either. oh, and the sound...wonderfully visceral, raw and untampered with, every original recording is layered with character and charisma, the beautifully complex machine always manages to draw the very best from its chosen subject. handled with wonderful care, romanticism and respect for the technology and the incredible talent it facilitated, the film is a viewing experience like no other and should be sought out by music fans of all tastes and ages.” brian mccollum in the "detroit free press" wrote that the film “brings a lost musical era back to life” and praised “a documentary which pairs a scholarly eye for detail with a buoyant fan passion.” chris willman in "variety" praised the film for being “all about romance” and posited that “the ultimate star of this show is a meticulously reconstructed recording machine from the 1920s that seems to have talismanic qualities on those who enter its orbit even 80 years after it was last in use. this antiquated, cleaned up piece of studio equipment is so fetishistically photographed, it relegates the 19 musical acts that drop by for an old-school session to supporting players. fortunately, it’s a stunt that pays off, in pristine contemporary recordings you can scarcely believe went directly through a cutting stylus direct to disc. bernard macmahon, who championed this project for the better part of this century, makes the best case for this beautiful monstrosity of a machine representing the pre-homogeneity democratization of american music.” robert lloyd in the "los angeles times" confided "i don’t mind telling you i got a little emotional watching this, and you might too." kurt gardner in "blogcritics" called the film “an amazing journey through musical history. lovers of music and early americana alike will be fascinated by bernard macmahon and allison mcgourty’s "the american epic sessions". the enormous device, made of pulleys, flywheels, weights, and wood, was set up in a los angeles recording studio whose nondescript exterior gave no hint of the magic taking place inside. there, the film is lit in nostalgic, burnished hues, and loving close-ups of the marvelous contraption in operation are interspersed with performances by such talents as the avett brothers, los lobos, alabama shakes, taj mahal, willie nelson, merle haggard, and elton john. historically fascinating and musically entertaining, "the american epic sessions" was the perfect film to watch during sxsw at austin’s historic paramount theatre, surrounded as we were by the ghosts of entertainers who’d graced the stage over its 100-year history.” james jackson in "the times" wrote “none of these machines survive, but for this high-class film the engineering has been lovingly reassembled for today’s stars to try. it’s all very muso, but completely enriching too – watching elton john compose a song with jack white is a thrill.” euan ferguson, in "the observer" summarized “i have to say all acquitted themselves phenomenally. everyone who has ever been even the tiniest bit interested in music should watch this.”
the american epic sessions
the album was recorded in abbey road studios in london over a period of two weeks. the band entered the studio with ten songs and produced them with dave cobb. the song "gto" originates from a riff composed by john norum. the band was looking for an up-tempo song for the album, so norum presented his idea for the riff. he worked on that riff with cobb in the studio and later joey tempest co-wrote the lyrics with cobb. lyrically, it became a song about cars, love of the road and freedom. musically, it was influenced by deep purple, particularily by their 1972 hit "highway star". the song "pictures" originates from an idea that tempest had in mind for some years. he had half of the verse in his head for a while and, a few weeks before the final rehearsal, while at his parents' house, he wrote the second part of the verse. after that, he presented it to the band and producer and they all loved it because it was different. lyrically, the song is a sequel to the band's 1986 hit "the final countdown". the band co-wrote it with musician aaron raitiere, a friend of cobb's from nashville; tempest wrote the lyric about what happened to the people who left the ground in 1986 and headed for venus. "wolves" is a political song about a whistleblower who had to move away with his family because he told the truth about something; the lyrics mention metaphorical wolves, which are hounding him in a situation where nobody trusts anybody. the introto the song was done with an old recording technique on an old tape recorder; tempest's vocal range and the arrangements are also different from the rest. tempest originally had in mind for a band to do a concept album, but after a while he realised that europe is a rock band after all, so he and the band decided to have every song unfold in the studio, where they wrote and arranged everything together. joey originally wanted to do some research, so he met a college professor to learn from him about how democracy as we see it today came to be, where and how and when it happened at different points of time. however, tempest's research was limited and just a few songs touched upon political themes, namely "the siege", "kingdom united", "wolves" and "election day". the song "the siege" is about the events in the french revolution, when napoleon started to defeat the aristocrats, marking the start of democracy started france. "election day" is an observational song about elections going on simultaneously in the united states and england. chris difford, from the band squeeze, helped tempest co-write the lyrics on "election day" and "kingdom united". the song "turn to dust" musically originates from an idea by keyboardist mic michaeli. the band had tried to work it out for each of their previous albums, but this time tempest actually managed to push the band to finish the song. the song title is also michaeli's idea. lyrically, the song is warning people to not waste their time. tempest explained: "i may have forgotten to send those letters and say those words to people i know, but there's still a chance to do it. it was a great ending to the album". on the album, the song ends abruply in the very middle on the main riff [in a style vaguely reminiscent of the ending to the beatles' 1969 song "i want you (she's so heavy)]", and it is followed by a very short instrumental track with no title, also by michaeli, which sounds like it was recorded in the 1930s. "walk the earth" is a positive rebirth song.
walk the earth