The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration revisited

The 30th Anniversary tribute concert of 1992 looked and sounded poor - even to one who was, at the time of release, still listening regularly to thirty-something mainstream poprock.

Checking out the album and video again, after a long gap, merely confirmed first impressions: largely unlistenable… the middle-aged American poprockocracy indulging itself… show biz schlock for the younger consumer… the night it became obvious that Dadrock was spiritually bankrupt… .

True, there are a few high points. Dylan’s own performances are worth having - It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), My Back Pages, Knocking on Heaven's Door and Girl of the North Country. Neil Young was in great form for his brief shift. McGuinn shone. And, er, that’s it.

Low points? MC Kristofferson’s diatribe going into Blowin’ In The Wind, and (on video) the hunting pack’s bigoted humbling of Sinead O’Connor. But these glitches were as nothing compared to the relentless tide of rockpop mediocrity washing from the stage. Sonic gloop.

Has Dylan ever been involved in a less worthy enterprise? I think not. If this Madison Square Garden extravaganza was his typical milieu, I wouldn’t go near his music.


Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back De Luxe 2DVD edition in short supply

The De Luxe 2DVD version of Don’t Look Back is in very short supply. Having been let down by my first choice of supplier (see below), I’ve now also been let down by second choice, cd-wow. (I won’t be using either supplier again for a while, if ever).

Seeking a third choice online supplier, including one or two I wouldn’t touch with a very long bargepole, I found most out of stock – Virgin, HMV, Tesco, Play.com, SpinCD can’t supply either. Fopp has it, and so have some Amazon traders, but I don’t like their prices.

Looks like I’ll have to bite the bullet and scour the High Street. Or wait a year or so for the release of a few million more “limited edition” copies and buy at the £6 discounted price I recently paid for No Direction Home 2DVD at Borders.


Gerry Smith


RELATED ARTICLE:

Don’t Look Back 2DVD – now only £12.99

Don’t Look Back (the De Luxe 2DVD version, Region 0) is on the cd-wow.com website at a bargain £12.99 delivered, easily the cheapest I’ve seen, and just over half the list price. It’s a cd-wow “warehouse sale”, so the offer might be short-lived.

I ordered a copy after cancelling my order with 101cd, as I hadn’t received the goods, or any warning/apology, 17 days after release date, or any reply to my query. Byeeeeeeeeeeee, 101cd. Hello, cd-wow.


Gerry Smith

The Traveling Wilburys Revisited – enjoyable hype (which didn’t work)

The Traveling Wilburys Revisited, broadcast by BBC Radio 2 on Saturday, was a promo for the about-to-be reissued box set. Before hearing it, I was wavering about buying the new product as I’ve had the two albums from 1988 and 1990 on vinyl/tape/CDR for ages.

An hour of historical footage from a George Harrison interview, old and new selling by Jeff Lynne and the voices of Tom Petty and Jim Keltner convinced me not to bother: “this is mainstream show biz hype”, I thought and I duly recoiled.

I’d rather listen to Dylan (and Orbison and Petty) on solo recordings; neither of the two Brits floats my boat. And the new bonus stuff has minimal Dylan interest: the programme played three of the four new bonus audio tracks, and Dylan was hardly to be heard in the mix.

If I didn’t already own vols 1 and 3, I’d probably buy the new box for the Dylan contributions, notably Congratulations, Dirty World and Tweeter, but the release has insufficent Bob appeal.

While the programme was a fine outline of the Wilbury story, presenter Bob Harris’s droning led to me lose interest in the product. And when he described the Wilbury material as “wonderful music” (it most certainly ain’t), I knew I was being subjected to hype and decided to keep my plastic in my wallet.



Gerry Smith

New Traveling Wilburys release: worth buying?

If, like many Dylan Daily readers, you already have the two Traveling Wilburys albums, should you bother with the new product, due for (UK) release on Monday 11 June?

Well, for £15.25 (delivered), the best price I’ve seen for the De Luxe version, from cd-wow.com, you get four extra audio tracks, five DVD tracks, a 40 page “collectible” book and “certificate of authenticity” (wow!), as well as the packaging. The Dylan content is still minimal, though – just a few tracks.

Worth buying? Maybe. Probably. Just.


Gerry Smith

Robert Zimmerman’s birthday

Surely the celebrations for “Bob Dylan’s birthday” should really have been for “Robert Zimmerman’s” birthday? Surely “Bob Dylan” is an artificial construct created on the day Zimmerman’s first LP was released, and thus has a different “birthday”?

Enough pointy-headed BS. I enjoyed this birthday celebration (thanks to Lawrence Kirsch for the link):

http://roundheadedboy.blogspot.com/2007/05/shamus-on-bob-dylans-66th-dream.html



Gerry Smith

New Traveling Wilburys documentary tomorrow

Thanks to Martin Cowan and Nigel Boddy for reminders of the Traveling Wilburys radio profile airing tomorrow night. Remember that many BBC radio shows can be heard online for a week after broadcast.

Martin:

“Check this out - Radio 2, Saturday 26 May, 8.00pm, The Traveling Wilburys revisited. Link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/documentaries_index.shtml


Nigel:

“Saturday at 20.00hrs on Radio 2 for one hour is a documentary on The Traveling Wilburys, featuring rare audio from the original sessions alongside new and archive interviews with the group’s members.”

Dylan interview in Rolling Stone’s 40th birthday issue

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“I commend the 40th birthday issue of Rolling Stone mag to readers for the Dylan interview, in which our man responds in his usual gnomic fashion to some quite probing questions from Jann Wenner - including the following exchanges:

“JW - The title "Modern Times" seems to be a very deliberate statement
BD - Well, I don't know. Can you think of a better title?

“BD - I don't set out with a title. It was something that probably just passed through my mind. Why, does it have some impact?

“BD (on Paul McCartney) - He's just so damn effortless. I just wish he'd quit.

“Well worth getting for Dylan's comments on "Modern Times", modern times, writing, singing, performing, and the atom bomb.”

Montreal show: 2 spare tickets

Regular contributor Lawrence Kirsch (lkirsch@chmcommunications.com)
writes:

“… if you have any friends or readers in Montreal, I have 2 extra tickets for the Dylan show on July 4th: 1 in Row P and 1 in Row V. I am looking for the cost of the ticket, $175CDN. Each.”

Back Pages celebrating Dylan's birthday in Norfolk

Thanks to Gerald Bamford for news of gigs by Back Pages, The Dylan Daily’s favourite tribute band:

* Thurs May 24 (Bob's 66th birthday) at the Walnut Tree Shades in Norwich

* Sat May 26 at the Ostrich in Castle Acre nr Swaffham

* Sat June 2 at Tracks, The Railway Freehouse, North Elmham, nr East Dereham

* Gerry Bamford of Back Pages will also be pickin' and choosin' from the Bob Dylan songbook at the Corner House Restaurant in Wells on Friday May 25.

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”: encore, encore

Thanks to Bernard McGuinn:

* “I broadly concur with your judgement on this, but would definitely include Po' Boy and Nettie Moore. Nettie Moore was a clear highlight for me at the recent shows. And I couldn't help but smile at your comment about the CDR you’d give to any bombastic fool who claims Dylan stopped writing and recording great songs in the 1960s: it made me think of a c90 tape I gave to someone in York in the late 90s who seemed to hold a view not dissimilar to that one!”


And to Steve Rostkoski:

* There's one other song I'd add besides "Green Mountain." How about the Gospel Music album update of "Change My Way of Thinking"? This
performance is often overlooked in Dylan's catalog, yet it's one of my favorites. It's a great reminder how scorching the Sexton-era band was. Turn it up and enjoy!”





Previous article:

Last week’s suggested compilation CDR list attracted suggestions for an extra track that most would agree on, Cross The Green Mountain.

Thanks to Jim Dring:

“Though everyone will have their own list, yours is there or thereabouts - except that you forgot the wonderful Cross The Green Mountain - didn't you?”

And to Claes Hammarlund:

“Thank you for the suggested Best Of... vol 4. It certainly is a fantastic collection of songs. I'll make my own copy but I will also add a song that I consider being the most beautiful from these years: Cross The Green Mountain from the film Gods and Generals.”



Original article:

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”

Receiving daily setlists for Dylan’s just-completed Euro tour reminded me that, great though Dylan’s art certainly is, there have been a few lapses. While 90% of the songs performed on the tour are unmatched gems, there are also a few clunkers.

Eagerly scanning each setlist had me salivating, though I groaned out loud at the two current show spoilers, Summer Days and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. While they’re lyrically fascinating, they sure don’t ring my bell musically.

Re-listening intensively to the three most recent albums – Time Out Of Mind, “Love And Theft” and Modern Times - I re-rated them. Downwards. Having regarded all three on release as outstanding, I now hear them as fitfully great. All three have first-rate songs, in amongst stuff I can do without.

A CDR I compiled for the car, “A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”, had the following tracks:

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”

Love Sick Time Out Of Mind
Standing In The Doorway Time Out Of Mind
Trying To Get To Heaven Time Out Of Mind
Not Dark Yet Time Out Of Mind
Things Have Changed Single
Mississippi “Love And Theft”
Lonesome Day Blues “Love And Theft”
High Water “Love And Theft”
Sugar Baby “Love And Theft”
Thunder On The Mountain Modern Times
When The Deal Goes Down Modern Times
Workingman's Blues #2 Modern Times
Ain't Talkin' Modern Times


It’s a wonderful compilation - the CDR you’d give to any bombastic fool who claims Dylan stopped writing and recording great songs in the 1960s. But it’ll probably prevent me from listening to the full albums again for quite a while.



Gerry Smith

Dylan downgraded in disappointing new BBC/VH1 rock history

Jimi Hendrix was the key figure in 1960s rock: “Within days of his arrival (in London), Jimi Hendrix would change the face of music… .” Tee hee.

There’s more: “He redefined the whole period in which he existed…”.

That’s if you believe Seven Ages of Rock, the disappointing new BBC/VH1 rock history series which started airing over the weekend.

Bob Dylan, the prime mover in the genesis of rock, was accorded a mere five minute sequence, bowing in the direction of Like A Rolling Stone.

Now, there’s no doubt that Hendrix was a great, and influential, musician – he raised the game in guitar playing in the same way that Coltrane set new benchmarks for the saxophone. But let’s not forget that he was responsible for a massive catalogue of, er, three moderately successful albums still played today.

Rock music tends to encourage hyperbole in the early school leavers amongst those who play it and write about it, but this poor first programme set new lows in rockist bullsh*t. You couldn’t fault a commentator like Charles Shaar Murray for his typically incisive comments on Hendrix, but they were swamped in a wrong-headed script which, at times, had me laughing uncontrollably.

The launch programme not only exceeded my worst fears, outlined in a series preview on www.musicforgrownups.co.uk (below) - it went further, by imposing on the 1960s material the big idea that Hendrix was the pivotal figure.

Daft. Plain daft.


Gerry Smith



Series preview, previously posted:

Seven Ages Of Rock – a pessimistic preview

The BBC is pushing the boat out for its major new series, the Seven Ages Of Rock, which launches on Saturday on BBC2 21.10~22.10 - hyping it on chat shows on its missable mainstream radio stations and promoting it with four different collectable covers of Radio (sic) Times, its mass circulation weekly programme guide. (Who on earth would want to collect the Radio Times?)

Without having seen even a trailer or promo clip, I can safely report that:

* as it’s by the same team that produced the brilliant Lost Highway series on country music, Seven Ages will be stylish, informative, intelligent television…

* it will include maybe 20 great musicians for grown-ups

* 95% of its airtime will deal with musicians unworthy of grown-up attention

* the series will be rendered virtually unwatchable by an endless succession of talking boneheads who should have stuck to the day job, stacking supermarket shelves or fixing dodgy old cars.

How do I know this?

Because that’s the nature of rock music - 5% timeless great art (Dylan, Stones, Beck, Bright Eyes, Smiths, Joy Division, Everly Brothers, Bowie…), and 95% dubious glitzy, chemically-enhanced showbiz pap.

I’ll be taping - to race through afterwards, luxuriating in the grown-up bits. (Or to recant, if appropriate.)


Gerry Smith

Dylanesque/Bryan Ferry’s London Sessions DVD – only £6.75!

Thanks to Nigel Boddy:

“Further to your spotting the `bargain of the year' at cd-wow.com for the Dylan Don't Look Back Special Edition DVD, I've noticed the Bryan Ferry - London Sessions (Dylanesque) DVD is priced at £6.75, delivered. (I know it's not released until late June, but it's a still good saving).”

Dylan Days in Hibbing, Minnesota next week

Thanks (and hearty congratulations) to the local organisers for details of the entirely laudable Dylan Days fest, celebrating the artist’s birthday next week:

HIBBING, Minn. ─ The most event-packed Dylan Days gathering in Hibbing history is almost here.

Bob Dylan’s hometown will once again host Dylan Days in honor of its famous son’s 66th birthday. This year’s events run May 23-27 and will feature a May 26 concert with Maria Muldaur, a Dylan contemporary in 1960s Greenwich Village and accomplished blues singer.

“The biggest difference in this year’s lineup is the large number of new events in addition to the popular events we’ve established over the last few years,” said Aaron Brown, Dylan Days spokesman and co-chair. “We’ve grown quite a bit in five years, but we still hold on to our status as a friendly, small town arts event where you’ll meet interesting people in intimate venues.”

The Dylan Days feature concert will once again highlight the week of activities. This year Maria Muldaur will perform songs from her latest critically acclaimed release “Love of Mine: The Love Songs of Bob Dylan” along with her 1974 signature hit “Midnight at the Oasis” and other selections from her dynamic folk/blues song catalog. The show will begin at 7 p.m. in the famous historical auditorium at Hibbing High School on Saturday, May 26. General seating is available to anyone with a Dylan Days 2007 souvenir button ($20). VIP seating options are also available at additional cost.

Literary Night is back with keynote speaker Barton Sutter, a three-time Minnesota Book Award winning author and Poet Laureate of Duluth. Sutter will anchor the annual literary reading on Thursday, May 24, which features the winners of the Dylan Days Creative Writing Contest. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Hibbing Community College Theatre. New for 2007 is the free Creative Writing Workshop featuring Sutter. The workshop will be Friday, May 25 from 9-11 a.m. at the Hibbing High School library. Advanced registration is required.

“We’ve made it a tradition to invite a keynote poet or writer for this event and Bart Sutter topped this year’s list,” said Brown. “He’s Duluth’s first Poet Laureate and his style is pure working class, raw, real poetry. He’s a natural fit for an Iron Range literary event, especially one that honors Bob Dylan.”

Another new event this year is the Dylan Days Youth Talent Show. Local students will compete for special trophies at the Lincoln School Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23.

“There were so many students interested in competing that we had to hold auditions,” said Gregg French, entertainment coordinator for Dylan Days. “This kind of event involving the local community and including young people is what we want for Dylan Days.”

Also new for 2007 is the Dylan Days Jam Session. From 4 p.m. to midnight on May 24, anyone interested can bring their guitar to play on the site of one of Dylan’s first gigs, the Little Theatre at the Hibbing Memorial Building.
And, of course, classic Dylan Days events will return for 2007. On Friday, May 25, the Dylan Days singer/songwriter contest will take place at 7 p.m. at Zimmy’s. Contestants will sing one Dylan song and one original song for prizes, including a new acoustic guitar. Advanced registration is required. Registration and a $10 fee is also required for the extremely popular Bobby Zimmerman Bus Tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 26. Dylan fans and history buffs usually report the bus tour as one of their most cherished Dylan Days experience.

Dylan Days opens with a Welcome Reception on Wednesday, May 23 at 4 p.m. at Zimmy’s, followed by the first showing west of New York of the documentary “Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan” at 7 p.m. in the Hibbing Community College Theatre. There will be an encore showing on Friday, May 25. Closing the week will be the first ever Dylan Days Spiritual Breakfast, 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 27 at Zimmy’s. Join new friends and Dylan fans for a discussion of spirituality in Dylan’s music.

See the online schedule for other events, including the Dylan exhibit at the Hibbing Public Library, the Dylan Days postal cancellation, and the other live music, book signings and events that fill out the week’s activities.

“For a lot of people, Hibbing is a long way from home,” said Brown. “We have regular visitors from all over the world, New York, London, France, Germany and Japan. We’re well worth the drive. We are a small town, but our history and character is part of what inspired Dylan in his early years. Our group is trying not only to capture that spirit, but support future generations of artists who will one day take Dylan’s place on stage and in the heart of the American experience.”

Dylan Days is an annual event organized by the volunteer Dylan Days committee as part of Dylan Arts Celebration, a nonprofit initiative to honor Dylan and expand the arts in Northeastern Minnesota. Dylan Days began informally in 1991 as a musical tribute on Dylan’s May 24 birthday at a bar in Hibbing. It is now a fast growing arts event that encourages visual, musical and literary artists from Minnesota and across the world.

See www.dylandays.com for an updated schedule of events, times, registration, online orders and other information about Dylan Days 2007.

Don’t Look Back 2DVD – now only £12.99

Don’t Look Back (the De Luxe 2DVD version, Region 0) is on the cd-wow.com website at a bargain £12.99 delivered, easily the cheapest I’ve seen, and just over half the list price. It’s a cd-wow “warehouse sale”, so the offer might be short-lived.

I ordered a copy after cancelling my order with 101cd, as I hadn’t received the goods, or any warning/apology, 17 days after release date, or any reply to my query. Byeeeeeeeeeeee, 101cd. Hello, cd-wow.


Gerry Smith

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”: encore

Last week’s compilation CDR tracklist attracted suggestions for a bonus track, Cross The Green Mountain.

Thanks to Jim Dring:

“Though everyone will have their own list, yours is there or thereabouts - except that you forgot the wonderful Cross The Green Mountain - didn't you?”

And to Claes Hammarlund:

“Thank you for the suggested Best Of... vol 4. It certainly is a fantastic collection of songs. I'll make my own copy but I will also add a song that I consider being the most beautiful from these years: Cross The Green Mountain from the film Gods and Generals.”



Original article:

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”

Receiving daily setlists for Dylan’s just-completed Euro tour reminded me that, great though Dylan’s art certainly is, there have been a few lapses. While 90% of the songs performed on the tour are unmatched gems, there are also a few clunkers.

Eagerly scanning each setlist had me salivating, though I groaned out loud at the two current show spoilers, Summer Days and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. While they’re lyrically fascinating, they sure don’t ring my bell musically.

Re-listening intensively to the three most recent albums – Time Out Of Mind, “Love And Theft” and Modern Times - I re-rated them. Downwards. Having regarded all three on release as outstanding, I now hear them as fitfully great. All three have first-rate songs, in amongst stuff I can do without.

A CDR I compiled for the car, “A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”, had the following tracks:

“A Best Of Bob Dylan volume 4, 1997-2006”

Love Sick Time Out Of Mind
Standing In The Doorway Time Out Of Mind
Trying To Get To Heaven Time Out Of Mind
Not Dark Yet Time Out Of Mind
Things Have Changed Single
Mississippi “Love And Theft”
Lonesome Day Blues “Love And Theft”
High Water “Love And Theft”
Sugar Baby “Love And Theft”
Thunder On The Mountain Modern Times
When The Deal Goes Down Modern Times
Workingman's Blues #2 Modern Times
Ain't Talkin' Modern Times


It’s a wonderful compilation - the CDR you’d give to any bombastic fool who claims Dylan stopped writing and recording great songs in the 1960s. But it’ll probably prevent me from listening to the full albums again for quite a while.



Gerry Smith

Michael Gray on Dylan, the blues and Blind Willie McTell

Thanks to Michael Gray for information on forthcoming talks, and his new book:

* BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES DATES

A third date has been added to Michael Gray's very short spring-summer tour of the UK: at Bristol's Arnolfini. Details of the three are now...

Wed May 23, 8pm Bath International Music Festival
The Little Theatre, St. Michael’s Place, Bath BA1 1SF
£9 (concessions £8)
Festival Box Office: 01225-463362

Sat Jun 9, 8pm Jersey Arts Centre
Phillips Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE2 4SW
£9 (students £5)
Box Office: 01534-700444

Sat Jul 7, 7.30pm Bristol Arnolfini
Arnolfini Arts Centre, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
£6 (concessions £4.50);
Box Office: 0117 917 2300

The flyer for these gigs says this:
BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES An Evening With Writer Michael Gray
This is more a one-man show than a talk. The author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan - definitive studies of Dylan’s 45-year body of work and more - uses a surprising selection of great records and rare footage to show how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of its poetry has been smuggled inside his own writing.

Andrew Motion named Song & Dance Man III as one of the best three books of 2000. It had 5-star reviews in Q and Uncut. Greil Marcus admired ‘Gray’s reach, tone and acuity’ and called its research ‘amazing’. Christopher Ricks called it ‘wonderfully comic and serious and sharp’ and ‘monumentally illuminating’.The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, 2006, was Book of the Week in The Guardian. The Dylan Daily website declared it 'the most important Bob Dylan book, bar none.'

Michael Gray’s events are always lively, spontaneous and acute, using loud music and rare footage in a hugely entertaining, fresh account of Dylan's achievement.

What the British and Irish press says about his performances:
"Michael Gray is a witty, effusive, self-deprecating speaker. A wonderful eye-opener of an evening."
"Clever, funny and fresh."
"A stimulating insight into rock music's premier singer-songwriter."
"Michael Gray is a masterful speaker."


* HAND ME MY TRAVELIN' SHOES: IN SEARCH OF BLIND WILLIE McTELL LAUNCH

Michael's new book Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell (UK hardback first edition, from Bloomsbury, £20) will be launched on publication day, July 2nd, with a talk at the eccentric hour of 11am at what is possibly the world's smallest literary festival.
Details:

Mon July 2, 11am
1st Annual Kirkbymoorside Literary Festival
Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes: A Talk by Michael Gray
Summit Books, 2 Market Place, Kirkbymoorside, N. Yorks YO62 6BB
Box Office: 01751 430033
[nb. free admission but places must be reserved by phone]

Michael has also created a new blog for the book:

http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/




Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back: encore, encore

(Mostly) good news for buyers of Don’t Look Back Limited/De Luxe Ed:

Thanks to Andy Miller, who reported on Tuesday 8 May, while I was away in France: “Don’t Look Back arrives... as it presumably has for other pre-orders from Amazon.”

And thanks to Martin Cowan, who wrote on Wednesday 9 May: “I can report that "Don't Look Back" is currently nestling at Number 1 on the DVD chart in my local HMV, with both the single disc and double disc versions available.”

It’s also now widely available in the shops – FNAC Montpellier had it on display last week. Even Morrison’s, the local supermarket I visit to check out the purchasing power of the proletariat, has the single disc version (£9.99).

So everything’s OK, then? Erm, not quite: my “astute” decision to buy via 101cd.com was a mistake: two weeks after release date, my order is still being “processed”. No apology/explanatory email, either. Never again!



Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back – this one could run and run…

Thanks to Andy Miller:

“Lo and behold - I have just received an email from Amazon saying that my copy of Don't Look Back has been dispatched, with a delivery estimate from between 9th May and 6th July!”

Later: “And just to rub it in they are now selling it for almost £5 less than they charged me!”


Meanwhile, my own order with 101cd, due to be dispatched “30/04”, is nowhere to be seen and, according to my account details on their web site on Wednesday night, “on order with supplier”.

This one could run and run…



Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back: first positive sighting

Thanks to Martin Cowan, first to report that he’s had the new Don’t Look Back DVD in his grasp:

“Further to recent posts, I had my hands on a copy of the deluxe 2 DVD and booklet set at my local HMV - priced £21.95. I passed at that price, but at least it looks like it's out now.”

The Never Ending Setlist: Europe 2007 - Show #26 Leipzig last night

It’s a cliché to say that Dylan never fails to surprise you. But, just when the Euro tour seemed to be grinding down, with very few songs introduced recently, he opens with two songs new to the tour - Absolutely Sweet Marie and Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) – and throws in a third, Cold Irons Bound, at the mid-point!

Utterly unpredictable.

Thanks to: Gunther and Lothar

* Tour debuts: Absolutely Sweet Marie, Senor (Tales of Yankee Power), and Cold Irons Bound

* Different songs performed on the tour (26 shows): 58

* Performances of songs played on the tour:

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (26 performances)
Thunder On The Mountain (26)

Like A Rolling Stone (25)
When The Deal Goes Down (25)

Rollin' And Tumblin' (24)
Highway 61 Revisited (24)
Spirit On The Water (24)

All Along The Watchtower (23)

Summer Days (22)

Nettie Moore (21)

Cat's In The Well (18)

Watching The River Flow (17)

Stuck Inside of Mobile (with the Memphis Blues Again) (12)

It Ain't Me, Babe (10)

Tangled Up In Blue (9)
The Levee's Gonna Break (9)

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (8)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (8)

Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine) (7)

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (6)

Ain't Talkin' (5)
High Water (for Charley Patton) (5)
Desolation Row (5)
Things Have Changed (5)
To Ramona (5)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (5)

John Brown (4)
Blowin’ In The Wind (4)

Girl Of The North Country (3)
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (3)
Masters Of War (3)
My Back Pages (3)
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (3)
'Til I Fell In Love With You (3)
Visions Of Johanna (3)

Boots of Spanish Leather (2)
Chimes Of Freedom (2)
Country Pie (2)
Honest With Me (2)
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (2)
Just Like A Woman (2)
Simple Twist Of Fate (2)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (2)
Under The Red Sky (2)

Absolutely Sweet Marie
Ballad Of Hollis Brown
Blind Willie McTell
Cold Irons Bound
House Of The Risin’ Sun
Lay Lady Lay
Man In The Long Black Coat
Not Dark Yet
Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
She Belongs To Me
Sugar Baby
Tears Of Rage
This Wheel's On Fire
Workingman's Blues #2

* Itinerary: May 3 Berlin, 5 Herning.


The Dylan Daily welcomes setlists/reviews of YOUR gig – please email tour@dylandaily.com as soon as possible after the show.




Gerry Smith

Don’t Look Back: encore, encore…

Thanks to Nigel Boddy:

“Just to let you and your viewers know, that HMV online are selling the 2DVD set @ £15.99* and the single DVD @ £9.99, with FREE postage and with a release date of 7th May 2007. (*£1 cheaper than play.com!)”



I checked availability of the Limited/De Luxe Ed (2DVD) version from some major online suppliers late Monday night (UK “release date” for Don’t Look Back), and found:

* 101cd.com, my chosen supplier, were still advertising at £15.95 delivered, release date 30/04/2007.

* amazon.co.uk: “we are currently unable to offer this title”

* fopp.co.uk: “release date: 30/04/2007”, £20

* tesco.com: “release date - 7 May”, £19.54

I haven’t yet received my order from 101cd, but will report back as soon as I do. But I think we can reasonably guess that 1. UK release has been delayed by a week and that 2. demand has been high, and some suppliers might have already sold their promised allocation.

Has any UK reader actually got his/her hands on a copy yet?


Gerry Smith

New Don’t Look Back DVD: encore

Thanks to Martin Cowan and Andy Miller for sharing info on the new Don’t Look Back (De Luxe ed) DVD. If you’ve ordered/bought the new DVD box in the UK, please share your experience with other Dylan Daily readers, by emailing details – supplier, price, delivery etc…- to DLB@dylandaily.com

* Martin Cowan:

“Play.com are offering this for £16.99 - they give 7 May as release date. They usually turn around orders pretty smartish and in my experience have always been very reliable.”


* Andy Miller:

“It looks as if, after our long, long wait, thing's may still be awry with the delivery of Don't Look Back. As somebody who placed an order a couple of weeks ago with Amazon (hoping the DVD might arrive a few days earlier, as sometimes happens) I was alarmed to read your report of a possible 7 week delay. The information on prices from different suppliers was also extremely useful.

“No signs today that Amazon has dispatched my copy and I notice that other suppliers are now suggesting 7th May as release date. Add to this the fact that I have seen at least two, very different, prices offered by Amazon, in addition to the full price, and the impression is of things not being at all right.

“I'm sure I'm not the only one of your readers who would find it very helpful to hear of any updates on prices, different sources and, most of all, where the devil I might be able to get a copy NOW.”

The Never Ending Setlist: Europe 2007 - Show #25 Mannheim last night

Thanks to: Jurgen

* Tour debuts: none

* Different songs performed on the tour (25 shows): 55

* Performances of songs played on the tour:

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (25 performances)
Like A Rolling Stone (25)
Thunder On The Mountain (25)

When The Deal Goes Down (24)

Rollin' And Tumblin' (23)
Highway 61 Revisited (23)
Spirit On The Water (23)

All Along The Watchtower (22)
Summer Days (22)

Nettie Moore (20)

Cat's In The Well (18)

Watching The River Flow (16)

Stuck Inside of Mobile (with the Memphis Blues Again) (12)

It Ain't Me, Babe (10)

The Levee's Gonna Break (9)

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (8)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (8)
Tangled Up In Blue (8)

Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine) (7)

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (6)

Ain't Talkin' (5)
High Water (for Charley Patton) (5)
Desolation Row (5)
Things Have Changed (5)
To Ramona (5)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (5)

John Brown (4)

Blowin’ In The Wind (3)
Girl Of The North Country (3)
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (3)
My Back Pages (3)
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (3)
Visions Of Johanna (3)

Boots of Spanish Leather (2)
Chimes Of Freedom (2)
Country Pie (2)
Honest With Me (2)
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (2)
Just Like A Woman (2)
Masters Of War (2)
Simple Twist Of Fate (2)
The Times They Are A-Changin’ (2)
'Til I Fell In Love With You (2)
Under The Red Sky (2)

Ballad Of Hollis Brown
Blind Willie McTell
House Of The Risin’ Sun
Lay Lady Lay
Man In The Long Black Coat
Not Dark Yet
She Belongs To Me
Sugar Baby
Tears Of Rage
This Wheel's On Fire
Workingman's Blues #2

* Itinerary: May 2 Leipzig, 3 Berlin, 5 Herning.


The Dylan Daily welcomes setlists/reviews of YOUR gig – please email tour@dylandaily.com as soon as possible after the show.




Gerry Smith