Pool Games

I won the only NCAA pool I entered Monday night. This is ridiculous because I was 0 for 4 in the final four picks, but I'll take it. While many people might have been focused on their NCAA brackets in the last few weeks, I've been a little more interested in a compelling pool at the Dylan Pool, where a few thousand Dylan fans complete in a friendly on-line game to try to predict the setlists on Dylan's current tour. Old Zimmy is back on the road, and although he doesn't mix up the set lists to the extent the Grateful Dead did, it's still fun to give to play along. Many of Dylan's fans are obsessive, and analyzing set lists, song frequencies, and orders can keep us occupied for days. Not to mention the thrill of the unexpected rarity or cover that Bob is known to pull out of his hat. When Link Wray died late last year, Bob began several of his shows with Wray's power surf classic Rumble. Last Fall Bob played Million Dollar Bash (from the Basement Tapes) for the first time ever, and the Dylan Poolers were buzzing for days. The site is not the best there is for All Things Bob, but it has an active and entertaining message board, a super list of Bob related links, a huge photo gallery and mp3 files from the current tours.

Here's a rarity from the 1990 tour: Dark As A Dungeon

Originally recorded by Merle Travis on Aug 8, 1946, Hollywood, CA, and released as Capitol 48001.

"The saddest songs are written when a person is happy. I was driving home after a date with a beautiful girl in Redondo Beach, California. I had a recording session to do the next morning and needed some material. I parked my car under a street light and wrote the verses to "Dark As A Dungeon." I got the idea from growing up around the coal mines in Kentucky. My father and brothers were coal miners."

Merle Travis