One of the most prolific and influential songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan was crucial to the evolution of music worldwide, and certainly, it wouldn't have been the same without him. Over the decades, he didn’t give many interviews or talk much about other artists. However, he once shared his opinion on the also influential and successful American artist Billy Joel. Eight years younger than Dylan, Billy Joel started his career in 1964, but would only achieve fame almost a decade later, in 1971, with the release of his groundbreaking album Piano Man. Bob Dylan’s opinion on Billy Joel In 1997, when Joel was already one of the most succesful American artists in history, he released "Greatest Hits: Volume III". But he included a few new tracks in it. One was "Hey Girl", originally written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and the other one was "Make You Feel My Love", written by Bob Dylan. During a press conference in London that year, Dylan was asked by  Serge Kaganski what was his opinion on Billy Joel recording his song. The Folk Rock musician praised Joel and gave his opinon on the version. "Billy Joel’s a very dynamic artist and he can hear things in a song because he’s also a songwriter. He managed to probably convey that song in a different way than me. Nevertheless, he got something out of that song I would have never dreamed of myself. That’s what happens when you write a song. Somebody can definitely interpret it a different way than the person who wrote it." Bob Dylan continued explaining how Joel ended up recording the song [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEQGKY92KI4[/embed] "Well, all these songs were given to my record company before this particular album was released so they could see what I was recording and decide whether they wanted to release it or not, because we were recording a lot of stuff." "At a certain point we stopped recording and said, 'Let’s give this to the record company and see if they even want to release a record like this.' I wasn’t sure what was going to be on this record and what was not going to be on this record." He continued: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdWto-AUM3Q[/embed] "Billy had heard this song. At that time I wasn’t really positive one way or another whether it was going to be included, so might as well let Billy do it. I don’t think there were any demos on these songs. We went in and recorded them exactly the way you’re hearing them," Bob Dylan said. In that same year Bob Dylan released his version on his album "Time Out of Mind". Since then, it has been covered by more than 400 different artists, including Adele, Bryan Ferry, Boy George and Pink. The two already knew each other and had played together in the "We Are The World" charity project in the 80s. In an interview back in 1997 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Joel recalled how he ended up recording the track. "I haven't been writing popular music for the last couple of years. I haven't been writing songs, I have been writing classical music. (Then) I was going to put out a greatest hits album but I wanted something new. Aside from just the used cars that are on the album already." "I tried to pick songs by people who I thought were great songwriters. Who have been really important in my day. Carol King, Leonard Cohen and  Bob Dylan. (Bob is) probably the most influential songwriter of my era and I heard this song. It came to my house via this guy who worked for Bob. I heard (his original demo version)," Billy Joel said. Bob Dylan covered Billy Joel's song "New York State of Mind" in 2023 [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zaelmm4by0I&pp=ygUgYm9iIGR5bGFuIG5ldyB5b3JrIHN0YXRlIG9mIG1pbmQ%3D[/embed] Although Bob Dylan wrote more than 600 songs during his career and has a huge discography to pick songs for a setlist he often cover tracks by artists he admire. Back in 2023, when playing in New Yor City, he covered Billy Joel's famous track "New York State of Mind". But as usual, the version was quite different from the original one. That track was originally released by Billy on his 1976 praised album "Turnstiles".The post Bob Dylan’s opinion on Billy Joel appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

The legendary original Foreigner vocalist Lou Gramm, who was part of all the successful albums released by the band, gave an interview to the podcast Appetite for Distortion, centered on Guns N' Roses. During the conversation he gave his opinion on the group's vocalist Axl Rose. Gramm was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Foreigner. Lou Gramm gives his opinion on Axl Rose (Transcribed by Blabbermouth) "I thought the music was very good, just sloppy enough to acknowledge that they were very spontaneous in their playing. And it was very good music, honestly, and I think the songs were good too. Axl's voice — he had a great range, but I could tell, because they toured a lot too, I could tell that he was damaging his vocal cords simply by the way he sang." "And I know that when I sing, towards the end of the night, some of my high range starts to go a little bit. You kind of have to acknowledge the characteristics of your voice, and when they're tired, if you keep pushing them at that level, they're damaged and you shouldn't be singing for the next six months." "Your nose and throat doctor will tell you that they need rest and time to heal and then get supple again, because a lot of times when you sing too often and too hard, there's something called nodes that develop on your vocal cords, and they're like little tiny hard calluses. And when you go to sing a note, air will come out, not the note," Lou Gramm said. Formed in New York City back in 1976 by British and American artists, the group has sold an estimated amount of more than 80 million records worldwide. [embed class="is-loading"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kacv2X4iCoo&pp=ygUuYXhsIHJvc2UgYmVzdCBvZiBhbGwgdGltZSByb2NrIGFuZCByb2xsIGdhcmFnZQ%3D%3D[/embed]The post Lou Gramm gives his opinion on Axl Rose appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

The legendary Van Halen co-founder and drummer, Alex Van Halen, is currently promoting his book Brothers, which tells the story of him, his brother, and the band up until the mid-80s. He shares many funny moments from their live performances and recalls a time when his arm caught fire while playing live, but the roadie thought it was part of the show and didn’t help him. Alex Van Halen recalls when his arm caught fire while playing live (Via Laist) "For me, fire represents the temporariness — that only the moment counts. I mean, the flame is there and poof, it's gone. So it's life, right? So to me, that represented that. And there was an element of danger because we did it on such an amateur level." "My favorite memory of all of that was — we kind of gotten it down to a science. And as we're doing it during the performance, the lighter fluid starts to come down my arm. And then I look over and I notice my arms on fire." "So I'm thinking, that can't be good, right? So I look at (my tech) Greg, who, in theory, he's there with a fire extinguisher. So I look at him and he's looking at me and he gives me the thumbs up. 'Looks great, man!' I'll never forget that as long as I live," Alex Van Halen said. With the audiobook of “Brothers”, a final instrumental song made by the two, called “Between Us Two” was released. The beautiful six-minute instrumental track really sets the incredible mood for his book and audiobook, which was narrated by himself. He also revealed recently that David Lee Roth ruined the reunion tribute tour that would me made for Eddie Van Halen. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VREI1t4BN4o&t=1s[/embed]The post Alex Van Halen recalls when his arm caught fire while playing live appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

Iron Maiden's legendary vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, faced a throat cancer diagnosis last decade, fearing he might never sing again. While battling the disease, he thought that if he couldn’t continue, he’d help find his own replacement, believing that the music is more important than any individual member. He talked about that in an interview with Rich Roll. Bruce Dickinson says he’d help find his replacement if he lost his voice "When I had throat cancer (a decade ago), the last thing on my mind was, would I ever sing again? The first thing on my mind is, am I gonna get through this and be alive? And the last thing on my mind was would I ever sing again? And I thought, 'Well, we'll get to that stage when I'm done and we start trying to sing.'" "I was quite prepared to accept that I might not be able to sing with Iron Maiden again. I might be able to sing, I might be able to vocalize, I might be able to sing in a different way, but if I couldn't sing the way I have to sing with Iron Maiden, I'll help them find a great replacement. Because the music is sacrosanct." "The manufacture bit comes from only in the sense that we didn't all grow up on the same street. And in actual fact, bands that all grow up in the same street together, or families that play together, that could be a recipe for implosion. I mean, I know Oasis have just gotten back together and doing it, but my God, how difficult was that?" He continued: "The two brothers and… So we all get together, but the music is the single point of contact that is the most important thing for all of us. If I couldn't do it, if I couldn't do what I do now effectively, I would be the first one to say, 'You know what? It's time I retired from singing for Iron Maiden and did something else.' Stack shelves or something. Because I have too much pride on the line to go out there…" "I was speaking to a fan the other day, and they said, 'Oh, it's great you guys are all still back together.' I said, yeah, we're all still back together because we're fierce and the music is still as good, if not better in some respects, than we played it 20 or 30 years ago," Bruce Dickinson said. Iron Maiden is currently doing the last shows of the Future Past tour and in 2025 they will celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US68bX_1ZR0[/embed]The post Dickinson says he’d help find his replacement if he lost his voice appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

The legendary Pink Floyd guitarist and singer, David Gilmour, has influenced countless generations of guitarists worldwide. He was a crucial part of the band's sound, enhancing classic albums like "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) and "The Wall" (1979). The British progressive rock group certainly wouldn't have been the same without him. Now, as a solo artist, he remains creative and open to exploring new music, something not all veteran musicians embrace. When promoting his album "Luck & Strange" in 2024, the musician mentioned a 2000s band he likes to listen to. The 2000s band that David Gilmour likes to listen to After almost a decade, David Gilmour finally released a new solo record and played live again. The record was produced by the Pink Floyd member and the British producer Charlie Andrew, who is best known for his work with the band Alt-J, which is the one mentioned by Gilmour. He explained in an interview with The Guardian that he chose Andrew because he likes the British Indie Rock band Alt-J. "I don’t really listen to an awful lot of modern music. But the band I have been listening to is Alt-J, and they are what brought me to Charlie Andrew as a producer for this album." "The work that they do with his help, I have found inspiring. He showed a massive lack of respect for my past and what I’ve done. Believe me, that is something one needs in life. To have people that come at you on a level playing field!" David Gilmour said. Alt-J was formed in Leeds, England back in 2007 by Joe Newman (Guitar, bass, vocals), Thom Sonny Green (Drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (Keyboards, bass, vocals) and Gwil Sainsbury (Guitar, bass). Since 2014 the band's official line-up is only formed by the remaining three members. Their debut album "An Awesome Wave" was released in 2012 and since then they have released three more records. They are: "This Is All Yours" (2014), "Relaxer" (2017) and "The Dream" (2022). The band's name is inspired by a triangular-shaped symbol, something present even in their songs. Alt J is the key sequence used to generate the triangle symbol on an Apple Mac computer (Alt+J). At first Gilmour didn't know them [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo&pp=ygULYnJlZXplYmxvY2s%3D[/embed] Gilmour was not familiarized with them as he told Rolling Stone magazine in 2024. According to him the producer Charlie Andrew didn't know Pink Floyd's music that much or Gilmour's solo career, that was something that also motivated the legendary guitarist to pick him. Because he wanted to do something different and free from his legacy. "Well, he’s a younger person. He comes from a different era, and a different whole background. He certainly didn’t know very much about baby boomer stuff that had come quite a long time before him. And he was in the middle of his whole scene, which is all sorts of other people like alt-J that he worked with, and Marika Hackman, and loads of other music that I was blind to. And he was kind of blind to mine," David Gilmour said. Some of Alt-J's most famous songs are "Breezeblocks", "Left Hand Free", "Fitzpleasure", "Something Good" and "Tessellate".The post The 2000s band that David Gilmour likes to listen to appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.