Hi everyone, yesterday was my day off however it was also the birthday of one of the greatest American songwriters – whose music happens to be a favorite of mine and so I’m going to discuss that songwriter – Bob Dylan — just a little bit and then move on to the topic for today, Saturday, May 25, 2013!
On This Day In American HIstory: May 24: Bob Dylan, who turned 72 yesterday, was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota on May 24, 1941. His first album was simply titled “Bob Dylan,” and was released in 1962. Dylan only included two of his songs on that first album the other songs were written by other songwriters. In 1963 he released his second album the seminal “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” for which he wrote all the songs – and all the songs on that album are terrific and they include the following songs which have since become been recorded by many other artists: “Blowin’ in The Wind,” “Masters of War,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”
Dylan is a phenomenal songwriter and it is the opinion of this humble music fan that the albums he released in the 1960s are his best work, generally speaking – so you can’t go wrong checking out any of them! Those albums include the previously mentioned “Freewheelin,” “The Times They Are A-Changin,” “Another Side of Bob Dylan,” “Brining It All Back Home,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “John Wesley Harding,” and “Blonde on Blonde.”
And if all of that is too much – you might simply check out the CD “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits” the library owns it and it offers a great introduction to Dylan’s music.
I will warn you if you haven’t heard him sing Bob Dylan is a great songwriter but at his best as a singer he sounds like he’s singing with a mouth full of gravel so if you prefer listening to his great songs but by singers who are melodious – you might want to check out versions of his songs by other artists like Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary.
Here’s a link to a bio biography of Dylan:
http://www.biography.com/people/bob-dylan-9283052
And a link to a the albums page on the official Dylan website:
http://www.bobdylan.com/us/albums
On This Day In American History – May 25:
On This Day In American History: May 25: On May 25, 1977 one of the most popular films ever made in American was released and the name of that motion picture was Star Wars. Star Wars was the fourth installment of George Lucas’s planned nine film series and although originally simply titled “Star Wars” this first film is now known as “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope” and that first ever Star Wars release, and its two immediate sequels “Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” chronicled the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and the Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi (played in the first three releases by the classic British actor Alec Guinness).
Star Wars was a huge hit both in the United States and worldwide when it was released in 1977 and the phrase “Let the Force be with you” which was first heard in that first film very quickly became a household known phrase (meaning of course most people heard it and knew it came from the Star Wars film). Star Wars won six of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for in 1977 and even received a special Academy Award for sound effects.
And on a personal note, I am of the right age to have literally grown up with the first three Star Wars movies ever released. I’m 47 now so I was 11 in 1977 when the first film came out and the story was certainly compelling but the special effects were something that we really hadn’t seen before on television or in the movies – they were fantastic! And when I watched Star Wars on the big screen; for the first time while watching a science fiction film I could actually believe I could walk right into the screen and into the story – the special effects were that good.
I would also like to note that during the years when the first three films came out – the films were then known by fans simply as “Star Wars” (Episode IV), “The Empire Strikes Back” (Episode V) and Return of the Jedi (Episode VI) – I mention that simply to make it easier to recall what the films are called! And of course the prequel trilogy, which does not feature Luke, Leia and company but instead their father Anakin Skywalker, a young Obi Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) consist of the films “The Phantom Menace” (Episode I), “The Clone Wars” (Episode II) and “Revenge of the Sith” (Episode III).
And if you have a Blu-ray player at home – I urge you to check out the Star Wars films on Blu-ray that the library has in its collection – they age great! And since Disney recently purchased the rights to make additional Star Wars movies you might watch, or re-watch as the case may be, those first three films as a precursor to Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX which will be coming out in several parts staring in 2015!
And on a last Star Wars note – did you know that there is an Official Star Wars website? There is! And you can learn more about the Star Wars universe and eventually find a release date for Star Wars: Episode VII (which I don’t believe has a name yet!) when Disney sees fit to release the information.
Here’s the link:
http://starwars.com/
Have a great weekend!
Linda R.
References
Albums. Bob Dylan. Online. Accessed May 23, 2013. http://www.bobdylan.com/us/albums
Bob Dylan. Bio. Online. Accessed May 23, 2013.
Chase’s Calendar of Events 2013. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2013.
The American Dream Starts @ The Southeast Steuben County Library 