The compilations feature live performances from some of the biggest stars to have appeared at the annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel, The Who, James Taylor, Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

The Bridge School Benefit Concerts are organised by Neil Young and his wife Pegi to benefit the Bridge School, which is a school for children with special needs. This year’s show takes place over two days on October 22 and October 23. Artists scheduled to perform include Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Arcade Fire, Eddie Vedder, Diana Krall, Beck, Mumford & Sons and more.

The 3-DVD edition of the set contains the following performances:

Disc 1

• “Born In The USA” – Bruce Springsteen
• “People Have The Power” – Patti Smith
• “Better Man” – Pearl Jam
• “Heroes” – David Bowie
• “There Will Be a Light” – Ben Harper
• “Girl From The North Country” – Bob Dylan
• “Country Feedback” – R.E.M.
• “Love Hurts” – Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller
• “Blue Ridge Mountains” – Fleet Foxes
• “The Road Is My Middle Name” – Bonnie Raitt
• “Rebel Yell” – Billy Idol.

Disc 2

• “Surfin’ USA” – Brian Wilson
• “The Way It Will Be” – Gillian Welch
• “Sense of Purpose” – The Pretenders
• “Fire and Rain” – James Taylor
• “America” – Simon and Garfunkel
• “Shadow of a Doubt” – Tom Petty
• “Too Much” – Dave Matthews
• “Crime In The City” – Neil Young
• “16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six” – Tom Waits
• “A Dream Come True” – Elton John & Leon Russell
• “Get Back” – Paul McCartney
• “Disposable Heroes” – Metallica
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – The Who.

Disc 3

Documentaries:

• Backstage at the Bridge School Benefit Concert
• The Bridge School Story
• Special Feature – Student/Artist Interviews.

The 2-CD edition contains the following tracks:

Disc 1

• “Born In The USA” – Bruce Springsteen
• “Too Much” – Dave Matthews
• “Magic’s In The Makeup” – No Doubt
• “Gone” – Jack Johnson
• “Blue Ridge Mountains” – Fleet Foxes
• “Love And Only Love” – Neil Young and Crazy Horse
• “Rain on Tin” – Sonic Youth
• “Better Man” – Pearl Jam
• “The Way It Will Be” – Gillian Welch
• “Country Feedback” – R.E.M. and Neil Young
• “The Great Divide” – Willie Nelson
• “Cry Just a Little” – Nils Lofgren.

Disc 2

• “Elsewhere” – Sarah McLachlan
• “Get Back” – Paul McCartney
• “A Dream Come True” – Elton John & Leon Russell
• “Marry Song” – Band Of Horses
• “Disposable Heroes” – Metallica
• “After The Gold Rush” – Thom Yorke
• “The Difficult Kind” – Sheryl Crow
• “Maybe This Time” – Tony Bennett
• “Déjà Vu” – CSNY
• “Jesus, Etc” – Norah Jones
• “I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar” – Jonathan Richman
• “Surfin’ USA” – Brian Wilson
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – The Who.

The vinyl edition features the same content as the CD edition.

You can pre-order “The Bridge School Benefit Concerts – 25th Anniversary Edition” now. Only the CD version is available in the UK.

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The country legend, who died in 1953, left behind a number of notebooks which contained many song ideas. Twelve songs have been finished and recorded by 13 artists for inclusion on “The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams.”

“The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams” track list:

1. Alan Jackson – “You’ve Been Lonesome, Too”
2. Bob Dylan – “The Love That Faded”
3. Norah Jones – “How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart?”
4. Jack White – “You Know That I Know”
5. Lucinda Williams – “I’m So Happy I Found You”
6. Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell – “I Hope You Shed a Million Tears”
7. Patty Loveless – “You’re Through Fooling Me”
8. Levon Helm – “You’ll Never Again Be Mine”
9. Holly Williams – “Blue Is My Heart”
10. Jakob Dylan – “Oh, Mama, Come Home”
11. Sheryl Crow – “Angel Mine”
12. Merle Haggard – “The Sermon on the Mount.”

Liner notes are provided by Michael McCall from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, who notes:

The collection will be released on October 4 and is available for pre-order now:

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The Concert for Bangladesh made its exclusive digital debut on iTunes this week to mark the 40th anniversary of the event.

Proceeds from the album downloads will benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF, which helps to provide emergency relief for children in famine and drought-stricken regions in the Horn of Africa.

The Concert for Bangladesh took place at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971 and featured performances by artists such as George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and Leon Russell. A triple-disc concert album was released later in the year and a concert film came out the following year.

The 40th anniversary of the show is also being marked by streaming of the Concert for Bangladesh feature film on GeorgeHarrison.com. It will stream for three days, from 11:59 pm EDT today through to 11:59pm EDT on August 1.

Those who wish to support the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF can find out more at www.theconcertforbangla​desh.com/monthofgiving

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Knopfler first worked with Dylan in 1979 when he played on the “Slow Train Coming” sessions. He also produced Dylan’s 1983 album “Infidels.”

Knopfler said in a statement:

Dylan/Knopfler tour dates

• Oct 06, 2011: Dublin, IE – The O2
• Oct 08, 2011: Glasgow, UK – Braehead Arena
• Oct 09, 2011: Glasgow, UK – Braehead Arena
• Oct 10, 2011: Manchester, UK – MEN Arena
• Oct 11, 2011: Nottingham, UK – Capital FM Arena
• Oct 13, 2011: Cardiff, UK – Motorpoint Arena
• Oct 14, 2011: Bournemouth, UK – BIC
• Oct 16, 2011: Lille, FR – Zénith
• Oct 17, 2011: Paris, FR – Bercy
• Oct 19, 2011: Antwerp, BE – Sportspaleis
• Oct 20, 2011: Rotterdam, NL – AHOY
• Oct 21, 2011: Luxembourg, LU – Rockhal
• Oct 23, 2011: Oberhausen, DE – König-Pilsener-Arena
• Oct 25, 2011: Mannheim, DE – SAP Arena
• Oct 26, 2011: Munich, DE – Olympiahalle München
• Oct 27, 2011: Leipzig, DE – Arena Leipzig
• Oct 29, 2011: Berlin, DE – O2 World
• Oct 31, 2011: Hamburg, DE – O2 World Hamburg
• Nov 02, 2011: Herning, DK – Jyske Bank Boxing
• Nov 03, 2011: Malmö, SE – Malmö Arena
• Nov 04, 2011: Stockholm, SE – Globe
• Nov 06, 2011: Hannover, DE – TUI Arena
• Nov 07, 2011: Nuremburg, DE – Arena Nürnberger
• Nov 08, 2011: Innsbruck, AT – Olympia Hall
• Nov 09, 2011: Padova, IT – Palasport Arcella
• Nov 11, 2011: Florence, IT – Nelson Mandela Forum
• Nov 12, 2011: Rome, IT – Palalottomattica
• Nov 14, 2011: Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
• Nov 15, 2011: Geneva, CH – SEG Geneva Arena
• Nov 16, 2011: Zurich, CH – Hallenstadion.

Dylan is currently on a North American tour, which will conclude on August 20 in Bangor, ME.

Knopfler will take time out from working on his new studio album to go on the tour.

John Lennon purchased the Gibson J-160 E Sunburst acoustic-electric guitar in 1967 and used it throughout the following year, including during the Beatles’ expedition to Rishikesh, India. Lennon gifted the guitar to Bob Dylan around Christmas 1968 and Dylan used the guitar for recording and on tour for many years.

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After Lennon died, Dylan reportedly became superstitious about owning the guitar and so gave it to guitar technician César Diáz.

The Gibson J-160 E was a model that John Lennon had used for years. His first J-160 E was ordered from America in September 1962 and arrived just in time for him to play it on the session that produced “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me” and “P.S. I Love You.” Gibson recognised Lennon’s long association with the guitar last year when they released three special J-160 E models to mark the seventieth anniversary of his birth.

The guitar is expected to fetch around $200,000.

Also featured in the sale is a four-page letter that Elvis wrote to his girlfriend Anita Wood in 1958. The letter was written six weeks after Elvis arrived in Germany, where he was stationed for his military service. Elvis was not a regular letter writer and so genuine examples are very hard to come by. This is an exceptional lot.

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The letter is expected to sell for around $60,000.

Another exciting Elvis lot is a Martin 00-21 acoustic guitar used by the star on stage in the early part of his career. It was later gifted to Hawaii Five-O star Jack Lord.

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The guitar is expected to fetch around $75,000.

Heritage Auctions will put these items under the hammer on July 29 as part of their Music and Entertainment auction in Dallas, Texas. Click here for further information.

Joan Baez first met Bob Dylan when he was performing at the Gerde’s Folk City club in Greenwich Village in 1961. Baez, who was at the time the more established performer, quickly recognised and was inspired by Dylan’s songwriting talent. She began including Dylan songs in her own set and also invited him to perform with her, including at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. Their relationship and Dylan’s own fame blossomed, but cracks would soon appear and they broke up after a tour of the UK in 1965.

Baez and Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963

In the 2005 documentary “No Direction Home,” Baez refers to the difficulties of the 1965 UK tour, noting that:

One source of conflict between the two was their differing views on political activism. Much to her frustration, Dylan shied away from the direct political action that she embraced. Baez felt that his voice carried weight and could be used to greater effect. Seven years later, she addressed this point head-on in the song “To Bobby.”

Dylan’s failure to invite Baez on stage during the UK tour was another indicator that it was time to move on. She had hoped that he would do so to help her career, just as she had done for him earlier. Dylan speaks with regret about this in “No Direction Home”:

“Diamonds & Rust” reflects upon Baez’s affair with Dylan almost 10 years after the break up and is written as a direct message to him. Dylan isn’t referred to by name in the song, but is readily identifiable as “the unwashed phenomenon” and “the original vagabond.” When Dylan asked Baez about the song shortly after its release, Baez coyly pretended that it had been written about her ex-husband, David Harris. She has since publicly stated that it is about Dylan and I’m sure he knew that all along.

The song begins with a phone call from her former lover, which triggers a series of memories of their time together, from the mundane “I bought you some cufflinks,” to the heartfelt “I once loved you dearly,” and the remembered slight “My poetry was lousy, you said.” The overall message is that, while the relationship is looked back at fondly, it also had its ups and downs – the metaphorical “diamonds and rust.”

The call from Dylan that is mentioned in the first two verses is not merely a poetic device. Baez has said that this call actually did occur and was indeed the inspiration for the song. Dylan had called her up and read out the lyrics of “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts,” which would appear on his album “Blood On The Tracks.”

It’s evident that a decade after their break up, Baez was in a reflective and nostalgic mood when recording the album “Diamonds & Rust,” for it is not only the title track that relates to Dylan. The song “Winds Of The Old Days” also directly references the relationship and she performs a cover of Dylan’s then recently released “Simple Twist Of Fate.”

The pair teamed up on stage again shortly after “Diamonds & Rust” as Baez joined Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975–76, during which the Dylan-directed movie “Renaldo and Clara” was shot. They also toured together in 1984.

In 1987, Baez told 60 Minutes:

Joan Baez – “Diamonds & Rust”

Authorship

“Diamonds & Rust” was written by Joan Baez in November 1974.

Recording date/location

“Diamonds & Rust” was recorded in January 1975 at A&M Studios, Hollywood, California.

Musicians

The following musicians featured on “Diamonds & Rust”:

• Joan Baez – vocals, guitar, Moog synthesizer, ARP synthesizer
• David Paich – harpsichord (electric)
• Joe Sample – electric piano
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Larry Carlton – guitar
• Wilton Felder – bass
• Jim Gordon – drums.

Chart performance

“Diamonds & Rust” peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 9, 1975. This was Baez’s biggest self-composed hit and one of only two top 40 hits in the US. The other was “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” in 1971.

The album “Diamonds & Rust” reached number 11 on the Billboard album chart.

Covers

With the lyrics so clearly about Baez and Dylan’s relationship, any cover will inevitably suffer from a less personal association with the material, but here’s two solid efforts:

Judas Priest – “Diamonds & Rust”

Judas Priest released a rock cover of “Diamonds & Rust” on their third album “Sin After Sin” in 1977. An earlier recording of the song also features on “The Best of Judas Priest – Living After Midnight,” and the remastered edition of “Rocka Rolla.” The song has also been a staple of their live act since the ’70s, with versions from the last decade (example here) tending to take a more stripped back, acoustic approach that is closer to the Baez original.

When recently asked what she thought of the Judas Priest cover, Baez said:

There’s something poetic about Judas Priest covering a song about Bob Dylan, as they were named after the Dylan song “The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest,” which appeared on his album “John Wesley Harding.”

Blackmore’s Night – “Diamonds and Rust”

Blackmore’s Night recorded “Diamonds & Rust” for their 2003 album “Ghost Of A Rose.”

Blackmore’s Night is a duo featuring Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Candice Night on lead vocals. Their cover is similar in spirit to the Baez original, with a pleasing vocal from Night and some excellent guitar lines from Blackmore.

Thanks to Jon Saunders for the Song of the Week suggestion.

There will be a new Song of the Week on July 4.

“Diamonds & Rust” appears on the album of the same name and various compilation albums. There’s also a 2008 concert version on the DVD/CD deluxe edition of “How Sweet the Sound” which includes a PBS documentary and bonus CD.

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To mark the occasion, we’ve compiled 25 quotes about Dylan from his friends and admirers:

John Lennon – “Well, we all like Joan Baez, but we love Bob Dylan.”

Tom Petty – “I saw Dylan getting criticized in Australia by this guy who was saying, ‘Your new songs aren’t as relevant as your old songs.’ And Dylan said, ‘Well, I’m out here writing songs. What are you doing?’ You know, like a whole generation is out there driving BMWs and trying to be lawyers, and at least I’m trying to do something. I thought that was pretty relevant.”

Robbie Robertson – “I remember somebody playing “Oxford Town,” from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, for me. I thought, “There’s something going on here.” His voice seemed interesting to me. But it wasn’t until we started playing together that I really understood it. He is a powerful singer and a great musical actor, with many characters in his voice.”

Paul Simon – “In the beginning, when we were first signed to Columbia, I really admired Dylan’s work. The Sound of Silence wouldn’t have been written if it weren’t for Dylan.”

Joan Baez – “[Dylan] and I were not just two people – we were thousands of people, everybody else’s images of whatever we were, none of them true. But why it was so huge I don’t really know.”

Greil Marcus – “If the genius of this man seems occasional now, when it comes it is staggering, and nothing can touch it. Ah, Bob Dylan!”

Dave Matthews – “It almost makes me furious sometimes, how good his lyrics are. You know, you aspire to things. I’m trying and trying (to write a song), and I’ll get something and I’ll say, ‘That’s pretty good,’ and then I’ll listen to ‘Blood On the Tracks’ and think, ‘Who the hell am I kidding? What the hell am I talking about?’ ”

Jimi Hendrix – “People have always got to put him down. I really dig him, though. I like that Highway 61 Revisited album and especially “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”!”

Tom Waits – “Suffice it to say Dylan is a planet to be explored. For a songwriter, Dylan is as essential as a hammer and nails and a saw are to a carpenter. I like my music with the rinds and the seeds and pulp left in — so the bootlegs I obtained in the ’60s and ’70s, where the noise and grit of the tapes became inseparable from the music, are essential to me. His journey as a songwriter is the stuff of myth, because he lives within the ether of the songs.”

Ringo Starr – “Bob was our hero. I heard of Bob through John. He played the records to me and it was just great.”

Neil Young – “I love Bob Dylan. I think he’s great. From the very beginning I knew he was great.”

Johnny Cash – “I became aware of Bob Dylan when the ‘Freewheelin” album came out in 1963. I thought he was one of the best country singers I had ever heard. I always felt a lot in common with him. I knew a lot about him before we had ever met.”

Bono – “I think he is a very tenacious character. I think underneath all the so-called eccentricity, which I think is just a mask, there’s a very true person. He’s a good father — I’ve seen him with his children — with a moral compass, and who can get lost at sea like everybody. But I think he’s very strong.”

Martin Scorsese – “Bob is ageless because he keeps turning new corners, beating down new paths, redefining himself and his art as he goes. ‘Someone had to reach for the rising star, I guess it was up to me,’ he once sang. That sums it up pretty well. He’s still reaching — and encouraging us to do the same.”

George Harrison – “I love him, I really do, and I think he’s funny.”

Bruce Springsteen – “He’s the father of the country that I recognise in the sense that he was the first place I went where I heard an America that I felt and believed to be true. That felt unvarnished and real. It felt like what I was experiencing…It opened up your vision in a way that, for me at the time, school didn’t do and other things didn’t do. It allowed you to dream and have possibilities about what you could do with your life…Those records were so intense.”

Elvis Costello – “I didn’t even own a Bob Dylan record until 1971. To me, he was a great singles artist. You heard him on the radio. What a shocking thing to live in a world where there was Manfred Mann and the Supremes and Engelbert Humperdinck and here comes “Like a Rolling Stone.” That was a great world, a very exciting time.”

Nancy Griffith – “I owe my entire thought process of what it is to be a songwriter and a musician to listening to Bob Dylan when I was a little kid. His grace is my fortune.”

Bill Clinton – “Thank you for a lifetime of stirring the conscience of a nation.”

Billy Bragg – “I got my first Dylan record by swapping the Jackson 5 greatest hits..a hightly produced record for something so shocking and raw..I could probably bang out all the songs out now..then I spent a lot of time listening to singer-songwriters..up to punk I was listening to not much else.”

Gordon Lightfoot – “My main influence is Bob Dylan who taught me how to write lyrics.”

Cerys Matthews – “Bob Dylan’s [music] is a bit like a map to me. One of the best maps you can get, because no matter where it leads you it’s going to be a magical place.”

James Taylor – “Dylan was a real revelation. I guess he would say he was listening to Cisco Houston and Eric Von Schmidt and Woody Guthrie. But he really turned the world on its ear and opened the door for a lot of us. He and the Beatles were the biggest influences on my lyrics.”

Lucinda Williams – “‘Masters of War’ is the best anti-war song ever written.”

Merle Haggard – “I don’t know if songwriting can get any better than “Blowin’ in the Wind” ­ an anthem for the civil rights movement that was both clever and had an impeccable melody.”

Promoters had tried to bring Dylan to China last year, but permission was denied by the country’s Culture Ministry. Last night’s show was also subject to restrictions, with the Chinese authorities pre-approving the set list. This meant there was no room for politically-sensitive material such as “The Times They Are A-Changin.”

The following songs were performed at the Beijing show:

• “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking”
• “It”s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
• “Beyond The Horizon”
• “Tangled Up In Blue”
• “Honest With Me”
• “Simple Twist Of Fate”
• “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum”
• “Love Sick”
• “Rollin” And Tumblin”
• “A Hard Rain”s A-Gonna Fall”
• “Highway 61 Revisited”
• “Spirit On The Water”
• “Thunder On The Mountain”
• “Ballad Of A Thin Man”
• “Like A Rolling Stone”
• “All Along The Watchtower”
• “Forever Young.”

Dylan will remain in China for a few more gigs, before touring Australia and New Zealand during the rest of April. A European tour will follow in June/July. The following Dylan tour dates have been confirmed:

• 8 April: Shanghai, China – Grand Stag
• 10 April: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – RMIT University
• 12 April: Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong – KITEC – Star Hall
• 13 April: Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong – KITEC -Star Hall
• 15 April: Singapore – Timbre Rock & Roots Festival
• 17 April: Fremantle, Australia – West Coast Blues ‘n’ Roots
• 19 April: Adelaide, Australia – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
• 20 April: Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
• 21 April: Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
• 23 April: Wollongong, Australia – WIN Entertainment Centre
• 25 April: Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest
• 26 April: Byron Bay, Australia – Byron Bay Bluesfest
• 27 April: Sydney, Australia – Sydney Entertainment Centre
• 28 April: Sydney, Australia – Sydney Entertainment Centre
• 30 April: Auckland, New Zealand – Vector Arena
• 16 June: Cork, Ireland – Marquee
• 18 June: London, England – London Feis – Finsbury Park
• 20 June: Tel Aviv, Israel – Ramat Gan Stadium
• 22 June: Milan, Itlay – Alcatraz
• 24 June: Sursee, Switzerland – Summer Sound
• 25 June: Mainz, Germany – Volkspark
• 26 June: Hamburg, Germany – Stadtpark
• 27 June: Odense, Denmark – Funen Village
• 29 June: Bergen, Norway – Bergen Calling
• 30 June: Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
• 2 July: Borlänge, Sweden – Peace & Love Festival
• 15 July: Costa Mesa, California – Pacific Amphitheatre.

Dylan fans will also be glad to know that a Blu-ray/DVD combo of the acclaimed documentary “Don’t Look Back” is out on April 26 in the US and Canada. The set includes the original movie, a new hour-long Dylan documentary and the original 168-page companion book to the film.

You can pre-order “Don’t Look Back” from:

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Dylan recorded “Like a Rolling Stone” over two days in June 1965 at Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City. The song became the opening track on the platinum-selling “Highway 61 Revisited” and was one of only four Dylan tracks to hit the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Here’s the full readers’ top 10:

1. Bob Dylan – “Like A Rolling Stone”
2. The Beatles – “A Day In The Life”
3. The Rolling Stones – “Satisfaction”
4. The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter”
5. The Who – “My Generation”
6. The Doors – “Light My Fire”
7. The Beatles – “Hey Jude”
8. Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love”
9. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “All Along The Watchtower”
10. The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows.”

Further information on the top 10 choices is available at RollingStone.com

See if you can identify these stars before they were famous. Click on the images to enlarge and scroll down for the answers.

1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24

Leave a comment below to tell us how many you guessed correctly.