Dylan Honors Wellstone

Subject: Dylan Honors Wellstone
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 09:01 AM

Trying to move the Wellstone discussion to a higher ground, where we can discuss memories and music, I thought I'd offer some folk music information for anyone interested in how folk music is being used in the grieving process here--and it is--during the memorials and vigils. In my post to the other Wellstone thread about the Friday prayer vigil at the Minnesota Capitol (and let's keep the politics in that thread, if people would please be so gracious), I mentioned that Minnesota folk musician Larry Long sang a song he had written last summer while campaigning with the Wellstones, called "Be the Change". He will be singing it again at tonight's public memorial.

Also, the motto for this year's campaign was "Stand Up and Keep Fighting". Larry Long, with Twin Cities gospel musician JD Steele, will perform a song they co-wrote for the campaign titled, oddly enough, "Stand Up and Keep Fighting" with a choir of local Minnesota musicians.

And finally, I've copied an article from today's St. Paul Pioneer Press about Dylan's concert, for those of you who are interested in what folk music's most famous Minnesota Iron Ranger is doing to honor Paul's legacy:

Posted on Tue, Oct. 29, 2002   

Dylan honors Wellstone at concert
BY JOHN NEMO
Special to the Pioneer Press

Hibbing, Minn., native Bob Dylan, who grew up less than 30 miles from where Sen. Paul Wellstone's plane crashed near Eveleth, Minn., last weekend, dedicated a song to the late senator during his Denver concert Saturday.

The surprise move fueled speculation among Dylan fans about what the singer might do to honor the populist senator during his Wednesday show at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Dylan, remembering his roots and one of Minnesota's most outspoken politicians, dedicated "The Times They Are A-Changin' " in Wellstone's honor and told the Denver audience, "This is for a great man and a great senator from Minnesota."

Wellstone — along with his wife, daughter and five others — died in a plane crash Friday.

The only words the singer spoke all evening were about Wellstone, said Jason Shogren, 44, a Cloquet, Minn., native who lives in Laramie, Wyo., and drove to Denver to see Dylan.

"He said it fast, and he was to the point," Shogren said during a telephone interview. "And everybody got it. And then he didn't say anything again all night until he introduced the band. But that's not unusual. I've been to Dylan shows where he never says a word."

Shogren said the crowd let out "a pretty good yell" in support of Wellstone after Dylan's remarks.

"The crash was definitely hovering out there on people's minds, and the fact that he acknowledged it was good," Shogren said.

"I thought the plane crash definitely had an effect on the set list," said Lynne Robinson, 48, who drove from Taos, N.M., to see Dylan in Denver. "The concert was very politically themed," she said during a telephone interview.

As for the Xcel Center show, it's anybody's guess whether Dylan will again do something special in memory of Wellstone.

Publicists for Dylan, who performs in Ames, Iowa, tonight, could not be reached Monday.

"He is so unpredictable I wouldn't play any guessing games around this man," Robinson said. "He's very spontaneous, and when it happened the other day, it struck him and he went with it. But you can't ever predict what he's going to do."

Subject: RE: Dylan Honors Wellstone
From: GUEST,abjb
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 11:48 AM

Thanks for the article. Tuesday's Memorial at Williams Arena is to be broadcast on CSpan, 6:30 CST.
Folks in Northeastern Minnesota are planning a memorial for Friday at the Virginia, MN, High School Theater, 4:30-6:30. The tribal drum from Bois Forte will open the ceremony. There will be clergy from several faiths, a few short remarks from friends and some of us with local ties have been asked to sing.

Subject: RE: Dylan Honors Wellstone
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Oct 02 - 11:59 AM

There was a terrific tribute on Prairie Home Companion: please click here