NJN Network

By Stephen Pate

As I reported in Secret Project, there was some discussion whether or not Bob Dylan should be a category in these pages, or at least a food group. It was settled last night by T Bone who said rightlt, “He’s the man. Of course he’s a category.” So at 55 articles and climbing, Bob Dylan is a category. You are only one mouse click away from every article discusing Bob.

A food group or Politics?

I’m secretly working on a secret project to convert like 1,400 articles in a new format. It’s supposed to be better and easier for you but we all know that management lies like a trooper. So I’m the grunt working for the man cleaning up 4 years of sloppy posting. I’ll admit that 300 categories is a few too many. The boss said get it down below 20.

So here’s my delemma: is Bob Dylan a category as in a food group, or like “Business” or “Politics”? I have so many articles about Bob Dylan because, ah, this is my blog right. But the boss says clean it up so I’m in a quandry.

Is Bob “Music” or is music “Bob”. Man I wish the boss didn’t go home early to work all night on my own.

By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada January 31, 2009

Mike Masnick over at TechDirt has this thing about copyright. It’s his regular obsession. The post Yes, Artists Build On The Works Of Others… So Why Is It Sometimes Infringement? makes the point that we need to be able to transform other works of art. In the current frenzy to copyright, patent and tie down the last nickle from each idea we have we’re stiffling the collective creative process. Musicians, especially the starters, are encouraged to copyright your songs to get compensation for your work. Maybe you’ll get rich one day. Wow, that would be exciting. Wrong, totally improbable that a new artist trying to create original music will write something that makes a million dollars, especially if they build walls around it. It was not how music, especially rock and roll, got so great. Instead of registering your songs with Socan, just send them out to the world on the Internet and see if anyone likes them. You automatically have a copyright by law.
Read the rest of this entry »

Musicians who are trying to start their careers are faced with daunting odds of success. It’s not possible to make a decent income on PEI simply due the small size of any market segment. There aren’t enough people to buy the product. Money is made in the larger centers such as Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and more recently Nashville. Once the home of country music, Nashville is the largest recording market in North America for all types of music. Perhaps Bob Dylan knew what was blowing in the wind when he went there in 1966 to record Blonde on Blonde, his 7th album.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Stephen Pate
January 15, 2009
Copyright 2009 Stephen Pate

This article is dedicated to my friend T-Bone who does a terrific job of studying and re-creating Dylan’s early period and our conversations.

Want to improve your songwriting skills? Humber College in Toronto has a decent weeklong event in the summer. Want to start right now?

Study Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes and the many bootlegs such as The Great White Wonder. While you’re doing that triple read Christopher Rick’s Visions of Sin and Bob Dylan, Performing Artist by Paul Williams.

Those two books hold more keys to songwriting than anything I’ve read. After one read, I found my muse and began writing songs regularly, at the rate of 30 per year. It helps to have writing skills, but I’d been trying to write songs since I was 15 without any success. Read the rest of this entry »

Alan Parsons

By Stephen Pate

When the legends of music promise to tell all, I listen. Alan Parsons and Daniel Lanois basically show us how to produce a CD.

Alan Parsons was the recording engineer at Apple Records who recorded Pink Floyd’s progressive rock anthem Dark Side of the Moon. Parsons is releasing a new 3 DVD set called “The Art and Science of Science of Sound Recording” at the Anaheim CA NAMM show. Parsons trained under George Martin the genius behind The Beatles.

From the trailer it looks very interesting. I’m not a progressive rock fan but the people Alan has assembled cut across the whole industry: country, rock, and blues. The project has been in development for years. It will be good to see the launch happen. Read the rest of this entry »

Web 2.0 Fascism

By Stephen Pate

My dad taught me never to take shit from anyone. Talk about an independent streak. That was a pretty brave thing for him to teach a little crippled boy since everyone has to mange merde most of your life.

That streak of independence, a poor man’s Cool Hand Luke, has stuck with me. Cool Hand Luke combined inebriation with ne pas mange merde. He continued to act inappropriately and generally doomed himself.

Read the rest of this entry »

Review: A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks, by Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard, by Da Capo Press, 2005

By Stephen Pate

Sometimes you’ll read a book twice on purpose when you want to learn the contents. Other times you pick a book up and only realize around the second chapter you’ve read it before.

This was my second read of “A Simple Twist of Fate, Bob Dylan and the making of Blood on the Tracks” by Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard. A slight book at 212 pages, it didn’t seem like a waste of time to read again and it wasn’t; however the original annoyances returned almost immediately. Read the rest of this entry »

St Paul, my kinda Christian and writer

By Stephen Pate

I’m not making this up. It’s too funny but too true.

I reported shenanigans over at the Guardian and I was right.  

Here again is the offending comment -well the Saturday one.

Friday was just spite because we scooped them on the real story behind the Alanis Morissette concert.

Here’s the offensive quote – our ears can hardly stand it, send the children outside to play for a few minutes.

St. Paul

Stephen Pate from Charlottetown, PE writes:The plot thickens and the net widens on the biggest corruption scandal in PEI history. MLAs, secret numbered companies, hush money to civil servants, accounting and legal fees inflated many times beyond the norm for Atlantic Canada, now a Deputy and perhaps soon to be discoved Minister and the Premier?

Money is the great corrupter of mankind.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain. 1st Timothy 16:10. True then, even more true today.

The Guardian printed this and took it down. Smacks of censorship but it is their ball and they can run home with it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well my Jehovah’s Witness cousin from way down Yarmouth, NS sent me a mysterious email.

TO: STEPHEN PATE

I REPEAT EMPHATICALLY – PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME ANY MORE EMAILS OR VIDEOS OR LINKS TO BLOGS OF ANY KIND! PLEASE TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST!!!

THANK YOU ROR REPECTING MY REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED WISHES.

name withheld ( I typed that over the real one)

(see note at the end)

Now I don’t know about you but I find those all caps emails sort of rude and confusing.

First it’s hard to know where the sentence begins. Then there is the confusion over whether the message is an acronym, anagram or just someone really mad.

Being a Jehovah’s Witness, my cousin Jim is a mild mannered man of the Lord, a paragon of self-control and closeted anger. He would never be angry with me but believe in the Lord that I might be saved and join him in paradise – no in the garden sharing my dinner with the lions and my breakfast with the lambs.

Read the rest of this entry »

This weeks episode is hot on the trail of the Liberals.

Some of the stories

Dave Carver’s romance with Minister Docherty
Bruce Howatt PEI’s top poker ace
Secret $200 million slush fund,
PEI’s new Price is Right,
It ain’t heavy: it’s a government cheque

Have you seen it?

There is something to be said for too much education. It makes a fool of people. Like the Hockey Night in Canada theme.

First the CBC loses the song we remember – market 101 big mistake.

Second they don’t beg Stompin Tom to use his song.

Lest you think me a cretin, my favourite composers are Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Bob Dylan and Stompin Tom.

Too much education makes you stupid. Pride keeps you there.

Go Stompin Tom.

Daniel Lanois played on Saturday night October 12th in Halifax and the crowd went wild. Lanois the famous producer behind U2, Dylan and other musical luminaries likes to tour with a smallish band – 4 piece in Halifax – doing his own material.

The capacity crown at the Marquis Club on Gottingen Street in Halifax got their money’s worth and more as Lanois rocked out the night.

After driving versions of songs like The Messenger, Lanois held the crowd in his hand as he sang part of his set solo. He repeated a solo at the end in the uninterrupted 2.5 hour performance.

Read the rest of this entry »

It always pays to put enemies in the rear and forge ahead with your life. They can only control us if we let them.

When someone steals your identity it feels like thieves have broken into your home. It happened to me when a quadriplegic stole “Disability Alert” for an identically named website.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to keep your love life off Blogs. But I can’t help it. I have to admit I have a life long crush on Rosa Parks.
I was reminded of that fact while writing the article Civil Rights violations at UPEI. There she was in the photo collage with Martin Luther King. It all came back.
In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery Alabama. The bus driver told her to sit at the back of the bus. She was arrested and her action started the Montgomery Bus Boycott which changed the way blacks were treated. Amazingly she protested the bus driver without any help or support.

Read the rest of this entry »

It was a pejorative to describe a web site as mere “page turning.”

Well Sony’s promotional page Bob Dylan’s new CD set Tell Tale Signs page has taken it to a new fun level.

The page has the graphics for Bob’s singles over the years. You can click an arrow and it will cycle through them.

Trying grabbing the upper outside corner and turning the page as you would a real book page. Cool.

Right up there with your own words on the video cards for Subterranean Homesick Blues.

The new CD is Bootleg # 8 and can be pre-ordered in three versions:
1. 2 CD’s with 27 songs US $19
2. 3 CD Deluxe set with 39 songs, a mini vinyl LP and a book US $129
3. Limited Edition 4 vinyl LP’s with 27 songs and a smaller book US $99

If history is anything to go by, the Deluxe and Limited Edition versions will sell out and the 2 CD regular version will suit most people.

I have many of the songs as bootlegs and they are worth listening to. It will be great to have them on official releases. The audio is always cleaned up.

For a limited time, Bob Dylan’s website is offering a free download of “Dreamin’ of You,” from Dylan’s 1997 Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions.

“I think it can be easily done, just take everything down to Highway 61.”

Tuesday was the first day of busking downtown and the sun felt good.

So good to be warm and let it burn your skin, just once before the goo goes on.

I was late setting up so things were rushed at noon on the corner of Queen and Richmond. Like who cares if I’m late: it’s not a job where you punch the clock.

Settling in – I got down to business and ripped through some originals like I Can’t Get Over You, Your Song, Don’t Quit on Me Tonight, Up on a Landing and Dan Aykroyd Tequila. A busker joined in with lead on I Can’t Get Over You which was cool.

Friends stopped by in the droves, so much that performance stopped by times. Danielle came over just as I was playing Mean Hearted Woman, the song she claimed as hers! Can you believe her?

Nick, Ted, Daniel, Kier, Jen, Gordie – the parade was endless. My bad-boy role as disability advocate had a few philistines heading for the opposite side of the street. What a hoot.

Then I played Dylan: Watchtower, Knockin on Heaven’s Door, Things Have Changed, Don’t Think Twice and an amazing acoustic Like a Rolling Stone. How does it feel to be all alone with no direction home.

Sunburned, hot and happy I quit. Ted Simmons came back so I gave him the corner, packed up and went home.

I love taking music to the streets. Yeah!

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan got a Pulitzer citation for

his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.

That’s nice. The stories are pouring in from every newspaper and they are fun to read.

But I’ve known he was special since 1963 when I first heard him.

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential artists of the last century. He defined musical genres before anyone knew what they were. He moved us in new directions, created more than 800 songs that always intrigued and challenged us.

He is entertaining which is important since great art must have a great audience.

I am constantly reminded of his appeal when I meet young people, 17 to 30 year olds, who discovered Dylan and hold him dear.

Enjoy.

He’s given a special citation, and composer David Lang’s ‘The Little Match Girl Passion’ wins the music award. Two UCLA professors are among book winners.

“Theme Time Radio Hour With Your Host Bob Dylan,” a two-disc set available as an import in the U.S., contains 50 of the most colorful records played on the show. (AP)

Tribune news services
April 8, 2008

How does it feel to share the limelight with rock legend Bob Dylan?

This year’s Pulitzer Prizes in honored two musical innovators who tend to reject categorization: A special citation went to singer-songwriter Dylan, and the annual music award went to composer and Los Angeles native David Lang.

In an interview Monday, Lang enthusiastically mixed metaphors: “You know, I am not fit to touch the hem of his shoes. Bob Dylan is the only artist who’s in heavy rotation in my household.”

He added, “I told my children I won the Pulitzer, and they were like, ‘OK, big deal.’ But when I said, ‘OK, they gave a special award to Bob Dylan, just like me,’ they said, ‘Oh, this is really something.’ “

The 66-year-old Dylan, who said he was “in disbelief,” was cited for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” His award marks the first Pulitzer given to a rock musician.

Lang, 51, co-founder and co-artistic director of the New York music collective Bang on a Can, won his prize for “The Little Match Girl Passion,” which premiered in October at Carnegie Hall in New York.

The piece, Lang said, was born of his personal struggle with the fact that much of classical music is rooted in Christian tradition. “It’s a very strange thing for a Jewish composer like me to deal with. The Bach St. Matthew Passion is one of the greatest pieces of all time and one that is not particularly good for the Jews.”

Lang said he decided to use the text from the crowd scenes in the Bach piece and, wherever there was a reference to the Crucifixion, substituted a reference to the death of the little match seller from the Hans Christian Andersen tale, who freezes to death on a city street on New Year’s Eve.

Lang, who spent his L.A. youth selling records at Tower Records and Wherehouse Records, said he tries to avoid labeling his work, including with the wide-open category “new music.”

“My whole life was about records,” he said, “and when you go into the record store, you see the world divided — here’s rock ‘n’ roll, here’s jazz, here’s opera. I am someone who wakes up in the morning and goes out of his way to make sure that my work does not belong in one of those boxes.”

This year’s arts awards also included playwright Tracy Letts, a longtime member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, for his critically hailed Broadway tragicomedy about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family, “August: Osage County.” New York Times critic Charles Isherwood called it “probably the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years,” adding: “Oh, forget probably. It is.”

In literature, Junot Diaz won the prize for fiction for “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” The novel, Diaz’s first book since his hit short-story collection “Drown” in 1996, concerns the “ghetto nerd” of its title, an awkward teenager who aims to become “the Dominican Tolkien.” Profane, street-smart, erudite and at times graphically violent, the novel juxtaposes a personal coming-of-age story in contemporary New Jersey with flashbacks to Dominican history.

Holocaust survivor and UCLA faculty member Saul Friedlander won the general nonfiction award for “The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945.” UCLA professor emeritus Daniel Walker Howe won for history for “What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848.” John Matteson won for biography for “Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father.”

For the first time in Pulitzer history, two prizes were awarded in poetry, to Robert Hass for “Time and Materials” and Philip Schultz for “Failure.” Hass, an English professor at UC Berkeley, is noted for drawing on everyday imagery, often from the California countryside. Schultz, the author of five collections of poetry, including the National Book Award nominee “Like Wings,” founded the Writers Studio in 1987.

diane.haithman@latimes.com

Times staff writer Scott Timberg contributed to this report

Google sent me an article on the Terri Schiavo right-to-live case written by Nat Hentoff. I was stopped in my tracks. This was Nat Hentoff of Down Beat Magazine fame. Apparently Hentoff has two sides to his writing career: jazz music and civil rights.

When I was a young lad in the 1960’s, Hentoff was an idol/model. He wrote jazz articles for Down Beat and Hi-Fi Stereo Review. Both contained record reviews and Hentoff was a prime contributor.

Hentoff was the writer on jazz. He wrote Bob Dylan’s liner notes for Freewheelin Bob Dylan and interviewed Dylan several times. Hentoff was an icon.

I wrote “Steve’s Record Review” for the Halifax Mail Star and learned a lot by reading Hentoff’s articles. I covered rock, folk, jazz and pop. I actually wrote him a fan letter.

So here we are at the other end of life and I discover we are both social activists with a passion for music and music writing. Awesome.

By Stephen Pate

Tickets for the Bob Dylan Modern Times Tour at Moncton, Halifax and St. John’s went on pre-sale today.

Reviews of his Southwest, Mexican and South American performances have been glowing.

This is Dylan’s only Northeastern tour until mid-summer. After St. John’s, Dylan heads to Europe.

St. John NB doesn’t have pre-sales yet.

The open sale starts Saturday (check the venues for times)

Sales are brisk. I could only get mid-way along the lower bowl at supper time.

I couldn’t be happier than to find out Bob Dylan and his band will be playing 4 cities in Atlantic Canada this spring.

Starting in St. John NB on May 19th, he will move to Moncton on the 20th, Halifax on the 21st and St. John’s NF on May 24th. Must be taking the slow boat to Newfoundland.

This is the same tour he did a few years back, only in reverse.

This is a don’t miss tour. I saw Dylan 3 times each during the summers of 2005 and 2006. The music was awesome. The crowds super filled with everyone from babies to boomers.

Guess where I’ll be that week.

Tickets go on sale March 29th.

By Stephen Pate

With Cohen touring we are getting lots of newspaper inches about how wonderful he is. Nice to see the accolades but please ladies and gentlemen, let’s put it in perspective.

The Guardian called Cohen “arguably the greatest singer-songwriter of modern times”. I guess the key word is “arguably” in the phrase. The line is fluff from his official webpage.

Cohen is the child of Bob Dylan who clearly holds the title of greatest singer songwriter. Dylan created the modern poet singer songwriter and keeps creating at over 800 songs. Most modern singer songwriters credit Dylan as a main influence. He even influenced the Beatles.

On hearing Dylan, Cohen is reported to have said – if he can do that so can I.

What about Paul McCartney and then the duo Lennon/McCartney? Then there’s Tom Waits and Paul Simon and a host of others.

Here’s the BBC poll on Dylan’s 60th birthday of top singer songwriters.

Bob Dylan: 32.65%
John Lennon: 18.83%
Bob Marley: 13.64%
Paul McCartney: 8.47%
Paul Simon: 6.73%
Cole Porter: 5.63%
Jim Morrison: 4.44%
Eminem: 3.50%
Joni Mitchell: 3.47%
Irving Berlin: 2.64%

Cohen doesn’t make that list but he is 6th on the Paste Top 10

The Top 10

10. Prince
9. Joni Mitchell
8. Elvis Costello
7. Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)
6. Leonard Cohen
5. Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)
4. Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan
3. Bruce Springsteen
2. Neil Young (Buffalo Sprinfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
1. Bob Dylan

Stephen Pate, Nick Teter and Ted Simmons, Baba’s Open Mic

SALLY COLE
The Guardian

Ed: Excerpt. see link to Guardian for the complete story

There’s an air of professionalism at Babas in Charlottetown where musicians are taking their music to the next level.

The place is a gathering spot for burgeoning songwriters who come to test out their new material.

“Anyone who has just come is invited to come up and sign the performance list,” says host Nick Teter, adjusting microphones for musicians Andrea MacDonald, Ted Simmons, Stephen Pate and a poet simply known as Alan.

As the emcee, he spends the evening mingling with artists, keeping their sound levels and spirits bright.

“If you play, you get a free glass of draft for your 15 minutes of fame,” says Teter, who has a definite knack for making people feel at home.

“It’s important to welcome people, especially if they’re new. If no one comes over to talk, sure, they may get up to play once, but they may never come back.”

The artists like the time that Teter puts into the show.

“Nick encourages everyone and is not afraid to show his appreciation. That’s why I come here — for the camaraderie and a chance to play my own compositions,” says Pate, after testing out his latest song.

For Simmons, the draw is getting to play in front of a live audience.

“I come every week to practise my live stage show. I really enjoy the atmosphere here,” says the singer-songwriter who performs a dynamic version of Bob Dylan’s North Country Blues.

Meanwhile, Teter gives a sigh of relief that all the music slots have been filled.

“My biggest fear is that no one will show up and I’ll have to play a lot of songs.

“While that normally isn’t bad, it’s not my show. It’s about the artists,” says the singer-songwriter.

A few blocks away, the mood is warm and relaxed at Hunter’s Ale House where artists have gathered for another open mike night.
Blake MacIsaac and Daniel Bowlan, Hunter’s Open Mic

Hosted by Danielle Bowlan, the Monday night gig is the highlight of her week.

“It’s fun, and interesting. We are always getting to hear new music and meet new people,” she says.

During the show, which also includes performances by Jessica Keough, Kassandra Veenhuis and Blake MacIsaac, she and Laura Oakie team up for some tight harmonies on Volcano and Nine Crimes and are rewarded with applause for their efforts.

“We’re constantly singing together. We enjoy coming here,” says Oakie, who is also a member of the Disco Rockin’ Llamas.

Daniel Bowlan and Laura Oakie, Hunter’s Open Mic

After playing together week after week, it feels like home, says Bowlan. “We’re all friends here so no one is afraid to go on.”

After playing together week after week, it feels like home, says Bowlan. “We’re all friends here so no one is afraid to go on.”

People steal music on the internet because the music companies refuse to provide honest customer service. Sony/Columbia and the whole bunch of them are living in the past. As a result, most people just download their music for free.

My recent experience with honesty is so pathetic it makes me wonder why I bother. I was given a new Bob Dylan CD for Christmas – how thoughtful. The present came with a coupon to download an extra song – wow! That’s a new idea. A month later I still don’t have a song that works. I have the file but DRM or Digital Rights Management stops it playing.

Being a doo-bee, I sent three emails to Sony Columbia asking for help. Not a word, twitter or peep from them. If I really wanted the song, I could easily download it for free from a pirate site along with any other Dylan song I wanted, and videos too.

Why do I bother? Millions of other people have discovered the music companies are greedy people who didn’t make into the modern era.

While the music companies whine about lost profits and all that jazz, millions of songs are ripped off every day. For more reasons why see an insiders view.

Today at a Charlottetown liquor store hundreds of adoring fans of the comedian and actor Dan Aykroyd stood quietly in the snow anticipating seeing the star.

Aykroyd, known for Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and 38 other movies, was in town to promote his investment in Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits.

In a relaxed and casual mood, Aykroyd admitted turning down 5 movies in the past year to promote the winery. “I eliminate the film projects completely. I just don’t have time to do films anymore,” Aykroyd said. “Now if Spielberg calls me I’ll be walking out the door right,” he deadpanned.

He has a $1 million dollar investment in wine. “This is an investment I want to pay off so my children don’t have to kiss director’s asses for a living like I did.”

Fans hugged him, mugged with Aykroyd for the camera and looked on with awe as the star signed bottles of wine faster than dealing cards at the black jack table.

The wine bottles were selling briskly with PEILCC employees whisking them in front of Aykroyd who could sign them and improvise dead-on Conehead dialogue at the same time.

Aykroyd related a story about the filming of Blues Brothers when they were doing the shopping mall scene at 3 am. John Belushi was nowhere to be found. Aykroyd began to follow a trail of bent grass that led to a housing development off the mall lot. Only one house had a light on. On a hunch, Aykroyd went up and rang their bell. The man said Belushi had walked in, raided the fridge and fell asleep on the sofa of a complete stranger. “He was the guest who wouldn’t leave.”

Aykroyd said working on Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters was a pure pleasure, especially with Bill Murray on the set. Aykroyd spoke glowingly and fondly of his cast members and Ivan Reitman of the Ghostbusters movie.

Aykroyd seemed pleased to sign CD’s and movies. He mistook my laserdiscs copies of Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters for records! “Oh cool! Every movie has a memory.”

Aykroyd’s interest in wineries followed his successful importation into Canada of popular tequila. “They suggested I put my name on a line of wines. I kinda backed into the whole thing really.”

Speaking on the vagaries of Hollywood and the Oscar process, he talked about “Driving Miss Daisy. “Everyone got an Oscar nomination and it won 4 Oscars including Best Picture but nothing for the director Bruce Beresford. What did the movie direct itself?”

“The Blues Brothers played just recently with Jimmy the blood brother of John. We just had a gig in a club in New York City, not with the movie band. The Blues Brothers Revue tours 20 to 25 times a year for a casino. It’s not the movie band. They’re all players who used to be with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and the Stones.”

Then Aykroyd’s handlers said he had to go. He posed for a blurry picture and went off into the snowy night to a private party. The liquor store was playing Aretha Franklyn singing “Think”.

Today was a good day.

Ed: On February 28th, 2007 I sent this email to Pat Binns and posted it. I knew then he was in trouble. You cannot ignore the people you are supposed to protect without losing your right to govern.

Dear Pat,

Bob Dylan, the poet for our generation, said

‘Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?’

So you threw DSP crumbs from the table to people with disabilities and now we’re kicking back. We want our fair place at the table of PEI society. We want the inclusion you promised but didn’t deliver.

Notice the groundswell of public opinion yet? The Disability issue is resonating with the public. We have friends, relatives. You should pay attention to the people otherwise the rest of that song will be yours:

‘How does it feel to be on your own,
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?’

PS – sorry for the song thing if you’re not musical. That’s the way my brain works: songs, poems, music.

Thank you,
Stephen Pate, PEI Disability Alert

Everyone should have a musical bird. Deeter is mine. He likes music. If I practice in the music room he screeches to get there. If I let him stay on my shoulder he will climb down either arm to watch what I do, picking hand or freting hand.

Weird you say, well watch the video. It’s not that easy to practice guitar and sing with a bird on your hand. Bird on a wire maybe but not a bird on your hand. Well let’s say its not a club act.

Two amazing things. I played a couple of songs and he refused to come down my arm for the camera until I threatened him with the end of music (at the front of the clip). He promptly walked down to my hand. What is that?

Then at the end he starts pinching my arm. Ouch! I had to stop and divert him back up my arm. Whereupon he proceeded to do his business on my sleeve. Talk about wearing your fart on your sleeve!

Then I remembered: when he nibbles and nips on me it’s the sign he wants to be taken back to the cage to do his duty. A housebroken bird, what next?

Enjoy.

While cleaning my office I came across a large booklet called “Bob Dylan”. That’s amazing. There are very few things around here with that name on them. It is artfully made and contains a couple of interviews, one with Muddy Waters from 1978 and another from the Times Sentinel from 1992.

It must be one of those show programs from the US concerts. Usually those things catch your eye. The Muddy Waters interview makes this an interesting book.

Whilst you might find this hard to believe, I am not the devoted Bob Dylan fan you suspect. I eschew the role of “Fan”. Read on and you can leave your comments as to the appropriate label for me vis a vis Bob. There are whole decades of my life when I wouldn’t drive across town to see him perform. Lately I’ve made it a summer vacation.

I first heard Bob Dylan in high school after reading about and buying his second album “The Freewheelin Bob Dylan.” The folk boom was in full swing in 1963 and Bob Dylan was a fresh voice. Criteria for liking him included: I could play guitar like him, sing like him and the harmonica part seemed easy with a homemade coat-hanger harp holder. His songs were more interesting than the “Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore” material everyone else was singing.

Then there was protest. I was a natural student protester. Young people were protesting whatever was wrong with the universe and I was in the thick of it. We protested autocratic school principals, the war in Vietnam and Civil Rights. Some things haven’t changed have they? Take it to the streets!

Thus began a life of collection all things Bob Dylan. I must have every album, on vinyl and CD, plus Super Audio CD. I have 120 hours of bootlegs, concert recordings made by people in the audience. For example, within 2 weeks of going to the Pittsfield Massachusetts concert last year, someone posted the whole concert on the web. I was playing it on my computer when Edith said “Hey, that’s the concert.” Pretty cool.

I have books on Dylan’s life, books on his recordings, books on his concerts, books on his poetry, and dry but interesting books that dissect his music and literary influences.

I have VHS recordings of concerts, DVD’s legal and bootlegged, video recorded by me and other people in the audience, “Ronaldo and Clara” the unreleased movie, “Hard Rain” the Japanese TV program not released in North America. There is a rate computer multi-media CD that works on Windows and older Mac’s. It contains interview with people from Greenwich Village in the 60’s and from the studio recording of Highway 61. Mac’s are so disappointing. Backward compatibility is never their strong card. It used to play on my Mac from 1993 but wouldn’t work on my Powerbook.

So write in your comments. Give my interest/devotion a name. I’m going to put the program in a safe place.

,

There are moments in life and music when the events collide to form moments of synchronicity. Last night at Baba’s was one where Ryan, Alex and I played away on five songs and caught the groove.

Only habit can explain why I went last night. I was exhausted from a day of promoting the message of Hope for Islanders with disabilities. I got home at 8 pm and began to practice. I wanted to perform Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom, a poetic but long song from 1964.
Andrea was back in the Host’s seat at Baba’s, albeit only as replacement for Nancy who is the new permanent host. We talked about her road trip and the summer of music that approaches.

By the time I got up to perform Ryan and Alex arrived so we repeated our trio act from the week before. I’ve been playing with Ryan for a few years but only 3 or 4 times with Ryan. Kerrie introduced us. We never practice, a strategy of chaos looking for a Muse.

The stage lights were out so I couldn’t see squat of the lyrics. We got a moderate groove going but I just could not see the song sheet. I probably know 80% of the words but that is not enough. I quit after 3 of 7 verses. It was a bar clearing performance.

OK boys lets kick it up. We did two fast original blues numbers and the sound caught the groove. Alex was laying down a solid and imaginative bass line to my left. Ryan was alternatively noodling and soaring on acoustic lead to the right.

We did Rainy Day Women (aka Everyone Must Get Stoned) but something didn’t click with the crowd. We liked it but they seemed indifferent.
Andrea asked for a 5th song, so off we went into It Ain’t Me Babe. Forget what you know about that chestnut. This is a funky bass driven blues number than drones between Em+g and C+g. I’ve done it by myself with the synth guitar plus organ, which is cool. This was the first time with bass, which this arrangement needs. The song grabbed the groove and held it. The audience was caught up in it, the moody bluesy insistent groove. It really worked.

That’s why I play, for those transcendent moments when the music catches and pulls you upward and away from the earth. It happens often enough to keep me hooked

Basilica Rec Centre before Murphy Community Centre
Everyone at the Murphy Community Centre was in a good mood last night, with perhaps the exception of Chester Gillan who seemed to scurry in and scurry out. The temperature was 21C, the sun strong and we were basking in the first decent day of spring.

A crowd of people were milling outside the centre waiting for their bus to a dance in Vernon River. To enter, the Conservative supporters had to run a gauntlet of happy expectant dance enthusiasts. Big thanks to Ray and Carolyn Murphy for re-invigorating the old Basilica Rec Centre, which was a focal point of Charlottetown social culture for decades.

The crowd for the nominating convention was bigger than any we’ve seen in town. There were lots of old friends going by. My son came to hand out Disability Quick Facts sheets, along with his friends. I think they were concerned for my safety after Saturday’s assault at St. Marks. Michael was acting videographer.

Mr. Tims came, circle me and went inside. He had been warned but he wanted to strut to show he was not afraid of the law. Chester rushed down the sidewalk to get ahead of me. He left in the same rush a few minutes later.

Jason Lee, former Premier Jim Lee’s son, was the candidate. You could pick him out dressed in a nice dark suit in a sea of blue collar workers.

Jason approached and teased me for not wearing a Bob Dylan t-shirt. He must have done his homework. He was in a friendly open mood. He offered that he liked our YouTube posts and had read the Disability Alert Blog.

Jason and I chatted at length on disability issues. I felt nervous that I was holding him up. But he pursued each topic. I think we ended on Federal Provincial cost sharing and Federal funding of programs like Disabled RRAP. By far the most intelligent conversation on Disability issues on the Tour of Hope.

So there we have it. Wayne Collins on Friday was friendly, approachable and concerned about Islanders with disabilities. Chester Gillan on Saturday nasty, belligerent and accosting. Jason Lee on Monday was open, friendly, intelligent and willing to discuss issues.

As he was leaving I asked Jason to remember me to his father. I turned and Jim was there. We had a short but friendly conversation. PEI politics – it’s a small world.

Video at 11.

A friend sent me an internet page with important facts about the year you were born.

I was born in 1948, a quiet event that was destined to shape my destiny and the destiny of the planet for decades to come.

I was a boomer, an early one. I saw TV arrive in the Maritimes and watched Leave It To Beaver and Gunsmoke. I listened to Elvis on 45’s and witnessed his passing. I fell head over heals for the Beatles.

A child of the 60’s, I protested the War in Vietnam and Racial Equality. I fell for Bob Dylan as a folk, protest and rock singer. Learned to play guitar, harmonica and drums. Watched Kennedy get assassinated on TV along with King and Bobby.

I went back to the land in the 70’s, got serious about business in the 80’s, raised five children, and retired in the 90’s.

I’m back to Dylan, protest and Make Love Not War.

I am one of millions and we are still defining the age we live in.

Apparently fishing is not productive over the web. Those fishies they see you but they run away. At supper last night it was brief topic of conversation that fishing for presents would only mean an empty hook.

I thought it was just a fun little Blog about my Dylan habit. Things can be mis-interpreted when a fella is just havin fun. My mind musta been on Taj Mahal when I wrote that little ditty cause now I got the fishin’ blues.

Betcha goin fishin all of your time, baby’s goin fishing too
Bet your life, your sweet life, catch more fish than you
Many fish bites if ya got good bait
Here’s a little tip i would like to relate

Big fish bites if ya got a good bait
I ‘a goin fishin
Yes i’m goin fishin
And my baby’s goin fishin too.

Self control is no easier for adults than it is for children. Usually the difference is adults have the cash or where-with-all to indulge their whims whereas children might have to wait on the largesse of others.

I’m a Bob Dylan collector. I have most of the albums as vinyl lp’s, even Love and Theft which my son-in-law gave me for X-Mass. Then I have the CD’s. Two years ago at Christmas I received, with only a modicum of hinting, the 16 SACD package. Better sound you know – that’s important.

I have so many Bob Dylan framed posters we ran out of wall space last year and only renovations will get them on the walls. There are Bob Dylan hats, scarves, a lovely hoodie I gave to my son (what was I thinking!), t shirts, sweaters.

Thanks to two nieces and my girl friend, I have some great Bob Dylan picture books – coffee table style. My sister bought me all Dylan’s lyrics one year. There are dozens and dozens of sheet music books, plus one big one of all the songs he wrote with piano and chord notation. Hannah got me another Bob Dylan book: she was only 10. I’m going to mark the donor’s name inside because there are so many and I want to remember who gave me what.

Then there are more than 20 hardcover and softcover books: biographies, an autobiography, music commentaries, touring guides, recording guides, and a poetry commentary which I reviewed recently.

There are videos in VHS format, Laser disc and DVD’s plus a rare multi-media presentation for both Mac and Windows from the early 90’s. I have over 70 hours of concert recordings both video and audio that are hard to find.

Thanks to Eyolf Østrem, I have 500 plus songs with lyrics and guitar tabs. This is the goldmine – the first source of all research into Dylan’s music.

So is that everything? Thankfully not – they just released ‘Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back – 65 Tour Deluxe Edition’. I have ‘Don’t Look Back’ on VHS and Laser disc but this one is special. It has cleaned up video and sound. A second documentary that has been hidden for 40 years – we knew it was in Pennebaker’s possession but not ours. Plus a gaggle of extras.

The problem is I promised myself to stay off my Dylan acquisition habit…for awhile. Hmmm, my birthday is coming up. Yes I should wait for that to roll around. I love self-control. It’s so, so, so empowering.

Oh look, they just released the Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. That looks good.

Other than looking like a stick, the two most prominent drawbacks to my left foot were slow-poke and pain.

One August, the YMCA held an hike to Kearney Lake for a picnic and swim. It was a scorcher of a day. The path was uphill along granite boulders, reflecting the heat like brick in an oven. All the hikers set out together. Soon I was at the back of the pack. A few considerate hikers tried to stay with me but realized they’d miss the pre-lunch swim if they didn’t pick up the pace.

I trudged on for two hours, dragging my left foot, or in my mind my Really Bad Foot. Arriving at noon, I was just in time to eat my lunch. I couldn’t swim and cool down because I had just eaten and if I got my left foot wet it would probably chafe in my brace.

Before I could enjoy the swim, the hikers started cat-calls of “make Stephen start early or he’ll hold up the bus.” The YMCA leader agreed and I trudged back down the hill. That was slow-poke.

After slow-poke comes the pain. Inevitably, trying to keep up with people who don’t know their left foot from their right will induce excruciating pain.

I don’t know why counselors feel hell-bent on telling children with disabilities to ‘be all they can be.’ Being all you can might just be reading a book at the library and becoming a rocket scientist or rich business financier, none of which requires hikes to Kearney Lake when you have my left foot.

Seeking a career in music, I joined a marching band in Grade 8 to learn the clarinet. My left foot was not required to play the clarinet. I mostly sat in a seat. The music stand held up the music and I played with my fingers. That seemed like a safe choice of musical instrument; that is until they announced the students were going to march in the 3 mile civic day parade. Thus ended my musical career with the clarinet.

Moving on, I tried drums, which seemed unlikely participants in any walking exercises. I practiced drum solos like “Wipe Out” and “Roll Over Beethoven” night and day. My left foot took a dim view of this career move. It refused to help with the tiniest movement on the high-hat cymbal. Not a peep or a twitch. So to perform some fancy cymbal work, I had to take my right foot off the bass drum and work the high-hat. If you’ve ever heard a drummer do this, you will know I was not destined to be Ringo Starr’s replacement with the Beatles.

Accepting my left foot for what it was – a smaller useless version of my right foot – I took up the guitar. I didn’t need a left foot for the guitar. After learning the requisite three chords, I had visions of becoming a rock or folk star. Then I observed that rock stars do a lot of prancing and dancing on the stage and stay up way too late for my left foot. I didn’t think this prancing enhanced their music but the female fans seemed to love it. I resigned myself to being a home musician, plunking for my own amusement. My left foot had its way again.

When I started to work in the business world, I discovered that my left foot was not only useless, it was an expensive pest. Remember the part about smaller: my left foot is two sizes smaller and double E width, almost unheard of in shoes under $150. A new pair of leather brogues is a $300 shopping trip, since my left foot wants its own smaller pair.

My left foot also shows a lack of frugality by forever ignoring the right side of its pair, except for the shoe laces. Thank goodness for using the laces or I would feel the extra pair was a complete waste of money.

Lest I give the impression that my left foot is good for nothing let me assure you there is no better barometer of the future: if it is cold anywhere within 100 miles or if it will be cold later, my left foot will let me know. My left foot can be cold on a hot day in July. The weather must be changing for the worse somewhere else.

It doesn’t seem to work the other way, since it never anticipates summer or advises me when it will finally be warm.

I recently discovered another advantage to my left foot while in church. The priest told me I was destined to be St. Stephen of Charlottetown. Not doubting him, I kept my past sinful history and the stories about my bad left foot to myself.

However, it is impossible to hide during Mass since I have to sit in the centre isle in a wheelchair. Do you think they will ever make a space for wheelchairs in the pews? That is another story.

All during Mass, my right foot is tapping away to some Bob Dylan song that is rattling around in my head. My left foot, however, is piously and quietly listening to everything that is being said by the priest. It doesn’t genuflect so well anymore but it is attentive and this looks good, especially compared with its wicked brother who cannot contain himself for an hour a week.

The way I figure it, when I get to St. Peter at the Heavenly Gates, I am going to lead with my left foot for the first time in my life. It will be putting my best foot forward don’t you know.

Dear Pat,

Bob Dylan, the poet for our generation, said

‘Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?’

So you threw DSP crumbs from the table to people with disabilities and now we’re kicking back. We want our fair place at the table of PEI society. We want the inclusion you promised but didn’t deliver.

Notice the groundswell of public opinion yet? The Disability issue is resonating with the public. We have friends, relatives. You should pay attention to the people otherwise the rest of that song will be yours:

‘How does it feel to be on your own,
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?’

PS – sorry for the song thing if you’re not musical. That’s the way my brain works: songs, poems, music.

Thank you,
Stephen Pate, PEI Disability Alert

Wow – the new arrangement went over great at Baba’s. I could see people were held by the tension. I should think about recording it this weekend – that sounds vague doesn’t it. It would be better if I had my drum kit back together and could cobble together a bass. Drums will have to wait – the music room is too crazy but maybe I can find a bassist.

Disability Support Blues went over well. That is a triplets groove song – too fast or too slow and it bombs.

The next two “Is Your Love in Vain” and “Your Song” suffered from the proximity effect – two finger style ballads with string accompaniment lulling people to sleep. Robert Arsenault used to insist in the band Expecting Rain – one ballad per set of 8 songs. He knows.

Expecting Rain 2004: Todd King, Jeff Smith, S Pate, Robert Arsenault, Heidi Juri, Matt Chandler

I am writing this Blog with a heavy dose of Bloggers Regret – I’ve written so much lately I have tennis elbow. So with arm brace and pain I am setting down to write these words. Does that make them seem more important or me careless?

Last spring while visiting Laura, I took off in my wheelchair along College and spotted this little shop, Used Books it said. At least it wasn’t Dead Parrots and Ironware. Inside I found a gold-mine of Bob Dylan books and being without any restraint purchased eight.

The least likely to get read was a thick tome of 500 pages called “Dylan’s Visions of Sin” by Christopher Ricks. OK so “Sin” on the title page was attractive. So was the author’s pedigree: he was the editor of the “Oxford Book of English Verse” a book I have owned since university and a professor at Oxford University. People steal OBEV and I buy another. He has also written on some of my fave poets like T S Elliot, Keats, Tennyson, and A E Houseman. Why is he writing about Bob Dylan?

Let’s get past the canard that you like his songs but he can’t sing, or you like his singing but his looks stink, or he isn’t a poet, etc. ad nauseum. Bob Dylan is the single most influential singer/songwriter to hit this planet ever. He copied everyone before him and added to it his own genius. What kind of a genius steals from the Bible, Shakespeare, Milton and TS Elliot with impunity?

Without him there would be no Bruce Springsteen (a pale imitation), John Prine, Neil Young, no anybody who is doing what music is about today – relevant songs that the singer wrote himself. When I listen to his progeny it’s painfully clear they think he authorized guitar accompanied introspection. Most of their lyrics are mundane, prosaic, and forgettable.

Dylan has written 500 plus songs over 5 decades many of which define how we have felt along the way. If you want to see an artist in the middle of self-recreation, check out one of his concerts. It’s like Picasso re-painting his paintings over and over.

OK so what about the book? Ricks is a proponent of the “close reading” of poetry. How close? Very close – you will go on wonderful trips where he compares “Not Dark Yet” from “Time Out of Mind” to Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” line for line. After you digest that he points out how Keats was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73.” I would love to have his grasp of poetry and literature for he also brings in Becket and others. Word for word, line by line he draws out the beauty and significance of Dylan’s work.

The book is arranged around the seven deadly sins, the four cardinal virtues and the three heavenly graces. Ricks discusses songs that explempify or defy the sins, virtues and graces. This is not accidental for Dylan is a classic moralist. Dylan knows you can’t defy the Gods and remain a serious artist.

The popular press and pundits are constantly judging Dylan: such is the lot of an artist. It reminds me of the people who critiqued Van Gogh (too much yellow and blue) or Gauguin (who are those naked natives. You can tell Ricks is impressed by Dylan during every period of his artistic career. Ricks makes you appreciate Dylan, even in his missteps, as the great artist he is.

This book is not an easy read. I guarantee if you like poetry, are a poet, or songwriter it will interest you. My songwriting has improved from a single read. I’ve got to read it, no study it song by song, instead of trying read to get to the end.

There are other scholarly books on Bob Dylan: this one is my favourite for its emphasis of poetry and song structure independent of the music. Next: “Song and Dance Man” by Michael Gray.

My arm doesn’t hurt as much. I’m going to practice “It Ain’t Me Babe.” If you’ve heard Dylan in concert in the last few years, you’ll remember the new arrangement. Each line starts in Em and ends on C/D. The song is held there in chains until the chorus where the tune is allowed to break out to F G and back to C. The beat is one two one two one two, insistent and incessant. Lots of fun.

This has been the week of the almost deliverable. I almost finished a report on Disability. I almost finished a new arrangement of “It Ain’t Me Babe” and I almost finished a book review of Christopher Ricks’ “Dylan’s Visions of Sin.”

The Disability report attempts to describe the current PEI situation and provide solutions. It’s off my desk for review.

“It Ain’t Me Babe” is a venerable Dylan song; however, like all venerable Dylan songs its too well known. While I am amazed at the cool C’ D’ chords, people get up to leave the room when you play it. The new arrangement comes from his 2004 ‘Never Ending Tour’. Very dark. Deeter does not like it: he tries to fly away. Too many bass notes: too moody. It’s coming together and may get a tryout at Baba’s this week.

I started spelling Baba’s correctly just a half an hour ago. Hey, it’s dark up there and who reads signs.

Ricks’ “Dylan Visions of Sin” – er, I didn’t start the review except in my head. I still have one more report to write but I think it’ll be done after lunch. The book review will be in the next 24 hours. Great book if you are a student of poetry or songwriting.

The office is still full of guitars, amps, recorders, the synth and cables. Now I have my two favourite things in one place: music and computers. They suggested a bed will be next. I’ll design a bed that comes down from the ceiling and hovers over the mess. That way I won’t have to put anything away.

National Union of Public and General Employees pic
I posted that Bob Dylan song as a non-verbal protest against the threats that are piling up against me. The work I do in disability advocacy has become hot and I’m in the kitchen.

PEI is a very political world. A fair amount of the economy involves working for the federal or provincial governments. If you don’t work for them, you work for someone who supplies goods and services to them. I was not immune to that: Island Computer one of my companies got 60% of its revenues from government sales. Aquilium Software did 100% with city governments and utilities.

It’s not wise to bite the hand that feeds you. One learns to keep original thoughts to themselves. Free speech is for late at night, inside the closet with the door closed. It does tend to stifle dissent which is bad for democracy but good for dictatorship.

However, I can’t be a disability advocate without telling the truth about what is happening to Islanders with disabilities. This apparently is making people mad. I’ve been warned three times recently that the Government will try to get even. I’m trying to think – I’m retired, have a disability, my children all live away. Oh yes, they try to get even with your children if they can’t attack you. If you hear I got killed by a car that crossed 4 lanes of traffic, you’ll know.

This government puts on a smiling face but behind the scenes it is mean. Remember the hundreds of people fired when the Binns government came in, simply because they were presumed to be from the other political party, the liberals. They passed legislation to limit settlements. The government bullied most of the fired into tiny settlements. A few brave souls took the government to court and won. Then they won on appeal.

They are mean to people with disabilities as well who did nothing to pique their ire. I don’t intend to stop until the job is done. Always been like that: always will.

In 1783 Charles Alexandre de Calonne minister to Louis XVI said ‘Si cʾest possible , cʾest fait. Impossible? cela se fera.’ It has been my motto for decades: The difficult we do now: the impossible takes a little longer.