Word: harmonicas
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...adulation increased, so did the albums in my collection and my knowledge of Dylan trivia. I printed out lyrics and hung them up on the wall, and put a poster of Dylan with a harmonica right above my bed. I saw him in concert with Paul Simon and was the only one of my friends who could identify most of his songs. Play “Like a Rolling Stone!” one friend kept yelling in exasperation, and then “Bring out Paul Simon!” But I was far more excited about a radically...
...voice soared. At several points, Stipe even got down on one knee to serenade the audience, which drew bouts of loud cheering, leading directly into “Bad Day,” another crowd-pleaser whose energy drew more cheers and singing along. When Stipe took out a harmonica and played while smiling and dancing, the crowd laughed and danced right with...
When playing or performing, the band switches around not only people but instruments—they all play one or more of the following: keyboard harmonica, megaphone, Reason 2.5 (beat synthesizer), keyboard, analog flute, mandolin, guitar, bass and assorted electronic sounds. Somewhere in there, the band members fit in largely improvised lyrics. The Elegant Touch claims that their main goal is to show everyone else how easy it is to start a band; as Ellingson says, “Even people with no talent can rock a crowd...
Departing from the painstaking economy of Johnson’s guitar-and-voice arrangements, Clapton gives the erstwhile-skeletal pieces the full rock and roll treatment: his veteran band (which includes luminaries like keyboardist Billy Preston) adorns Johnson’s work with bass, drums, keyboard and harmonica. The extra sonic dimension feels more like revelation than heresy; the ease with which Clapton and his band introduce these new layers testifies to the oceanic depth of the songs. From the slow and dirty grind of “Milkcow’s Calf Blues?...
...smooth grooves, and the guitar playing is predictably spectacular, but in the process of stretching the songs Clapton strips them of their intensity. Billy Preston's bouncy keyboards make 32-20 Blues sound like a Country Bear Jamboree performance of Chopin's Funeral March, while the snare hits and harmonica clichés on Traveling Riverside Blues sound like Johnson channeled through a Michelob ad. Clapton's vocals don't help matters. You can tell he's ecstatic to be covering his idol, but his exuberance increases the disconnection between the music and the material. Johnson was one dark dude...