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Quick Takes: Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, Poco’s Paul Cotton

By Music News Aug 2, 2021 | 7:00 PM
  • Coming on August 20th is a new seven-inch Bob Dylan single via Third Man Records. The 45 r.p.m. features two previously unreleased recordings of the 1983 Infidels outtake, “Blind Willie McTell.” Dylan's piano demo first saw the light of day back in 1991, but the new versions will feature two full-band takes featuring Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare.
    • The A-side version is unique to the single, but the B-side will be included on the upcoming Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985), coming on September 17th. (Rolling Stone)
  • Paul McCartney's remix album, McCartney III Imagined has made history by becoming the first remix album to reach Number One on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart in a decade. The collection has also topped the magazine's Rock Album and Vinyl Album lists. McCartney III Imagines features revamped versions of the 2020 McCartney album by such artists as Beck, St. Vincent, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Ed O'Brien, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, and Idris Elba, among others.
    • McCartney's original version of McCartney III topped out at Number Two on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
  • The Beach Boys have just dropped two new samplers from their upcoming multi-disc box set. Set for release on August 27th is the long-awaited collection, Feel Flows – The Sunflower And Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971. The collection features newly remastered versions of 1970's Sunflower set and its 1971 followup, Surf's Up. New teasers featuring an a cappella version of “Surf’s Up,” and an alternate version of “This Whole World” have been uploaded.
  • Short of four months after the death of Poco co-founder Rusty Young, comes news that longtime guitarist Paul Cotton died on August 1st at age 78. Cotton joined Poco in 1970, replacing founding member Jim Messina, in time to contribute to the band’s third studio album, 1971’s From The Inside. Cotton, who left the band in 2010, composed the band's 1978 “Heart Of The Night,” scored Poco a Top 20 hit that went on to peak at Number Five on Billboard's Early Listening chart.
    • Cotton also wrote such Poco classics as “Barbados,” “Indian Summer,” “Ride The Country,” and “Bad Weather.”