Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – The Original Mono Recordings

January 5, 2011 Todd Totale 12 Comments

Bob Dylan - The Original Mono Recordings Bob Dylan – The Original Mono Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)

Cynics will note that there is virtually no difference performance-wise between the mono recordings of his first eight records for Columbia, so why bother? They will then point to the success of the Beatles’ mono box as the financial motivation for Sony (Columbia’s owner) to pull a similar move, a clear attempt at getting Dylanophiles to dig deep in their wallets once again.

But what cynics also need to acknowledge is that these eight records are absolutely essential and probably half of them changed the course of rock music. So if you’re going to exploit a legendary artist like Dylan with some fancy, overpriced packaging, at least you’re doing it with material that’s pretty hard to fuck up.

In looking at it from that perspective, if someone who is just beginning their studies of Rock Music 101 were to approach the Dylan catalog for the first time, they may as well fork over the dough all at once for the format presented here.

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Bob Dylan Mono Box and Demos Due This Fall

August 4, 2010 Jake Brown Leave a comment

Bob Dylan According to information acquired by the Bob Dylan magazine, Isis, there are a couple of interesting Dylan projects coming up: a mono box set and a new volume of the Bootleg Series are coming this fall.

The mono box will be an eight-disc collection of his earliest albums (Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin’, Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding) in their original monaural mixes which have never been released on CD.

Volume 9 of Dylan’s Bootleg Series will be a 47-song collection of his “Witmark Demos” and “Leeds Demos” that he recorded for his publisher between 1962 and 1964. Some of these were previously released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3.

Bob Dylan: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

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Bob Dylan – Christmas In The Heart

December 16, 2009 Todd Totale 21 Comments

Bob Dylan - Christmas In The Heart Bob Dylan – Christmas In The Heart (Sony)

You will get no bigger supporter of Bob Dylan‘s vocal talent than from me. In fact, I use it as a litmus test for someone’s rock and roll IQ. His voice—regardless of the era—remains one of music’s finest interpreters, its phrasing a huge influence on vocalists even while challenging the notion of what constitutes a beautiful sounding voice.

So imagine how hard it is for me to admit that the main problem with Christmas In The Heart has nothing to do with the idea of Dylan considering an entire album of holiday material, or even with the decision to keep the arrangements close to tradition. No, the problem with Christmas In The Heart is that it sounds like it’s voiced by an inebriated uncle who just happens to be sitting on a large fortune and, because of risking a huge inheritance loss from offending him, no one has the good sense of telling Uncle Bob to sit these numbers out.

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Five from the Archive: Weir Does Dylan

October 21, 2009 Mike Vasquez 3 Comments

Weir Bob Dylan is arguably the greatest modern songwriter, and certainly the most influential. People all over the musical spectrum cover his songs. But there a special few who specialize in covering Dylan. For me, Jerry Garcia has always been the premiere Dylan interpreter. If you don’t believe me – or if you do – you should check out the Garcia Plays Dylan collection. Particularly the “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.”

But now I have to say that Jerry’s old partner in crime, Bob Weir, is giving Jerry a run for his money these days. Bobby has always been adept with the occasional Dylan cover, but he and RatDog have really embraced it. They play a Dylan cover at well over half their shows.

Below are five of the best from the 2009 RatDog shows available in the Live Music Archive.

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22 Year Old Cop Unaware She Has Bob Dylan in Custody

August 14, 2009 Derek Phillips 6 Comments

In GLONO’s early days we had an argument about whether it was possible that a 20-something year old intern could possibly not know who either Kurt Cobain or Mick Jagger were. Never mind the fact that neither had been burning up the charts in recent years, how does someone not know cultural icons like these at least by name and reputation?

That dope has just been vindicated.

The Beast reports that none other than Bob Dylan was picked up by a NJ cop who had no idea who he was, even after he told her and showed identification verifying his story.

On the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, Bob Dylan just wanted to go for a stroll in Long Branch, New Jersey’s Latin quarter when someone called the cops about a “scruffy old man acting suspiciously.” Unfortunately, the wrong cop arrived at the scene; a 22-year-old who had no idea who the legendary singer-songwriter was. Apparently, Dylan was unable to allay the cop’s suspicions, and she drove him back to his hotel to confirm his identity. Upon examining his documents, the cop reported back to headquarters with one question: “Who is Bob Dylan?”

While I think it’s justifiable to question Dylan because he is nothing if not a “scruffy old man acting suspiciously,” but to then not even have that name ring a bell upon hearing it? New Jersey’s finest, indeed!

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Rothbury 2009

July 9, 2009 Jeff Sabatini 4 Comments

Writing a summary of Rothbury is kind of like explaining the Lord of the Rings trilogy to my 4-year-old daughter. I can give her a broad overview of some of the plot points and make some specific comments about some of the characters, but there’s just no way she’s going to understand without so much extra exposition that it’s pointless to even make the attempt. Not to mention that there’s just some stuff you’re not going to go into regardless.

That said, let’s delve into just a few details that should help set the Rothbury scene:

1. Rothbury is dirty in every way imaginable. (Not to mention literally; showers cost $10.)

2. Everyone is getting fucked up pretty much all the time.

3. I don’t know how you could have more fun at a concert — I never have.

To put that last point in perspective, consider that I am 36 years old and have been to well over 100 big-name touring act shows in the past 23 years since my first (Springsteen). I can’t even begin to estimate how many bar shows I’ve attended in that time. I have seen damn near every classic rock icon, plenty of indie rock, lots of metal shows, and even a handful of legendary jazz artists. So for Rothbury to compare this well to my better-with-age memories of Lollapalooza 2, Clash of the Titans, or some of the old-school Pine Knob shows when nobody cared what you brought in to the show, well, that’s saying something.

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Bob Dylan – Together Through Life

May 11, 2009 Todd Totale 2 Comments

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life Bob Dylan – Together Through Life (Columbia)

The worst Bob Dylan album of all time is the one in which he joined up with the Grateful Dead for the Dylan & the Dead release. Twenty years after that disastrous merging, Dylan again looks to the Dead camp and calls up lyricist Robert Hunter to help out with album 33, and not just on a few cuts, but nearly every single one on Together Through Life. It’s an album that may not challenge Dylan & the Dead in terms of sheer blandness, but it comes close and it certainly knocks the wind out of Dylan’s late career winning streak.

Aside from a few unique forays into “Tex-Mex,” there’s little intrigue to be had at all, with everything sounding very much the age of Dylan himself and with none of the lyrics providing any insight to Zimmy’s mindset as he approaches 70. Instead, everything sounds like it was put together in haste with Dylan’s words taking shape as an afterthought.

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Sales: Bob Dylan Scores 5th #1

May 6, 2009 Jake Brown Leave a comment

Not that it’s any indication of the quality of his work, but Bob Dylan has found himself on the top of the charts four times before: for Planet Waves (1974), Blood on the Tracks (1975), Desire (1976), and Modern Times (2006). This is his second in a row though. With his new album, he’s back on top:

1. Bob Dylan – “Together Through Life” – 125,000 (debut)

2. “Hannah Montana: the Movie” soundtrack- 86,000 (down 18%)

3. Rascal Flatts – “Unstoppable” – 53,000 (down 22%)

4. Rick Ross – “Deeper Than Rap” – 51,000 (down 67.5%)

5. Lady GaGa – “The Fame” 40,000 (up 0.6%)

6. “Twilight” soundtrack – 35,000 (down 14%)

7. “Now 30” – 33,000 (down 10%)

8. Heaven & Hell – “The Devil You Know” – 30,000 (debut)

9. Taylor Swift – “Fearless” – 29,000 (up 1%)

10. Various – “Playing for Change” – 26,000 (debut)

MP3: Bob Dylan – “Here Lies Nothin'”

Bob Dylan: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki.

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Rothbury '09: 2-Day Live Crew

April 29, 2009 Jeff Sabatini 9 Comments

If you see me at the Rothbury Music Festival over the Fourth of July weekend, I will no doubt be stumbling around in my tie-dye, sunburned and babbling, trying very hard to stay on top of my buzz. I will be having a great time reliving the glory of what my wife calls my “salad days,” when I didn’t have a lot to do other than imbibe, play disc golf, and rock out at concerts.