Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan |
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Born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941, in Duluth, MN.
Decades from now, when all the dust has settled and the rock music revolution is viewed with historical hindsight, Dylan will stand out as one of the three most important people to ever pick up a guitar. George Harrison feels even more strongly; he's been quoted as saying that 500 years from now, Dylan will be the most remembered and revered name from this era, eclipsing even the Beatles. Unlike the Fab Four and Elvis Presley, Dylan's profound influence on the music world--and society in general--was never matched by his sales. Nonetheless, his key material truly serves as the soundtrack for a generation, and is deeply ingrained in our daily lives. Phrases like "The Times They Are A-Changin' " have worked their way into everyday journalistic vernacular; his song "Like A Rolling Stone" even helped give a moniker to our biggest music magazine, consciousness to contemporary music lyrics, starting with folk music and then evolving into rock. When girl groups and teenage idols were topping the charts in 1962 and '63, Dylan woke up a sleeping public with songs about racial injustice and the ravages of war. All of this has earned Dylan a continuing level of respect that is on a par with greats like Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein and Miles Davis. His influence may be best illustrated by the fact that one scholarly study concluded that he was the one person, from all walks of life, most responsible for stopping the Vietnam war.
Source: MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
The standard rap on Bob Dylan is that he's a folkie who later became a rocker. To think of him as a Woody Guthrie clone who suddenly got electric religion misses the point of Dylan as an artist. Besides the Guthrie tribute, his 1961 debut album was an exploration of black styles with a preoccupation with death and a gnarled, hardscrabble voice trying to sound like a blues singer three times his age. On his second album, Freewheelin', he was already using a backup band. Highway 61 Revisited was, courtesy of young guitar gun Michael Bloomfield, his 1965 version of urban Chicago blues filtered through his own adrenaline-rushed lyrics, and his appearance with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at Newport that year was one of the pivotal events in American popular music. Though he prefers emotion over technology in most of his recordings and uses blues forms in many of his compositions, Dylan hasn't tried consciously to be a bluesman--his songs and albums have reached far beyond any single genre--but there is considerable evidence of his love for the music throughout his lengthy career.
Source: MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide
No single songwriter since Hank Williams--save perhaps Harlan Howard--revolutionized Nashville more than Bob Dylan. His sweeping influence in the rock field has long been acknowledged, but Dylan isn't usually the first artist that comes to mind when people think about the dismantling of the Nashville establishment. But he struck a nerve in country songwriters that continues to this day. Of course, the country roots in Dylan's own music have long been ignored in favor of the Woody Guthrie connection that comfortably keeps his work within a stricter context. But the strains of early bluegrass harmonies, not to mention some of the Elizabethan lyricism, suffuse Dylan's early recordings, and he continues to toss off country standards during his live performances to this day. But even more, Dylan's casually sculpted lyrical touch, his phrase-twisting command of the vernacular, infected an entire generation of country songwriters, including Kris Kristofferson, who at least served an honest apprenticeship as janitor during the Blonde on Blonde recording sessions. Dylan's own songs continue to thrive in the repertoires of countless country singers. His association with country music's then-reigning star, Johnny Cash, signified the approval of the Nashville establishment. The pair recorded an album's worth of duets, although only "Girl From the North Country" surfaced on Nashville Skyline and Dylan made a crucial guest appearance on Cash's popular TV program.
Source: MusicHound Country: The Essential Album Guide
Bob Dylan has been almost deified as one of the most important artists of his generation, yet he is an artist who defies classification. He established his reputation first as a protesting folk artist and, later, as a rock superstar, with a stop-off to revolutionize the Nashville country scene as well. Decades from now, when all the dust has settled and the various musical revolutions are viewed with historical hindsight, Dylan will stand out as one of the three most important people to ever pick up a guitar. Lest you think that smacks of hyperbole, none other than George Harrison has been quoted as saying that 500 years from now, Dylan will be the most remembered and revered name from this era, eclipsing even the Beatles. Unlike the Fab Four and Elvis Presley, Dylan's profound influence on the music world--and society in general--was never matched by his sales. Nonetheless, his key material truly serves as the soundtrack for a generation and is deeply ingrained in our daily lives. Phrases like "The Times They Are A-Changin'" have worked their way into everyday journalistic vernacular; his song "Like a Rolling Stone" even helped give a moniker to our biggest music magazine. Dylan's most important contribution was giving the voice of social consciousness to contemporary music lyrics, starting with folk music and then evolving into rock. When girl groups and teenage idols were topping the charts in 1962 and '63, Dylan woke up a sleeping public with songs about racial injustice and the ravages of war. All of this has earned Dylan a continuing level of respect that is on a par with greats like Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, and Miles Davis. His influence may be best illustrated by the fact that one scholarly study concluded that he was the one person, from all walks of life, most responsible for stopping the Vietnam war. On the country front, no single songwriter since Hank Williams--save perhaps Harlan Howard--revolutionized Nashville more than Bob Dylan. He isn't usually the first artist that comes to mind when people think about the dismantling of the Nashville establishment. But he struck a nerve in country songwriters that continues to this day. Of course, the country roots in Dylan's own music have long been ignored in favor of the Woody Guthrie connection that comfortably keeps his work within a stricter context. But the strains of early bluegrass harmonies, not to mention some of the Elizabethan lyricism, suffuse Dylan's early recordings, and he continues to toss off country standards during his live performances to this day. But even more, Dylan's casually sculpted lyrical touch, his phrase-twisting command of the vernacular, infected an entire generation of country songwriters, including Kris Kristofferson, who at least served an honest apprenticeship as janitor during the Blonde on Blonde recording sessions. Dylan's own songs continue to thrive in the repertoires of countless country singers. His association with country music's then-reigning star, Johnny Cash, signified the approval of Nashville. The pair recorded an album's worth of duets, although only "Girl from the North Country" surfaced on Nashville Skyline, and Dylan made a crucial guest appearance on Cash's popular TV program. Dylan won three Grammy Awards in 1998, including Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Folk Album honors for the critically acclaimed Time out of Mind. to this day Dylan's legacy is still very much that of a folk artist, and his key work is The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan [Rating: 4.5] (Columbia, 1963, prod. John Hammond). This album single-handedly launched the mid-'60s protest movement with such venerable songs as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Once Dylan started rocking full-time, he made Highway 61 Revisited [Rating: 5.0] (Columbia, 1965, prod. Bob Johnston, Tom Wilson), which many pundits feel is one of the greatest albums ever released, perhaps even tying the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the all-time crown. It is hard to overpraise an album that opens with "Like a Rolling Stone" and closes with "Desolation Row," and doesn't have an ounce of fat in between. Directly following that was Blonde on Blonde [Rating: 5.0] (Columbia, 1966, prod. Bob Johnston), another highly regarded album that always winds up in the top 10 of any greatest albums of all-time poll. Probably Dylan's most popular record among his legions of hard-core fans, the album is a folk-rock masterpiece featuring "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," "I Want You," and "Just Like a Woman." Although Dylan's creative output peaked with that record, nine years later he shocked everyone with the brilliance of Blood on the Tracks [Rating: 5.0] (Columbia, 1975, prod. Bob Dylan). As his marriage started to crumble, Dylan wrote and sang songs like "Tangled up in Blue" and "Idiot Wind" from the soul, causing critics everywhere to pull out and dust off the "masterpiece" moniker once again.
Source: MusicHound Folk: The Essential Album Guide
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BOB DYLAN'S GREATEST HITSOrder from: |
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 |
This collection anthologizes the work of one of the most important musical innovators of the 20th Century. As daunting a task as that might seem, it's pretty hard to go wrong with such a wealth of material to choose from. This album covers many sides of Dylan's mercurial muse, from the good-timey New Orleans funeral-march feel of "Rainy Day Women, #12 & 35" to cutting protest songs like "Blowin' In The Wind" and the groundbreaking mother of all put-down songs, "Like A Rolling Stone." The songs collected here amount to a primer on the changing face of popular song form in post-Elvis America. Required listening. |
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BOB DYLAN'S GREATEST HITS VOL. 2Order from: |
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Disc: 1
Disc: 2
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The versions of "Watching the River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" are with Leon Russell. "I Shall Be Released," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and "Down in the Flood" with Happy Traum were newly recorded for this collection in 1971. An artist of Dylan's magnitude (not to mention his prolific tendencies) could easily support an entire best-of box set without any variation in quality, so the three GREATEST HITS volumes Columbia chose to release are amply filled with gems from the quintessential singer-songwriter's catalog. Since many of Dylan's most well-known tunes were included on volume one, we get to dig a touch deeper into the fertile soil of his work here. There's the quirky, happy-go-lucky "When I Paint My Masterpiece," the bluesy, apocalyptic "Down In the Flood" and scads more. For neophytes there are still several radio-identified touchstones, like the surreal, transcendent "Stuck Inside Of Mobile," the rocking anti-authoritarian "Maggie's Farm" and the spiritually anthemic "I Shall Be Released." |
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BOB DYLAN'S GREATEST HITS VOL. 3Order from: |
1. Tangled Up In Blue |
Personnel includes: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Ronee Blakely (vocals); Mason Ruffner, Danny Kortchmar (guitar); Brendan O'Brien (guitar, bass, background vocals); Scarlet Rivera (violin); Steve Douglas (saxophone); Benmont Tench (keyboards); Alan Clark (piano, organ); Barry Beckett (keyboards, percussion); Nathan East (bass); Jim Keltner, Pick Withers, Kenny Aronoff (drums); Cyril Neville (talking drum); Waddy Wachtel, Al Kooper, Roger McGuinn, Don Was, Brent Mydland. Producers include: Don Devito Bob Dylan, Chuck Plotkin Bob Dylan, Mark Knopfler. What could the poet, who has been called the spokesman of his generation, possibly have to offer on a third greatest-hits compilation? Quite a lot, and by listening to these selections you realize the depth of Bob Dylan's musical inventory. This eclectic, quirky collection provides his best literate epics ("Brownsville," written with Sam Shepard), enigmatic gems ("Tangled Up In Blue" from the brilliant BLOOD ON THE TRACKS), masterful gospel classics (STREET LEGAL's "Changing Of The Guard"), effective political narratives ("Hurricane") and timeless pop classics ("Forever Young" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"). For the most part, these rock, folk, gospel and blues cuts are selected from less celebrated albums like OH MERCY, DOWN IN THE GROOVE and KNOCKED OUT LOADED. They should serve as entreaties to return to those overlooked treasures. With all this album's pedigree, the unlikely show-stopper is the previously unreleased "Dignity"--it causes one to pause and note the continuing awesomeness of Dylan's craft and limitless lyrical talent. This album serves as a lesson to all aspiring singer-songwriters. GREATEST HITS, VOLUME 3, indeed--from an artist whose every song is complex perfection. |
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BOB DYLANOrder from: |
1. You're No Good |
Includes liner notes by Stacey Williams and Robert Shelton. The first album from the greatest musical poet of the 20th century gave little indication of what was to come. Although released in 1962, it reeks of the 50s folk/protest movement. Many of the standards covered by Dylan had been sung by a thousand troubadours throughout the McCarthy era and the anti-war movement. Dylan sings on this like an innocent angel, and makes Eric Von Schmidt's "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" sound so sweet. The seeds of greatness were apparent in the sensitive original "Song To Woody," a sadly overlooked song in the massive Dylan catalogue. A wonderful exercise in what was then and what is not now. |
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THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLANOrder from: |
1. Blowin' In The Wind |
Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff. With this album Dylan emerged from the cloak of Woody Guthrie and proclaimed his own unique talent. No longer detached--the set was originally entitled BOB DYLAN'S BLUES--he personalized his songs, famously rejecting four from the final draft in favour of others reflecting his newer muse. Protest songs were given a wider resonance--the text of "Masters Of War" remains as relevant some 30 years on--while his love songs are haunting, but universal, statements. Dylan injected black humour into the talking blues and railed against injustice in all forms with a perception encompassing the anger of a generation. FREEWHEELIN' is a landmark in the development of folk and pop music. |
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ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLANOrder from: |
1. All I Really Want To Do |
On this album it was clear that the almighty Bobness was becoming bored with straight folk. Although still acoustic, his left-thinking devotees began to raise an eyebrow at subtle lyrical shifts, yet this album was to be raided time and again--particularly by the Byrds--in 1965's folk rock boom. There is much free-spirited music, as if Dylan was somehow aware of the acceptance that was around the corner, and it has been noted that here were the first signs of the trademark vocal so prevalent through the rest of the 60s. Take your pick: most of the offerings are striking. "My Back Pages," "All I Really Want To Do," "It Ain't Me Babe," and even a last nod to protest, "The Chimes Of Freedom." How can one man be so prolific? |
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THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'Order from: |
1. Times They Are A-Changin', The |
On his third album Bob Dylan both redefined and expanded his musical palate. Fˆted as a protest singer, a nomenclature he rejected, he brought new insight to the genre, particularly with "Only A Pawn In Their Game," in which he paints a wider canvas relating to the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Dylan's love songs herein are particularly poignant, their stark, acoustic setting enhancing a graphic lyricism. The title song boasts a wonderful ambiguity, managing to be political and personal, the latter aspect suggesting the changes Dylan would bring to his music. The last album as a folk artist per se, THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' is yet another essential Dylan collection. |
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BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOMEOrder from: |
1. Subterranean Homesick Blues |
Howls of rage greeted Dylan as he presented the world with folk rock - he was roundly booed at both the Newport Folk Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. Yet here is one of those moments of cross-influence that changed the course of popular music. BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME gave His Bobness an audience on a plate; it was a massive breakthrough. An album of two different sides, acoustic (his past) and electric (his future), the music--covered a thousandfold--has among it "Maggie's Farm," "Subterranean Home Sick Blues," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "0Love Minus Zero," and the cosmopolitan political speak of "It's Alright, Ma." You can debate the `is it folk or is it rock' argument for ever. It is irrelevant, it is merely Dylan at one of his many peaks. |
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HIGHWAY 61 REVISITEDOrder from: |
1. Like A Rolling Stone |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Michael Bloomfield Charlie McCoy (guitar); Frank Owens (piano); Al Kooper, Paul Griffin (organ, piano); Harvey Goldstein, Russ Savakus (bass); Bobby Gregg (drums). Dylan's first fully fledged electric album engendered considerable controversy. Folk purists had already waved goodbye to him, but rock had become the m‚tier through which the singer could now best express his vision. Session organist Al Kooper and blues guitarist Michael Bloomfield were among those providing free-spirited accompaniment to a collection of songs that redefined pop music. Wrapped in a raw, driving sound, Dylan's poems--part beat, part symbolist, part concrete--ensured that contemporaries could no longer rely on traditional forms, an influence immediately apparent on recordings by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. There are lyrics of a generation still to be found on this album. |
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BLONDE ON BLONDEOrder from: |
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, harmonica, guitar); Charlie McCoy (harmonica); Wayne Moss, Kenneth Buttrey, Hargus Robbins, Jerry Kennedy, Joe South, Al Kooper, Bill Aikins, Henry Strzelecki, Jaime Robertson. Recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. Originally released as a 2-LP set. All songs written by Bob Dylan. A year after HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, Dylan repeated the act with further epitaphs of creative malarkey and intrigue. We were spoiled with a double album, longer than anything we had previously heard, yet still destined to endure. The punishing touring and high profile drove Dylan to be creative beyond belief as he scribbled these gems in his hotel rooms. Surrounding himself with the likes of Al Kooper, Robbie Robertson, Charlie McCoy and Kenny Buttrey, these seasoned musicians gave this album a relaxed confidence, quite unlike the youthful energy of HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED. More than thirty years later this album still rewards and surprises. A gigantic record. |
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JOHN WESLEY HARDINGOrder from: |
1. John Wesley Harding |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Pete Drake (steel guitar); Charles McCoy (bass); Kenny Buttrey (drums). Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan's eighth album followed a lengthy hibernation in which the singer re-evaluated his art. He emerged with a set of stark simplicity and heartfelt intensity. Neither folk, nor rock, nor country, the selection boasts elements of all three, slipping into consciousness with a mesmerizing power belying its setting. A biblical purity encompasses the collection as Dylan paints graphic portraits of the disenfranchised--hobo, immigrant, drifter, messenger --articulating the uncertainty of the times. The mood lifts for the final track, a beautifully tender love song, suggesting that this is where salvation lies. John Wesley Harding repays repeated play with ever-unfolding metaphor and interpretation, including four hidden Beatles on the cover. |
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NASHVILLE SKYLINEOrder from: |
1. Girl From The North Country - (with Johnny Cash) |
It is hard to recall now how deeply unfashionable country music was in 1969-- Dylan's label, Columbia, dismayed at his apparent retrogression, begged him to remove the word NASHVILLE from the album's title. However, as usual, he proved ahead of the game; his embrace of country ushered in Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers and scores of subsequent artists under the Americana banner. Prescient too was his nod to Johnny Cash, with whom he duets on the gorgeous "Girl From The North Country." Most tracks are pleasant and enduring; the chart hit "Lay Lady Lay" remains the Dylan song of choice for non-fans. |
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NEW MORNINGOrder from: |
1. If Not For You |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, organ, piano); David Bromberg (guitar, dobro); Buzzy Feiten, Ron Cornelius (guitar); Al Kooper (organ, piano, guitar, French horn); Harvey Brooks, Charlie Daniels (bass); Russ Kunkel, Billy Mundi (drums); Hilda Harris, Albertine Robinson, Maeretha Stewart (background vocals). Following the critical and commercial drubbing that SELF PORTRAIT received, Dylan returned with NEW MORNING, in many ways a return to form. With its sepia-colored cover photo of a somewhat rabbinical-looking Dylan, this is a gentle, eclectic album in which Dylan celebrates married life and living in the country. He sings about the wonders of dessert (the rollicking "Country Pie"), and on "Sign on the Window," of the simple joy of being called "Pa" by his kids. This was perhaps the last time that Dylan would release a collection of songs so free of his trademark bile. "It Not For You," later covered by George Harrison, is classic Dylan. Much of the music bears some of the pastoral flavor of NASHVILLE SKYLINE. The title track, the slide guitar-driven "One More Weekend," and "Country Pie," with its barrelhouse stomp, really rock. Elsewhere there are moments of quiet beauty: the eloquent "Time Passes Slowly," and the lilting, waltz-time "Winterlude. Dylan can even be heard enjoying himself in "If Dogs Run Free," which finds him uttering comical Beat-style jazz rhymes over scat singing. NEW MORNING ends with "Father of Night," a straightforward benediction that foreshadows some the religious themes that would follow later in the decade. |
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SELF PORTRAITOrder from: |
1. All The Tired Horses |
Personnel includes: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar); Byron T. Bach, Brenton Banks, George Binkley, Norman Blake, David Bromberg, Albert W. Butler, Kenneth Buttrey, Fred Carter, Jr., Marvin D. Chantry, Ron Cornelius, Charlie Daniels, Rick Danko, Dottie Dillard, Peter Drake, Delored Edgin, Jolie J. Fott, Bubba Fowler, Dennis A. Good, Emanuel Green, Hilda Harris, Levon Helm, Frederick Hill, Karl T. Himmel, Garth Hudson, Lillian Hunt, Martin Katahn, Doug Kershaw, Millie Kirkham, Al Kooper, Sheldon Kurland, Charlie McCoy, Martha McCrory, Barry McDonald, Richard Manuel, Oliver Mitchell, Carol Montgomery, Bob Moore, Gene A. Mullins, Gary Van Osdale, June Page, Rex Peer, Bill Pursell, Robbie Robertson, Alvin Rogers, Frank C. Smith, Maeretha Stewart, Anthony Terron, Bob Wilson, Stu Woods. Engineers: Neil Wilburn, Don Puluse, Glynn Johns. Originally released as a 2-LP set. This willfully eccentric album is among the most misunderstood in Dylan's catalog. It's surely the oddest recorded moment in a career far from devoid of left turns. Dylan himself doesn't even appear on the opening tune, wherein a female chorus repeats a spiritual-sounding refrain over strings and organ. Some of the tunes pick up where NASHVILLE SKYLINE left off, with Dylan crooning over country-ish backup. Elsewhere, he tackles an unusual group of cover tunes, including Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain," Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer" and the Everly Brothers' classic "Take A Message To Mary." He takes a relaxed, homespun approach on the traditional murder ballad "Little Sadie." He offers us a glimpse of Bob the bluesman on "Woogie Boogie" and the Elmore James chestnut "It Hurts Me Too." He even covers himself, with a new version of "Like A Rolling Stone." The eclectic outside material and the lack of any anthems for the Woodstock generation to hang their preconceptions on led many to dismiss this album as perversely slight. If you buy into that party line, you'll never know what you're missing. |
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PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KIDOrder from: |
1. Billy (Main Title Theme) |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Donna Weiss, Priscilla Jones, Brenda Patterson (vocals); Roger McGuinn, Bruce Langhorn (guitar); Carol Hunter (guitar, vocals); Byron Berline (fiddle, vocals); Jolly Roger (banjo); Fred Katz, Ted Michel (cello); Gary Foster (flute, recorder); Carl Fortina (harmonium); Terry Paul (bass, vocals); Booker T. (bass); Jim Keltner (drums); Russ Kunkel (bongos, tambourine). Even though it contains the classic rock standard "Knocking on Heaven's Door," PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID is one of Dylan's least-known albums. Recorded as the soundtrack to a surreal, somewhat violent Sam Peckinpah Western in which Dylan co-starred, the album consists mainly of reflective, rustic instrumentals. Of the two songs with vocals, "Billy" is a compelling outlaw narrative, complete with earnestly strummed acoustic guitars and Dylan's wheezing harmonica, while the epic, ominous "Knocking On Heaven's Door" is a rock masterpiece that evokes the wide open space and desolation of the Old West. Though the remainder of the album is devoted to instrumentals, tracks like the delicate, wistful "River Theme" are impressive in their own understated way. Backed by Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn and top West Coast session players, Dylan created a fascinating set of music that was one of his last albums to capture the restless spirit and otherworldly feel of his classic sixties recordings. |
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BEFORE THE FLOOD (LIVE WITH THE BAND, 1974)Order from: |
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Disc: 1
Disc: 2
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Bob Dylan/The Band: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Robbie Robertson (electric guitar, background vocals); Richard Manuel (piano, electric piano, drums, organ, background vocals); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, Clavinet); Rick Danko (bass, background vocals); Levon Helm (drums, background vocals). The 1974 tour by Bob Dylan and the Band brought together two of the most-respected acts in rock history for what was one of the biggest concert events of the decade. Recorded at several different venues over the course of the two-month tour, BEFORE THE FLOOD captures Dylan and The Band in fine form. Having backed Dylan on and off since 1966, The Band were very comfortable with his music, and on this album they provide Dylan with some of the finest accompaniment of his career. Dylan opens the show with spirited versions of hits like "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Lay Lady Lay" as well as the acidic "Ballad of a Thin Man." Having fired up the crowd, Dylan steps away from the mike to let the Band perform barnstorming versions of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and other classics from their repertoire. After The Band nearly brings down the house with their intense rendition of "The Weight," Dylan returns to bring it all back home with powerful performances of "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' In The Wind" providing a spectacular finale to one of the finest live rock albums of the seventies. |
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PLANET WAVESOrder from: |
1. On A Night Like This |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Robbie Robertson (guitar); Garth Hudson (organ); Rick Danko (bass); Richard Manuel (drums, piano); Levon Helm (drums). Recorded at the Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, California on November 5, 6 and 9, 1973. The cover of PLANET WAVES bears the inscription "cast-iron songs and torch ballads," proving that Dylan was a skilled assessor of his own work. "There are those who worship loneliness/But I'm not one of them," he sings on "Dirge," a disclaimer for the harrowing emotional landscape he describes. Backed by the members of the Band, Dylan explores both sides of the romantic coin on this album. "You Angel You" and "On a Night Like This" (a tune that proved jubilant enough to be covered by Buckwheat Zydeco) represent the up side. The aforementioned "Dirge" brings us into the belly of the beast, as Dylan faces up to his loneliness and pain with customary aplomb; "I payed the price of solitude/But at least I'm out of debt." Throughout, the Band alternately supply verve and poignancy as required. A little-known standout on PLANET WAVES is the solo acoustic ballad "Wedding Song," where Bob wears his heart proudly on his sleeve over a haunting minor-key melody. |
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THE BASEMENT TAPESOrder from: |
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Dylan and the Band recorded what became known as THE BASEMENT TAPES in the summer and fall of 1967, between Dylan's albums BLONDE ON BLONDE and JOHN WESLEY HARDING. The songs were recorded live on a home tape recorder in the basement of a house called Big Pink, in West Saugerties, New York. Some of the recordings were bootlegged in the late '60s, but to many fans they were just a rumor until this official version came out in 1975. Bob Dylan/The Band: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Robbie Robertson (guitar); Garth Hudson (organ); Richard Manuel (keyboards); Rick Danko (bass); Levon Helm (drums). Recorded at Big Pink, West Saugerties, New York between June and October 1967. To emphasize Dylan's startling fecundity and In 1967 Dylan was recovering from his much publicized motorcycle crash, and with backing from the fledgling Band, he laid down dozens of rudimentary demo recordings. Eventually gaining an official release eight years later (with several delightful songs from a later Band session added), THE BASEMENT TAPES was a ragbag collection of alternately playful and serious acoustic songs that drew on a deep well of American tradition for their inspiration. Songs of the calibre of "Tears Of Rage", "Too Much Of Nothing", "Nothing Was Delivered" and "This Wheel's On Fire" only served importance as a songwriter. |
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BLOOD ON THE TRACKSOrder from: |
1. Tangled Up In Blue |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar, vocals); Buddy Cage (steel guitar); Paul Griffin (organ); Tony Brown (bass); Eric Weissberg, Deliverance. Includes liner notes by Pete Hamill. By the mid-'70s, even Dylan's most ardent supporters began taking his artistic decline for granted. Albums like NEW MORNING and PLANET WAVES were fine works, but lacked the visionary spark of his seminal '60s recordings. At 34 he was already being written off as a has-been. That presumption is what made BLOOD ON THE TRACKS such a glorious sucker-punch of a record. One of Dylan's most mournful efforts, this album, which easily ranks among his best, is full of stories about lost love and the struggle for peace of mind. With a simple, country-flavored backing somewhat akin to NASHVILLE SKYLINE, he recounts shattered love affairs in heart-breaking detail on songs like "Simple Twist Of Fate" and "If You See Her Say Hello." On the vengeful "Idiot Wind" he rails mercilessly against the ignorant and self-obsessed a la "Like A Rolling Stone." The difference here, and the major breakthrough for Dylan, is that by the end of the song, he's lumping himself in with those he excoriates so vehemently. |
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DESIREOrder from: |
1. Hurricane |
DESIRE was the studio realization of the Rolling Thunder revue's sound. The musicians involved in this mid-'70s Dylan project were more than a backup band; they forged a distinctive musical vision, loose and swirling, the perfect aural equivalent of the traveling gypsy/carnival image they affected onstage. Drummer Howie Wyeth, who possessed an uncannily sympathetic ear for accompanying singer-songwriters, and violinist Scarlet Rivera, built their careers on the foundation of the Rolling Thunder band. Many critics balked at Dylan's lyrical collaborations with Jacques Levy on this album, but their reservations were just glorified xenophobia. Levy's flowing, colloquial style suited Dylan's music and delivery perfectly, and the two produced several gems. "Isis" is an exotic tale of intrigue that turns out to be a unique love story. "Hurricane" breathlessly tells the true story of Ruben Carter, a boxer framed for murder and acquitted years after DESIRE's release. It still stands as one of Dylan's most exciting, emotional tunes. |
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HARD RAINOrder from: |
1. Maggie's Farm |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar); Mick Ronson, David Mansfield (guitar); Steven Soles (guitar, background vocals); T-Bone Burnett (guitar, piano); Scarlet Rivera (strings); Howard Wyeth (piano, drums); Rob Stoner (bass, background vocals); Gary Burke (drums). Recorded live in Texas in 1976. For the last few months of 1975 and the first few of 1976, Bob Dylan led two tours, both unoffically called "Rolling Thunder." The tours were a kind of travelling circus, with many guest musicians (Roger McGuinn, Joan Baez, T-Bone Burnett, Mick Ronson, Ronee Blakely) and some weird hangers-on (Dennis Hopper, Sam Shepard). Out of these notorious shows came Dylan's much ballyhooed (and largely unseen) four-hour film RENALDO AND CLARA, a TV concert special, and this live album, released in late 1976. Often dismissed as one of Dylan's lesser recordings, HARD RAIN is actually, in some ways, one of his best. Partially inspired by Patti Smith and by a chaotic personal life, this album captures Dylan's music at its most raucous. Indeed, some have called it his "punk" album. His singing, especially on "Idiot Wind" and "Shelter From the Storm," has never sounded more venomous. Older material like "Maggie's Farm" and "One Too Many Mornings" is drastically rearranged. HARD RAIN should rightfully be compared to Neil Young's TIME FADES AWAY as a wrongfully overlooked live album by a major artist. |
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STREET LEGALOrder from: |
1. Changing Of The Guards |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar, vocals); Steven Soles (guitar, background vocals); Billy Cross (guitar); David Mansfield (violin, mandolin); Steve Douglas (tenor & soprano saxophone); Steve Madaio (trumpet); Alan Pasqua (keyboards); Jerry Scheff (bass); Jan Wallace (drums); Bobbye Hall (percussion); Carolyn Dennis, Jo Ann Harris, Helena Springs (background vocals). Recorded at Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, California. Dylan's last pre-Christianity batch of tunes, STREET LEGAL achieves a comfortable balance between the staid professionalism of the same year's live recording AT BUDOKAN and the rough-and-ready aesthetic of previous albums like DESIRE. As was often the case in his post-BLOOD ON THE TRACKS records, some of the most effective tunes on STREET LEGAL are those that he seems to have labored over least. A good example is the way the simple 12-bar blues of "New Pony" eclipses the more elaborately constructed opener "Changing of the Guards." Naturally, that's not to say Dylan's vaunted wordplay had hit a valley on STREET LEGAL. Anyone who can rhyme "where we're headin'" with "Armageddon," as he does on "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)," plainly has more than a few lyrical tricks left up his sleeve. Those searching for subtext in the tunes here may note the evidence of a spiritual turmoil that would soon lead to Dylan's theological metamorphosis. |
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AT BUDOKAN (LIVE IN JAPAN, FEBRUARY 1978)Order from: |
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Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Debi Dye (vocals); Steven Soles (acoustic guitar, vocals); Billy Cross (guitar); David Mansfield (pedal steel, violin, mandolin, guitar, dobro); Steve Douglas (saxophone, flute, recorder); Alan Pasqua (keyboards); Rob Stoner (bass, vocals); Ian Wallace (drums); Bobbye Hall (percussion). Engineers: Tom Suzuki, Teppei Kasai, Tetsuro Tomita, G.H. Sukegawa. Recorded at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan on February 28 and March 1, 1978. Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan. All songs written by Bob Dylan. This live double album, recorded in Tokyo in 1978, is practically a best-of in disguise. Dylan focuses on the older material in his repertoire, reaching back to the '60s for such tunes as "Blowin' In The Wind," "All I Really Want To Do" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Wisely, he also includes a couple of songs from his finest '70s album, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. These tunes, "Shelter From The Storm" and "Simple Twist of Fate," differ radically from the original recorded versions, as has always been Dylan's wont in a performance situation. One thing that differentiates BUDOKAN from Dylan's other live albums, is the approach toward arrangements. Both earlier and later concert recordings present Dylan as the leader of a ragtag gang that blazes its way through the tunes in a spontaneous manner. Here, backed by studio vets like Ian Wallace, Alan Pasqua and Steven Soles as well as a three-woman choir, Dylan takes a much more thought-out, even "professional-sounding" approach, to the extent that this could almost pass for a studio re-recording of some of his finest compositions. |
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SLOW TRAIN COMINGOrder from: |
1. Gotta Serve Somebody |
Of all the pitstops made by the nomadically creative Dylan, none was more unusual than his brief conversion to Christianity in the late '70s. SLOW TRAIN COMING was the first of two records (SAVED being the other) that found Zimmerman exploring his newfound faith. Recorded at Memphis' famed Muscle Shoals Studios and produced by soul vets Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, SLOW TRAIN's supporting cast includes Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler on guitar and Pick Withers on drums, along with a handful of studio musicians. Knopfler's crisp guitar playing is surrounded by a punchy horn section and a phalanx of female background singers who are a perfect compliment to Dylan's revitalized vocals. Songs such as "When He Returns" and "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking" reverberate with the conviction of Dylan's new faith whereas "When You Gonna Wake Up" simultaneously celebrates America's greatness as a country and warns of the need to seek a new set of values. Dylan eventually won a Best Rock Vocal Grammy for "Gotta Serve Somebody," but the enigmatic one renounced his conversion to Christianity by 1983. |
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SAVEDOrder from: |
1. Satisfied Mind, A |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar, vocals, harmonica); Clydie King, Regina Havis, Mona Lisa Young (vocals); Fred Tackett (guitar); Spooner Oldham (keyboards); Terry Young (keyboards, vocals); Tim Drummond (bass); Jim Keltner (drums); Barry Beckett. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Sheffield, Alabama. Ever the spiritual nomad, the former Robert Zimmerman became a born-again Christian in the late '70s, a development strongly reflected in his work from that period. His second "Christian" album, SAVED celebrates the change just as emphatically as it's predecessor SLOW TRAIN COMING, with Dylan declaring proclaiming his faith in no uncertain terms on the title track. Even when he sings about the opposite sex on "Covenant Woman," it's a lady who has a "contract with God." Backed by some of the most soulful musicians he's ever recorded with, including Barry Beckett, Spooner Oldham and Jim Keltner, Dylan wrings an unprecedented degree of emotion from his tunes. He even sings the hell out of the old country-identified spiritual "A Satisfied Mind" to open the album. Closing things out, "Are You Ready" finds Dylan (backed by a gospel choir) exhorting the listener to accept Jesus, over a sinuous funk-gospel vamp. |
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SHOT OF LOVEOrder from: |
1. Shot Of Love |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar, vocals, piano, harmonica, percussion); Clydie King (vocals); Ron Wood, Fred Tackett, Steve Ripley, Danny Kortchmar (guitar); Steve Douglas (alto saxophone); Carl Pickhardt, Benmont Tench (piano, keyboards); William "Smitty" Smith (organ); Donald "Duck" Dunn, Tim Drummond (bass); Jim Keltner, Chuck Plotkin, Ringo Starr (drums); Regina McCrary, Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec (background vocals). Producers: Chuck Plotkin, Bumps Blackwell, Bob Dylan. All songs written by Bob Dylan. Though many critics consider SHOT OF LOVE the best of Dylan's late-'70s, early-'80s "Christian albums," others find it guilty simply by association with that period. As such, it's one of his most underrated albums. It includes "Every Grain Of Sand"--one of his finest post-'60s ballads--along with such notable album tracks as the rocking title cut and "Lenny Bruce," a paean to the comedian that easily could be read as a veiled paean to Dylan himself. The CD version of SHOT OF LOVE adds the B-side "The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar," a rollicking blues-rocker that earned a lot of airplay when it first came out by reminding fans of BLONDE ON BLONDE. |
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INFIDELSOrder from: |
1. Jokerman |
Personnel includes: Bob Dylan (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Mark Knopfler, Mick Taylor (guitar); Alan Clarke (keyboards); Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Sly Dunbar (drums, percussion). Recorded at the Power Station, New York City, New York. After using SLOW TRAIN COMING, SAVED and SHOT OF LOVE as sounding boards for his born-again Christianity, Bob Dylan took a trip to Israel amidst rumors that he was repudiating his new faith and embracing his Judaic roots. Upon returning from his overseas excursion, Dylan went straight into the studio with co-producer Mark Knopfler and emerged with INFIDELS, a record that found the legendary singer-songwriter recording songs that were more of a political nature than religious one. Backed by a band that includes Knopfler and ex-Stone Mick Taylor on guitar and the legendary reggae rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Zimmy's biting songs don't lack for solid musical support. Speaking out with conviction, Dylan uses the hard-driving "Neighborhood Bully" to praise Israel's fortitude amidst a sea of hostile Arab relations, while the feisty troubador rips into corporate greed within the barrage of twangy country guitar that defines "Union Sundown." "Jokerman," one of Dylan's most enduring songs, offers a flirtation with reggae, with Dylan blowing away on harmonica as Knopfler provides the perfect accompaniment with his distinctive guitar work. |
BIOGRAPHOrder from: BIOGRAPH features 51 digitally remastered Bob Dylan recordings spanning the years 1961-1981, 18 of which were previously unissued. This three-disc set was Columbia's first attempt to anthologize Dylan in the box-set format. Unlike the later BOOTLEG SERIES, though, BIOGRAPH does double duty as treasure trove of previously unreleased material and greatest hits package. From "Tangled Up in Blue" to "I Want You," most of Dylan's FM radio staples are here, painting a clear historical picture of both his development as an artist and his transformation from rabble-rousing underdog to popular culture icon. The real gems here are, naturally, the previously unreleased songs. Some, like "Isis" and the surrealistic epic "Visions of Johanna are Dylan album cuts heard here in revelatory live versions. Some are Dylan's version of songs he wrote that were recorded by others ("Mighty Quinn," a hit for Manfred Mann, and "I'll Keep It With Mine," recorded by Nico and others). The most striking tunes on BIOGRAPH are the ones that had never been released before in any form, like "Mixed Up Confusion" and the whimsical "Jet Pilot." 1. Baby Let Me Follow You Down |
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EMPIRE BURLESQUEOrder from: |
1. Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My
Love) |
One album removed from his so-called "Christian" period, EMPIRE BURLESQUE foreshadowed Bob Dylan's studio modus operandi for the rest of the 1980s. It forsakes cohesive lyrical and sonic visions for the chance to be all things to all Dylan fans, many of whom proclaimed it as his greatest work since BLOOD ON THE TRACKS; thus, grumpy apocalyptic proclamations, statements of absolute faith (physical or spiritual?) and credos of self-awareness all get equal space. Yet, even as hip-hop producer Arthur Baker's heavily glazed mix makes all these songs digitally shine, the overall feel is of a songwriter committing every thought hastily to tape, lest the thought change shape. And as these thoughts come pouring out of Dylan's head, the choir-like background vocals (some combination of female singers appears on over half the album's tracks) add a dimension of otherworldly testimony to his words. It seemed that, having found the righteousness of The Word, the bard of modern songwriting was now investing all his recordings with such zero-sum fervor. |
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REAL LIVE (IN EUROPE, 1984)Order from: |
1. Highway 61 Revisited |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar, harmonica, vocals); Carlos Santana, Mick Taylor (guitar); Ian McLagen (keyboards); Greg Sutton (bass); Colin Allen (drums). Throughout the '80s and '90s, Dylan fulfilled his role of troubadour and then some, ceaselessy roaming the world on what came to be known as the "Endless Tour." Playing his songs night after night, Dylan had to either reinvent them or risk madness. He chose the former. This 1984 live recording finds him attacking his classic catalogue with fervor and imagination. Backed by a rocking, no-frills band, Dylan twists and turns his older material into interesting new shapes. He practically rewrites "Tangled Up in Blue," casting it in the third person rather than the first. He redefines "Masters of War," originally an acoustic folk-based tune, turning it into an appropriately raging rocker. He also finds room for his more recent songs, turning in heartfelt performances of "I and I" and "License To Kill," two of his finest '80s compositions. |
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KNOCKED OUT LOADEDOrder from: |
1. You Wanna Ramble |
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DOWN IN THE GROOVEOrder from: |
1. Let's Stick Together |
No two songs on DOWN IN THE GROOVE come from the same session, the tone fluctuates from raucous to pensive to somber in a heartbeat, and former punks and hair-metal stalwarts contribute as much to these recordings as Eric Clapton and members of the Grateful Dead. Yet Dylan held something in his sights, pitting covers of smoking R&B standards against original dirges, traditional folk songs against new proclamations that felt timeless. Best of all were the two collaborations with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. "Ugliest Girl in the World" is a bit of rocked-up whimsy. And "Silvio" has become the '80s song Dylan has most taken to heart, performing it nightly well into the '90s. In its form (a typical proto-Dead roots boogie), and its content (rumination on the honesty and integrity of longtime storytellers), it reflects back on the song's authors. It is an anthem in defense of a bard, written at a time when the populace assumed this bard had lost his powers. But DOWN IN THE GROOVE assured that even a staggering Dylan could pull magic out of his sleeve almost at will. |
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DYLAN & THE DEAD (LIVE, 1987)Order from: |
1. Slow Train |
This document of the historic summer-of-1987 live pairing of the rock era's premier singer/songwriter and its longest-running psychedelic adventure-cum-sideshow is not nearly as great as the shows themselves were. Yet, it exemplifies rather eloquently what each brought to the party. Dylan, obviously, brought the tunes--but not just the acknowledged classics. As the dry reading of "Joey," his mid-'70s tribute to gangster Joey Gallo, rightfully suggests, Dylan kept the Dead on their toes with his choices. The Dead, of course, brought their indescribable way with a song, their ability to turn any tune into a jam-friendly, lyrical boogie. And as the opening "Slow Train Coming" rightfully suggests, when this weird combo of talents clicked, every dusty corner of Dylan's catalog got a unique makeover. |
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OH MERCYOrder from: |
1. Political World |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, 6- & 12-string guitars, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Mason Ruffner, Brian Stoltz, Paul Synegal (guitar); Daniel Lanois (guitar, lap steel, dobro, Omnichord); Rockin' Dopsie (accordion); John Hart (saxophone); Malcolm Burn (keyboards, tambourine); Tony Hall, Larry Jolivet (bass); Willie Green, Alton Rubin, Jr. (drums); David Rubin, Jr. (scrub board); Cyril Neville, Daryl Johnson (percussion). The great Zim has been written off many times, and yet he can and will always come back and surprise us with another tremendous album. Much credit is given to producer Daniel Lanois, but don't forget, a producer cannot do much with pencil shavings. Some of Dylan's most cryptic statements are on this album. He was always better as a romantic than as a protest folkie, and the less obscure his lyrics become, the more he opens his heart. Take, for example, the simple "Where Teardrops Fall." Alternatively, the brilliant twist in the tail, "Most Of The Time," is the deepest: `Don't even remember what her lips felt like on mine, most of the time.' |
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UNDER THE RED SKYOrder from: |
1. Wiggle Wiggle |
Producers: Don Was, David Was, Jack Frost. UNDER THE RED SKY brought to a close the transition period that was Bob Dylan's post-Christian 1980s. Having spent most of that time looking for a voice in the rocking gospel and blues, stomping R&B and rock stylings he had long since mastered, Dylan decided to just go garage. Obviously, with Don and David Was producing, the end product carries a more professional veneer than that description may imply. But as titles like "Wiggle Wiggle" and "TV Talkin' Song" suggest (and the tunes live up to their simplistic names), the mindset of these sessions seemes more geared toward getting the bard's ya-yas out than building a masterwork. Of course, in perfectly Dylanesque fashion, amidst all these second-hand pieces lies a gem like "Unbelievable," a wordy, doomsday-culture rocker in the spirit of "When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky." Afterwards though, Dylan turned his back on songwriting for six years, rightfully fearing that schoolboy rhymes were not what the world sought from him. |
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THE BOOTLEG SERIES, VOLS. 1-3
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1. Hard Times In New York Town - (live) |
THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOLS. 1-3 consists mostly of previously-unreleased studio outtakes. It also include demos and alternate versions of released material, and a handful of live tracks. Personnel includes: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Kenny Rakin, Charles Brown, III, Steven Soles, Bobby Neuwirth, Danny Kortchmar, Steve Ripley (guitar); Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar); David Mansfield (mandolin); Scarlet Rivera (violin); Paul Griffen (piano, keyboards); Alan Clark (organ, keyboards); Ben Tench (organ); Barry Beckett, Roy Bittan (keyboards); Joseph Macho, Jr., Harvey Brooks, Russell Bridges, Tony Brown, Rob Stoner, Tim Drummond (bass); Bobby Gregg, Russ Kunkel, Howie Wyeth, Jim Keltner (drums); Gary Burke (congas); Clydie King, Regina Havis, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals); Mark Knopfler, Eric Weissberg, Pick Withers, Jennifer Warnes, Mick Taylor, Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, Full Force, Little Steven, Daniel Lanois, Mason Ruffner, Cyril Neville. Producers include: John Hammond, Tom Wilson, Bob Johnson, Don DeVito, Jerry Wexler. Compilation producer: Jeff Rosen. Recorded between 1961 and 1989. Includes a 68-page booklet with song-by-song notes by John Bauldie. Dylan proved to be not only one of the most bootlegged of 20th Century performers, but also one of the first (GREAT WHITE WONDER was one of the releases that turned bootlegging from a pastime into an industry). Over the years, Dylan's legions of fans rabidly traded recordings of live shows, out-takes, demos and other rare material. THE BOOTLEG SERIES attempts to supply the definitive collection of what had been bootlegged material. Its three discs move along chronologically, spanning the length of Dylan's career and providing candid, previously verboten glimpses into his creative process, and consequently, his musical genius. The first disc features some intriguing versions of traditional tunes like "He Was a Friend Of Mine" and "House Carpenter," and some obscure cuts from his "protest" period, such as "Paths of Victory" and "Who Killed Davy Moore?" Disc two finds him in his prime, moving from alternative versions of HIGHWAY 61 material to radically recast tunes from the sublime BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. The gems on the third disc are the eerie ballad "Blind Willie McTell," inexplicably cut from the INFIDELS sessions, and the newest song on this collection, "Series of Dreams," a swirling, surreal look back at a lifetime on the edge. THE BOOTLEG SERIES is a must for any serious Dylan fan. |
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GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOUOrder from: |
1. Frankie & Albert |
GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU, recorded live in the studio in one take, is Bob Dylan's first solo-acoustic release since 1965. Solo performer: Bob Dylan (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica). This 1992 release was Dylan's first solo acoustic release since his early-'60s folkie period. By the early '90s, the archetypal song poet had gone down so many wrong compositional roads he rightly decided it was time to take a break from songwriting. While time would prove him right (his next album of original material was 1997's sublime TIME OUT OF MIND), even he probably didn't bank on GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU turning out to be such a gem. Focusing on traditional folk songs like "Blackjack Davey," the wry "Arthur McBride" and even the musty old chestnut "Froggie Went A Courtin'," Dylan reinvents his Guthrie-derived '60s folk style, using the age and wisdom inherent in his raspy voice to invest these songs with new life. GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU turned out to be such a good idea, Zimmy followed it with the similar (but even better) WORLD GONE WRONG. |
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WORLD GONE WRONGOrder from: |
1. World Gone Wrong |
Solo performer: Bob Dylan (guitar, vocals, harmonica). Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan. WORLD GONE WRONG won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. In the early-to-mid-'90s, Dylan took a break from recording original material, releasing two albums of traditional songs performed solo. When the first, GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU, was released, detractors claimed Dylan was out of ideas and grasping at the straws of his folkie youth (TIME OUT OF MIND would eventually lay such claims squarely to rest). His next solo outing, WORLD GONE WRONG, made it clear that Dylan was simply exercising his power as a troubadour to find deep, timeless meaning in traditional material. Two of the most affecting songs, "Blood In My Eyes" and the title track, were made "popular" by the Mississippi Sheiks, an early country blues group, and these easily rank among Dylan's finest '90s performances. On mournful tunes like "Delia," Dylan sounds like a grim spectre, materializing to whisper his tales compellingly to those who wander near. On the ragtag blues of "Ragged & Dirty," he exhibits enough passion and abandon to definitively scuttle any talk of him succumbing to the ravages of age. |
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THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN/
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1. Blowin' In The Wind |
Full title: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/The Times They Are A-Changin'/Another Side Of Bob Dylan. Originally released as three separate albums, THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN, THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' and ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN. See individual albums for more information. Producers include: Tom Wilson, John Hammond. |
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MTV UNPLUGGED (LIVE, 1994)Order from: |
1. Tombstone Blues |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); John Jackson (guitar); Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar, dobro); Brendan O'Brien (Hammond organ); Tony Garnier (bass); Winston Watson (drums). Recorded live at the Sony Studios, New York, New York. All songs written by Bob Dylan. MTV UNPLUGGED was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and "Dignity" was nominated for Best Rock Song. It can be taken as a simple twist of fate: the most famous artist of the rock era to symbolically "plug in" finally goes "unplugged." Yet, while everyone remembers how Bob Dylan startled the folkies by "going electric" at Newport, few recent fans recognize that he returned to his acoustic roots shortly thereafter (on 1968's JOHN WESLEY HARDING), and that his biggest success afterward was a mostly acoustic album (1975's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS). It is the musical touches of BLOOD ON THE TRACKS that MTV UNPLUGGED emulates, adding drums to the combo of acoustic and steel guitars, organ, and bass. It's the sound of The Bard playing a cafe in a country-blues-folk paradise--songs are softer in volume and presentation, but lose none of their bite. The opening "Tombstone Blues" trades its double-time fervor for a confident country jaunt, the organ lifting the stream of consciousness verses and guiding them into epiphanic choruses, as Dylan and John Jackson trade bluegrassy licks. The full-band reading of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" straddles the fence between messianic uplift and detached melancholy, the author seemingly aware that the change has come but uncertain if it was for the best. While the song selection of MTV UNPLUGGED relies predominantly on the classics, the lesser-known numbers are the tours de force. "John Brown," a song Dylan has long performed but never recorded, is given a solo reading with the spite usually reserved for "Masters Of War"--all poignancy and no mercy. And the closing "With God On Our Side" finds rock's poet laureate at the end of the millennium, looking back and wondering if anything's been learned. His hoarse voice weary, Dylan seeks the same answers that canonized artists have seached for through eternity. |
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NASHVILLE SKYLINE/
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Disc: 1
Disc: 2
Disc: 3
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TIME OUT OF MINDOrder from: |
1. Love Sick |
Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, piano); Robert Britt (acoustic & electric guitars); Daniel Lanois (acoustic & electric guitars, mando-guitar); "Bucky" Baxter (acoustic & pedal steel guitars); Duke Robillard (guitar); Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar); Jim Dickinson (Wurlitzer piano, pump organ, keyboards); Augie Meyers (organ, accordion); Tony Garnier (acoustic & electric basses); Winston Watson, Jim Keltner, David Kemper, Brian Blade (drums); Tony Mangurian (percussion). Recorded at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida. TIME OUT OF MIND won the 1998 Grammy Awards for Album Of The Year and for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Cold Irons Bound" won the 1998 Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. This album by the quintessential singer-songwriter comes after a long layoff from recording original material. Dylan's previous two albums were powerful collections of traditional songs, and the album that preceded them was full of some rather iffy original tunes, so all eyes were on Dylan to make one of his patented surprise comebacks. As luck would have it, that's exactly what TIME OUT OF MIND turns out to be. Produced by Daniel Lanois, who manned the boards for Dylan's best latter-day album, OH MERCY, this one has the kind of raw, spontaneous vibe that serves Zimmy's music so well. Loss and world-weariness abound in the lyrics, and Dylan articulates these emotions perfectly, in a manner that seems simultaneously casual and precise. Songs like "Standing In The Doorway" and "Million Miles" are bathed in sorrow and emotional desolation, but are so well-crafted that their solipsism is irresistible. An all-star cast including Ry Cooder and Duke Robillard provides the sparse, rough-edged, bluesy accompaniment that casts Dylan's compositions in the perfect musical light. Bob's back! |
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THE BOOTLEG SERIES, VOL. 4
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Disc: 2
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This is recommended for avid Dylan fans who can't get enough: a chronological arrangement by year charts everything from rehearsal schedules and tour potentials to guest appearances at concerts, overseas travels, and recordings. The depth and detail provides plenty of biographical information and solid facts which trace every facet of Dylan's life and musical career. |
Bob
Dylan In His Own Words |
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Dylan: The Life
and Music of America's Folk-Rock Icon |
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| Both a classic documentary and a vital pop-cultural artifact, D.A. Pennebaker's portrait of Bob Dylan captures the seminal singer-songwriter on the cusp of his transformation from folk prophet to rock trendsetter. Shot during Dylan's 1965 British concert tour, Don't Look Back employs an edgy v�rit� style that was, and is, a snug fit with the artist's own consciously rough-hewn persona. Its handheld black-and-white images and often-gritty London backdrops suggest cinematic extensions of the archetypal monochrome portraits that graced Dylan's career-making early-'60s album jackets. Pennebaker's access to the legendarily private troubadour enables us to witness Dylan's shifting moods as he performs, relaxes with his entourage (including then lover Joan Baez, road manager Bob Neuwirth, and poker-faced manager Albert Grossman), and jousts with other musicians (notably Animals alumnus Alan Price and Scottish folksinger Donovan), fans, and press. It's a measurement of the filmmaker's acuity that the conversations are often as gripping as Dylan's solo performances. Grossman's machinations with British promoters, Baez's hip serenity, a grizzled British journalist's surrender to the fact of Dylan's artistry, and the artist's own taunting dismissal of a clueless sycophant are all absorbing. With the exception of the studio recording of "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the live performances (including five newly restored, complete audio tracks excised from the original film but included on the DVD version) are constrained by crude audio gear. Their urgency, however, is timeless, as is Pennebaker's film, a legitimate cornerstone for any serious rock video collection. |
