beantownbubba wrote:Don't have time right now for a complete response but a couple of things come immediately to mind: The film Don't Look Back, the standard bio by Robert Shelton the name of which escapes me at the moment, the Rolling Stone bio series Dylan book by Jonathan Cott (possibly hard to find) and anything about Bob you can find written by Greil Marcus and Christopher Ricks (note both, especially Ricks, have written widely on other topics which may or may not be of interest).
I have some editing suggestions on the music side and will get back to you w/ those.
Awesome! Thanks bubba.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:14 pm
by dogstar
Duke Silver wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Don't have time right now for a complete response but a couple of things come immediately to mind: The film Don't Look Back, the standard bio by Robert Shelton the name of which escapes me at the moment, the Rolling Stone bio series Dylan book by Jonathan Cott (possibly hard to find) and anything about Bob you can find written by Greil Marcus and Christopher Ricks (note both, especially Ricks, have written widely on other topics which may or may not be of interest).
I have some editing suggestions on the music side and will get back to you w/ those.
Awesome! Thanks bubba.
I've literally just picked up a vinyl copy of Dylan's Gospel by the Brothers & Sisters (sadly a reissue copy). Might want to add that to your listening, it came out in 1969 but might be appropriate to fit in with the Saved period?
Bubba also didn't mention No Direction Home which is Scorsese's film about Bob. I remember it being OK and the soundtrack is also one of the Bootleg series.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:32 pm
by Duke Silver
dogstar wrote:
Duke Silver wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Don't have time right now for a complete response but a couple of things come immediately to mind: The film Don't Look Back, the standard bio by Robert Shelton the name of which escapes me at the moment, the Rolling Stone bio series Dylan book by Jonathan Cott (possibly hard to find) and anything about Bob you can find written by Greil Marcus and Christopher Ricks (note both, especially Ricks, have written widely on other topics which may or may not be of interest).
I have some editing suggestions on the music side and will get back to you w/ those.
Awesome! Thanks bubba.
I've literally just picked up a vinyl copy of Dylan's Gospel by the Brothers & Sisters (sadly a reissue copy). Might want to add that to your listening, it came out in 1969 but might be appropriate to fit in with the Saved period?
Bubba also didn't mention No Direction Home which is Scorsese's film about Bob. I remember it being OK and the soundtrack is also one of the Bootleg series.
Cool, I've been trying to track down as many covers & tributes as I can. That Gospel album sounds great. I remember the I'm Not There soundtrack having some quality stuff on it, too. And The Byrds Play Dylan, of course.
I've seen parts of No Direction Home before and I'll definitely watch the whole thing at some point. Probably save it for one of the more dire months (Aug-Sep, I'm looking at you).
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:34 pm
by beantownbubba
Duke Silver wrote:I might've mentioned this in another thread somewhere, but I'm spending the year going through Dylan's discography chronologically. Initially I didn't think of it as being all that ambitious, but I just mapped it out and holy shit--it's actually going to take the whole year. Any Bobophiles have any suggestions of where I might benefit from compressing or expanding the outline below? I'm trying to group things by "era" (or at least time period) as much as possible.
Any books I might enjoy? I have Chronicles, The Recording Sessions (I forget the author), Levon's book. Others? Movies? Unreleased/hard to find shit?
January (1961-1964) Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan The Times They Are A'Changin' Another Side of Bob Dylan Bootleg 1: Rare & Unreleased Bootleg 6: Live 1964 Bootleg 9: The Witmark Demos
February (1965-1966) Bringing It All Back Home Highway 61 Revisited Blonde on Blonde Bootleg 4: Live 1966
March (1967) Bootleg 11: Basement Tapes Complete John Wesley Harding
April (1969-1970) Nashville Skyline Self Portrait New Morning Bootleg 10: Another Self Portrait
May (1973-1974) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid Dylan Planet Waves Before the Flood
June (1975-1976) Blood on the Tracks Desire Bootleg 5: The Rolling Thunder Revue Basement Tapes 1975
July (1978-1981) Street Legal Slow Train Coming Saved Shot of Love
August (1983-1988) Infidels Empire Burlesque Knocked Out Loaded Down in the Groove Dylan & the Dead
September (1989-1993) Oh Mercy Under the Red Sky Good As I Been to You World Gone Wrong MTV Unplugged Bootleg 8: Tell Tale Signs
October (1997-2006) Time Out of Mind Love and Theft Modern Times Bootleg 8: Tell Tale Signs
November (2009-2015) Together Through Life Tempest Shadows in the Night
December Christmas in the Heart
Don't Look Back fits in February; it's a great companion piece to Bootleg 4 (aka Royal Albert Hall).
Nice call putting Bootleg 11 in March.
I'm probably in the minority thinking that you can skip both of the Portrait albums in April, but surely you can skip one.
June could be a quiet month: I don't think Bootleg 5 adds much to Desire and having seen a bunch of the Rolling Thunder shows, I found the recording to be really disappointing and not reflective of the shows I saw (though part of the point of the "revue" was its ever changing cast and nature). Basement Tapes '75 is a great album by itself but won't add anything if you've recently listened to the new, complete release. That leaves June a little light. You could do worse than to fill the time with repeated listenings to Blood on the Tracks, a truly great album.
I'll be curious to see what you have to say about July.
FWIW, I think Oh Mercy belongs w/ your August albums. I'd make room for it by throwing Dylan & the Dead overboard. I confess I've never heard the whole thing through, but then again, I've never had any desire to.
Assuming you move Oh Mercy there's not much to say about September, except maybe you should spread August over 2 months, lol. Full disclosure: 4sooner would not be the only one to vehemently disagree w/ me and he generally knows whereof he speaks. Bootleg 8 is clearly the keeper in that group, by a long mile.
October's a great month but might start sounding a little stale/same crunched together like that. If you spread them out a little I suspect you'll enjoy them more.
From what I know of it, I think Shadows in the Night fits better in December than November.
I've probably left out a book or 2 that I really like. If something jogs my memory I'll let you know.
Happy listening!
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:46 pm
by Duke Silver
Thank you, bubba! Sincerely. Good call on moving Oh Mercy into August. Lots more to consider.
Sitting here listening to a playlist consisting of the debut thru Another Side, in total disbelief that he did all this by the age of 25.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 3:06 pm
by beantownbubba
Hope it helps, and enjoy!
One more thought: Marcus wrote a book called, what else?, Like A Rolling Stone which is about the making of the song. Yes, just the one song. Kind of an audacious concept, unless you think it's a completely boring concept. I wouldn't read it until you're exploring of Highway 61 but if you're gonna read it, you'll want to read it at about that time, I think. In general, if it sounds like an interesting idea to you you'll probably find the book at least interesting. If the idea sounds questionable, overblown, too much of a good thing, etc, then I wouldn't even bother.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 4:35 pm
by Smitty
Would it be necessary to listen to The Basement Tapes 75 after already hearing The Whole Basement Tapes? As someone who has heard the 75 version only a couple times, I'm 100 % serious.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:41 pm
by beantownbubba
Smitty wrote:Would it be necessary to listen to The Basement Tapes 75 after already hearing The Whole Basement Tapes? As someone who has heard the 75 version only a couple times, I'm 100 % serious.
One man's opinion:
beantownbubba wrote:Basement Tapes '75 is a great album by itself but won't add anything if you've recently listened to the new, complete release.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 2:51 pm
by CalebCalebson
I'm a huge Dylan fan but im not excited about this Frank Sinatra release at all.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:37 pm
by Zip City
Man, Dylan is so good, he's the AOTW for 3 months going!
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 1:34 pm
by Duke Silver
Smitty wrote:Would it be necessary to listen to The Basement Tapes 75 after already hearing The Whole Basement Tapes? As someone who has heard the 75 version only a couple times, I'm 100 % serious.
I recently learned here that the '75 release has a bunch of Band-only tracks that aren't on "The Complete...", so yeah I think it would still be worth it.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:14 am
by Kudzu Guillotine
Don't recall seeing the name "The Handsome Family" bandied about here too much but this is what Brett Sparks has to say about the new Dylan record. I've only heard one song so far myself and just a few snippets from a recent NPR piece on the album that ran over the weekend.
Just bought the new Dylan record. First impression: stunningly beautiful. Warning--a lot of you will hate this record. It's yet another standards album buy an aging rocker (everybody's done one, Macca last year). But this is another beast altogether. For one thing it's Dylan's band, not a bunch of hired jazz cats. And they sound beyond good. The pedal steel is otherworldly. The recording and arrangements are sumptuous, but not saccharine. Dylan's voice is so ragged and often way out of tune. In this age of pitch correction and artifice I find this refreshing and incredibly brave. The perfect record for a lonely night.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:04 pm
by sactochris
Everyone needs to read Dylan's speech from the 2015 Music Cares person of the year presentation. It might be the coolest thing I've ever read in my life. In 40 minutes he did a truly amazing job at summing up his nearly 60 years in the music business. I don't want to give anything away. You really just need to read it for yourself. Please trust me on this.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:16 pm
by Smitty
sactochris wrote:Everyone needs to read Dylan's speech from the 2015 Music Cares person of the year presentation. It might be the coolest thing I've ever read in my life. In 40 minutes he did a truly amazing job at summing up his nearly 60 years in the music business. I don't want to give anything away. You really just need to read it for yourself. Please trust me on this.
His Haggard diss turned me off. Whereas Dylan made up his own mythology, Merle lived his. I thought Merle handled the situation with class though, releasing the statement that he's been a Dylan fan since '64. Also, Merle>Buck any day.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:23 pm
by jr29
He also took shots at Tom T. Hall and Leiber and Stoller. No idea why Bob would take shots at those people. I've no interest after hearing that stuff. And Merle is indeed>Buck. They both rule, though.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:02 am
by Smitty
It was a great speech, extremely insightful, but I wish he hadn't said those things about Haggard and Tom T. Someone might miss out on two great bodies of work because of that.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 5:19 am
by sactochris
The pot shots he took weren't by any means my favorite parts of the speech but I think Dylan has earned the right to say anything he wants.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:39 pm
by Duke Silver
73 years old, the object of near-universal adoration, and he's still nursing half-century old grudges and doing work like he's got something to prove. There's something refreshing about that.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:51 pm
by beantownbubba
Duke Silver wrote:73 years old, the object of near-universal adoration, and he's still nursing half-century old grudges and doing work like he's got something to prove. There's something refreshing about that.
The latter is refreshing, the former is kinda sick.
Geez, what happened to netiquette? Where's the link to the speech? Am i really going to have to look it up by myself?
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:51 pm
by John A Arkansawyer
Smitty wrote:It was a great speech, extremely insightful, but I wish he hadn't said those things about Haggard and Tom T. Someone might miss out on two great bodies of work because of that.
True that. On the other hand, having been there and done that, learning that one of your great heroes is sometimes entirely full of shit, having made the discovery that some artist they've put down is a fucking genius and asking yourself just how you got fooled this time around? That there is one valuable experience and a half.
In the immortal words of Cool Hand Luke: Don't follow leaders and behead the parking meters.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 1:23 pm
by beantownbubba
Man the first part of that speech is just magnificent. The last part is pretty good if a little middle of the road. But WTF happened in the middle? The specific scores he was settling were to me not as bad as the paranoia. Why me, lord? What have i ever done to deserve this? Blah, blah, blah. Blaming critics for finding fault w/ him? Really? Like critics haven't been Dylan's biggest supporters for a million years? Etc etc etc.
It seems to me that he could have gotten back at those guys in a much better way by talking about the struggles of being different, of saying something new (or in his terms at least in a new way) of getting heard in a world of established order. More or less the struggles of the artist against convention, "normality", "the way things are." He could have said the same things in a much better way even if he mentioned some names. I really don't get the part where he doesn't only blame some folks for putting him down but then goes on to say that X was better anyway. WTF is that? 5th grade schoolyard I'd call it, unless maybe it's 4th grade. He could have talked about what made doc pomus or buck owens great. What's the point of saying that they're better than somebody else? Just not the way to go, bob.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2015 1:23 pm
by RolanK
beantownbubba wrote:
Duke Silver wrote:73 years old, the object of near-universal adoration, and he's still nursing half-century old grudges and doing work like he's got something to prove. There's something refreshing about that.
The latter is refreshing, the former is kinda sick.
Geez, what happened to netiquette? Where's the link to the speech? Am i really going to have to look it up by myself?
Merle Haggard has heard what Bob Dylan said about him, and, whatever Dylan thinks, Haggard says he's a fan.
"I've admired your songs since 1964," the 77-year-old singer of country classics like Branded Man and I'm a Lonesome Fugitive said on his Facebook page Saturday. Haggard added that he and Willie Nelson have cut Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right for an upcoming album.
beantownbubba wrote:Man the first part of that speech is just magnificent. The last part is pretty good if a little middle of the road. But WTF happened in the middle? The specific scores he was settling were to me not as bad as the paranoia. Why me, lord? What have i ever done to deserve this? Blah, blah, blah. Blaming critics for finding fault w/ him? Really? Like critics haven't been Dylan's biggest supporters for a million years? Etc etc etc.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:42 am
by John A Arkansawyer
Street-Legal is a masterpiece and I was a dumbass to take nearly forty years to figure that out. That is all.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:56 am
by Smitty
I'm loving Shadows in the Night. The pedal steel is amazing and I'm a big fan of noir-ish music.
Thanks for the Adios Lounge link. It doesn't surprise me that Dylan looks at Leiber and Stroller songs as novelty songs but some of their songs went past being rock 'n roll standards to actually defining the term IMHO.
Re: Artist of the Week 10.18.2014-- Bob Dylan
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 2:51 am
by beantownbubba
Today's purchases: Dylan's Visions of Sin by Christopher Ricks and Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus (42 years worth of collected writings; I expect I've already read a fair number of the essays but there are so, so many it will still keep me occupied for more time than i have to give it).
I hope to learn a few things along the way, some of which will hopefully be worth sharing; I just don't know how soon I'll be able to get to either book. We all know where good intentions lead...
The specific scores he was settling were to me not as bad as the paranoia. Why me, lord? What have i ever done to deserve this? Blah, blah, blah. Blaming critics for finding fault w/ him? Really? Like critics haven't been Dylan's biggest supporters for a million years? Etc etc etc.