Buckets of Bob Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blood on the Tracks

Though Dylan has never confirmed it this album is seen by many as being the singer reflecting on the turmoil that was in his life at the time, in particular his separation from his wife Sara. Even the title of the album bears the suggestion that wounds were opened on a moment in his history. The songs reflect signs of sorrow, regret and bitterness, each combined with clarity and poignancy.
"Buckets of Rain" is the final track on the album and it represents the bright light at the end of the tunnel. It provides the hope or the rebuilding against the desperation that is laced through the rest of the album. The music on this song literally bounces as if it is fighting to ward off the heartbreak;
"I like the cool way you look at me
Everything about you is bringing me misery".

Answer: Neko Case

Ah Neko, she of the flaming red hair and the voice made of gold. While her 2009 album "Middle Cyclone" reached number three on Billboard's Album Charts, it was her prior album, "Live From Austin, Texas" on which she showcased her sublime vocals in delivering a heartfelt rendition of "Buckets of Rain". Her band is in the background providing support with some simple percussion and a slide guitar that adds a winsome air, making the song sound free and easy that you almost forget that the song is about heartbreak.

Case's initial forays into recording were with punk rock bands before she delivered some devastating power pop vocals on The New Pornographer's debut album "Mass Romantic". In 1997 she took to country music and formed her own backing band "Her Boyfriends", releasing an album called "The Virginian".

Answer: David Gray

David is a British singer/songwriter whose first three albums failed commercially despite being critically recognised. "White Ladder" was initially released in 1997 on David's own label and it also struggled to achieve financial success. When it was re-released in 2000 by the Dave Matthews owned ATO Records sales skyrocketed.

The album went to number one on the UK charts (almost two and a half years after its initial release) and stayed in these charts for three years. World-wide sales of the album have exceeded seven million copies. "Buckets of Rain" used to be a concert staple for David and in 2007 he released a live version on his album "A Thousand Miles Behind", a digitally released album.

The album's title was taken from a line in another Bob Dylan song, "One Too Many Mornings".

Answer: The Wood Brothers

The Wood Brothers made changes to the melody and provided "Buckets" with an unmistakable folk sound that, ironically, seems to support the lyrics much better than Dylan managed to. If you were to put the songs side by side they would almost be unrecognisable as the same song.
The Wood Brothers, based in New York, formed in 2004 and play a mix of folk and Americana. Their first studio album "Ways Not to Lose" was released in 2006.

Answer: Bette Midler

Bette Midler's first album was called "The Divine Miss M" and featured such tracks as "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". It made its way into Billboard's Top Ten and sold over a million copies, certifying it platinum. There was a gap of four years between her second album, "Bette Midler", and "Songs For the New Depression", which, commercially, was a failure for Bette. On this recording she tries a number of experiments such as putting a disco beat to Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" and making an effort to turn "Buckets of Rain" into a Broadway style tune. Sadly in this instance it doesn't deliver.

The puzzling thing is that Bob Dylan sang in duet with Midler on this track.

Answer: Beth Orton

"Heart of Soul" appears on "Comfort of Strangers", Orton's fourth studio album. The title track was co-written with American indie-folk artist M. Ward, who joins Orton in a duet on "Buckets of Rain". They trade verses with voices that sit well in partnership with a stripped back sound, using only a guitar for support.

Their version of this song was also used on the soundtrack of a "Bones" television episode - "Daredevil in the Mold" (episode 13/season 6), which first aired February 10, 2011.

Answer: Yes

Howe replaced Peter Banks in the Yes line-up in 1970 and was one of the constant elements in a group that had regular changes in personnel during the decade. An outstanding guitarist he was praised by Gibson Guitar Corporation who stated that "he elevated the rock guitar into an art form". Unfortunately for Steve his Dylan tribute, "Portraits of Bob Dylan", was not as warmly received.

He pieced together a group of vocalist whose voices were well beyond their prime to produce an album that reviewer Steve Mason from Allmusic described as "a nice gesture but not even close to being essential for Dylan or Howe fans". "Buckets of Rain" is the last of twelve tracks on the recording and is one of the four on which Howe provides the lead vocals.

Answer: The album was a cover of Dylan's entire "Blood on the Tracks" LP

Mary Lee Kortes and her band were invited to play at Arlene's Grocery for a "Classic Albums" night in 2001. They came up with the gutsy idea to perform the entire "Blood on the Tracks" album; in order from track one, "Tangled Up in Blue" through to track ten "Buckets of Rain".

At the very last minute Mary Lee got an acute case of nerves and almost decided to cancel the gig. Fortunately she went ahead with it and the end result was enthralling. What was even more fortunate was the fact that her sound technician had the foresight to record it all.

The end product became the band's second album release as well as being a fitting tribute to Bob Dylan. When Dylan heard the performance he was suitably impressed and invited the band to open some of his New York shows.

Answer: Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk shunned the limelight. He once declined an invitation to join the band that would go on to become Peter, Paul and Mary. Despite this his influence on the blues roots and folk scene during the 1960's is profound. Bob Dylan, in his autobiography "Chronicles Vol. 1", described him as "the grand dragon". "He came from the land of the giants". Van Ronk's skill lay in his ability to interpret black blues, which he coupled with an uncanny knack of improvisation.

As evidence of this, Joni Mitchell is quoted in describing Dave's version of her often covered 1968 hit "Both Sides Now" as being "the finest ever". Van Ronk covered "Buckets of Rain" during his final concert in October 2001.

At this point he was extremely ill and his voice was in decline.

There are times in the number when his singing is reduced to a hoarse whisper, a sort of cross between Louis Armstrong meets Joe Cocker. Rather than detracting from the performance it adds power to the song and you, as the listener, are left feeling that the singer has fully embraced the pain within the lyric. If you are able to track down a version on YouTube do so, it is well worth the listen. Four months after the concert, Dave Van Ronk was dead.

Answer: Maria Muldaur

Maria Muldaur was a colleague of Bob Dylan when they were both a part of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960's. The Dylan documentary, "No Direction Home", which was superbly crafted by Martin Scorsese in 2005, contains some fascinating insights from Maria about those times.

She scored her biggest hit in 1974 with the evocative desert love song "Midnight at the Oasis", which spawned that great line "put your camel to bed". In 2006 she put together an album of Dylan covers entitled "Heart of Mine - Love Songs of Bob Dylan".

In a record that contains such illustrious numbers as "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "Lay Lady Lay" Maria's version of "Buckets of Rain" is a standout. Muldaur manages to produce a sultry vocal performance that is, at the same time, both languid and lonesome.