"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob
Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of
verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a
gruelling tour of England. During a difficult two day's pre-production,
Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was recorded
without success as a waltz. A breakthrough was made when it was tried
in a rock music format, and rookie session musician Al Kooper
improvised the organ riff for which the track is known. However,
Columbia Records was unhappy with both the song's length at over six
minutes and its heavy electric sound, and were hesitant to release it.
It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular
music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a
single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long
track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached number two in the US charts and
became a worldwide hit. The track has been described as revolutionary
in its combination of different musical elements, the youthful, cynical
sound of Dylan's voice, and the directness of the question in the
chorus: "How does it feel?". "Like a Rolling Stone" transformed
Dylan's
career and is today considered one of the most influential compositions
in post-war popular music and has since its release been both a music
industry and popular culture milestone which elevated Dylan's image to
iconic. The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Jimi
Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Wailers and Green Day.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Rolling_Stone>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1746:
Second Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie occupied the town of
Stirling, Scotland, but failed to capture its castle.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling>
1790:
George Washington delivered the first ever State of the Union address
in New York City, then the provisional capital of the United States.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union_address>
1838:
Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse conducted the first successful public
demonstration of the telegraph.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Vail>
1889:
Statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electric
tabulating machine, the precursor to modern computers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith>
1956:
Five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States were
killed by the Huaorani in the rainforest of Ecuador shortly after
making contact with them.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Auca>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
centiday (n):
One one-hundredth (1/100) of one day; that is, 14 minutes and 24
seconds
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/centiday>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
My intent is to tell the truth as I know it, realizing that what is
true for me may be blasphemy for others.
--Gerry Spence
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerry_Spence>
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