EXCERPT (s): “… some Powerball® thoughts” & “Another New Year, Another New Season” March 19, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, New Year, Nowruz, One Hoop, Poetry, Ramadan, Twin Cities, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Andy Greene, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Beecher, Dave Van Ronk, Ecology, Feast Day of Saint Joseph, Nowruz, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Spring, Tony Glover
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who were celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, Lent, and/or the Feast Day of Saint Joseph!
“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating (tonight and tomorrow) and Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox (tomorrow) to those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Peace, ease, and (the best) ecology to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“When Bob Dylan‘s self-titled debut LP hit shelves on March 19th, 1962, it didn’t sound anything like the popular music of the time. It was the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including ‘Dear Lady Twist’ by Gary U.S. Bonds, ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, ‘Hey, Let’s Twist’ by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, ‘Twistin’ Postman’ by the Marvelettes and ‘Alvin Twist’ by the Chipmunks.”
— quoted from the 2012 Rolling Stone article “50 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Released His Debut Album – Album was recorded in six hours for $402” by Andy Greene
The following is an excerpt from a 2023 post:
“[Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan,] was recorded on November 20th and 22nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (‘Talkin’ New York’ and ‘Song to Woody’), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… ‘borrowed’ (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.
The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time….
In addition to ‘Peppermint Twist,’ also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ is its own ‘lottery’ cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, ‘To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.’ Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan — as well as his voice and his style — to Elvis Presley.
Which is weird to me.”
Click on the excerpt title below for the entire post about how Bob Dylan hit the metaphorical lottery (and why I think it was weird that some people compared him to Elvis).
“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”
— quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan
Please join me today (Wednesday, March 19th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05242022 Bob’s Poems”]
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR CELEBRATIONS RELATED TO TONIGHT & TOMORROW!
FTWMI: Another New Year, Another New Season (a “renewed” post)
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
A Joyful Practice 