The Fat Angel Sings

The Grammys weekend kicked off Friday night with “MusiCares Person of the Year”, the annual ceremony honoring musicians for their achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy. This year’s recipient was Bob Dylan.  Acts from Neil Young to Bonnie Raitt to Bruce Springsteen performed across four different stages with no interruption. Aside from Bob Dylan lyrics, there were barely any words said.

On Friday night, the music did all of the talking. And so did Dylan.

Beck kicked it off and played the harmonica, as did Alanis Morissette, who sang “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Bruce Springsteen jammed with Tom Morello on “‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door'” while  Neil Young closed the night with “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Norah Jones played piano and Jack White played guitar. Other performers included John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Tom Jones, who earned rousing applause when he hit the stage. Willie Nelson kicked off “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)” with a slow burn, but paused as he waited for lyrics to appear on the monitor.”We need the lyrics,” he said.

The top-billing icons paid tribute to the everlasting Bob Dylan, who was named MusiCares Person of the Year by the Recording Academy. After accepting his award from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the singer-songwriter went on to speak for 40 minutes, scrolling through page after page of his written speech. “I’m glad for my songs to be honored like this. But, you know, they didn’t get here themselves. It’s been a long road and it’s taken a lot of doing,” he said.

The evening featured an all-star tribute concert featuring Beck, Jack White, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Tom Jones, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Alanis Morissette. The full setlist below.

Beck – “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”
Aaron Neville – “Shooting Star”
Alanis MorissSette – “Subterranean Homesick Blues”
Los Lobos – “On A Night Like This”
Willie Nelson – “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)”
Jackson Browne – “Blind Willie McTell”
John Mellencamp – “Highway 61 Revisited”
Jack White – “One More Cup Of Coffee”
Tom Jones – “What Good Am I?”
Norah Jones – “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”
Dereck Trucks And Susan Tedeschi – “Million Miles”
John Doe – “Pressing On”
Crosby, Stills & Nash – “Girl From The North County”
Bonnie Raitt – “Standing In The Doorway”
Sheryl Crow – “Boots Of Spanish Leather”
Bruce Springsteen – “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
Neil Young – “Blowin’ In The Wind”

Bob Dylan didn’t perform, but he did speak during the event. He specifically thanked nine musicians who helped shape him over the years. Peter , Paul and Mary, The Byrds, The Turtles, Sonny And Cher, Pervis Staples And The Staples Singers, Nina Simone, and Joan Baez. And, as Rolling Stone reports, he paid special attention to Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash:

We can’t forget Jimi Hendrix. I actually saw Jimi perform when he was with a band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Something like that. And Jimi didn’t even sing. He was just the guitar player. He took some small songs of mine that nobody paid any attention to and brought them up into the outer limits of the stratosphere, turned them all into classics. I have to thank Jimi, too. I wish he was here.

Johnny Cash recorded some of my songs early on, too. I met him about ’63, when he was all skin and bones. He traveled long, he traveled hard, but he was a hero of mine. I heard many of his songs growing up. I knew them better than I knew my own. ’Big River,’ ’I Walk the Line.’ ’How High’s the Water, Mama’? I wrote ’It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ with that song reverberating inside my head. Johnny was an intense character, and he saw that people were putting me down [for] playing electric music. And he posted letters to magazines, scolding people, telling them to ’shut up and let him sing.’ In Johnny Cash’s world of hardcore Southern drama, that kind of thing didn’t exist. Nobody told anybody what to sing or what not to sing.

Dylan also questioned why critics give him a hard time about his singing style.

Critics say I can’t sing, I sound like a frog. Why don’t critics say that about Tom Waits? Critics say my voice is shot. Why don’t they say that about Leonard Cohen? What have I done to get this special attention?

“Voices are not to measured by how pretty they are,” he offered. “They’re to be measured by whether they’re telling the truth.”