I've been slowly getting into Bob Dylan for a long time. I've had two different greatest hits cd's for years; ii've always liked the typical tracks like Lay Lady Lay, Like a Rolling Stone, Mr Tambourine Man, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue etc. When Wonder Boys was released i bought the cd single for Things Have Changed, a song i love. On that single there was also a version of To Make You Feel My Love (live) which wasn't great, the video for Things Have Changed, and the song Hurricane. Now, this was the first time i'd ever heard this song and i thought it was great. I was listening to it one evening in the kitchen when i remarked to Donna "this is a great song, it'd make a great film!". Of course, she laughed and called me a fecking idiot (well, she actually said f**king eejit) and informed me that it's a true story and the movie The Hurricane with Denzel Washington is based on the same story. She went on to tell me that there is a lot of controversy surrounding it, and the "facts" have oft been debated.
About four or five weeks ago Uncut magazine did a special two covers edition featuring Bob Dylan and there was a different cd with both of the different covers. The cds were other artists and bands covering Dylan. I bought both. There were songs like Echo and the Bunnymen doing Its all Over Now Baby Blue, The Charlatans doing Tonight I'll be Staying Here With You, Paul Westerberg doing Postively 4th Street, Lee Ranaldo doing Visions of Johanna, The Hollies doing The Times they are a-changin'.The Waterboys doing Girl from the North Country, etcmany of them exclusive to the magaizne, many of them taken from previoius releases. ONe of hte most innovative on there was, imo, Ani DiFranco doing Hurricane; she lends a very different flavour to the song, but certainly does it justice. Anyway, the point: in the little blurb they give about this song they say " Feminist icon Ani DiFranco offers a radical reinvention of "Hurricane", the song that in 1976 found Dylan returning to his role of broadside balladeer when he took up the case of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Dylan believed Carter had been framed for a murder he did not commit- although others ***including Joni Mitchell*** reached a different conclusion...." Has Joni gone on record talking about this case? and what exactly was her stance? What was the dominating view of the day? GARRET np- Emmylou Harris, Every Grain of Sand
