High School Band gets visit from Secret Service for playing Dylan's "Masters of War" at talent show

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I wonder if they were more inspired by Pearl Jam's cover version than the Dylan tune, since -- as pointed out on the Metafilter thread -- Dylan apparently hasn't sung that last verse since his "conversion" to "Christianity" in the '80s.

Anyway, fascinating and upsetting story:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=247437&page=1

― Nostalgia for the Old Cineramadome (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck. You poor poor Americans.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn! If I had known this yesterday I could have used it in my speech about music censorship.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 00:43 (twenty-one years ago)

So completely pathetic.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 01:08 (twenty-one years ago)

4 more years of this shit to come, folks. Have fun.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Four, if we're lucky.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

...and I thought I was a Dylan hater!

― peepee (peepee), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 01:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Dylan still sings the last verse.

― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 02:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Secret Service Guy#1: "So tell us more about this 'Dylan' guy."
Student #1 (the guitarist): "Bob Dylan? C'mon dude."
Secret Service Guy#2: "Write that down -- he has an alias."
Student #2 (the nerdy bass player): "Actually, to be accurate, Bob is his real name. Dylan is the alias. His real name is Zimmerman."
Secret Service Guy#1: "Jesus, we're dealing with a master of disguises here."
Secret Service Guy#2: (on radio) "Yeah, we're gonna need backup."

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 03:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Hahaha.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Let's hope they don't find out his grandparents were Russians...

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 03:37 (twenty-one years ago)

This Secret Service don't seem that secret to me. Perhaps they should call it the bleedin' obvious service.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 09:33 (twenty-one years ago)

The bleedin' obvious and fucking stupid service, maybe?

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 09:34 (twenty-one years ago)

"Hello, we are the secret service!"
"Shh!"
"Oh yeah."

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 09:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Not wishing to sound like an apologist here, but perhaps the grand dipshit prize should go to the students and adults who phoned the obvious first port of call, talk radio, to express their alarm

― DJ Mencap0))), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 10:00 (twenty-one years ago)

What a cool fuckin' band. When I was in school, I had to play the "Rocky" theme until I was blue in the lips.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 12:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, we're not talking a marching band. Sorry ....

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 12:34 (twenty-one years ago)

DAMN. i was so psyched for a second that this was gonna be a band from my high school.... seriously though, given the situation, i'm more surprised that anyone in boulder actually took offense at this rather than that the secret service actually came. i'm also surprised that the band hasn't become boulder's OFFICIAL MUSIC REPRESENTATIVE.

He said other students who saw the tryouts and were upset by the presentation discussed it with their parents but are afraid of speaking up because of the political environment within the school and in Boulder, considered the most liberal city in Colorado.

yeah this is crap. at most, there's 4 conservative high school students in the entire city. serious.

― lemin (lemin), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"apparently hasn't sung that last verse since his "conversion" to "Christianity" in the '80s."

Wasn't "Masters of War" the tune that Dylan played at the Grammys when they gave him a lifetime achievement award during the first Gulf War?

― earlnash, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)

"I wonder if they were more inspired by Pearl Jam's cover version than the Dylan tune, since -- as pointed out on the Metafilter thread -- Dylan apparently hasn't sung that last verse since his "conversion" to "Christianity" in the '80s. "

I don't get this logic -- Who learns songs from live versions? Why wouldn't they just listen to one of the versions from back when Dylan was actually *good*? And who the hell can understand Eddie Vedder's singing anyway? Though if a tape emerges and the singer sounds like he hasn't taken a dump for three days, I'll agree with you.

― chuck, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

(obiligitory flame response from dylan fan)

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

> the most liberal city in Colorado

That's kinda like being the most outrageous performer in Branson, ne?

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

chuck - i have never heard dylan's original and only know the pearl jam live cover (on the Unplugged & Undrugged bootleg)

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the Pearl Jam version is the definitive one to anyone under 25.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

ahem, under 30.

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

35. No wait, 40, I BID 50!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

That's really sad. No matter what the age is.

(And it's also funny that somebody called me a Dylan fan right after I said that he's sucked for at least the past quarter-century.)

I still want to get a tape of these Boulder kids, though. I bet they blow Pearl Jam out of the water (which wouldn't be difficult at all).

― chuck, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

My coworker and I were wondering at the timing of the Pearl Jam best-of being released around when the Nirvana box set came out. IT'S 1993 ALL OVER AGAIN! Er.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

the pearl jam best of is interesting... i've been a fan of the band's for years, but feel the first album's production is so horribly dated its ruined the songs for me (i caught flak at Kerrang! recently by writing that Ten is their worst album). well, they've got brendan o'brien to remix the Ten cuts, slicing away the excessive reverb and yells, and they sound grand.

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

and sorry, chuck, i think dylan is a great songwriter but i've never enjoyed his records. just my opinion.

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm a reasonably big Dylan fan (IE I bought up to the sixth volume of The Official Bootlegs) and I can't stand Pearl Jam except! that cover version spits fire.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Stevie, my friend, I agree exactly with you on that point re: Dylan.

i caught flak at Kerrang! recently by writing that Ten is their worst album

It is their worst album! You can jettison half of it -- including most of the singles -- without a worry.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the Mark Arm version

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

sadly, Ten was the editor's favourite album ever, hence the flak. although i did take glee in pointing out that pearl jam themselves seemed to share my ire for Ten, in hiring Brendan to do the remix.

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah the mark arm version is amazing!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's a rule that the Secret Service have to investigate every stupid little thing reported to them, 'cause you never know.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

what's the mark arm version on?

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

sup pop 7" with great spoof of "Freewheelin" cover

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

it was released the day the first Gulf War started

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

wait until the secret service finds out he recorded that song, his goose is cooked

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey Record Collector SS Man:
http://www.gemm.com/c/search.pl?currency=US&field=ARTIST+OR+TITLE&wild=mark+arm

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Or better yet:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=17:957380

― chuck, Tuesday, 16 November 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

That's kinda like being the most outrageous performer in Branson, ne?

I don't quite understand the reference, but if you mean to say that Colorado is by definition liberal, then you are very very wrong.

― lemin (lemin), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

No, I meant quite the opposite: Branson's a family-friendly showtown with little outrageosity.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

well have it this way then:
were Boulder in Vermont, it would possibly be the most liberal city in the state.

― lemin (lemin), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah. I gave/give Boulder too little credit then. My apologies.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 16 November 2004 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Re "marching band": in the late 70s, I saw Dylan do a speed metal big band version of this song. He had about twenty musicians and gospel singers on stage, and he'd use different configurations for different songs. It was during the Hostage Crisis, and well-received. When I later heard rockcritic-certified speed metal, I recognized it (but said hey where da horns). I guess one reason for doing it so fast (and with horns for cover), was so that last verse would go zipping past (but he sang it).

― don, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 02:22 (twenty-one years ago)

re wanting to hear a tape: get in line buddy. Good publicity, as with all this kind of scandal (saw VH-1's History of Rap again this afternoon, with NWA knowing they'd arrived when got that letter from the FBI)Then again, NWA was probably beyond expulsion (you think?) That teacher is sooo done.

― don, Wednesday, 17 November 2004 02:26 (twenty-one years ago)

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