Knocked Out Loaded: least popular Dylan album?

Is Knocked Out Loaded the least popular Dylan album?

It certainly seems so, according to a preliminary analysis of fan rankings of the 13 albums released between 1978 and 1989, Dylan’s least popular decade.

Knocked Out Loaded managed to pick up only a single nomination and it was the respondent’s least favourite of three albums selected.

So which are the most popular albums of the period? Come back to The Dylan Daily on Monday for a full analysis of the impressive response to this competition.



Gerry Smith


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Win new DVD - Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow

Thanks to MVD Entertainment Group’s Clint Weiler for supplying Bob Dylan 1978-1989 on DVD as the prize in a new Dylan Daily competition.

To win a copy of the new Special Edition 2 Disc Set of Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow, all you have to do is rank your three favourite Dylan albums released in the period covered by the DVD – number your three favourites 1, 2 and 3 – in an email sent to info@dylandaily.com, with the subject header “DVD comp”.

All entries will be put into a (virtual) hat and the winner will be drawn this Friday, 17 July, @ 1600 GMT and announced on The Dylan Daily (unless the lucky winner has specified “privacy” in his/her email entry).

Here’s a reminder of the albums to consider in your ranking:

Street-Legal (1978)
At Budokan (1978)
Slow Train Coming (1979)
Saved (1980)
Shot of Love (1981)
Infidels (1983)
Real Live (1984)
Empire Burlesque (1985)
Biograph (1985)
Knocked out Loaded (1986)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Dylan and the Dead (1989)
Oh Mercy (1989)

Good luck!


Gerry Smith

Win new DVD – final call for entries

This is the final call for entries to the competition to win a copy of Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow.

Entries close tomorrow, Friday 17 July, @ 1600. Details of how to enter: below.

Thanks to all readers who have already entered.



Gerry Smith


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Win new DVD - Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow

Thanks to MVD Entertainment Group’s Clint Weiler for supplying Bob Dylan 1978-1989 on DVD as the prize in a new Dylan Daily competition.

To win a copy of the new Special Edition 2 Disc Set of Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow, all you have to do is rank your three favourite Dylan albums released in the period covered by the DVD – number your three favourites 1, 2 and 3 – in an email sent to info@dylandaily.com, with the subject header “DVD comp”.

All entries will be put into a (virtual) hat and the winner will be drawn this Friday, 17 July, @ 1600 GMT and announced on The Dylan Daily (unless the lucky winner has specified “privacy” in his/her email entry).

Here’s a reminder of the albums to consider in your ranking:

Street-Legal (1978)
At Budokan (1978)
Slow Train Coming (1979)
Saved (1980)
Shot of Love (1981)
Infidels (1983)
Real Live (1984)
Empire Burlesque (1985)
Biograph (1985)
Knocked out Loaded (1986)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Dylan and the Dead (1989)
Oh Mercy (1989)

Good luck!


Gerry Smith

London signing for new book tomorrow (Wednesday)

If you’re in central London tomorrow evening (Wednesday 15 July, 6-9pm), you’re warmly invited to attend the signing event for my new book, Music For Grown-Ups.

Dylan will doubtless be mentioned – he’s one of the book’s central characters!

I’ll be signing copies from the numbered limited edition; Music For Grown-Ups is not available from High St bookshops.

The evening is hosted by AMUTi, the specialist collectable and book dealer, at its delightful gallery/shop near King’s Cross/St Pancras/Euston railway stations.

I’ll be giving a short talk about music for grown-ups, before enjoying a drink with the audience.

You’ll be able to marvel at AMUTi’s unique selection of music-related rare books and collectables.

If you manage to make it, please ensure that you ID yourself to me as a reader of this website - I look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening!

Details:

www.amutionline.com



Gerry Smith

Win new DVD - Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow

Thanks to MVD Entertainment Group’s Clint Weiler for supplying Bob Dylan 1978-1989 on DVD as the prize in a new Dylan Daily competition.

To win a copy of the new Special Edition 2 Disc Set of Bob Dylan 1978-1989: Both Ends Of The Rainbow, all you have to do is rank your three favourite Dylan albums released in the period covered by the DVD – number your three favourites 1, 2 and 3 – in an email sent to info@dylandaily.com, with the subject header “DVD comp”.


All entries will be put into a (virtual) hat and the winner will be drawn this Friday, 17 July, @ 1600 GMT and announced on The Dylan Daily (unless the lucky winner has specified “privacy” in his/her email entry).

Here’s a reminder of the albums to consider in your ranking:

Street-Legal (1978)
At Budokan (1978)
Slow Train Coming (1979)
Saved (1980)
Shot of Love (1981)
Infidels (1983)
Real Live (1984)
Empire Burlesque (1985)
Biograph (1985)
Knocked out Loaded (1986)
Down in the Groove (1988)
Dylan and the Dead (1989)
Oh Mercy (1989)

Good luck!


Gerry Smith

London signing for new book next Wednesday

If you’re in central London next Wednesday evening (15 July, 6-9pm), you’re warmly invited to attend the signing event for my new book, Music For Grown-Ups. (Bob Dylan is the key musician featured in the book.)

I’ll be signing copies from the special numbered limited edition; Music For Grown-Ups is not available from High St bookshops.

The evening is hosted by Amuti, the specialist collectable and book dealer, at its delightful gallery/shop near King’s Cross/St Pancras/Euston railway stations.

I’ll be giving a short talk about music for grown-ups, before enjoying a drink with the audience.

You’ll be able to marvel at Amuti’s unique selection of music-related rare books and collectables.

If you manage to make it, please ensure that you ID yourself to me as a reader of this website - I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday!

Details:

www.amutionline.com



Gerry Smith

Roger McGuinn, ex-Byrd, tells his Dylan stories

Completing a short English solo tour in St Albans last week, Roger McGuinn spared us his born-again folkie stuff and focused mainly on the luminous Byrds legacy.

His likeable 90-minute performance thrilled the crowd of 500 ageing pop-pickers, well up for a night of comforting nostalgia. In delivering it, McGuinn, using only his 12-string Rickenbacker and his 7(!)-string Martin HD-7 acoustic, demonstrated that he’s a fine multifaceted musician and singer, and an engaging, generous-minded raconteur.

His debt to Dylan was all over the evening. As well as My Back Pages, the opener, McGuinn explored the Zim locker with Mr Tambourine Man, All I Really Want To Do and You Ain’t Going Nowhere, plus the Dylan-influenced Ballad Of Easy Rider.

He recounted his story of the writing of The Ballad Of Easy Rider – how Dylan, too busy to supply a song for the movie soundtrack, scribbles a few lines of lyrics on a paper tissue, gives it to lead actor Peter Fonda, tells him to fly coast-to-coast and hand it personally to Roger - “Give it to McGuinn, he’ll finish it…”.

McGuinn also recounted how, when The Byrds first played Dylan their version of All I Really Want To Do in the studio, he expressed a liking for the song - before being reminded that he’d written it!



Gerry Smith

Hattie Carroll quoted on Question Time: Dylan in the ether…

Thanks to Andrew Kelly:

“I can't have been the only fan watching Question Time last Thurs (BBC TV, 2 July).

“In answering a question about Jack Straw's recent intervention in the matter of Ronnie Biggs' parole, columnist Peter Hitchens described the Justice Secretary's statement as calling "strongly, for penalty and repentance".

“The 21st century Weltanschauung is permeated!”

New Heylin book – signed copies and 25% discount if you buy direct

Thanks to publishers Constable Robinson for offering Dylan Daily readers limited signed copies of Clinton Heylin’s new book, Revolution In The Air, at 25% discount.

Access the web page below and enter promo code Dylan1.

http://www.constablerobinson.com/?section=books&book=signed_revolution_in_the_air_9781849011549_hardback



Gerry Smith

“Bob Dylan Speaks”: new issue of MOJO has Flanagan interview

“Bob Dylan Speaks” is the banner headline on the cover of the new (UK) issue of MOJO, the achingly beautiful heritage rock monthly.

But if you printed off Flanagan’s three-part promo interview for Together Through Life from the official Sony site in March/April, you might not need the “Ultimate MOJO Interview”.

When I copped a quick glance in the supermarket tonight, it looked like the same interview – worth checking before buying.


Gerry Smith

Clinton Heylin’s new Dylan book: challenging… essential

Clinton Heylin’s challenging new book, Revolution In The Air, is a welcome addition to the burgeoning Dylan library.

The first volume of a pair, Revolution In The Air covers Dylan’s songs from the juvenilia of 1957’s Song to Brigit to the grown-up angst of Planet Waves’ Wedding Song. A second volume, Still On The Road, bringing the story up to 2006, is promised for next year.

Covering 300 songs – in the order they were written, thus imposing narrative and context – the book is a potted history of each title, focusing on composition, recording and/or performance. It eschews in-depth analysis of either lyrics or music and evaluates the songs’ quality only in passing.

Heylin adopts a scholarly approach to his mammoth task. His sources include recording logs, manuscripts, performance set lists, published works and other utterances by Dylan, the testimony of collaborators and eye-witnesses, and a handful of favoured websites.

Heylin’s strengths are the depth of his expertise, based on half a lifetime of heavy-duty research, and a lively, literate writing style.

Weaknesses? Not many. You need to be a dedicated fan to welcome the level of detail here, but the book is targeted at precisely such readers. And there’s bound to be an element of speculation in such a work, though Heylin’s musings are worth your attention.

Revolution In The Air: Bob Dylan’s Songs is, according to the publishers, “informative, opinionated, packed with new insights and revelations….”

Pretty fair summary, I’d say – it’s an essential purchase; volume two is eagerly awaited.

Heylin’s legacy now includes three key Dylan books, the new volume standing proudly alongside Behind The Shades (biography) and Behind Closed Doors (recording sessions). He’s a nuanced guide to Dylan and his peerless art.


Revolution In The Air: The Songs Of Bob Dylan vol. 1: 1957-73, by Clinton Heylin, Constable, 2009, 482pp, £20.

www.constablerobinson.com



Gerry Smith

“Dylan” DVD series from Wienerworld: what do you think?

This week’s review on The Dylan Daily of the new DVD Bob Dylan - Never Ending Tour Diaries attracted loads of interest.

I’ve yet to see the rest of the “Dylan” DVDs in the series from Wienerworld, so I would value your opinions: are they worth buying?

If you’ve seen any of five DVDs in the series, listed below, please let The Dylan Daily know what you think – info@dylandaily.com:


* Bob Dylan - Never Ending Tour Diaries (Winston Watson)


* Bob Dylan - 1966 World Tour – The Home Movies (Mickey Jones)


* Bob Dylan World Tours 1966 – 1974 (Barry Feinstein photos)


* Bob Dylan – 1975 – 1981: Rolling Thunder & The Gospel Years


* Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years


Thanks in advance.



Gerry Smith

Drummer Winston Watson reflects on the Never-Ending Tour in the 1990s

Such is the hunger for Dylan-related product, a whole new genre of unofficial DVDs has recently found a ready audience. Lacking official Dylan performances and appearances, they either focus on the testimony of former sidemen and associates or gather the opinions of critics and writers.

They’re aimed at the hardcore fan who’s exhausted all the official releases (and the best of the bootleg performance footage).

So the new DVD from Wienerworld, Bob Dylan: Never Ending Tour Diaries: Drummer Winston Watson’s Incredible Journey, was approached with a degree of scepticism.

Watson, Dylan’s flamboyant drummer in the mid-1990s, performed over 400 shows in five years. He saw enough to be able to tell an interesting tale, though he remains respectful and discreet.

This charming 100-minute film quickly won me over. Given the limited resources at his disposal – interview with Watson, the drummer’s rough video footage, fan bootleg videos, graphics and footage of their Dylan tribute band – director Joel Gilbert has worked wonders in creating a very watchable, occasionally revealing, documentary.

Gilbert was lucky in his subject – Watson’s an engaging, disarming, likeable character who’s walked the walk but is still modest enough to be thrilled by the memories. He was, and is, a big Dylan fan.

You share his triumphs, then sympathise that he lost the gig (and his wife), and that he’s now earning his living working as an electrician back in Tucson, Arizona. When a film draws you in like this, you know it works.

Bob Dylan: Never-Ending Tour Diaries is enjoyable and informative. Watson’s anecdotes and reflections help to flesh out what we know about Dylan the working, touring musician.

Recommended.

I’ll be exploring the rest of the Wienerworld Dylan DVDs.

Info: www.highway61ent.com


Gerry Smith

Highway 61, Beyond Here, Heylin, Barker, Watson DVD

Thanks to readers who sent three interesting links:

* To Larry:

“The new Dylan Watch is a re-interpretation of some songs on Highway 61 Revisited. I thought you'd find the approach interesting:

http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/


* To Patrick:

“Pretty interesting video and interview on Behind Here Lies Nothin:

http://pitchfork.com/news/35479-directors-cut-bob-dylans-beyond-here-lies-nothin/


* And to Stav for a link to a Catholic Herald review of new Heylin and covers books, and Winston Watson DVD:

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/reviews/r0000464.shtml



If you some across links you think other Dylan Daily readers might appreciate, please let me know – info@dylandaily.com


Gerry Smith

The Basement Tapes: debt to TS Eliot?

The “Say hello to Valerie…“ verse in The Basement Tapes song Too Much Of Nothing always struck me as very clever, and very funny. But it had never occurred to me that it referenced another great writer.

Until Saturday’s TS Eliot Arena programme on BBC2, when I stumbled upon the connection – Vivienne and Valerie were the names of Eliot’s two wives.

Crowing about my discovery, I smugly turned to Gray’s Encyclopedia, entirely confident that there’d be no mention - that I was the very first fan to get the connection.

Lo and Behold!

The redoubtable Gray had been there before me. He credits recent Dylan Daily contributor Matthew Zuckerman with the discovery, first aired years ago in an article in ISIS fanzine.

Gray, Zuckerman: respect!



Gerry Smith

Your Dylan book recommendations #4 & #5

Thanks to Peter Mackie:

“It all depends what is meant by analytical but, after Ricks and Gray, I think Mike Marqusee - Wicked Messenger, and Betsy Bowden - Performed Literature are well worth reading.”


And to Martin Cowan:

“Heylin – Behind The Shades”

TS Eliot TV doc uses Desolation Row, With God On Our Side

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“I'd commend the superb BBC2 documentary shown Saturday night about TS Eliot, as part of the BBC's celebration of poetry.

“It opens with a generous snatch of Desolation Row and should be of interest to all Dylan fans.

For those that missed it, it can be viewed (for seven days after broadcast) on the BBC iPlayer here:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/


And thanks to Peter Mackie:

“The excellent Arena programme on Eliot featured Desolation Row and also the first verse of With God on Our Side. Could that verse really have been written with Eliot in mind?”

Your Dylan book recommendations #2 & #3

Thanks to Gerald Bamford:

“I would recommend the Paul Williams series of books to Jonas and everybody else for that matter, dealing with Bob Dylan as a 'Performing Artist' from 1960 onwards and these together with his book of Dylan related essays - 'Watching The River Flow' - make for a wonderful assessment of Bob as the most extraordinary artist of our time and are essential to an understanding of what makes Bob tick.

“The three 'Performing Artist' volumes can often be found very reasonably priced at 'The Works' bookshops.”


And thanks to Bernard McGuinn:

“Whilst I agree wholeheartedly with the Gray recommendation, I find, personally, that Ricks' style, and his obsession with puns, makes for rather painful reading.

“And the latest offering from Heylin - Revolution in the Air - totally eclipses his previous worthy efforts. It's a great read, and I await volume 2 with eager anticipation.

“I also think that any serious student could do far worse than begin with the three volumes of Paul Williams’ Performing Artist series. He never fails to re-ignite my urge to dig out the appropriate recordings whenever I dip back into his writing.”

Your Dylan book recommendations #1

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“To add to your list:

* I have always enjoyed dipping into "Oh No Not Another Bob Dylan Book" by Patrick Humphries and John Bauldie;

* the Anthony Scaduto biography is worth seeking out because although very out of date now, he did at least get to interview Dylan;

* and Nigel Williamson's Rough Guide to Bob Dylan is intelligently written and provides a good overview of the man and his music.”

Louis Armstrong’s canon more important than Dylan’s?

Thanks to Matthew Zuckerman:

“As much as I value Dylan's art, I think many would argue otherwise, and with powerful ammunition. Arguments could surely be made for Louis Armstrong's 'canon' being the most important in 20th century music.

“I would argue, come to that, that Armstrong's musical influence is pervasive in every strand of music -- jazz, blues, pop, classical, gospel, r&b, rock, country and most facets of world music -- and that he may be the most important musical figure since JS Bach.

“Bob may just be the key jazz musican to follow in the wake of Armstrong (as opposed to Parker, who is generally mentioned in that regard) but that's another story.”


> Editor Kevin Dettmar¹s Introduction is a wide-ranging survey of the field of
> DylanLit. But, even here, I found myself challenging basic premises: according
> to Dettmar, ³Dylan¹s is arguably the most important canon in all of twentieth
> century American popular music².
>
> Arguably? Who would argue otherwise? Dettmar could safely delete ³arguably²,
> ³American² and ³popular² and his assessment might still undervalue Dylan¹s
> art. And the Editor¹s depiction of Dylan¹s voice as ³unlovely², the voice of a
> ³crow², rather than a nightingale, also raises questions.

New Dylan Studies textbook: adequate, good in parts, grade B-

The new Dylan Studies textbook, The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan, is good in parts. While the book’s aim – to showcase the range of thinking about Dylan’s art - is admirable, its execution is only partly so. As you’d expect from a book by almost twenty academics and writers, it’s uneven.

Editor Kevin Dettmar’s Introduction is a wide-ranging survey of the field of DylanLit. But, even here, I found myself challenging basic premises: according to Dettmar, “Dylan’s is arguably the most important canon in all of twentieth century American popular music”.

Arguably? Who would argue otherwise? Dettmar could safely delete “arguably”, “American” and “popular” and his assessment might still undervalue Dylan’s art. And the Editor’s depiction of Dylan’s voice as “unlovely”, the voice of a “crow”, rather than a nightingale, also raises questions.

The book is split into two parts. The first, Perspectives, has nine short thematic chapters. David Yaffe’s location of Dylan in the poetic tradition, particularly his detailing of Zim’s debt to Ovid, is a key piece. Anthony Decurtis is engaging on Dylan’s songwriting.

Lee Marshall is perceptive on Dylan Studies, warning against treating him merely as a lyricist – the music and vocal performances are also important. But Marshall’s assertion that you can’t study high and popular culture in the same terms makes me slightly uneasy: it’s perfectly feasible to compare and contrast, say, Puccini and the Everly Brothers.

The fourteen-page piece on religion has some insights, but I’d have welcomed more. Few of the other thematic chapters ring bells in this parish. Wild horses couldn’t persuade me to read the chapter on Dylan and gender politics, though I wouldn’t expect many in the book’s fresh-faced, right-on audience to share my prejudice.

Part 2 reviews eight “landmark” albums. The book would have been better doubling the thematic coverage, instead. Dylan’s catalogue has already been reviewed to death and these new pieces add little to the mountain of press and fan evaluations. Except, that is, the essays on “Love And Theft” and Highway 61 Revisited. They’re both insightful, rapping on the magnitude of Dylan’s achievement.

Having graduated from the academy well before deconstruction, structuralism and the like took root, I was disappointed not to find a detailed, readable assessment of Dylan’s art filtered through the Post-Modernist lens. I suspect that PoMo academia has much to offer the seeker after Dylan Truth.

As is traditional in books about Dylan, you encounter erroneous rock-ist clichés – “first to release a themed album”; “first pop writer with grown-up lyrics”: er, no - in both cases. (I didn’t come across their sibling, the hoary claim that Dylan was the first musician to be bootlegged, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find it.)

The sub-editorial rigour you expect from a CUP book is fitful – for example, we encounter a Martin “Scorcese”, and find Dave Van Ronk in “Mcdougal” Street. If the book emanated from a Squirrel Press of Nether Wapping, it wouldn’t matter much, but it’s published by one of the world’s great university presses. Time to reassess the “Cambridge” brand?

Dylan’s great body of art can withstand rigorous, high-minded scrutiny, placing him in the wider flow of both high and popular culture: I much prefer BobLit by intellectuals with writing skills to the musings of brain-lite rock hacks. But earlier, admittedly more extensive, academic studies by profs such as Ricks, Marshall and Negus are not matched by The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan.

For a Dylan book to have lasting value, it needs to enrich our understanding of the man’s work - as creative artist, songwriter, thinker, performing musician and curator of American music. The Cambridge book does it intermittently, but not enough.

So, The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan achieves a grade of B-. It’s adequate, good in parts, but it needs more analysis and less narrative.




Gerry Smith



Info: www.cambridge.org

Together Through Life – “a stinker that’ll soon be forgotten”

I suspect I’m not the only Dylan Daily reader who’s yet to make up his mind about Together Through Life.

But I doubt there’s be many who share the views of a certain Russ Smith (no relation - honest!), who’s posted a very dismissive review on Splice Today.

Not all Dylan Daily readers think that the Sun shines out of Dylan’s a**e. Russ Smith certainly doesn’t. I enclose a few extracts, below - just to whet your appetite!

You can see the full review online at

www.splicetoday.com




Gerry Smith

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Nothing Is Delivered, by Russ Smith

* Together Through Life, Bob Dylan’s latest recording, is a stinker that’ll soon be forgotten.

* the last time Dylan released an exciting bunch of new songs was in early ’75, Blood on the Tracks, and that coincided with my most recent cavity. And, let’s be honest, that record, while a step up from Planet Waves and New Morning, hasn’t aged all that well, with the clunkers “Meet Me in the Morning” and “Simple Twist of Fate,” getting in the way of his two gold-standard 70s songs “Idiot Wind” and “Tangled Up in Blue.”

* his last 20 or so records, including his latest, Together Through Life, really stink, and I imagine that once this article is complete I’ll relegate the CD to the pile of near-discards, maybe next to Imagine or anything Morrissey released after he and guitarist Johnny Marr broke up the Smiths, the best band of the 1980s.

* Dylan’s value today is as an archivist (of his own songs and those artists he admires)

* Listening to Together Through Life, it’s possible, I suppose, to believe that Dylan really thinks he’s making exceptional new music… the songs, mostly co-written with Robert Hunter (immediate tip-off), have little lyrical merit and while reviewers have somehow fallen for the singer’s p.r. that he’s incorporating his love for old Chess Records classics with his own tweaks and observations, this record’s a bust. Not wholly embarrassing, but a bust.

* David Hildago’s brain-numbing accordian…

* with very few exceptions (maybe “Catfish,” “Seven Days” and “Jokerman”), the songs he’s composed since the mid-1970s are half-baked and would never even be considered by the staff who help him compile the playlist for his radio show…

Cover painting of Dylan special edition of Rolling Stone (France)

Thanks to Eric Wolfe:

“Thought you'd like to know that the painting by Scott Laumann accompanied the review of Tell Tale Signs in the American edition last fall.”

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Article of 22 May:

The French Rolling Stone has a delightful new 100-page Collector’s Special Edition (Hors-Serie) devoted to Dylan.

Beautiful cover portrait by Scott Laumann… 15 articles… many great photos… a magnificent addition to the library – allez, allez – vite!

NB1: it’s in French.
NB2: the content is nothing like the recent Dylan-covered issue (no 1078) of the US edition of Rolling Stone, though I’m going from info supplied by RS - I’ve yet to see issue 1078 on the racks where I get my occasional fix…

Vive le Rolling Stone francais!

www.rollingstone.fr



Gerry Smith

Delightful Dylan special edition from Rolling Stone (France)

The French Rolling Stone has a delightful new 100-page Collector’s Special Edition (Hors-Serie) devoted to Dylan.

Beautiful cover portrait by Scott Laumann… 15 articles… many great photos… a magnificent addition to the library – allez, allez – vite!

NB1: it’s in French.
NB2: the content is nothing like the recent Dylan-covered issue (no 1078) of the US edition of Rolling Stone, though I’m going from info supplied by RS - I’ve yet to see issue 1078 on the racks where I get my occasional fix…

Vive le Rolling Stone francais!

www.rollingstone.fr



Gerry Smith

Before The Flood: encore

Thanks to Jon Talbot in Seattle, Washington:

“I enjoyed reading your take on Before the Flood. I bought the re-mastered CD last month, but hadn't listened to it yet. Your comments encouraged me to play it last night. You are right - the sound is much better, even when comparing it to the original CD.

“But I wouldn't recommend it for the average Dylan fan. Despite what you called an impressive set-list, the songs for me are delivered in a rushed and robotic fashion that strips them of their integrity and potency. They come from his lips in a spitted-shouted-spoken flurry.

“Others have also noted how Dylan whizzed through them, deliberately in a hurry. The monks often say, "hurry is the death of prayer," and on Before the Flood, hurry is nearly the death of Dylan on this live performance.

“But I would recommend the CD for those serious about Dylan (and fans of the Band), for there are a few bright moments. Some aspects of "Just Like a Woman" become less rushed and hurriedly delivered to show its truthful intent, and you feel that Dylan's heart is in the singing.

“ "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" works very well for a number of reasons. First, its staccato-type format fits Dylan's need to hurry things along. Secondly, the crowd is following each stanza carefully (all the words are clearly articulated--no lyric sheet needed there) and they explode over the line about the President of the United States. Lastly, there's an audience member who ought to get royalties as he (maybe she, as the re-mastered CD gives this person a higher voice) cheers almost rhythmically in response to a number of the lines of the song. There's one place where it appears Dylan is a bit distracted, but immediately gets back on track.

“Of the final Dylan pieces on disc two, "Highway 61 Revisited" is my vote for the best performance. I also enjoyed the warm-up and introduction to "All Along the Watchtower," which could have been dynamic if Robbie Robertson did an extended guitar solo, but as soon as you get into their Hendrix-infused groove the song immediately ends.

“The Band glowed; my favorite moments are two: "The Shape I'm In," exceptionally sung by Richard Manuel, despite his hoarse voice, and played equally well by the top-notch musicians. And "When You Awake", with lead singing by Rick Danko--lovely.

“Ironically, it was my first Dylan concert. I attended the evening concert at The Forum (now the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, February 14--I think the year was 1973, my ticket doesn't show the year. The price of the concert was cheaper than the re-mastered CD: $8.50!

“I believe it was the last leg of the tour, and that most of the CD's tracks were taken from the afternoon concert of that same date. (Your faithful readers can verify and/or correct that.) I think Dylan and the Band also performed a track or two from Planet Waves, "Forever Young," sticks in my memory.

“The experience of the concert outmatched the CD, of course, but my lasting impression wasn't the music. It was the manner in which Bob Dylan left the stage and bowed: he held up his harmonica in one hand and the guitar in the other, as if to say, you could do this too...or maybe to say "you're right from your side, I'm right from mine; we're just one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind."

“Thanks Gerry, for encouraging these thoughts.”

The Roy Silver interview DVD: encore

Thanks to Steve Rostoski:

“I was involved in a project related to No Direction Home and got to read all the interview transcripts (except Bob's!) before it was released.

“I remember the Roy Silver interview and I doubt they would have gone to the trouble of transcribing all the retakes and asides if it were staged. The guy did sound like a character, so I'm not surprised some think he's an actor.

“Another thing I remember about the interviews was that most of them were rough and broke down when they had to change film or something needed rephrasing.

“Except for Greil Marcus. His interview read like one of his essays with not one word out of place. The only time he stopped was when he asked if the skateboarding kids outside were making too much noise.”


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(8 May): The Roy Silver interview DVD

Watching the Roy Silver interview on DVD, one of the bonus discs in Together Through Life, I thought at first it was a spoof.

Never having heard of Silver and conscious of the hammy presentation style (Groucho Marx?), it seemed like a well-executed Dylan put-on.

My suspicions were strengthened when a check of the Trager and Gray encyclopedias failed to turn up Silver. Ditto Heylin’s bio, Behind The Shades Take 2.

But then I found him in a biography I’ve rather neglected – Howard
Sounes’ Down the Highway: the life of Bob Dylan (Black Swan, 2002, paper, 624pp). Sounes documents in some detail Silver’s early association with Dylan in the Village, before he was signed by Albert Grossman.

Bravo, Howard Sounes. I’ll have to read him rather more carefully.

And I’ll have to watch the Roy Silver DVD again – but as a factual interview this time, not an elaborate joke.




Gerry Smith

Euro Tour 2009: final thoughts

Thanks to Gerald Bamford:

“Bob has been here and gone once more at a time when his stock is as high as it has ever been what with his new album at the highest reaches of the album charts both sides of the pond and all manner of media programmes dedicated to all aspects of his unbelievable career. Must be the end game.

“One thing is for certain: Bob is still the spokesman for our generation gently leading us to understand what it feels like to be getting old.

“But not infirm - the energy needed to sustain a tour of recent proportions must be enormous, so all power to Bob.

“I like to organise my part in the tour by selecting shows where I think my wife might like to visit, so we went off to Tuscany and Florence in particular where Bob and the band played in the Nelson Mandela Forum - which did Bob no favours since the sound, at least where we were seated to the left of the stage, was atrocious - hurtful to my ears at times.

“The acoustic songs were much easier to listen to so these were the highlights of a frustrating experience.

“The sound at the O2 was very much better and even though the set list was strangely similar to Florence and the huge arena makes for a dislocated feel, I really enjoyed the concert sitting in the infamous Block 101.

“So we went to Scotland and, even though we stayed in Glasgow, went only to the Edinburgh Playhouse, which is a fine Victorian theatre at the end of Prince's Street and one of those more intimate venues that Bob seems to like to fit in.

“Of course this was the highlight for me, setting me in mind of the two fantastic shows at the Portsmouth Guildhall in 2000 and a wonderful show in Oporto some years back, also in a small theatre.

“Song tour highlights for me were:

Hollis Brown - Florence and O2
'Till I fell in Love with You - O2
Return To Me - Fl (just a jester's gesture)
Working Man's Blues #2 - Florence & O2
Just Like A Woman - Edinburgh (actually most of Edinburgh from Pill Box Hat onwards)

“Strange how we view and assess the shows - our enjoyment depending on so many external and internal factors (as Leonard Cohen said about the financial and geographical inconvenience of attending his concert at the O2, or simply what we had for lunch having some effect on mood), and our built-in desire to criticise having come out so far with so many expectations.

“Let's hope that familiarity does not breed a degree of contempt, since Bob seems very happy with his current band and sound. I guess most of us were hoping for at least a song from Together Through Life but he saved that for Dublin - the luck of the Irish indeed.

“Still, all things being equal, Bob will be back touting his wares once again in a town near us very soon.


“It's all good!”

Before The Flood re-mastered: very impressive

You’re not supposed to like Before The Flood.

It’s supposed to lack subtlety. You look for subtlety in rock music? If I want subtlety I avoid rock and turn to jazz or opera instead.

I think Before The Flood is a spellbinder in which Dylan reinvents his ‘60s songbook into a cacophanous tumult; rock has rarely been this raw.

Great vocals, inspired band, set-list without equal. What’s not to like? Dylan’s performance is impassioned, vituperative, driven. What more could the nay-sayers reasonably expect?

I’ve listened to Before The Flood in the car, on a cheap tape, recorded from worn-out vinyl via a scratchy needle, for years, so the sound on the new re-mastered double CD set is a revelation to me; maybe if you’re used to a hi-fi version, the sonic upgrade would be less impressive.

If you delete the intrusive (if otherwise excellent) tracks by The Band, you have a legendary, almost seamless, Dylan rock concert.

Before The Flood re-mastered: very impressive


Gerry Smith

Basement Tapes re-mastered: impressive

You learn some useful stuff from expert contributors to The Dylan Daily.

First, Liam Mogan raved on about the sonic improvements on the newly re-mastered Basement Tapes 2CD. So I made a note to buy it.

But where?

Right on cue, Martin Cowan told us that HMV are discounting all four newly re-mastered albums. And even my sorry little local branch had a digipack copy of The Basement Tapes in stock, at only £8 (though it had none of the other three titles).

So I bought it and, like Liam, I’m very impressed by the sound: it’s like hearing the album for the very first time.

Even after degrading the sound by ripping/burning a CDR copy via iTunes, to excise the Band tracks, the production is still a revelation, with Dylan well up in the mix and the mud cleansed.

The improvement was more noticeable after I’d tagged on the three official Basement Tapes sessions out-takes, released on Biograph and Bootleg Series 1-3, and listened to them back-to-back with the newly cleaned-up album.

So, tomorrow I’m off to a bigger HMV, to buy Before The Flood, a long-time favourite tape in my car, though often derided by the Dylan Police.

And, as a bonus, I can park all the non-Bob tracks from both the re-mastered albums onto a dedicated The Band CDR.

If, like me, you’d never bothered buying The Basement Tapes on CD, now’s the time!



Gerry Smith

Dylan back catalogue CDs: HMV bargains, and phantom new re-masters

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“Dylan is HMV artist of the month. This means that a whole bunch of the hefty back catalogue is available at £5 per throw, and in my local branch they also had the new re-masters of "Basement Tapes" and "Before the Flood" for £8 apiece.

“This is a good chance to pick up any LPs that are missing from your collection!

“But, further to all the column inches sounding the death knell of CDs in favour of inferior downloads or inconvenient streaming, I’ve discovered that it is almost impossible to buy all the new Dylan re-mastered CDs anywhere.

“Amazon lists them, but only from other sellers, though it does seem possible to track them down via Ebay.

“Have any other Dylan Daily readers come across the latest wave of Dylan reissues in physical form?

New Barry Feinstein exhibition opens at National Portrait Gallery, London

Thanks to Gordon Macniven

“In case you don't know, the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition of Barry Feinstein's 1966 photos of Bob began on 11 May and finishes on 30 August.

“The NPG is a magnificent gallery so well worth a visit. The exhibition is in the basement. Not worth a special journey but definitely worth a look if you're near.”

(NPG is in central London, just off Trafalgar Square, round the corner, east of the National Gallery - GS)



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Related DYLAN DAILY article from 2008:

Feinstein’s Dylan exhibition extended, plus new Sub H Blues photo

Birmingham’s Snap Galleries is extending its Barry Feinstein exhibition of Dylan photographs until Saturday 9 August. Snap is selling prints from the photographer’s iconic catalogue, as published in his new book, Real Moments.

And Snap has unearthed (and is selling) a new colour still, by Tony Frank, from the Subterranean Homesick Blues black and white film shoot.

Snap Galleries runs a remarkable series of rock photography exhibitions.

Their newsletter – itself a visual feast; any rock fan should subscribe (free) – announces some enticing forthcoming shows:

1. "Majesties and Exiles", new Rolling Stones exhibition starts 13 September 2008

2. Dylan “Gets Born” - glorious colour from the Subterranean Homesick Blues film set

3. Oasis: awesome early years singles and albums portfolio collection launches in November 2008

4. Soul with attitude

5. Feinstein Dylan show extended

6. Pepper drumskin at Christie’s

7. Wonderwalls

8. More out of print and 'sold out' books


Snap Galleries Limited, Unit 7 - Ground Floor, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FD


www.snapgalleries.com




Gerry Smith

London O2 gig and the overpriced tour programme – encore…

Thanks to Paul Ryles:

“I think I share your opinion of the O2 Arena, but maybe not completely.

“The transport arrangements were nothing short of ridiculous for such a big venue. The boat service was woeful, the boat on the way there left early, so we missed it, along with 20 or so other people. We actually left the show early to catch the return trip, needless to say to the boat on the way back left late. I’d hate to go to another event where the tube wasn't running.

“The lack of screens did create a detachment from the performance, we sat in a corner of the top tier far from the stage. The experience was like listening to the music, but not really like attending a live show, quite an odd experience.

“I'm trying not to be the grumpy old man, but I agree 100% with your view about sales of food and drink. I don't understand why you would pay for a ticket then spend your time queuing at the bar or the toilets. I can understand why Van Morrison wanted to stop bar sales during his shows.

“For me the O2 was so huge it bordered on the incredible, not quite oppressive, even though you could probably fit the village I live in into the arena 10 times. From where I was sitting the view of the audience looking amazing, the sound was good, slight bassy reverb off the roof, but not half as bad as the SECC in Glasgow the next weekend.

“I'd actually like to go back to see an artist that really does connect with the audience, Prince in 2007 might just have been the perfect artist, but I wasn't there.

“The show itself, I thought, was excellent, as was your review. Highlights for me 'Til I Fell In Love With You, Hollis Brown and Hattie Carroll, my wife thought Workingman's Blues was better than the recorded version.”


And to John Jeffrey:

“I, too, thought the (European tour) programmes were over priced (£12), but I bought one in Glasgow on Saturday night when the price was "reduced" to a tenner.”

Please click over to the master web site

This blogging site will not be updated for the next few days. Sorry for the inconvenience.

You can still see all the daily updates by clicking over to the master web site:

www.dylandaily.com

This site will be operating normally again from 11 May. See you soon.


Gerry Smith

Bob Dylan: 5 Songs – fine complement to the Drawn Blank catalogue

Dylan the painter was revealed to an unsuspecting world by Chemnitz’s Kunstsammlungen in 2007/2008. Aficionados the world over are indebted to curator Ingrid Mossinger who, seeing the potential in a largely ignored series of pencil sketches published years earlier, encouraged Dylan to develop them into a massive series of colourful, Expressionist watercolours and gouaches.

Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series, the resultant large format hardback catalogue (published in 2007 in two editions – identical content, different covers - by the museum and commercial publisher Prestel), has 170 evocative paintings developed from 85 of the original pencil sketches. Plus four short essays. It’s a must-have on any decent Dylan bookshelf.

Bob Dylan: 5 Songs, the follow-up, is fine complement, another must-have Drawn Blank collectable. It’s in the same hardback large format, but it focuses on Dylan’s words rather than his images.

The book collects the transcripts of five lectures delivered by German writers and academics at the museum during the exhibition. They each cover a Dylan song from a different decade: Visions Of Johanna, Tangled Up In Blue, Blind Willie McTell, Cold Irons Bound and Beyond The Horizon. The book’s 33 images, though delightful, are secondary.

All Dylan books, mostly by American or English writers, have a deep cultural bias: we can’t help being influenced by where we live. So it’s instructive to read writers from Germany: as anyone who has seen Dylan in concert in Germany will confirm, there’s a refreshingly different mindset to Bob following in Europe’s largest country.

All five pieces in Bob Dylan: 5 Songs are stimulating. I quickly became a fan of writer/academic Heinrich Detering. His lecture on Visions Of Johanna is perceptive; it comes as no surprise to learn that his academic work centres on German literary greats like Goethe and Mann. Detering’s an original thinker – for example, he rejects the usual suspects as the subject of his song and proposes, instead, that “Johanna” is, in fact, based on Brecht’s St Joan!

Rainer Vesely’s analysis of Tangled Up In Blue, a coherent, sustained rumination on the theme of betrayal, is also striking. I’m less convinced by Thomas Steinfeld’s hymn of praise to Cold Irons Bound – “the most successful song on the album”. I’ve always heard it as throwaway, lightweight. Steinfeld’s espousal did force me to listen again, very carefully, though my reaction remained the same. Even where you disagree, Steinfeld, like the others, challenges you to think about the songs afresh.

The highlight of the collection is the bonus track – a luminous, lengthy analysis of Theme Time Radio Hour by the aforementioned Heinrich Detering. It’s one of those lovely pieces which has you alternately nodding in agreement, as you find your own reactions duplicated, and then stopping in surprise at another original thought – “why didn’t I think of that?” Detering’s is the most literate dissection of the artfulness and significance of Dylan’s radio series that I’ve seen.

Publishing Bob Dylan: 5 Songs as a bi-lingual edition gives the book global appeal, but it has a downside, of course: half the pages are unnecessary, whether you’re an English or a German speaker.

Ingrid Mossinger’s vision in staging the Drawn Blank exhibition helped to reposition Dylan as a serious multi-faceted artist, not merely the pre-eminent musician of the age. The resulting pair of books she’s edited furnish irrefutable evidence.

Bob Dylan: 5 Songs is the second fine Drawn Blank collectable: if you’re seriously into Dylan, you need both.



Bob Dylan 5 Songs: Lectures accompanying the exhibition Bob Dylan. The Drawn Blank Series at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Edited by Ingrid Mossinger and Wolfram Ette with watercolours by Bob Dylan.
Published by Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz/Keber Art, 2009. Large format hardback, 288pp, euro 22.

(Current special deal on museum website: 5 Songs PLUS Drawn Blank catalogue – euro 40; check that you get English ed of catalogue, if that’s what you require; check carriage costs; and, if ordering from outside the eurozone, ensure you’re familiar with currency conversion costs.)



www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de




Gerry Smith

Bluesfest on BBC4 this weekend

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“More delicious viewing for Dylan Daily readers:

Friday 1 May BBC4

9.00pm: Blues Britannia - Can Blue Men Play The Whites? Documentary charting the British love of the blues.

10.30pm - Blues at the BBC. Archive footage of blues performances from the last 50 years.


Saturday 2 May BBC4

8.00pm - a repeat of the previous evening's Blues at the BBC.

9.00pm - Bobby Bland - Two steps from the blues. Profile of the blues singer.

10.00pm - Blues on .....Later. A selection of blues performances from the Jools Holland show.

11.55pm - Long John Baldry. Profile of the late British singer.

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With this embarrassment of riches, it makes me wonder how we managed before the advent of BBC4!”

And don’t forget: you can probably see the programmes online - some BBC programmes are accessible online via iPlayer for a short period after transmission (though copyright restricts the territories in which they’re available:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer



Gerry Smith

Together Through Life: first impressions

An evening with Together Through Life was a pleasant experience: better than expected, not as strong as secretly hoped.

First impressions:

* musically engaging – urban blues and Tex-Mex styles more suited to Dylan than the easy crooning and plodding rockabilly of the previous two albums.

* lyrically - worth careful scrutiny, though words seem a trifle lightweight on a superficial hearing.

* the De Luxe package is intriguing: extra content a mixed blessing - already have TTRH show on tape, doubtful will ever listen to CD; DVD a hoot, presumably intentionally; bits of paper not destined for the bedroom wall or the car windscreen. Another beautifully designed artefact – for the third studio album in a row.

Dylan’s USP, to me, is poet, philosopher and musician, in that order. This CD’s songs, though more immediately attractive than those on the two previous albums, are probably destined to be cherry-picked for a revised “recent songs” compilation, few if any of whose constituents would make my Top 100 Bobsongs.

That said, I usually revise my opinions upwards after getting to know a new Dylan album.

What do YOU think of Together Through Life?



Gerry Smith

Dylan in London last night: energized, committed, triumphant

Last night’s show in the London O2 Arena was an unexpected triumph.

Dylan was in overdrive from the very first bar of Maggie’s Farm to the closing note of Blowin’ In The Wind. His performance was as energized and committed as any of the shows I’ve seen since 1978 (and my mother has seen since 1965!)

The set opened like a freight train and rarely lost momentum. The setlist (below) was well chosen, with only half the songs repeats of the previous night’s gig.

Highlights – there were many – included Hollis Brown and Workingman’s Blues. The few longueurs, notably Spirit On The Water, were lounge-rhythm songs from the last two albums – they sound better on the hi-fi than on stage.

I’ve rarely heard Dylan sing so well – confident, expressive, assertive, his voice seems to have re-found the strength of 20 years ago.

The sound was first class from my seat, in the gods one too many mornings away from the stage. Dylan was commendably up in the mix. It was a relief to hear the music so clearly, as the jokey intro “… Colombian recording artist…” had sounded muddy, boomy.

I’d gone to the gig with trepidation, not only because of the embarrassing lack of public transport (some jobsworth wag had decided to close the Jubilee Line, the only serious transport link to distant central London, for the day), but also from a fear that Bobby might be getting past it.

The fears were groundless – Bob’s voice, his playing of keyboard and harmonica and his general energy levels were a revelation.

There’s years of the Might Zim left yet. Bob’s still the Man! Why did anyone ever doubt it?


SETLIST:
1. Maggie's Farm
2. The Times They Are A-Changin'
3. Things Have Changed
4. Chimes Of Freedom
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
7. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
8. Workingman's Blues #2
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
11. Po' Boy
12. Honest With Me
13. When The Deal Goes Down
14. Thunder On The Mountain
15. Like A Rolling Stone
16. All Along The Watchtower
17. Spirit On The Water
18. Blowin' In The Wind



Gerry Smith

Tell Tale Signs for £3; audio samples of new CD tracks online

Thanks to Peter Wright:

"Fopp in Manchester has Tell Tale Signs CD single edition for only £3."

(Fopp is a small chain owned by HMV; presumably the other half dozen stores in the Fopp chain are also discounting the CD - worth checking if you pass one! Gerry Smith)


And thanks to Martin Cowan:

"Curious Dylan Daily readers can hear 30-second snippets of every track on the new Dylan album on Amazon."

www.amazon.co.uk

Reviews ignoring co-authorship of new album

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“I've seen four or five reviews of the new LP, all of which follow pretty much the same template, and I do wonder about these reviews because not one of them has mentioned that almost all the songs are co-writes.

“There is much mention of Dylan's lyrics, yet as we know the lyrics on the new LP are not solely Dylan's, but also co-writer Robert Hunter's.”

Dylan in Florence on Saturday

Thanks to Gerald Bamford for phoning his report of Saturday’s Florence gig:

SETLIST:

1. Maggie's Farm
2. Mr. Tambourine Man
3. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
4. Man In The Long Black Coat
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
7. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
8. Workingman's Blues #2
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
11. Po' Boy
12. Summer Days
13. Return To Me
14. Thunder On The Mountain
15. Like A Rolling Stone
(encore)
16. All Along The Watchtower
17. Spirit On The Water
18. Blowin' In The Wind


IMPRESSIONS:

* Ballad Of Hollis Brown, featuring acoustic guitar and banjo, was knock-out.

* Other highlights: The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll and Workingman's Blues #2.

* Return To Me, an old Dean Martin song, was delivered partly in Italian, drawing the night’s strongest applause.

* I was seated to the side in a 6,000 crowd, in a cavernous venue, not really in the thick of it. The sound was muddy, clumpy, bassy to start with, but improved.

The Very Best Of Bob Dylan ‘60s/‘70s: why?

Have you seen Sony Legacy’s new Playlist series, covering about 50 artists?

It’s a puzzling product range.

The Very Best Of Bob Dylan ‘60s, released just before last Xmas, was followed last month by The Very Best Of Bob Dylan ‘70s.

They’re decent compilations – let’s face it, it would be hard to foul up a 14-track selection from the greatest living songwriter. But, given the availability of so many other official Sony Dylan compilations, you have to question the logic.

At least they’re better intros to the artist than the Playlist devoted to Dylan’s contemporary, Van Morrison. Sony only have access to the interminably reissued Bang sessions – ie the pop material recorded before Morrison found his true voice with his masterpiece, Astral Weeks.

Sony Legacy’s Playlist series: why?



Gerry Smith

New album/Michael Gray/O2 gig transport problems

* Thanks to Martin Cowan:

"Just picked this up off the Isis website:
http://www.bobdylanisis.com/Dylan%20Digest.htm

“As it says here, strange that the fact that the new material is co-written has so far been absent from any of the pre-publicity.

“Interesting to also note a credit for Willie Dixon!

“Not too sure how well the co-written lyric story is going down:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/16/bob-dylan-lyrics

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* After some North American dates earlier this month, Michael’s live event, Bob Dylan & the Poetry of the Blues - “wit, erudition, loud records and rare footage” - comes back to the UK, starting tomorrow, Friday April 17, at Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire. Box Office: 0845 1272 190 / http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/, tickets £8.

Next comes Herne Bay Little Theatre, Kent, on Thursday April 23 (Box Office: 01227 366004, tickets £12, £10 concessions).

Two days after that he’s back in the States, at One Longfellow Square in Portland Maine (Box Office: 207-239-1855 / www.onelongfellowsquare.com, tickets $18 in advance, $20 at the door).

If you haven't yet seen this gig, I can heartily recommend it.



Gerry Smith

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* Thanks to Andy Kelly:

“The helpline number for Transport for London is 0207 222 1234. They are generally helpful and informed.

“I've heard tales of nightmarish troubles and iniquitous charges for those using their own vehicles, so anyone considering that (probably teaching grannies to suck eggs here) - check the web.”

(Andy’s praise for TfL’s tel info service is deserved. Pity they can’t apply the same standards to providing a transport service. London’s Tubes are a world-class embarrassment. Gerry Smith – Ed.)

Bob Dylan in London, 25 April: no Jubilee Line Tube to the O2 Arena

A few days ago I asked: “how EXACTLY do you plan to get to the O2 Arena – several (6?/10?)miles outside central London - and back into town after the show?”

Thanks to Cornelia Grolsch and Gordon Macniven for responding – “by Tube” (aka Underground/Subway/U-Bahn). Well, that would normally be the obvious route.

But there is no Jubilee Line Tube running to the O2 on Saturday 25 April, the day of the Dylan gig. Just take a look at this official announcement (thanks to Paul Ryles for the link):

http://www.theo2.co.uk/images/PDF/misc/bob_dylan_transport_25_april.pdf





Gerry Smith

Dylan’s lyrics decoded

Thanks to Andy Maultby for notice of two promising BBC radio programmes, set to coincide with Dylan’s eight British gigs, starting 24 April in Sheffield:


* The Lyrics Of Bob Dylan
Saturday 25 April, 10.00-11.00pm BBC RADIO 2

Laura Barton attempts to decode the lyrics by exploring and analysing 10 songs from the perspective of poets, critics, musicians and contemporaries.

Voices: Poet Laureate Andrew Motion; authors Professor Christopher Ricks and Nigel Williamson; Dylanologist Michael Gray; Greenwich Village contemporary Tom Paxton; singer Gwyneth Herbert; cultural commentator David Quantick; Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks; and Mark Rudd of revolutionary political agitators The Weathermen.

Songs examined include Subterranean Homesick Blues, Like A Rolling Stone, Lay Lady Lay, Visions Of Johanna and It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding).


* Archive on 4, a history of bootleg recordings, is on Saturday 17 April at 8pm on BBC Radio 4.



You can probably hear the programmes online - some BBC programmes are accessible online via iPlayer for a short period after transmission (though copyright restricts the territories in which they’re available):

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer



Gerry Smith

Dylan’s Back Pages: 12 April 1963

Thanks to Gerald Bamford:

“On 12 April 1963 Dylan played his first major concert in New York City - at NY Town Hall. The set list was as follows:

1. Ramblin' Down Thru The World
2. Bob Dylan's Dream
3. Talkin' New York.
4. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
5. Walls Of Red Wing
6. All Over You
7. Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues
8. Boots Of Spanish Leather
9. Hero Blues
10. Blowin' In The Wind
11. John Brown
12. Tomorrow Is A Long Time
13. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

14. Dusty Old Fairgrounds
15. Who Killed Davey Moore?
16. Seven Curses
17. Highway 51
18. Pretty Peggy-O
19. Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
20. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
21. Hiding Too Long (AKA Hypocrite)
22. With God On Our Side
23. Masters Of War
24. Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie

Dylan in London: how will you get to the gig?

The Dylan show at the O2 is fast approaching – two weeks tomorrow.

Given that the venue is about 12 miles east of the city centre, how EXACTLY do you plan to get there (and back into town after the show)?

Serious question!



Gerry Smith

Saarbrucken - the Euro tour’s premier set list

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“Further to your recent post about set highlights, I nominate the show at Saarbrucken on 5 April 2009 for most consistently fascinating set list to date (list courtesy of Bill Pagel's wonderful Bob Links):

1. Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob on keyboard)
2. Lay, Lady, Lay (Bob on guitar)
3. The Levee's Gonna Break (Bob on keyboard and harp)
4. Every Grain Of Sand (Bob on keyboard)
5. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (Bob on keyboard)
6. Beyond The Horizon (Bob on keyboard)
7. Honest With Me (Bob on keyboard)
8. Sugar Baby (Bob on keyboard)
9. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
(Bob on keyboard)
10. Po' Boy (Bob on keyboard)
11. Summer Days (Bob on keyboard)
12. I Believe In You (Bob on keyboard)
13. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
14. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)

(encore)

15. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on keyboard)
16. Spirit On The Water (Bob on keyboard)
17. Blowin' In The Wind (Bob on keyboard)

Euro tour 2009: highlights so far

A couple of weeks in, the 2009 Euro tour has had some spellbinding set list inclusions, once again illustrating the depth of the Dylan songbook.

The performances I’d love to have heard include:

* Senor, Billy 4, Chimes Of Freedom - Stockholm

* The Man in Me, Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - Malmo

* Gotta Serve Somebody, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Desolation Row - Copenhagen

* Shooting Star, Dignity - Hannover

* The Wicked Messenger, My Back Pages - Berlin

* Man In A Long Black Coat - Erfurt

* One More Cup Of Coffee - Munchen

Magnificently eclectic! Roll on London!



Gerry Smith

Dylan on Obama: zzzzzzzzzzzz…

Thanks to Jon Ford:

“The new bit of Bill Flanagan’s Dylan interview, now on bobdylan.com, though mainly trite, has fuelled another media scrum on what Bob thinks about Obama.

“After supposedly endorsing Obama last summer, Dylan has now supposedly withdrawn his support.

“But Dylan uses words carefully: I don’t think he either endorsed or has withdrawn support for the new US President.

“The really telling comment was his dismissal of ALL politicians as entertainers in an earlier part of the interview.

“zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… who cares anyway?

“Dylan’s art will still be celebrated long after Obama (and Bush… Clinton… Blair… Thatcher… Chirac… Kohl et al) has become a footnote in history. He shouldn’t give them unwarranted credibility by even discussing them”

Dylan posters: my favourite – Milton Glaser’s psychedelia

Thanks to Gerald Bamford:

“Adding to the poster debate, I have a fondness for the Milton Glaser psychedelic artefact which was on the front cover of one of the books about Bob in the ‘70s (you tell me which one) and given away with the US version of More BD's Greatest Hits.

“A friend gave me his copy as a birthday present and I often used it as a backdrop to Back Pages gigs (a Bob Dylan Covers band in which I play rooted in Norfolk - contact me for bookings) until I left it on the wall in the bar at the Norwich Arts Centre by mistake and it had disappeared by the next day and is now on somebody else's wall.

“If that somebody else is reading this and he/she feels guilty I can be contacted through dylandaily. I think it can be purchased through Amazon even now.

“I also had a wonderful (I thought so anyway) copy of the Isle of Wight poster which my then girlfriend took down from an advertising wall in Portsmouth and which had been put on at least 20 or so other previous posters and so was pretty rigid.

“I left that on a wall in a house in West London after we'd been kicked out for reasons beyond my control and when I realised and went back to retrieve it, was told that it was being burned out the back with the rest of the rubbish we'd left!

“Bastards!

“I'm very pleased to share that with you.”



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Dylan posters: my favourite – Isle Of Wight 1969

Thanks to John Adams:

“My favourite Dylan poster is the handbill for the 1969 Isle Of Wight festival.

“It uses the Nashville Skyline cover portrait, but cleverly juxtaposes it with a repeated image of The Band from one of their albums.

“There was another poster for the gig – a portrait of Dylan in shades – but it wasn’t half as attractive or evocative.”


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Hanging a copy of the lovely Drawn Blank poster, courtesy of Woking’s Lightbox gallery, reminded me of the pleasures of having a fine Dylan poster or two on the wall. And encouraged me to acquire a few more.

But which posters? And where from?

Your advice on favourite Dylan poster(s) and preferred suppliers would be very welcome.



Gerry Smith

New issue of DYLAN DAILY Newsletter circulated today

The latest issue of the re-launched DYLAN DAILY Newsletter was circulated today.

The fortnightly free service carries listings of the last 6 weeks content on the DYLAN DAILY website, alerting subscribers to articles they may have missed.

To ensure you receive future issues, free of charge, please sign up in the subscriptions area in the left margin of the master website:

www.dylandaily.com




Gerry Smith

Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ and Red River Shore

Thanks to Liam Mogan:

“Undoubtedly like all readers of your marvellous website, I downloaded the first track off of the new album as soon as I knew about it.

“I can only heartily agree with Gerald Bamford on the similarities to Otis Rush and the seminal 'Beano' Bluesbreakers album. (Didn't Dylan attempt to record with Clapton & Co. around this time?)

“It’s definitely whetted my appetite for the new release, despite the awful cover which has an alarming similarity to a Levi's Jean advert! Beyond Here Lies Nothin' has a grimy, bluesy feel which is a definite improvement on the flatness and, after repeated listens, the dullness of most of 'Modern Times'

“As making often dubious connections and analytical leaps of faith is the lifeblood of many Dylan commentators, I would like to put forward my own hastily cobbled together 'theory' of the motivation behind the return of 'Colombia Recording Artist', Bob Dylan.

“Integral to this theory is the accordion, which, if reports are to believed, dominates 'Together Through Life'. Did Dylan, after the release of 'Tell Tale Signs', realise that the awe-inspiring, accordion-driven, seven minutes of wonderment that is 'Red River Shore' represent a lost opportunity in his continual search for artistic fulfilment?

“I listened to 'Beyond Here Lies Nothin'' and 'Red River Shore' back-to-back just before midnight last night and was struck by how on completely different tracks the accordion plays the same role.

“Clearly it improves the sound of the tracks, but also emotionally it adds a richness that would otherwise be missing.

“On 'Red River Shore' (the disc 1 version, the version on the 'exploitative' disc 3 is but a pale shadow) the accordion conveys the mood of the singer, heightening the emotional pull of the words which on the right day and with the right amount of whisky could bring a man to tears.

“The small accordion refrain after each line on 'Beyond Here Lies Nothin' ' (and the accordion which mimics the long solo in the second half of the song) adds to the playfulness, joy and, may I suggest, a certain biblical wickedness the singer is attempting to convey. The enjoyable on-the-edge of town/on the border feel of the track is created by that accordion.

“A quick flick through Dylan's official releases and the subsequent bootleg series releases is a clear indication that self-assessment is not always this artist’s particular forte.

“Take 'Blind Willie McTell', which, despite being cut from 'Infidels', has now (thank God) been positively re-assessed by Bob to the extent that it regularly crops up in concert and even appeared on the latest best-of compilation, 'DYLAN'.

“My hypothesis is that 'Red River Shore' is cut from the same cloth. A masterpiece, unfathomably overlooked when recorded, whose eventual release has inspired its writer to attempt capture that magic once again. With an accordion!”

Echoes of Otis Rush blues in Beyond Here Lies Nothin’

Thanks to Gerald Bamford of Norfolk tribute band Back Pages:

“Having listened to the free download of Beyond Here Lies Nothin', what I hear is a blues in Am closely related to those of Otis Rush - a blues guitar player and singer of some repute from Chicago in the ‘50s and ‘60s whose best known song is probably 'All Your Love', most famously covered by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers featuring Slowhand Clapton and released on the 'Beano' album (give both a listen).

“I have played around with the structure for years so now it can be updated and immediately added to the Back Pages set list once I've written down the lyrics! Oh joy!

“Bob's version is very nicely augmented by David Hidalgo's (of Los Lobos) accordion and now I'm really looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

“I always hear the sound before I ever try to dissect the lyrics. It was ever thus, right from the first hearing of The Freewheelin'...back in '63.”

Free download of Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, from new album

Thanks to Peter Brookes and Martin Cowan for news of the free MP3 download of Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, the opening track from the new album.

It’s available for 24 hours from bobdylan.com.

Hmm… interesting - with an unusually rich musical palette, it sounds like no other recent Dylan release. The lyrics, as always, will demand careful scrutiny, but they sound, on first hearing, like an intelligent, simple pop song.

Roll on album release date!


Gerry Smith

Clinton Heylin’s new book on Dylan’s lyrics to 1973

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“There's a new Clinton Heylin book in which he provides detailed analysis on Dylan's songs between 1957 and 1973 - it seem he is giving it a touch of the ‘Revolution in the Head’ treatment.”

Watch The Dylan Daily for exclusive coverage of Heylin’s new book, which covers songs 1957-1973. A second volume covering the later work is promised for next year.

Volume 1 is due out on 23 April; Amazon.co.uk already has details on site.




Gerry Smith

New art exhibition in 2010 - and Dylan on politicians

The second slug of Bill Flanagan’s fine Dylan interview to promo the new album, now on bobdylan.com, has two nuggets which ring bells in this parish:


* The first, a welcome revelation:

“… I have an association with a London gallery, and there’ll probably be another exhibition of new works in another European museum in 2010. Now I’m scrambling to keep up. I’ve been commissioned to do paintings and they want me to work with iron and lead.”


* The second a piercing insight:

What’s your take on politics?

“Politics is entertainment. It’s a sport. Politicians are interchangeable.”

Don’t you believe in the democratic process?

“Yeah, but what’s that got to do with politics? Politics creates more problems than it solves.”


Thanks to Peter Brookes for the link.


Gerry Smith

Roundhouse extra London gig: I couldn't book - could you?

Along with, I’d guess, another 10,000 Euro Dylan fans, there I was at 0900 this morning with my password from bobdylan.com, poised ready to book the tempting extra London gig at the Roundhouse.

But the only Roundhouse page I could get said:

“Due to a high volume of users we are currently experiencing difficulties with our web ticketing service. Please be assured we are working on restoring this service as soon as possible.

“In the meantime to make a booking, please call the Box Office on xxx”

(I laughed till I cried - the tel number it posted as an alt route to the box office was, obviously, unavailable.)

When I re-tried the web site at 0914, even the link from bobdylan.com was dead.

So no tickets for me for the friggin’ Roundhouse.



Gerry Smith, scorned and scornful, at 0935

Euro tour setlists: highlights so far

The new Euro tour, just started in Stockholm, has already had its striking moments. Highlights of the two set lists so far?

* Billy
* Blind Willie McTell
* Chimes Of Freedom
* Lay Lady Lay

With material like this, my fellow EuroBobcats will be getting rather excited.

Dylan set lists are now covered on bobdylan.com, as well as boblinks.com. That is, Sony have sensibly taken this key category of Dylan news in-house.



Gerry Smith

Extra London gig in a well-chosen smaller venue

The extra London gig, at the Roundhouse on Sunday 26 April, is very welcome – the Roundhouse is London’s best smaller rock venue, and could be a welcome antidote to what some fear might be a lost opportunity at the gigantic London O2 Arena the night before.

My introduction to the Roundhouse was a splendid Morrissey show a year ago – see below.

To apply for Dylan Roundhouse tickets - on Wednesday morning - you have to get a password from:

www.bobdylan.com

Good luck! We’ll all need it!


Gerry Smith


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Morrissey in London – pop for grown-ups


Last night’s Morrissey gig at London’s Roundhouse – his third in a six night residency – was pure pop for grown-ups.

The setlist was a mixture of recent and new solo material, with Irish Blood/English Heart, First Of The Gang To Die and Last Of The Famous International Playboys the standouts. The forthcoming single, That’s How People Grow Up, will justify careful scrutiny.

Mozza’s unique talent is pungent, wittily original lyrics, allied to an unmissable on-stage charisma: very few performers give good gig better than he. His rapport with the faithful is wondrous to behold.

Last night’s music was nothing to get excited about, though. Trenchant lyrics apart, Morrissey’s solo work sounds pedestrian to my ears: too little variety in melody, tempo or dynamics. No variation. No improv.

So his musos are in a straitjacket to start with. But this crew sounded dull anyway. And the sound, from stage left, 20 metres from the front, was muddy, too bassy, and Il Mozzo was too low in the mix.

Morrissey was my first gig at the refurb’d Roundhouse. Very impressive – it easily reclaims its traditional status as London’s premier rockpop venue. Big enough for a 2,000 stand-up audience; small enough for intimate communion.

Pity about the audience, though. They’ve had to stop smoking (Hallelujah!), but most still yak incessantly, sing along as if they’re in the bath, and shuffle backwards and forwards to the bars all night long, spilling expensive beer from plastic mugs over innocent bystanders.

All music venues, from the Royal Opera House to Ronnie Scott’s, attract more than their fair share of stiffs. But rockpop gigs are notoriously bad: fully 50% of last night’s Roundhouse crowd were boneheads.




Gerry Smith

Second issue of THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter just circulated

The second issue of the re-launched DYLAN DAILY Newsletter has just been circulated to subscribers - copy below. If you didn’t receive a copy by email and wish to ensure that you get future issues, please subscribe (free of charge) using the box in the left margin of the main website:

http://www.dylandaily.com/


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THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter - celebrating the art of Bob Dylan - unofficially

Exclusive news and views, emailed to subscribers on alternate Thursdays.
Editor: Gerry Smith (info@dylandaily.com)



MESSAGE TO SUBSCRIBERS:

Hello again. Welcome to the second issue of the re-launched DYLAN DAILY Newsletter. As before, the newsletter lists articles published recently on THE DYLAN DAILY web site - http://www.dylandaily.com/ - helping you catch up on any articles you might have missed.

If you haven't visited http://www.dylandaily.com/ for a while, please take another look - you'll find original articles analysing all aspects of Dylan's ever-expanding creativity.

And please continue to send me your news and views - of gigs you've enjoyed, new releases, back catalogue discoveries and Dylan product of all kinds - for posting on the web site for Dylan fans.


Gerry Smith, Editor (email: info@dylandaily.com)



NEW ON THE DYLAN DAILY
Please log on to http://www.dylandaily.com/ to read the articles listed

* Dylan's debut record anniversary: 19 March 1962
* Together Through Life - "a great album": Uncut on the new Dylan release
* Dylan posters: my favourite - Isle Of Wight 1969
* New album: revealing Dylan interview on Together Through Life
* Dylan posters: your favourite?

* New Dylan CD - possibly Best Album Of 2009, according to MOJO
* Dylan the American poet
* Dylan Drawn Blank poster - all gone!
* Exclusive: iconic Dylan Drawn Blank painting - at a giveaway price


PREVIOUSLY ON THE DYLAN DAILY
http://www.dylandaily.com/

* The new Dylan album, according to Rolling Stone magazine
* Dylan: A Man Called Alias, by Richard Williams: is it worth buying?
* Michael Gray's Dylan and the blues gig: "fascinating and enjoyable"
* Theme Time playlists
* Is Theme Time running out of steam?

* Is Dylan's credibility in decline? No, insist readers
* Man In The Long Black Coat: Barb Jungr covers Dylan
* New Dylan album - conjecture summarised
* All Along The Watchtower by XTC: strikingly radical
* Freewheelin' shoot photograph - yours for £1,950

* Dylan jokes #1
* BBC Dylanfest this week
* Bob Dylan's albums: another beautiful little artefact
* Bob Dylan Lyrics - for German speakers: a beautiful little artefact
* Those Blowin' In The Wind TV ads for the Co-Op supermarket chain

* Folk America: a must-watch/record series
* Never Ending Tour: time to end it?
* Nature's voice: Dylan's everywhere! #1/2009
* William Zantzinger obituary
* Michael Gray to tour his BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES gig

* Series Of Dreams: a stimulating new study of Dylan the songwriter
* Street Legal re-masters: how good are they?
* Yet more new Dylan books in 2009
* Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid - enhancing the official CD


MOST VIEWED RECENT ARTICLE ON THE DYLAN DAILY
http://www.dylandaily.com/

* Exclusive: iconic Dylan Drawn Blank painting - at a giveaway price

Man On A Bridge is a delightful Dylan painting. Now you can buy a copy - as a full-size poster - at a giveaway price.

The Lightbox gallery in Woking, near London, which recently hosted The Drawn Blank Series exhibition of Dylan paintings, has a few posters left and is selling them at a mere £4.50 (plus £3.00 p&p, UK); they can take payment by card over the phone - tel: +44 (0)1483 737809.

So if you fancied owning Man On A Bridge, the iconic signature image from Drawn Blank, but couldn't/wouldn't shell out the £2,300 for a framed signed limited edition, here's your chance to buy one for £2,292.50 less.

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)

NB the gallery sold out the same day!


ADMIN

THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter is delivered free, by email, on alternate Thursdays. It's sent to you because you have subscribed via the web site. Why not bookmark http://www.dylandaily.com/ now, to make it easy to re-visit the site?


To unsubscribe your email address, please go to the web site Home Page (http://www.dylandaily.com/); in the Subscribe area in the left column, please enter your subscribed address in the "Your Email" box; select "Unsubscribe"; and then click "Go"; you'll be automatically unsubscribed.



(c) Gerry Smith 2009

Together Through Life - “a great album”: Uncut on the new Dylan release

Uncut's Allan Jones previews Together Through Life, the new album, on the London rock monthly mag’s website:

* “On first listen a great album…”

* “rawness that separates it from Modern Times, “Love And Theft” and Time Out Of Mind… Dylan’s voice throughout a splendid growl.

* “themes of mortality, lost love, grief, the passing of time, memory, waning days and lonely nights.

You can read the full article on uncut.co.uk - my favourite rock news web site, by some distance.

www.uncut.co.uk

Thanks (again) to Peter Brookes for the link.



Gerry Smith

Dylan posters: my favourite – Isle Of Wight 1969

Thanks to John Adams:

“My favourite Dylan poster is the handbill for the 1969 Isle Of Wight festival.

“It uses the Nashville Skyline cover portrait, but cleverly juxtaposes it with a repeated image of The Band from one of their albums.

“There was another poster for the gig – a portrait of Dylan in shades – but it wasn’t half as attractive or evocative.”


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Hanging a copy of the lovely Drawn Blank poster, courtesy of Woking’s Lightbox gallery, reminded me of the pleasures of having a fine Dylan poster or two on the wall. And encouraged me to acquire a few more.

But which posters? And where from?

Your advice on favourite Dylan poster(s) and preferred suppliers would be very welcome.



Gerry Smith

New album: revealing Dylan interview on Together Through Life

Dylan is very forthcoming in the first interview about his new album, Together Through Life, just posted on bobdylan.com.

He agrees with interviewer Bill Flanagan that it has a “Chess feel – mood… intensity… more of a romantic edge (than Modern Times)… I see that my audience now doesn’t particular (sic) care what period the songs are from…”

(Bill Flanagan wrote the liner notes for the DYLAN 3CD box.)

Together Through Life is released in the US on Tuesday 28 April, so presumably the day before in Europe. Amazon.com is already taking orders for “regular” cd, deluxe cd and vinyl editions (thanks to Peter Brookes for his link).


Gerry Smith

Dylan posters: your favourites?

Hanging the lovely Drawn Blank poster, courtesy of Woking’s Lightbox gallery, reminded me of the pleasures of having a fine Dylan poster or two on the wall. And encouraged me to acquire a few more.

But which posters? And where from?

Your advice on favourite Dylan poster(s) and preferred suppliers would be very welcome.



Gerry Smith

New Dylan CD – possibly Best Album Of 2009, according to MOJO

Thanks to Peter Brookes for the tip that MOJO, the achingly beautiful London-based Heritage Poprock monthly, has scooped the pool with an early review of the new album.

According to writer Michael Simmons:

“YESTERDAY, MOJO HEARD seven of what may turn out to be ten or eleven Bob Dylan originals…

“… ample proof of an artist steeped in the past but thoroughly living in the present, cognizant of everything, not afraid to point fingers or laugh at fools or fall in love.

“It's a powerful personal work by a man who still thinks for himself… it'll be in the running for Best Album Of 2009.”

Simmons reviews the seven tracks in detail – his article is well worth your time:

www.mojo4music.com/blog



Gerry Smith

Dylan the American poet

I’m keeping up with Larry Epstein as he continues to build a stimulating file of short essays on his Dylan Watch page of The Best American Poetry blog.

It has a growing number of stimulating, nicely judged pieces on a variety of Dylan themes.

Recommended.

http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/dylan_watch/



Gerry Smith

Dylan Drawn Blank poster – all gone!

The Lightbox gallery in Woking tell me that their Man On A Bridge poster has now completely sold out.

Don’t miss out on future Dylan Daily exclusives - add us to your Favourites/Bookmarks now.



Gerry Smith


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Exclusive: iconic Dylan Drawn Blank painting - at a giveaway price

Man On A Bridge is a delightful Dylan painting. Now you can buy a copy - as a full-size poster - at a giveaway price.

The Lightbox gallery in Woking, near London, which recently hosted The Drawn Blank Series exhibition of Dylan paintings, has a few posters left and is selling them at a mere £4.50 (plus £3.00 p&p, UK); they can take payment by card over the phone - tel: +44 (0)1483 737809.

So if you fancied owning Man On A Bridge, the iconic signature image from Drawn Blank, but couldn’t/wouldn’t shell out the £2,300 for a framed signed limited edition, here’s your chance to buy one for £2,292.50 less.

It’s a very desirable, collectable reproduction. Bargain of the decade, if you ask me!

www.thelightbox.org.uk




Gerry Smith

Exclusive: iconic Dylan Drawn Blank painting - at a giveaway price

Man On A Bridge is a delightful Dylan painting. Now you can buy a copy - as a full-size poster - at a giveaway price.

The Lightbox gallery in Woking, near London, which recently hosted The Drawn Blank Series exhibition of Dylan paintings, has a few posters left and is selling them at a mere £4.50 (plus £3.00 p&p, UK); they can take payment by card over the phone - tel: +44 (0)1483 737809.

So if you fancied owning Man On A Bridge, the iconic signature image from Drawn Blank, but couldn’t/wouldn’t shell out the £2,300 for a framed signed limited edition, here’s your chance to buy one for £2,292.50 less.

It’s a very desirable, collectable reproduction. Bargain of the decade, if you ask me!

www.thelightbox.org.uk




Gerry Smith

Free DYLAN DAILY Newsletter just re-launched

After a lengthy delay, the free DYLAN DAILY Newsletter has just been re-launched.

If you’re a subscriber, you should have already received your copy by email. If you haven’t, it’s probably because:

* your spam filter has rejected it - please ensure that my sending email address – info@dylandaily.com - is in your spam filter’s Friends list

* you’ve changed your email address since registering to receive the free newsletter; if so, please re-register your new email address via the DYLAN DAILY Home Page – it only takes seconds.

And if you’re not already a subscriber – why not register now, from this Home Page?

Receiving the free Newsletter is a foolproof way of catching up with new content on the web site that you may have missed.

The Newsletter is now mailed to subscribers on alternate Thursdays.

Thanks for your interest.



Gerry Smith, Editor


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RELAUNCHED FREE NEWSLETTER - JUST MAILED TO SUBSCRIBERS

THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter - celebrating the art of Bob Dylan

Exclusive news and views, emailed to subscribers on alternate Thursdays.
Editor: Gerry Smith (info@dylandaily.com)



MESSAGE TO SUBSCRIBERS:

Hello again. Apologies for the break in sending you your copy of THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter. I had to curtail it for a while to focus on finishing my new book, MUSIC FOR GROWN-UPs. You won't be surprised to hear that Dylan is the book's hero - check it out at http://www.dylandaily.com/

As before, THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter lists articles published recently on THE DYLAN DAILY web site - http://www.dylandaily.com/ - helping you catch up on any articles you might have missed.

THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter is now published on alternate Thursdays, and you'll receive your copy at the email address you've already registered. I hope you like it and will tell fellow Dylan fans about it.

Bob Dylan demonstrates his greatness by continuing to attract new admirers - of all ages. If you haven't visited http://www.dylandaily.com/ for a while, please take another look - you'll find original articles analysing all aspects of Dylan's ever-expanding creativity.

And please continue to send me your news and views - of gigs you've enjoyed, new releases, back catalogue discoveries and Dylan product of all kinds - for posting on the web site for Dylan fans.

Good listening.


Gerry Smith, Editor (email: info@dylandaily.com)



NEW ON THE DYLAN DAILY
Please log on to http://www.dylandaily.com/ to read the articles listed

* The new Dylan album, according to Rolling Stone magazine
* Dylan: A Man Called Alias, by Richard Williams: is it worth buying?
* Michael Gray's Dylan and the blues gig: "fascinating and enjoyable"
* Theme Time playlists
* Is Theme Time running out of steam?

* Is Dylan's credibility in decline? No, insist readers
* Man In The Long Black Coat: Barb Jungr covers Dylan
* New Dylan album - conjecture summarised
* All Along The Watchtower by XTC: strikingly radical
* Freewheelin' shoot photograph - yours for £1,950


PREVIOUSLY ON THE DYLAN DAILY
http://www.dylandaily.com/

* Dylan jokes #1
* BBC Dylanfest this week
* Bob Dylan's albums: another beautiful little artefact
* Bob Dylan Lyrics - for German speakers: a beautiful little artefact
* Those Blowin' In The Wind TV ads for the Co-Op supermarket chain

* Folk America: a must-watch/record series
* Never Ending Tour: time to end it?
* Nature's voice: Dylan's everywhere! #1/2009
* William Zantzinger obituary
* Michael Gray to tour his BOB DYLAN & THE POETRY OF THE BLUES gig

* Series Of Dreams: a stimulating new study of Dylan the songwriter
* Street Legal re-masters: how good are they?
* Yet more new Dylan books in 2009
* Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid - enhancing the official CD


MOST VIEWED RECENT ARTICLE ON THE DYLAN DAILY
http://www.dylandaily.com/

Is Dylan's credibility in decline? No, insist readers

Regular contributor Martin Cowan mused whether Dylan's credibility is in decline.

Not so, insist several readers:

* Thanks to Chris Floyd:
My response to Martin Cowan's -- what to call it? bill of potential indictment, maybe? -- is this:

He is neither on the ball nor off his rocker. He is simply exercising his right to be somewhat trivial and presumptuous -- a right that all humans have, and should freely exercise whenever they wish.

It also seems a bit silly to me. He says that how Dylan is to be "judged" following his next shows and next album is "crucial." ...

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)

* Thanks to Liam Mogan:
Martin Cowan's 'shock-jock' musings on Bob's credibility seem like a calculated attempt to jolt Dylan nuts out of their collective smugness.

I find it quite funny really and not totally serious. (Credibility? I think he's been reading too many copies of his son/daughter's NME. Either that or he has recently bought The Guardian for the first time in his life.)

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)

* Thanks to Joe King:
I would not presume to have the measure of "Dylan Daily" readers' views but, once ISIS had posted news of the new album on its website, the story was quickly picked up by other websites, including UNCUT and ROLLING STONE. This may not amount to "excitement" but it does show that Dylan news provokes great interest.

I will not be attending the O2 Arena show either...

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)

* Thanks to Fred Bals, writer of the very fine Dreamtime blog:
"In a word, "No."

"In more than one word:
* If the activity on the various Dylan forums and at Dreamtime are any indication, fans are eagerly looking forward to a new album... and it hasn't even been officially announced yet.
* I can't speak to...

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)

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Dylan's declining credibility?

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

Is there any excitement among Dylan Daily readers for either:

* a new Dylan album or

* "in show and in person" at the O2 or any of the other venues on the UK tour?

Personally, I remain to be convinced that a new album will reveal anything startlingly original and I won't be going to any of the shows.

In fact, it occurs to me that Dylan's credibility is on the wane at the moment:

* was MT really that good?

* why is he doing these ads?

* have we all had enough of Theme Time Radio?

How he is judged following these shows and any new release will be crucial. The shows are likely to be compared to Cohen's glorious performances, and Mr Springsteen's new platter seems to be going down a storm.

Interesting times.

(Full text online at: http://www.dylandaily.com/)


ADMIN

THE DYLAN DAILY Newsletter is delivered free, by email, on alternate Thursdays. It's sent to you because you have subscribed via the web site. Why not bookmark http://www.dylandaily.com/ now, to make it easy to re-visit the site?

To unsubscribe your email address, please go to the web site Home Page (http://www.dylandaily.com/); in the Subscribe area in the left column, please enter your subscribed address in the "Your Email" box; select "Unsubscribe"; and then click "Go"; you'll be automatically unsubscribed.



(c) Gerry Smith 2009

The new Dylan album, according to Rolling Stone

Thanks to Peter Brookes for news that Rolling Stone has covered the new album:

“… dark new disc with a bluesy border-town feel … arrives in April, … raw-country love songs, sly wordplay and the wounded state of the nation … 10 new originals… feel of Dylan's last two studio records… seductive feel … struggling-love songs…”

You can see the full text at:

www.rollingstone.com

Dylan's credibility

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“In view of the reaction to what seemed to me to be my reasonable questions about Dylan's credibility, here are some more thoughts.

“Dylan has enjoyed remarkable critical acclaim since 1997 and, by association, his fans benefit from this because the acclaim ensures there is ample access to product (all those books, cds and dvds) and if he is deemed to be popular, he'll keep coming back to play shows.

“Remember how, due to comments that were made after the Isle of Wight, he vowed never to play in England again - and didn't for 9 years. Hard to believe, when you think how often the NET has come round over the last 12 years. Of course, compare this to Tom Waits, who lives a near reclusive lifestyle, releases sporadic critically acclaimed albums, plays one night in London (and this for the first time in 17 years) and yet still maintains his artistic vision.

“I guess what I'm thinking is that, critics being critics, Dylan must be about due a critical downturn, and I guess my thought process was that an inferior LP, and inferior shows could spark this.

“His "people" are capitalising on this acclaim - films, DVDs, painting exhibitions, books, adverts - but I wonder what say he has in this kind of thing?

“Whose idea is it to advertise? Would he rather play the O2, or a smaller, more intimate, venue? Or does he not care? And if he doesn't care, should we?

“I should add that I am hoping for something different and interesting from a new record, and in the past it was often said that no two LPs were the same.

“These were the kind of things going through my mind. It will be interesting to see what happens when/if there is a new album, and I do wonder how the O2 show will go down.”

Dylan: A Man Called Alias, by Richard Williams: yes, it is worth buying

* Thanks to Johanna Moore:

“In reply to you reader Pauline's question I'd like to say that "A Man Called Alias" is a very nice coffee table book, though neither the written nor the photo content will be new to the avid Dylan reader.

“It is nice though to have some of the familiar photos well reproduced in large format though, like the picture of Bob's young family in Woodstock in 1968.

“I picked up a (translated) copy of the book a couple of weeks ago on ebay at a decent price, read through it in two days, learned nothing new... but enjoyed it nonetheless. (Well, I aim to read as many Bob books as possible.)

”A journey to the bookstore might not even be necessary, as new and used bookselling website abebooks.co.uk /.com - both have copies available at decent prices, so you don't even depend on ebay. Hope that helps.

”Now, if anyone could help me decide whether to get the Bob Dylan Copyright Files book that amazon (.de) is just selling out, I'd appreciate any advice.”


* And thanks to Martin Cowan:

“In response to Pauline Brett's recent posting, I've just been flicking through the Richard Williams book.

“While not a great addition to the Dylan library (its brief sketchy text is forgettable), it does work, thanks to its lavish illustrations.

“At nearly 200 pages, with large black and white and colour photos on every page, the pictures alone probably make it worth picking up. Some of the pictures are ones we have seen elsewhere but it does also include more unfamiliar photos.

“So I'd say to Pauline - for the pictures, take a punt!”

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Dylan: A Man Called Alias, by Richard Williams: is it worth buying?

Thanks to Pauline Brett:

“I’d welcome advice from fellow readers.

“Is Dylan: A Man Called Alias, by Richard Williams and published as a large format book in the early 1990s, worth buying?

“I ask because a friend told me that a local used bookshop has a copy. Problem is, it’ll mean a dedicated journey, which could eat up half a day and I’m not sure it’s going to be worth it.

“If any Dylan Daily readers think the book is “vital” or “indispensable”, or similar, I’ll gladly make time…”