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Soundcheck

Monday, June 28, 2004
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  • Bob Dylan photo next to Blood on the Tracks cover
    Bob Dylan and Blood on the Tracks cover (Ram's Horn Music)

    Tangled Points of View

    An ambitious concert this week at Merkin Hall pays homage to Bob Dylan’s intimate 1975 masterpiece “Blood on the Tracks.” While many tribute concerts tend to be hodgepodge affairs, veering all over the map, this one promises to honor its subject rather than paling beside it. That’s because of its first-rate bill of artists, three of whom—singer/songwriters Jen Chapin and Richard Barone and guitarist Alex DeGrassi—join host John Schaefer with a preview.

Additional Resources:

» More about the "Blood on the Tracks" Project
» Blood on the Tracks lyrics and audio clips

audience

Soundcheck Smackdown: When Contemporary Met Classical

Soundcheck

Like vegetables stuck into a delicious meal, contemporary classical music is forced on concert audiences before they are allowed to enjoy their Brahms. So says humorist, critic and author Joe Queenan. Today, Queenan and John Berry, Artistic Director with English National Opera, join us for a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on the merits of contemporary music.

musical clouds

You Are What You Hear

Soundcheck

Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi takes us through some of the most famously botched song lyrics in rock history. We’ll explore why the words we make up are usually more interesting than the real version. Then, listeners confess their favorite and most embarrassing reinvented lyrics.

Leave a comment: Give us your favorite set of misheard lyrics! Were you disappointed when you learned the actual words?

Rosanne Cash and Mark O'Connor

Soundcheck

For her, he was a father. For him, he was a boyhood hero. For the nation, he was an icon. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash and composer and violinist Mark O'Connor join us to talk about how Johnny Cash has inspired their musical collaboration. And they will play live.

Katy

Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll

Soundcheck

Every year, popular and critical opinion somehow converge to settle on a "summer song." In 2007, it was Rihanna's "Umbrella." The year before, it was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. The practice stretches back to the very dawn of pop radio. Yet defining the essence of a "summer song" is a bit elusive. We enlist the help of Blender editor at large Lizzy Goodman -- and of our Soundcheck listeners, in an online poll.

Cast your vote: Soundcheck's Summer Song Poll 2008

Can't decide? Check out audio and video clips of the contestants here.

Our blog: John Schaefer asks what makes a good summer song,

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