Tag Archives: dan bern

40. Hey Hey, Rock-n-Roll is here to stay

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My parents have a vacation house in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin which is close to Minocqua. One day my daughter and I were browsing the shops in the Boardwalk Shops of Minocqua. We both love books and were happy to find a bookstore there. We walked in and were greeted with the smell of old books, coffee and familiar music coming over the sound system. Clare immediately said – Mom! It’s Dan Bern. I replied that it couldn’t have been Dan Bern. Not here in this small bookstore in Minocqua. I said it was probably a Dylan song that sounded like one of Dan’s. As I walked further into the store I realized that the song was indeed by Dan Bern (I don’t remember which song it was) and cried out. DAN BERN!

The shopkeeper, who was helping another customer, looked up and said, “Yes. Dan Bern. Do you know his music?” We then chatted for 45 minutes about how we knew about Dan and what albums we owned. (In my case it was every album plus hundreds of bootlegs and live recordings – in his case it was just one compilation he’d put together while working at a radio station that played Dan’s music).

I bought a couple of books, then mentioned that I was interested in expanding my horizons within the singer-songwriter arena and asked for his advice. He pointed out a couple of musicians, but the one that thought I’d like most was Todd Snider. The fact that there was a song called Statistician Blues on the album he showed me was the final factor (my husband is a statistician).

The shopkeeper was right.We loved Todd Snider. He was funny and a good singer. Even my husband liked some of the songs (but not the one about the statistician).

The kids favorite was Beer Run.

Here he is playing Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues

So it made my day a few weeks ago to see that Todd Snider was going to be playing at the Birchmere. With none other than Dan Bern.

I bought my ticket today.

28. Voices of new generations

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I have a confession to make. Until I became interested in Dan Bern, I’d never actively listened to a song by Bob Dylan. Oh, I knew his name and might even have been able to name a song he wrote, but if I had an opinion of him it would have been – famous singer with the bad voice.

As for Bruce Springsteen – I knew who he was and knew a couple of songs he wrote and sang, however I had a grudge against him. It was a completely unfair grudge, but a grudge nonetheless. See, when my husband and I first began dating he led me to believe I’d be going to a Bruce Springsteen concert with him and some of his friends. Then he told me that I wasn’t invited. That there were not enough tickets to go around. I was taken aback that he’d go without me, but he did and had a wonderful time. Not only that, the person who’d either gotten the tickets or promised him the tickets was a girl I was already jealous of. So Bruce was not spoken of around me. Ever.

I did know who Woody Guthrie was though – and liked his music.

Since discovering Bern, I’ve I’ve listened to music from all of the above, and have done a little reading about them. However, I’ve never found out if the story about Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan is true. Did Woody, on his deathbed, really tell Bob to go out and be the voice of the new generation? Anyone know? Del?

Here’s Dan Bern’s sequel to that tale.

Talking Woody, Bob, Bruce & Dan Blues

Well, when Woody Guthrie was sick and dying
Bob Dylan visited him as he was lying
In a hospital bed Bob sang him songs
Woody smiled and said I’m glad you come
You belong here
Go forth and be the voice of your generation

Well, above Beverly Hills one night real late
I snuck past a security gate
Parked by a Mercedes Benz
Climbed up a barbed wire fence and over
Couple of scratches, but I’d made it
To the home of Bruce Springsteen

Well, I found the boss asleep in bed
Pillows piled up round his head
I turned on the light took off my coat
Stuck a thermometer down his throat
Said don’t talk
You look pale , Boss
Not at all well

I said you look bad and I asked him could he
Think of us as Bob and Woody
I said you just rest your pretty head
As I sing to you in your hospital bed
He said what the hell you talking about
I ain’t sick
This ain’t a hospital
And how’d you get past the security gate

I said I wrote you a song called Song To Bruce
With a tune I stole from one of yours
To his platinum records next I pointed
Said I just want to be anointed
Springsteen, I wrote you a song
‘Bout a funny ol’ world that’s a coming along
Seems sick and it’s tired it’s hard and it’s torn
It looks like it’s dying and it’s hardly been born
He started really looking sick
And I stopped singing

Then Patty his wife came in I said jeez
I’m sorry about your husband’s incurable disease
I’m here to help any way I can
You know, Woody and Bob, Bruce and Dan
She said honey, what am I hearing?
He said baby, you know I’m in the prime of life
I said down to two million in sales last time out
Read the signs, Patty

He said some people think this record’s my best
I said shhhhh, you need your rest
He said there’s a madman on the loose
I said Woody and Bob, Dan and Bruce

He sprang out of his bed and said
All right, I’ve heard enough of this stuff
He grabbed my throat and dragged me hard
Down the hall and through the yard
Suprising strength for a dying man

Well, he threw me out the way I come
Barbed wire scraped my face and thumbs
I’ve been thinking ever since
Bob and Woody
Dan and the artist formerly known as Prince
Dan and Madonna
Bob and Woody-
Dan and Bob
So long, Bel Air
Howdy, Malibu

25. I’m lookin’ for one thing real tonight

Music, Song Blog,
Otter asked me what my favorite Dan Bern song was. I still don’t really know, but for a while I considered One Thing Real to be it. He seemed to play it every time I saw him live the first couple of years. The one time I really remember was the time I worried about him most.

He’d been promised the Music Hall at the Birchmere. This is the same Birchmere that launched Mary Chapin Carpenter among others. The new Birchmere has a large room with a stage and seating for hundreds of people. Birchmere has a policy that if you don’t sell a certain number of tickets before the show day, they don’t put you in the Music Hall. My friend’s boyfriend worked there at the time and told me the bad news.

I worried that Dan would be upset that he’d been denied the Music Hall. I got there early to get a good seat in the Bandstand – Pretty much just an extension of the bar. I didn’t have to worry. There were a handful of people there. I sat front and center. I could put my feet on the stage if I’d dared. (for those of you thinking of ever seeing Dan Bern live – I’d suggest you not sit that close. See, he gets really into his songs and sometimes saliva is involved. If you like that kind of thing, then go for it. Otherwise, sit a couple of rows back).

So anyway, he got on stage and seemed out of it as I’d worried. He’d plugged his guitar in and sang a couple of songs. Then he sang my favorite, One Thing Real.

When he got to this part:

I’m up here singin’ these songs every night
Sometimes I wanna just make ’em all up on the spot
Maybe they wouldn’t rhyme too good, they might not make sense
But then at least I wouldn’t be repeating myself
I’m lookin’ for one thing real tonight

He stopped singing but still strummed his his guitar and he looked at the small audience. Then told us that if we wanted to we could crowd around the stage and he’d sing unplugged – since it was such a small audience. In retrospect, perhaps he was not angry – maybe disappointed, but wanted to give us a good performance as possible. And that meant intimate.

Although I was worried for him at the time and didn’t really like the show, a friend gave me a CD he’d burned from a recording he’d made of the show. All-in-all, it was a good show and the intimacy made it all the better. If he had been on the big stage in the Music Hall it would have been so different.