Leader of the iconic group The Band and cinematic composer Robbie Robertson died after a long illness on Wednesday in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles, California</a>, his management company said. He was 80 years old.
&#8220;Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine&#8217;s partner Kenny,&#8221; Jared Levine, Robertson&#8217;s manager of 34 years, told <a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/news/robbie-robertson-dead-the-band-1235692172/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a>. &#8220;He is also survived by his grandchildren Angelica, Donovan, Dominic, Gabriel and Seraphina.&#8221;
Born Jaime Royal &#8220;Robbie&#8221; Robertson on July 5, 1943, the Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter is best known for writing &#8220;The Weight,&#8221; &#8220;Up On Cripple Creek,&#8221; and &#8220;The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,&#8221; among many other hits released by The Band.
Robertson began learning guitar at 10 years old in Ontario, Canada, where he was born. After playing with several bands throughout his teen years, Robertson joined the American rockabilly group Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks in 1961, where he would meet future Band singer-songwriter members, drummer Levon Helm, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson.
The group toured and recorded with Hawkins until the mid 1960s when The Hawks, except Helm, joined American folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan&#8217;s controversial &#8220;Going Electric&#8221; tours in 1965 and 1966.
The following year, Robertson moved to Woodstock, New York, and recorded the &#8220;basement tapes&#8221; with Dylan, where they officially became known as The Band.
After the widespread popularity of the &#8220;basement tapes,&#8221; Capitol Records signed the group and released the group&#8217;s first two albums, &#8220;Music From Big Pink&#8221; and &#8220;The Band,&#8221; and performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969.
Following their successful debut, the group later released &#8220;Stage Fright&#8221; in 1970, &#8220;Cahoots&#8221; the following year, which included &#8220;Life Is A Carnival,&#8221; and the double live set &#8220;Rock Of Ages&#8221; in 1972.&#8221;
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&#8220;I always thought, from the very beginning, that this music was born of the blues and country music, Southern stuff,&#8221; Robertson reportedly said. &#8220;The Mississippi Delta area, and the music came down from the river and from up the river and met, and it made something new. I always looked at that as kind of the source of the whole thing.&#8221;
As the group achieved stardom in the early-mid 1970s, Robertson broke the group up on account of reported substance abuse issues from some of the musicians. In 1976, The Band performed &#8220;The Last Waltz,&#8221; their farewell show in San Francisco that included several guest performances from music legends Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, and many others.
The performance was later turned into a documentary of the same title and directed by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The documentary has been deemed one of the greatest concert films ever made.
Robertson began working as a composer for several of Scorsese&#8217;s films, including &#8220;Raging Bull,&#8221; &#8220;The Departed,&#8221; &#8220;The Wolf of Wall Street,&#8221; and &#8220;The Irishman.&#8221;
Scorsese and Robertson had recently completed his fourteenth film music project, &#8220;Killers of the Flower Moon,&#8221; just before Robertson passed away.
&#8220;Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work,&#8221; Scorsese said in a statement to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/robbie-robertson-leader-band-dies-80-rcna99107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. &#8220;Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life—me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band&#8217;s music, and Robbie&#8217;s own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys.&#8221;
In 1987, Robertson recorded his first self-titled solo album. Four years later, he earned two Grammy nominations for his second solo album, &#8220;Storyville.&#8221;
Robertson was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, with the Mohawk community.
In his memory, the family of Robertson said, &#8220;In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support a new Woodland Cultural Center.&#8221;

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – FEB. 6, 2014.  Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist for the the legendary rock gro

Robbie Robertson, Leader Of The Band And Cinematic Composer, Dies At 80

Bob Dylan

Folk Music

Music

Rock and Roll

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-dylan">Bob Dylan</a> has a couple of excuses for why the books promoted as autographed by the folk-rock legend were signed by an auto-pen. 
The 81-year-old singer-songwriter issued a rare public apology after fans found out that the $600 autographed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/books">books</a> they purchased weren’t hand-signed at all. 
“The Philosophy of Sound” was released on November 1 and included a letter that said, “You hold in your hands something very special, one of just 900 copies available in the U.S. This letter is confirmation that the copy of the book you hold in your hand has been hand-signed by Bob Dylan.”
Fans on social media discovered that their book signatures all looked identical, which led them to conclude they weren’t being produced by hand.
Now Dylan is explaining what happened and why. In a statement posted to his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bobdylan/">Facebook</a> page, the musician explained that vertigo and the COVID pandemic were partially to blame.
“I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversy about signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited-edition of Philosophy Of Modern Song. I’ve hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there’s never been a problem,” Dylan shared in the statement.
“However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years.  It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me to help enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging,” he continued.
“So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds,” Dylan added.
“Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately.  I’m working with Simon &amp; Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that.”
The publisher had already apologized to fans and offered a full refund to purchasers, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bob-dylans-publisher-offers-refunds-for-600-book-with-replica-autograph">reported</a>.
“To those who purchased the ‘Philosophy of Modern Song’ limited edition, we want to apologize,” Simon &amp; Schuster announced in a statement on social media just after fans figured out the problem. “As it turns out, the limited edition books do contain Bob’s original signature, but in a penned replica form. We are addressing this immediately by providing each purchaser with an immediate refund.”

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‘Error In Judgment’: Bob Dylan Apologizes For Auto-Pen Fiasco, Blames Vertigo And COVID

Bob Dylan Apologizes For Auto-Pen Fiasco, Blames Vertigo And COVID

Books

Celebrities

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-dylan">Bob Dylan</a>’s publisher is issuing refunds for a pricey book that contains his “replica” autograph.
Copies of the singer’s new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/books">book</a> “The Philosophy of Modern Song” were promoted as being hand-signed by the folk-rock legend and sold for $600 each. But now the publisher admits that the signatures were not being done by hand and purchasers are entitled to refunds.
&#8220;To those who purchased the ‘Philosophy of Modern Song’ limited edition, we want to apologize,&#8221; Simon &amp; Schuster announced in a statement on social media. “As it turns out, the limited edition books do contain Bob’s original signature, but in a penned replica form. We are addressing this immediately by providing each purchaser with an immediate refund.”
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&mdash; Simon &amp; Schuster (@simonschuster) <a href="https://twitter.com/simonschuster/status/1594437832726040576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The scandal was revealed when fans started comparing photos of the autographs on social media and noticed they looked identical. The books were issued with a letter from Simon &amp; Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp, guaranteeing the signature was authentic.
“You hold in your hands something very special, one of just 900 copies available in the U.S.,” the letter said. “This letter is confirmation that the copy of the book you hold in your hand has been hand-signed by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Bob Dylan</a>.”
It seems that the books were signed using “autopen,” which captures a genuine signature and reproduces it using a machine-powered pen, as Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-book-replica-autographs-autopen-philosophy-modern-song-refunds-1235438173/">reported</a>.
“The Philosophy of Modern Song” was published on November 1 and includes Dylan&#8217;s commentary on 66 songs by other artists. This is the first book Dylan has published since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he received in 2016 &#8220;for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.&#8221;
Some fans were unhappy with the apology, claiming Simon &amp; Schuster must have known the signatures were replicas.
“Nothing other than fraud driven by greed. Decision to refund now is because it will be less costly than defending a class action lawsuit,” one Twitter user <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveC_Photos/status/1594592539369259009">shared</a>. “CEO &amp; other execs who put names to the ‘certificate of authenticity’ guarantee should resign &amp; authorities charge those involved in this scam.”
“You wrote hand signed, you are just lying,” another person <a href="https://twitter.com/jesselittle16/status/1594522826622795776">wrote</a>. “You used 17 signature variations to attempt to [get] away with it. Just admit it. Its [sic] a signature honor it.”
Dylan, 81, is considered one of the most influential songwriters of all time, with a career spanning more than 60 years. Besides winning a Nobel Prize, he was also awarded a Pulitzer citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.&#8221;

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Bob Dylan’s Publisher Offers Refunds For $600 Book With ‘Replica’ Autograph

Bob Dylan's Publisher Offers Refunds For $600 Book With 'Replica' Autograph

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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/johnny-depp">Johnny Depp</a> took in over $3.5 million in a matter of minutes after putting prints of his paintings of culture icons including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-dylan">Bob Dylan</a> and Keith Richards up for sale Thursday.
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The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor, fresh off his legal victory over ex-girlfriend Amber Heard, sold 780 prints through Castle Fine Arts 37 British galleries. The portraits sold within hours of the sale’s announcement on Instagram.
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&#8220;I&#8217;ve always used art to express my feelings,&#8221; Depp said. &#8220;My paintings surround my life, but I kept them to myself and limited myself. No one should ever limit themselves.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/finelinevenus/status/1552596552841043969?s=20&#038;t=d5avmW6ofAHUJwm61TgvpA
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Depp’s “Friends And Heroes collection” features four people the actor says have inspired him and “who matter most to me, like my family, friends and people I admire.&#8221; In addition to Dylan and Richards, the collection includes portraits of Elizabeth Taylor and Al Pacino.
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Individual prints sold for just under $5,000, while the complete set went for $18,000.
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The gallery described the 59-year-old actor&#8217;s work as existing &#8220;at the intersection of pop art and street art&#8221; and as &#8220;pop art with feeling.&#8221; It had long been in talks with Depp about staging an exhibition and sale of his work, and intends to continue promoting Depp&#8217;s art in the future.
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In addition to acting and painting, Depp is an accomplished musician, playing guitar in his rock band the Hollywood Vampires and most recently jamming with guitar legend Jeff Beck while his dueling defamation trial with Heard took place in Fairfax, Virginia. A jury on June 1 found that Heard defamed Depp in an op-ed about domestic violence published by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington-post">The Washington Post</a> in 2018, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jury-awards-johnny-depp-15-million-but-hell-get-millions-less-heres-why">awarding</a> Depp $15 million in damages. The claim was then reduced to $10.35 million due to a limit on punitive damages under Virginia law.
Speculation has swirled about whether he will return to his signature role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the &#8220;Pirates&#8221; franchise. But a report that Disney had offered him over $300 million to reprise the character he says is loosely based on Richards were quickly shot down by Depp&#8217;s handlers.
“This is made up,” Depp’s spokesperson <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1335907/the-truth-about-johnny-depps-rumored-s300-million-pirates-of-the-caribbean-return">told</a> NBC News in a statement.
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Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Defamation Trial Continues

Johnny Depp Pulls In Millions With Sale Of His Portraits Of Icons Including Dylan, Richards

Johnny Depp Pulls In Millions With Sale of His Portraits of Icons Including Dylan, Richards

Amber Heard

Johnny Depp

Painting

A woman who last year claimed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bob-dylan">Bob Dylan</a> sexually abused her in 1965 when she was a child abruptly dropped her federal lawsuit Thursday, one day after the singer’s lawyers accused her of destroying evidence in the case.
The woman, who has been identified only as “J.C.,” a now-68-year-old woman from Greenwich, Connecticut, had claimed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bob-dylan-sued-for-allegedly-grooming-sexually-abusing-12-year-old-girl-in-the-1960s">in a lawsuit</a> that the music legend had “emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged” her by plying her with drugs and alcohol in the Chelsea Hotel over a six-week period. But she never produced any evidence, and rock historians noted Dylan was not in New York during the period in question.
“This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place,” said Orin Snyder, Dylan’s attorney. “We are pleased that the plaintiff has dropped this lawyer-driven sham and that the case has been dismissed with prejudice.”
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An unnamed woman who claimed Bob Dylan sexually abused her as a child in 1965 has withdrawn her lawsuit permanently, a day after Dylan’s attorneys accused her of destroying key evidence and “irretrievably” compromising the integrity of the case. <a href="https://t.co/o1sNSiw9QO">https://t.co/o1sNSiw9QO</a>
&mdash; billboard (@billboard) <a href="https://twitter.com/billboard/status/1552795841416642560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The plaintiff asked U.S. Southern District Judge Katherine Polk Failla Thursday to dismiss it “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled. She had been accused of deleting key text messages and emails that she was required to turn over, and her attorneys had been fired from the case.
According to a report by Law360, Failla warned the accuser’s attorneys at a hearing earlier this month that they faced serious sanctions.
Dylan’s legal team had told the judge the accuser had still not produced – and may have destroyed &#8212; “dozens of critical emails we know exist” in which the plaintiff was discussing and “casting doubt” about her allegations.
“For the love of god, produce these materials,” Failla told the accuser’s lawyers. “You understand the consequences if you don’t.”
The allegations would have been barred by the statute of limitations, but J.C. filed suit under a recent New York statute that gave past victims a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers.
When historians showed that Dylan was not in New York City for most of April and May 1965, when the alleged abuse occurred, the accuser amended the lawsuit to claim the abuse instead occurred during “several months in the spring of 1965.” Dylan would have been 24 and the victim 12 at the time.

Bob Dylan At Hyde Park

Woman Who Accused Bob Dylan Of Sexually Abusing Her In 1965 Drops Case After Failing To Turn Over Emails

Crime

Entertainment

Sex Crimes

Comedian Conan O&#8217;Brien and actor Jeff Goldblum recently bonded over the fact that they both almost met legendary singer and songwriter Bob Dylan — but at the last minute, in both cases, something had happened to derail the meeting.
Goldblum, speaking to <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/sean-penn-conan-obrien-denounce-cancel-culture-calling-it-soviet/">O&#8217;Brien</a> on Sunday&#8217;s episode of the comedian&#8217;s podcast &#8220;Conan O&#8217;Brien Needs a Friend,&#8221; said that he had seen <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/bob-dylan-to-sell-catalog-for-upwards-of-300m/">Dylan</a> while he was shopping with his wife, former Olympic rhythmic gymnast Emilie Livingston.
O&#8217;Brien began by referencing a previous meeting with Goldblum when the latter had recommended a good place to go for jeans. &#8220;It&#8217;s like the John Wyck hotel, but for clothes,&#8221; O&#8217;Brien explained, saying that there was a place in the back where they also made hats.
&#8220;You know who I ran into there once? I was with Emilie, we went there to pick up a pair of jeans or a hat or something. And, um, it was just us and Bob Dylan,&#8221; <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/jeff-goldblum-under-fire-for-questioning-anti-gay-anti-woman-aspects-of-islam/">Goldblum</a> explained, to which O&#8217;Brien exclaimed, &#8220;Oh my God!&#8221;
Goldblum went on to say that he had been talking with someone about his own purchase when he saw Dylan walk in, and by the time he had wrapped up his own business, Dylan had already come and gone.
&#8220;He got his hats from that guy. I saw him outta the corner of my eye. I kept — I had really important business. I was talking about a hat and he came in and before I could say anything to him, he left,&#8221; Goldblum said. &#8220;But I think Emily, I don’t know if she said anything.&#8221;
O&#8217;Brien seemed surprised. &#8220;You didn&#8217;t go up to him?&#8221; he asked — and Goldblum replied, &#8220;No, no. I wish I had.&#8221;
The comedian then revealed his own almost-history with Dylan, saying that he had been backstage at a Dylan concert waiting to meet the singer when then-Vice President Al Gore had swept in and gotten all the attention.
&#8220;I went to see some concert of his and I was backstage and someone pushed me to the front of a line and there he was, the great Bob Dylan. It’s my one chance to meet him. All the conversation stopped and Bob Dylan looked at me and he went, &#8216;I know you from the TV,'&#8221; O&#8217;Brien said. &#8220;And just then, the other person backstage was Vice President Al Gore. And then I hear &#8216;Conan, Conan, it’s me Al Gore.&#8217;
&#8220;And I go, what? We’re all there for — We’re all there for a concert to see Bob Dylan performing. And he goes like, &#8216;I love rock and roll,&#8217; you know? And suddenly he’s talking to me and, and I see Bob Dylan scuttle away. I was c***-blocked with Bob Dylan by Vice President Al Gore. That’s a true story!&#8221; O&#8217;Brien concluded.
Listen to the full episode here:
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/1ZTjah4cV0fmLt4iPmBVLA?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="232" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Amazon Prime Video’s “Upload” Season 2 Premiere – Arrivals

‘I Was C***-Blocked!’: Conan O’Brien Says Al Gore Ruined His One Chance To Meet Bob Dylan

Conan O'Brien Says Al Gore Ruined His One Chance To Meet Bob Dylan

Al Gore

Comedy

Conan O'Brien

The Times They Are A-Changin&#8217;. Indeed.
Legendary folk singer Bob Dylan, 80, is being sued for allegedly giving a 12-year-old girl drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her at the Chelsea Hotel in 1965.
&#8220;The &#8216;Blowin’ in the Wind&#8217; musician allegedly used his star status to groom, gain the trust of and control the victim “as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse” her, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court papers, which only identify the plaintiff as &#8216;J.C.&#8217;,&#8221; the New York Post <a href="https://pagesix.com/2021/08/16/bob-dylan-sued-for-allegedly-sexually-abusing-12-year-old-in-1965/?_ga=2.138242864.1482030830.1629066416-546292729.1629066416">reported</a>.
“Bob Dylan, over a six-week period between April and May of 1965 befriended and established an emotional connection with the plaintiff,” said the papers, filed on Friday on behalf of J.C., now a 68-year-old woman who lives in Greenwich, Conn.
The suit alleges that Dylan — whose real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman — established the “connection” to “lower [J.C.’s] inhibitions with the object of sexually abusing her, which he did, coupled with the provision of drugs, alcohol and threats of physical violence, leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day.”
Said the Post:
<blockquote>J.C. says the emotional effects of the alleged abuse have been long-lasting and that she has had to seek medical treatment for them, according to the filing.
The fallout she suffered — including depression, humiliation and anxiety — “are of a permanent and lasting natures and have incapacitated plaintiff from attending her regular activities,” the suit claims.
J.C. brought allegations of assault, battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress against Dylan. She is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.</blockquote>
Dylan’s spokesman told the Post that “This 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”
But Daniel Issacs, J.C.’s lawyer, said, “The complaint speaks for itself.”
“She provided a lot of detailed information regarding the time in question that leaves no doubt that she was with him in the apartment during the time in question,” Isaacs said.
The lawsuit was filed last Friday in New York, just before the window closed for the state’s Child Victims’ Act, Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-accused-of-sexually-abusing-12-year-old-in-new-lawsuit-1965-1212874/">reported</a>. &#8220;The law, which was enacted in 2019, allowed survivors of childhood abuse to sue their abusers and other institutions that may have protected them regardless of whether the statute of limitations had passed on the alleged incidents,&#8221; said the magazine.
Dylan has released more than three dozen albums since he emerged on the scene in 1963 and in 2008 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his “profound impact” on American music. In recent years, he has weighed in on political and social issues in America.
In 2018, Dylan turned a popular song into a gay anthem. The song “She’s Funny That Way,” which was a hit for cowboy singer Gene Austin way back in 1929 and later performed by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, was been changed by Dylan into “He’s Funny That Way.”

Bob Dylan Sued For Allegedly Grooming, Sexually Abusing 12-Year-Old Girl In The 1960s

Sexual Assault

&#8220;The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
Indeed they are.
Folk singer Bob Dylan, who penned anti-establishment and civil rights songs that swept America in the 1960s, is selling his entire catalog of songs to Universal Music Publishing Group.
The catalog includes more than 600 copyrighted songs, “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” “Tangled Up In Blue,&#8221; and “Like A Rolling Stone,&#8221; which Rolling Stone named the best song ever written in 2015.
“Brilliant and moving, inspiring and beautiful, insightful and provocative, his songs are timeless—whether they were written more than half a century ago or yesterday,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, in a prepared statement. “It is no exaggeration to say that his vast body of work has captured the love and admiration of billions of people all around the world. I have no doubt that decades, even centuries from now, the words and music of Bob Dylan will continue to be sung and played — and cherished — everywhere.”
Jody Gerson, the chief executive of Universal’s publishing division, added, “To represent the body of work of one of the greatest songwriters of all time — whose cultural importance can’t be overstated — is both a privilege and a responsibility.”
The terms of the sale were not released, but Bloomberg News, citing sources, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-07/universal-agrees-to-buy-bob-dylan-s-entire-songwriting-catalog">reported</a> that the songs are worth $200 million. Others <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/bob-dylan-sells-publishing.html?auth=login-email&amp;login=email" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> The New York Times the deal could be worth more than $300 million. For reference, pop star Michael Jackson&#8217;s estate in 2016 sold half of his catalog for $750 million.
Said Bloomberg: &#8220;Dylan, 79, is cashing in on the boom in music rights. The value of songs and recordings has skyrocketed in recent years thanks to streaming, which has fueled a five-year expansion for the music industry after a deep slump. He isn’t selling the recordings, which are a separate asset.&#8221;
Artists with deep catalogs have been cashing in lately. Former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks last week <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/12/05/stevie-nicks-parts-ways-with-a-majority-of-her-music-rights/">sold</a> a majority stake in her songwriting copyrights for an estimated $100 million.
&#8220;Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a British company that has made a rapid run in the market in just two and a half years, recently disclosed that it had spent about $670 million from March to September acquiring rights in more than 44,000 songs by Blondie, Rick James, Barry Manilow, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and others,&#8221; the Times <a href="https://dnyuz.com/2020/12/07/bob-dylan-sells-his-songwriting-catalog-in-blockbuster-deal/">reported</a>.
&#8220;Music publishing is the side of the business that deals in the copyrights for songwriting and composition — the lyrics and melodies of songs, in their most fundamental form — which are distinct from those for a recording. Publishers and writers collect royalties and licensing fees any time their work is sold, streamed, broadcast on the radio or used in a movie or TV commercial. (The recent sale of Taylor Swift’s first six albums covered only that material’s recording rights. Swift signed a separate publishing deal with Universal in February.)&#8221; wrote the Times.

Bob Dylan Performa at Hyde Park – London

KA-CHING! Anti-Establishment Singer Bob Dylan To Sell Catalog For Upwards Of $300M

Last Thursday, at midnight, on March 26, Bob Dylan let the hard rain fall, ending his longest lasting drought between original music releases with a new, 17-minute-long ballad, titled, “Murder Most Foul.” His first original release since 2012’s The Tempest, the song was released with a heartfelt message from the folk-rock star, “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years. This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant, and may God be with you.”
Most Dylan songs find themselves at home in one of two places. Songs in the first camp, upon first listen, often leave listeners awed but intellectually addled in a sea of similes. In songs like “Desolation Row” and “Ballad of a Thin Man” Dylan paints vivid, descriptive imagery; but his paintings are abstract, and like Kandinsky’s Compositions, are bereft of an obvious subject. In the second camp we have songs like “Hurricane” – a song about the unjust conviction of an innocent black man – or the more recently recorded “Tempest” – about the sinking of the Titanic. In the lyrics of these songs, Dylan paints his ideas as an impressionist; beneath his metaphors and poetic frills there is an overarching theme, ripe for picking, and you would be hard-pressed to miss it. Along these lines comes his latest studio release, “Murder Most Foul.”
The song opens with a vivid recount of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963: “It was a dark day in Dallas, November &#8217;63; A day that will live on in infamy; President Kennedy was a-ridin&#8217; high; Good day to be livin&#8217; and a good day to die.”
Dylan meanders through the annals of the American songbook, skillfully weaving references to cultural milestones through his recount of JFK’s demise. In the second verse, he sings about the Beatles’ arrival in America: “The Beatles are comin&#8217;, they&#8217;re gonna hold your hand,” but first, he prefaces the lyric with a consoling sentiment, “Hush, little children, you&#8217;ll understand.” In the 60s, the arrival of the Beatles and British Invasion rock-and-roll was a cultural rebirth and a much-needed revival of a natural dynamism in the youth; a dynamism that, until then, was sorely lacking in an atmosphere defined and darkened by the then-recent presidential assassination and escalating war in Vietnam.
Dylan likely wrote and recorded this song some time back and stashed it away, only to be recently unearthed. And what time more appropriate than amid a global pandemic; a near nation-wide quarantine that has shuttered businesses and derailed lives; a pandemic that – like the JFK assassination of 1963 – has draped a dark, dreary atmosphere over a nation, engulfing and consuming the news.
The song continues down this course, against a backdrop of red, white, and blue, name-dropping cultural figureheads in a steady stream of consciousness that goes on for the 17-minute run time of the song, expressing flashes of Americana as they occurred through the past decades. It’s an epic ballad in the style of Don Mclean’s “American Pie” – or even Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” – albeit less karaoke-able and twice as long; its lyrics contain a more fruitful history lesson than the majority of college classrooms in the country.
In the final verse, Dylan races through the American songbook, weaving artists into a soundtrack spanning decades and genres. He invokes Chet Baker and Don Henley and Carl Wilson and Elvis Presley and Oscar Peterson and Stan Getz and so much more. If Jack Kerouac’s cross-country hitch-hiking American road trip, “On the Road,” was scored to music, this would be it.
The orchestration in “Murder Most Foul” is minimal: it first sets the tone with dark, crooning piano chords and, shortly after, accompanies them with the lush string harmonies of violin and subtle percussion. The instrumentation never overpowers Dylan’s vocals, but rather complements them amiably. Dylan’s voice ages like a fine leather, recording the passage of time on its surface, changing in tone and texture. It exudes a unique characteristic that can only be defined by the years it has endured and the stories it has told. But despite having a long and indelible career spanning eight decades, Dylan’s style in “Murder Most Foul” is as distinctly Dylan as anything. His forced rhyming style of spoken word puts you in a hypnotic trance and keeps you hanging on for every word.
“Murder Most Foul” is Bob Dylan at his masterful storytelling best. It’s a worthy addition to the latter portion of Dylan’s cannon, coined as his late, renaissance-era period. And if nothing else, his newest song, in all its lyrical density, is a worthy reminder of Dylan’s eminence as the contemporary bard of a generation, who, in the words of the Swedish Nobel committee, “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”
Listen to the new song on YouTube below:
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3NbQkyvbw18" width="720" height="385" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Follow Harry Khachatrian on <a href="https://twitter.com/Harry1T6">Twitter</a>

Bob Dylan.

KHACHATRIAN: Bob Dylan Releases New Song, “Murder Most Foul,” For The Quarantine Blues

COVID

Quarantine

On Friday, conservative writer and pundit Bre Payton tragically passed away at just 26 years old from a sudden illness.
A rising star on the Right, Bre worked as a staff writer at The Federalist, co-hosted the &#8220;Problematic Women&#8221; podcast, and was a frequent guest on outlets like Fox News Channel, Fox Business Channel, and One America News Network.
Bre, a California native, was in San Diego when her friend found her unresponsive and barely breathing early Thursday morning. The 26-year-old was admitted to the ICU at a local hospital and tragically passed away on Friday. Doctors, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/bre-payton-scholarship-fund">according</a> to Payton&#8217;s family, determined that she had H1N1 flu and encephalitis.
&#8220;Around 8:30, on December 27th, Bre&#8217;s friend went into her room and found her unresponsive and barely breathing. She immediately called 911 and Bre was taken to the hospital where she was admitted to the ICU, sedated &amp; intubated, and doctors began working up a diagnosis,&#8221; <a href="https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brepayton">reads</a> &#8220;Bre&#8217;s Story&#8221; on CaringBridge.org.
George Payton, Bre&#8217;s father, stayed with her at the hospital as she fought for her life, though, tragically, her condition worsened and she slipped away on Friday.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Thank you everyone for your prayers. It is with a heavy heart that I type this. Unfortunately Bre has passed. Please send prayers to her family. Rest in paradise you beautiful soul. <a href="https://t.co/pMFCZNaqKl">https://t.co/pMFCZNaqKl</a>
— Morgan Murtaugh (@morganmurtaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/morganmurtaugh/status/1078734156526280704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The Federalist <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2018/12/28/bre-payton-beloved-staff-writer-passed-away/#.XCaPddIWn5o.twitter">posted</a> a brief obituary for their beloved staff writer on Friday. The post reads in part: &#8220;Though we are heartbroken and devastated by Bre’s death, we are comforted in the knowledge that she was a woman who lived a life marked by deep Christian faith, trusting in her Savior, Jesus Christ – in the God who promises the way our story ends is that &#8216;He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.'&#8221;
Colleagues and others touched by Bre reacted to the tragic news on social media:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">My podcast co-host. My Problematic Woman in crime. My birthday twin. My very dear friend. At just 26, <a href="https://twitter.com/Bre_payton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Bre_payton</a> was youger than me, but felt more like my big sister. I am in complete shock that we lost this beautiful soul, and am comforted only by the faith she had in the Lord. <a href="https://t.co/8rUNejejdu">pic.twitter.com/8rUNejejdu</a>
— Kelsey Harkness (@kelseyjharkness) <a href="https://twitter.com/kelseyjharkness/status/1078745014631653376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">I love and miss <a href="https://twitter.com/Bre_payton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Bre_payton</a> so very much. So immensely grateful for her. Thank you everyone for the support and kind words. Hug your loved ones.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1078898166685224960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Bre Payton passed away from a sudden illness. Bre is one of the kindest, most thoughtful souls I&#8217;ve ever encountered. She made a positive impact on every person she met, her smile, her love of LIFE, God, &amp; passion for news was contagious. SHE WILL be missed! Pray for her family. <a href="https://t.co/fPjifm65QS">pic.twitter.com/fPjifm65QS</a>
— Stephanie Hamill (@STEPHMHAMILL) <a href="https://twitter.com/STEPHMHAMILL/status/1078754552881532929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">We are devastated and heartbroken by the news of Bre Payton&#8217;s death today. She was kind, gentle, and joyful. Our only comfort is the knowledge that she is now peacefully resting in the arms of her Savior. We grieve her loss deeply, but rejoice in her eternal salvation in Christ.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1078755548412215296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Bre, I miss you already. <a href="https://t.co/np78PcYxaL">pic.twitter.com/np78PcYxaL</a>
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) <a href="https://twitter.com/Liz_Wheeler/status/1078755830319759361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/bre-payton-scholarship-fund">scholarship fund</a> has been created by George and Cindy Payton in their daughter&#8217;s name.
&#8220;In loving memory of Bre’s beautiful light, joyful spirit, hard-working ethics, and compassionate heart. This fund will go towards college scholarships to support other young, rising Christian leaders who share in Bre’s passion for truth, purpose, and life,&#8221; <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/bre-payton-scholarship-fund">says</a> the GoFundMe page.
Bre &#8220;has gone to be with the Lord,&#8221; it adds. &#8220;Her memory will live on by her four siblings and parents. At this time we ask that you keep her family uplifted in prayer and know that we will see her again.&#8221;
Bre is survived by four younger siblings, James, Jack, Christina, and Cheekie; her parents George and Cindy; and her boyfriend Ryan Colby.
Please consider donating to the scholarship fund, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/bre-payton-scholarship-fund">here</a>.

Conservative Writer Bre Payton Dies From Sudden Illness At Age 26

Conservatism

Federalist

&#8220;Gay&#8221; used to mean &#8220;happy.&#8221; Not anymore. And rainbows used to just be rainbows. Now, they&#8217;re the emblem for the gay community.
So it makes sense that classic songs have been co-opted and altered into gay anthems.
The song &#8220;She&#8217;s Funny That Way,&#8221; which was a hit for cowboy singer Gene Austin way back in 1929 and later performed by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, has been changed by America&#8217;s famed singer/poet Bob Dylan.
The new version is titled &#8220;He&#8217;s Funny That Way.&#8221; It&#8217;s included on six-track EP that also features St. Vincent, Kesha, Valeria June, Ben Gibbard and Kele Okereke.
Kele Okereke covers &#8220;My Guy,&#8221; St. Vincent switches &#8220;And Then He Kissed Me&#8221; to &#8220;And Then She Kissed Me,&#8221; Valerie June turns &#8220;Mad About the Boy&#8221; into &#8220;Mad About the Girl,&#8221; Kesha covers Janis Joplin&#8217;s &#8220;I Need a Man to Love&#8221; as &#8220;I Need a Woman to Love,&#8221; and Ben Gibbard switches the Beatles&#8217; &#8220;And I Love Her&#8221; to &#8220;And I Love Him&#8221;).
Here are the lyrics from Sinatra&#8217;s version:
I&#8217;m not much to look at, nothin&#8217; to see 
Just glad I&#8217;m livin&#8217; and happy to be 
I got a woman, crazy for me 
She&#8217;s funny that way 
I can&#8217;t save a dollar, ain&#8217;t worth a cent 
She&#8217;d never holler, she&#8217;d live in a tent 
I got a woman, crazy for me 
She&#8217;s funny that way 
Though she&#8217;d love to work and slave for me every day 
She&#8217;d be so much better off if I went away 
But why should I leave her, why should I go? 
She&#8217;d be unhappy without me, I know 
I got a woman, crazy for me 
She&#8217;s funny that way 
When I hurt her feelin&#8217;s once in a while 
Her only answer is one little smile 
I got a woman, crazy for me 
She&#8217;s funny that way
Odd choice for a gay anthem.
&#8220;If you look at the history of pop music, love songs have predominantly come from one heterosexual perspective,&#8221; Tom Murphy, a co-producer of Universal Love, told The New York Times. &#8220;If we view music as something that brings people together, shouldn&#8217;t these popular songs be open to everyone?&#8221;
To secure the right to perform the songs with altered lyrics, permission was required from the songs&#8217; publishers. &#8220;The response was completely positive,&#8221; said Rob Kaplan, the project&#8217;s executive producer.
<blockquote>
Dylan, who does not appear to have spoken out in favour of gay rights in the past, declined to be interviewed. But his choice of song, She&#8217;s Funny That Way, which has been recorded by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, gains a wink in its current guise; He&#8217;s Funny That Way can also be read as an antiquated code for a gay person.
Dylan&#8217;s warm and wry performance captures the mix of wit and sincerity favoured by songs from the American standards era.
Kaplan said that when he contacted Dylan, he got a very quick yes. &#8220;And it wasn&#8217;t just &#8216;yes, I&#8217;ll do this,'&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was &#8216;hey, I have an idea for a song.'&#8221;
</blockquote>

The Times They Are A-Changin’: Bob Dylan Turns Classic Song Into Gay Love Anthem

Gay Rights

Once Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis was over and the Left could return to its Trump-bashing, Jimmy Fallon, appearing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, seized his chance to join the brigade, <a href="http://theweek.com/speedreads/753179/jimmy-fallon-channels-bob-dylan-updates-times-are-achangin-postsuper-bowl-show">posing as Bob Dylan</a> and changing the lyrics to Dylan&#8217;s &#8220;The Times they Are A-Changin&#8221; to call Trump an &#8220;Internet troll&#8221; while defending kneeling for the national anthem. 
Dressed as Dylan complete with sunglasses, Fallon cursed Trump while lauding Michelle Obama, singing, &#8220;Come leaders who bully like Internet trolls. We&#8217;ll curse you with four-letter words &#8216;love&#8217; and &#8216;hope.&#8217; For we will go high even when you go low.&#8221;
Here are the lame lyrics Fallon sang:
<blockquote>
Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that our country don&#8217;t feel like our home
And that silence speaks louder than those who condone
If a tweet to you is worth favin&#8217;
Then lift up your voices and put down your phones
For the times they are a-changin&#8217;
Come women and men who hashtag Me Too
And believe me when I say that we believe you
For weak is the man who calls truth &#8220;fake news&#8221;
Time&#8217;s up, our silence we&#8217;re breaking
And even though Mel Gibson was in Daddy&#8217;s Home 2
Well, the times they are a-changin&#8217;
Come athletes with platforms throughout the land
Who by taking a knee are taking a stand
And before you shout out that they should be banned
Listen to what they are saying
Perhaps they&#8217;d stand up if you reached out your hand
Well, the times they are a-changing
Come journalists, writers who report the facts
And brandish your pen to fend off his attacks
Look past what he says and look at how he acts
The fire and fury is raging
For his words can hurt, but your words can fight back
New York Times, they aren&#8217;t a-failin&#8217;
Come leaders who bully like Internet trolls
We&#8217;ll curse you with four-letter words &#8220;love&#8221; and &#8220;hope&#8221;
For we will go high even when you go low
The order is re-arranging
For you have the power, but we have the vote
The times they are a-changin&#8217;
</blockquote>
Video below:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wZ9drv78dCQ" width="560"></iframe></div>

WATCH: Jimmy Fallon Channels Bob Dylan, Curses ‘Internet Troll’ Trump

Donald Trump

Jimmy Fallon

Michelle Obama

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