Bob Dylan corner

[mjzee]

Decided to start a Bob Dylan corner, as I've really revived my interest in him over the past year. Let me know if you think this belongs more in the "Miscellaneous Music" section (but I figure if the Grateful Dead and Roger Miller can reside here, well...).

Just went for "The Bob Dylan Collection" on iTunes. Couldn't believe it: $200 for EVERY Bobby D. album released, including "Modern Times." (Well, almost every one: it doesn't include the live 1962 date sold at Starbucks last year). I got it for $180, since Costco is selling $50 iTunes gift cards for $45. Took about 5 hours to download it all. Includes about 45 additional tracks.

I'm so glad I get the chance to get reacquainted with such quirky albums as "Down In The Groove," "Knocked Out Loaded," "Self Portrait"; also included are some I never owned, such as "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid." And I'll get my first listen to "Good As I Been To You," "World Gone Wrong," and "Love And Theft."

Downside is that they're encoded at a bitrate of 128. Upside is a beautiful 119-page booklet (Adobe Acrobat) containing all original liner notes.

It seems like a real treat.

[jazzbo]

Interesting, I hadn't seen that.

Yes, Dylan. . . it was a year of appreciating him more for me as well, sparked by "No Direction Home."

I love the most the stuff with The Band for sheer listenability, but the force and strength of his lyrics from the third lp or so up through Blood on the Tracks in my estimation is astonishing.

[porcy62]

I will gladly support your effort.

Mr. Zimmermann is one of my spiritual guidance since I was thirteen. I grown up with him. I even learned english, with scarce results, on Dylan's songs.

[Neal Pomea]

I can go with a Bob Dylan thread!

I saw Masked and Anonymous for the first time this week. Wow, without the section of the CD with the director's comments, I would have had NO idea what was going on! Still, it made more sense than Renaldo and Clara. And the song performances were really great. Two of the emotional highlights were I Remember You interspersed with scenes of his movie mother and father, etc., and the boys singing Dixie. Odd choice for the movie, except to express something of nostalgia for lost causes, according to the director. Oh well, he gets to punch the journalist in the stomach...

I bet your collection doesn't include the one called Dylan, which supposedly was a bunch of outtakes that Columbia released to spite him when he moved to another label. It's the one with Big Yellow Taxi, A Fool Such as I, etc. Scraps from Self Portrait. It has never been released on CD, supposedly because of Dylan's wishes.

I am partial to Dylan and the Band, especially the Genuine Basement Tapes (the ones that didn't make it to the Columbia lp and cd.) I should pick up Good as I Been to You, which I think is the better of his two "recent" albums of old folk songs.

Enjoy your finds!

Edited December 31, 2006 by It Should be You

[mjzee]

I can go with a Bob Dylan thread!

I saw Masked and Anonymous for the first time this week. Wow, without the section of the CD with the director's comments, I would have had NO idea what was going on! Still, it made more sense than Renaldo and Clara. And the song performances were really great. Two of the emotional highlights were I Remember You interspersed with scenes of his movie mother and father, etc., and the boys singing Dixie. Odd choice for the movie, except to express something of nostalgia for lost causes, according to the director. Oh well, he gets to punch the journalist in the stomach...

I bet your collection doesn't include the one called Dylan, which supposedly was a bunch of outtakes that Columbia released to spite him when he moved to another label. It's the one with Big Yellow Taxi, A Fool Such as I, etc. Scraps from Self Portrait. It has never been released on CD, supposedly because of Dylan's wishes.

I am partial to Dylan and the Band, especially the Genuine Basement Tapes (the ones that didn't make it to the Columbia lp and cd.) I should pick up Good as I Been to You, which I think is the better of his two "recent" albums of old folk songs.

Enjoy your finds!

The collection does include "Dylan"! He actually does a nice version of Elvis's "Can't Help Falling In Love." Also, the bonus songs include the songs performed in Masked and Anonymous. There's a hardass version of Cold Irons Bound!

[bolivarblues]

The best Dylan "bang for the buck" going is 16-CD SACD set, which you can get through yourmusic.com for $95.84 (though the prices go up Jan. 1; after that, it will be $16 more). Still, even at the higher prices, you can beat this collection. All SACDs have regular CD layers, as well, so it's fully-compatible. The only real quirk is that there are some puzzling omissions, such as The Times They Are-A-Changin' and Bob Dylan (1st album), though I understand this may have to due with difficulties with the master tapes, rather than any cannonical decision. Five of the discs also have 5.1 mixes. This gives you a pretty good head start if you're interested in owning a serious Dylan collection.

Also worth picking up, besides the omitted albums I mentioned, are the Bootleg Series - everyone a winner. There's the classic, and perhaps most crucial of all, Vol. IV 1966 "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (though the RAH designation was a bootlegger's error from the early 70s; it was actually at Manchester Free Trade Hall). I've had numerous bootleg copies over the years, with sound ranging from average to very good, but this version finally has it sounding as good as it possibly can. Then there's the Vol. V 1975 Rolling Thunder Review, with Mick Ronson on lead guitar, playing at his very finest. The Vol. VI 1964 Concert At Philharmonic Hall is the official version of the classic bootleg All Hallow's Eve. Vols. I-III are compiled in a three-CD box set, consisting of various alternate takes, unreleased and live material. This one I don't listen to as much as the live sets, and I don't consider as necessary for the Dylan collector.

Outside the realm of legal recordings, there's also the Basement Tapes material, which is also worthy of consideration. The official release suffers in comparison to some of the better bootlegs, which you really don't have to (nor should you) pay for anymore, since it's easily available through CD trading networks and such. I've had the official release, as well as the bootleg The Genuine Basement Tapes, but the best sounding of all, IMO, is the four-volume A Tree With Roots, compiled by the now-defunct Dylan Tree web collective. It's a remastered collection that allegedly consists of all of the available Basement Tapes material. Here's a link where you should be able to find it. If not, drop me a PM and I can likely be of some further assistance. And since we're talking about Dylan and the Band, check out the boot Paint The Daytime Black. Also available in previous incarnations as St. Valentine's Day Massacre, this 1974 concert with the Band has both acts firing on all cylinders. Most of the official Before The Flood was taken from three days worth of recordings from the L.A. Forum; this collection consists of one of those three days, and to me is the better of the two, both in terms of sound quality and performance. And again, these recordings can be found fairly easily through the various trading networks. Just Google a Dylan discussion board and you'll soon be in the right direction, or sign up (which can take a while) to Dimeadozen.com.

[jlhoots]

Dylan has always been important to me.

BTW, I've heard about a film that's going to be made with 6 different Dylan alter-egos. Cate Blanchett is one of them!!

[Lush Life]

And since we're talking about Dylan and the Band, check out the boot Paint The Daytime Black. Also available in previous incarnations as St. Valentine's Day Massacre, this 1974 concert with the Band has both acts firing on all cylinders. Most of the official Before The Flood was taken from three days worth of recordings from the L.A. Forum; this collection consists of one of those three days, and to me is the better of the two, both in terms of sound quality and performance.

Gosh, I've always hated every single recording from that '74 tour, official or bootleg, and I've heard just about every single one of them over the years. I hate Dylan's shouting-style vocals, I hate the Band's cheesy, thin sound, especially that nasty electric keyboard they use (Garth?). Yechh.

I think seeking out additional 1966 live shows is well worth doing, and there are lots of them. Exquisite stuff.

[ghost of miles]

This thread's great timing for me--just came across it now after starting the 33 1/3 entry for Highway 61 Revisited, which led me to pull the album itself out after reading the first 60 pages. That 1965-66 period is still the one I find most compelling, though I love later records like Blood On the Tracks and John Wesley Harding (which isn't that much later, I realize). There's a lot of post-1970 Dylan I have yet to hear (weirdly enough, I only saw him once, when I was 12--he was touring for Street Legal, and my dad took me--my dad gave me some pretty hip experiences as a kid). Still hoping to see Eat the Document one of these days (has it ever been bootlegged?).

Right now I'm listening to "Desolation Row" and marvelling once again at how Dylan can create & sustain such a spell with a seemingly simple melodic structure. That song goes on for 11 minutes & I still don't want it to end.

Edited December 31, 2006 by ghost of miles

[jazzbo]

I'm with you on Desolation Row. . . . I think it's more than just the melody, it's the imagery and the sound of the words. Fascinates me still!

[Neal Pomea]

If the White Shade of Pale standard on authorship and copyright applied to Desolation Row, it's back pay for Michael Bloomfield and his beautiful guitar line! He really nailed it on that tune!

Does the new collection mentioned in the first post include material from the '67 Carnegie Hall tribute to Woody Guthrie? I really loved Dear Mrs. Roosevelt, Grand Coulee Dam, I Ain't Got No Home... More satisfying to me than the '74 tour material, but that's just me. He also did a fine job harmonizing with Judy Collins on This Land is Your Land.

Edited January 1, 2007 by It Should be You

[sal]

Of the many gifts my late mother gave me, one of the greatest was her introducing Bob Dylan into my life. For about 10 years now, Dylan's music has enriched my life, and his music has gotten me through some hard times.

A question I always have a hard time answering is what my favorite album of his is. I've most often leaned towards "Blood On the Tracks", but there are SO many good ones that it can change daily. From his earliest folk stuff, to the peak years of the mid sixties-mid seventies, through the mixed bag which is his eighties output, to his recent resurgence of the last three albums he's put out, he is truely an American treasure. Great live performer as well.

May he give us much more music.

[porcy62]

'Bringing it all back home' 'Highway 61 revisited' and 'Blonde on Blonde' are one of the most astonishing achievement in history of modern music, and poetry, period

Almost every's Dylan record is carved in my personal history, from my youth to my first love, from my dad's death to my son's birth. What else can I say?

Edited January 1, 2007 by porcy62

[jazzbo]

Really hard for me to pick favorites. I think this year I played "Planet Waves," "Blood on the Tracks" and the second disc of "No Direction Home" (I get stuck on "Visions of Johanna") the most.

[bolivarblues]

Still hoping to see Eat the Document one of these days (has it ever been bootlegged?).

I've seen Eat The Document; a good friend of mine has a copy. Some pretty funny stuff there, along with some pretty boring footage. Good bit with Dylan and The Band's Richard Manuel pulling pranks in public. Your best bet for finding a copy is dimeadozen.com. It might take you several attempts to get registered because they have a cap on memberships.

[ghost of miles]

Great quote from a 1962 Dylan interview in the 33 1/3 Highway 61 Revisited--and I post it as one who loves American popular song, Tin Pan Alley, etc.:

"I don't have to be anybody like those guys up on Broadway that're always writin' about 'I'm hot for you and you're hot for me--ooka dooka dooka dee.'"

[ghost of miles]

If the White Shade of Pale standard on authorship and copyright applied to Desolation Row, it's back pay for Michael Bloomfield and his beautiful guitar line! He really nailed it on that tune!

Mark Polizzotti says it's Charlie McCoy playing the second guitar in "Desolation Row." Is the earlier, electric take on the recent No Direction Home set?

[Matthew]

If the White Shade of Pale standard on authorship and copyright applied to Desolation Row, it's back pay for Michael Bloomfield and his beautiful guitar line! He really nailed it on that tune!

Mark Polizzotti says it's Charlie McCoy playing the second guitar in "Desolation Row." Is the earlier, electric take on the recent No Direction Home set?

If you mean the take with Al Kooper playing electric guitar, yes it is.

[mjzee]

Does the new collection mentioned in the first post include material from the '67 Carnegie Hall tribute to Woody Guthrie? I really loved Dear Mrs. Roosevelt, Grand Coulee Dam, I Ain't Got No Home... More satisfying to me than the '74 tour material, but that's just me. He also did a fine job harmonizing with Judy Collins on This Land is Your Land.

The collection includes I Ain't Got No Home and The Grand Coulee Dam.

[Neal Pomea]

If the White Shade of Pale standard on authorship and copyright applied to Desolation Row, it's back pay for Michael Bloomfield and his beautiful guitar line! He really nailed it on that tune!

Mark Polizzotti says it's Charlie McCoy playing the second guitar in "Desolation Row." Is the earlier, electric take on the recent No Direction Home set?

I meant the official release on HWY 61. Always assumed it was Bloomfield! That's interesting.

[Lush Life]

If the White Shade of Pale standard on authorship and copyright applied to Desolation Row, it's back pay for Michael Bloomfield and his beautiful guitar line! He really nailed it on that tune!

Mark Polizzotti says it's Charlie McCoy playing the second guitar in "Desolation Row." Is the earlier, electric take on the recent No Direction Home set?

I meant the official release on HWY 61. Always assumed it was Bloomfield! That's interesting.

It's definitely Charlie McCoy on the HWY 61 original studio album version. McCoy was hired at the last minute in early August 1965 to play on this.

As best I can determine, the alternate take found on No Direction Home was recorded on 7/29/65, but I haven't been able to find the session musician details. It suggests that Bloomfield may be the guitarist, though I've also seen internet references that Al Kooper (!) may be playing guitar on this track, though not necessarily that lead guitar. Somewhere in my files I have the session details, but I can't put my hands on them quickly.

[Tom Storer]

I'm not Dylan-obsessive but I do like him a lot. With some apprehension, I'm going to go see him in concert in April--boots I've heard of Dylan over the past couple of years reveal that his voice is now a painful wreck, although his artful phrasing will probably make up for it. Does anyone know who the opening act will be? He generally picks 'em well. A decade or two ago I saw him with Van Morrison as the opener; recently he had Merle Haggard.

[ISODignity]

I'm not Dylan-obsessive but I do like him a lot. With some apprehension, I'm going to go see him in concert in April--boots I've heard of Dylan over the past couple of years reveal that his voice is now a painful wreck, although his artful phrasing will probably make up for it. Does anyone know who the opening act will be? He generally picks 'em well. A decade or two ago I saw him with Van Morrison as the opener; recently he had Merle Haggard.

http://my.execpc.com/~billp61/dates26.html#0328

I am not sure if this helps. Perhaps you have seen this schedule for Bob's tour. My reading of this is that there is NO opening act. I was one to attend his shows whenever he came to DC area. This stopped after April 2004 when voice was really failing and the first of two top notch guitarists left the band. The fan reviews of late seem inconsistent. (Using the link above, scroll all the way down, then click on older tour guides to get numerous fan reviews)

The link below is for last year's tour which displays opening act:

http://my.execpc.com/~billp61/dates25.html#0509

Edited January 3, 2007 by ISODignity

[Matthew]

Re: Desolation Row. From The Dylan Session Pages.

Studio A

Columbia Recording Studios

New York City, New York

4 August 1965

The sixth and last Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston.

1. Desolation Row

2. Desolation Row

3. Desolation Row

4. Desolation Row

5. Desolation Row

6. Desolation Row

7. Desolation Row

8. Tombstone Blues

Overdub session with Bob Dylan (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocal) backed by unidentified musicians on guitar and bass.

6 and 7 edited into one track and released on HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, Columbia CL–2389, CS–9189, 30 August 1965.

Notes.

1, 2, 7 are false starts.

3 is interrupted.

Unreleased tracks are not in circulation.

Recorded 1-4 pm.

According to Glen Dundas the guitarist is almost certainly not Michael Bloomfield. Clinton Heylin suggests Bruce Langhorne. Al Kooper maintains that it was Charlie McCoy. Tony Glover who was present at the sessions asserts that McCoy was not present while he was there, but it is of course possible that McCoy was brought in later for the overdubs.

CO-numbers:

86937 Desolation Row

86938 Tombstone Blues

Most sources I've read feel it's McCoy doing the guitar on DR, with Kooper listed on the eletric guitar alt. tk.

[sal]

I'm not Dylan-obsessive but I do like him a lot. With some apprehension, I'm going to go see him in concert in April--boots I've heard of Dylan over the past couple of years reveal that his voice is now a painful wreck, although his artful phrasing will probably make up for it. Does anyone know who the opening act will be? He generally picks 'em well. A decade or two ago I saw him with Van Morrison as the opener; recently he had Merle Haggard.

When I saw him in August, he had three really excellent openers. A bluegrass band with a really attractive lady on vocals, a cool country singer/guitarist, and Jimmy Vaughn.