Album of the Day #170: CHRISTMAS IN THE HEART - Bob Dylan

Artist: Bob Dylan

Title: Christmas In The Heart

Year: 2009

Label: Columbia

Songs: Here Comes Santa Claus [Gene Autry & Oakley Haldeman]/Do You Hear What I Hear? [Gloria Shayne Baker & Noel Regney]/Winter Wonderland [Felix Bernard & Richard Smith]/Hark The Herald Angels Sing [Trad./Arr. by Bob Dylan]/I'll Be Home For Christmas [Walter Kent, Kim Gannon & Buck Ram]/Little Drummber Boy [Kathrine Davis, Henry Onorati & Harry Simeone]/The Christmas Blues [Sammy Cahn & David Jack Holt]/O' Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) [Trad./Arr. by Bob Dylan]/Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas [Ralph Blane & High Martin]/Must Be Santa [William Fredericks & Hal Moore]/Silver Bells [Raymond Evans & Jay Livingston]/The First Noel [Trad./Arr. by Bob Dylan]/Christmas Island [Lyle Moraine]/The Christmas Song [Mel Torme & Bob Wells]/O' Little Town Of Bethlehem [Trad./Arr. by Bob Dylan]

Produced by Jack Frost

Thoughts: When rumors of a Bob Dylan Christmas record started, I quickly thought it was a joke and didn't think it was possible. Then, it happened and I figured I would laugh through all 45 minutes of it and completely ignore the fact that it might just not be that good.

Simply put, it's not that good. The record is certainly entertaining, though. I don't think Dylan himself is probably thinking of it as a serious studio album that should be put in the same category as Blonde on Blonde, Blood On The Tracks or "Love And Theft". In fact, I don't think it should be allowed within a ten-mile radius of those albums...it's better off hanging out with Dylan And The Dead.

Now, I don't think it's as horrid or as unlistenable as that disgusting record, especially since Christmas In The Heart at least has some charm to it. There's the fantastic "Here Comes Santa Claus" opening, the terrific "Little Drummer Boy" (which definitely is the best track here) and the beauty in "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Silver Bells".

Christmas In The Heart is definitely the first album since Under The Red Sky to not receive unanimous critical acclaim. The press seems divided into two camps: there's the people that think it's a complete joke or the people that think it's another example of Dylan exploring 'America's roots' and gave the album five stars. Personally, I'm a little half-and-half on it. As I said, there's some absolutely hilarious tracks ("Must Be Santa" is especially side-splitting, as Dylan name-checks every President since Nixon in the final verse) and then you have the religious Christmas tracks that Dylan appears to take completely seriously ("O' Little Town Of Bethlehem" is one of Dylan's great closing moments).

If you really like Christmas records, I say there's no reason not to get this, just so you can hear what a craggy old man sounds like singing Christmas carols (and you won't have to go to a retirement home to do it!). For those Uncle Scrooges of the world, you certainly won't want this. Oh, and if you are actually having trouble deciding if you should get the deluxe or the regular editions, get the regular. The deluxe just comes in a sleeve like Together Through Life, but the lone extra is a pack of five greeting cards with the album cover and envelopes!

This is worth getting....

Prior to the release of Together Through Life, Sony remastered a few of Dylan's records that were in some need of cleaning up. I bought The Basement Tapes right away, since I had been waiting forever for it because I held off on getting the original CD set. However, for New Morning I held off on getting because, even though I love that album, I thought the original CD was enough. I finally picked up the new version today and I have to say, it sounded pretty good. The sound is a lot fuller and louder, so I would reccoment upgrading and getting it. Plus, it comes with a fantastic booklet with great pictures of 1970 Bob.

I will not be buying Dylan & The Dead since I have the original CD of that...so I'm already familiar with how terrible it is. Before The Flood might be interesting to get, if I could find it. It's been pretty rare in the months since its' release.

Album of the Day #153: TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 3

Artist: The Traveling Wilburys

Title: Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3

Label: Warner

Year: 1990

Songs: She's My Baby/Inside Out/If You Belonged To Me/Devil's Been Busy/7 Deadly Sins/Poor House/Where Were You Last Night?/Cool Dry Place/New Blue Moon/You Took My Breath Away/Wilbury Twist

Written by: The Traveling Wilburys

Produced by: Clayton and Spike Wilbury

Thoughts: Although not as great as the first, Vol. 3 still has much of the charm and humor that was built into its' predecessor. There's still a bunch of really cool songs, but there aren't any Dylan epics like "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" and classic George songs like "Heading For The Light". The singles are nowhere near as strong as "Handle With Care" and "End Of The Line" and "Inside Out" is clearly the better of the two. "She's My Baby" is more of a pedestrian rock song, but "Inside Out" has some hilarious lyrics in it.

Orbison is sorely missed, but Petty tries contributes a lot more than he did before, with fun tracks like "Cool Dry Place" and "Poor House". Another note is that, like the last one, Bob's sings are better than the ones that landed on his standard album of the same year. His contributions on Vol. 1 greatly eclipsed anything on Down In The Groove and his songs here are better than some of the stuff on Under The Red Sky. (Imagine the Wilburys doing "Handy Dandy"...that would have been funny.)

It is kind of amazing how little Harrison and Lynne do on this record. They do contribute vocals, but there is no stand-out song by either of them. I think that's probably what's missing more than Orbison (who did only write "Not Alone Any More" for Vol. 1). This album certainly could have been helped by at least one Harrison track. Still, it's a good listening experience and how can you go wrong with that line-up?

Journey Through Dark Heat Podcast #1

I'm starting up this podcasting business up again! I decided to stop using Podomatic and instead, I've got it up for download though Megaupload. DO NOT take these podcasts and cut up the songs. Many of them overlap anyway, so that wouldn't work. I am hoping that by hearing the songs in these podcasts that it makes you want to buy them legally.

Anyway, the first podcast has non-album tracks by Bob Dylan. I was more or less just doing one to cure some boredom between finals, so not too much thought went into this one.

Tracks:

1. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Wincow? (single, Biograph)
2. Nobody 'Cept You (The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3)
3. Seven Days (live, The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3)
4. Band Of The Hand (single)
5. Marchin' To The City (version 2, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8)
6. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (alternate, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7)
7. Mixed-Up Confusion (single, Biograph)
8. Tell Ol' Bill (alternate takes, The "Tell Ol' Bill" Sessions tape)

All songs by Bob Dylan

Total time - 34:51

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3LBGR1TB

Album of the Day #147: TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has changed himself so many times, whether it’s going electric, going Las Vegas, going Born-Again or going stately gentleman like in recent years, that it feels like his changes are just another part of his everyday artistic process. With Together Through Life, Dylan makes another drastic stylistic change. Vocally, the record is similar to Modern Times, since his voice is so ravaged by rampant touring that we should be happy he still has one.

However, as soon as you slide the disc into your player, immediately you can feel that things are different. The lyrics are simpler and all but one song was co-written with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. The band behind him is different, too. He dropped his two regular guitarists in favor of Heartbreaker Mike Campbell and Los Lobos member David Hidalgo, who also added the accordion which is all over the record.

The album kick starts with Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, the single, with Dylan proclaiming that “I love you pretty baby” and right away, the accordion assault starts! It’s apparent that this album is allowing for his band to tear it loose. I love the line: “Beyond here lies nothing/nothing but mountains of the past…” Dylan’s moving forward, by looking back, musically anyway.

Life is Hard starts off with this great mandolin that resonates throughout the track. It kind of has this feeling like "Sprit On The Water". He’s reminiscing about a lost love and his vocal is nothing short of funny, especially during the verse about walking by the schoolyard.

My Wife’s Hometown has a traditional Willie Dixon melody and the lyrics fit it perfectly. “I just want to say that Hell is my wife’s hometown!” It’s a fun line so it’s obvious that Dylan and Hunter had a ball writing these lyrics, but three songs in, you wonder, where are the characters that are together through life?

If You Ever Go To Houston has a really jaunty feeling and more of Dylan going back in time, saying that he “nearly got killed during the Mexican war”. The accordion is more present here than any track so far.

Forgetful Heart is already my favorite track, especially with that scorching guitar solo. It feels so un-Dylan, which is great to me, but the sing still has this animosity toward the love of the song that only Dylan could pull off.

The second half starts with the obvious throwaway of the record, Jolene, with its’ simple blues shuffle and great guitar licks. Finally we get a song where Dylan is eyeballing a girl. I’m telling you right now, this is going to be a song Dylan will be dragging out on the road. Like “Honest With Me”, it will all drive us nuts, but I bet this is going to be the one songs he performs over and over again.

Next is the waltz-y This Dream Of You. Again, this is like the crooner tracks on “Love & Theft” and Modern Times, but his vocal is much better. The lyrics are beautiful and I love “Shadows dance on the wall/Shadows that seem to know it all”. On top of that, the guitar solo is beautiful. This is my weeding song, ladies!

Shake Shake Mama is another basic blues track, but much harder than “Jolene”. It falls in the classic hall of songs about evil women that you just want to get away from! If that’s not what the blues is about, I don’t know anything! His vocals are so suited for this type of stuff now, it’s just amazing.

I Feel A Change Comin’ On was also released prior to the album by Newsweek, but this, more so than “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”, feels much stronger in the sense of an album. Behind the accordion, the key instrument on the track for me is George Recile’s amazing drumming. He really pulls his weight on the track, adding fantastic cymbal flourishes that just add to how amazing it is. I don’t know whether the song really has anything to do with Obama, but after listening to the songs and the lyrics, I highly doubt it. It’s a song about a man feeling that there is a change comin’ on in his love life, not socially around him. This isn’t “The Times They Are A-Changin’” but a simple song about the beauty of knowing that there could be changes in your love life.

The rolling romp It’s All Good closes the record. While probably the worst closing track in recent memory on a Dylan album, the truth is that the fun in the melody and the lyrics tells you that Dylan was tired of ending his albums with apocalyptic tracks. Time Out Of Mind ended with the mammoth “Highlands”, which is hardly a positive story about a man with no point to life. “Love & Theft” closed with “Sugar Baby”, a slow track about looking at society overall and Modern Times crashed and burned with the “Desolation Row” update, “Ain’t Talkin’”. I think it’s time for Dylan to be able to end an album on a fun track.

I think in the end, the point of Together Through Life is to show what Dylan can do really quickly and really fast. The record shows that after three straight, drop-dead serious albums, Dylan took the time to have a fun record with half of his touring group and two excellent guest musicians. Mike Campbell’s guitar work is excellent and David Hidalgo’s accordion adds to the wonderful, old-time atmosphere spread throughout the record. I understand why there are a few unfavorable reviews, but is it not possible for Dylan to kick back, have fun and make an enjoyable record? Why does it always have to mean something with Dylan? Yes, the record is called Together Through Life, despite the fact that most of these songs deal with lost, even tortured, love, but beyond that, there are no hidden meanings. I mean, where’s the meaning of “Shake shake Mama like a ship going out to sea”? Get this record now and sit back and enjoy what Dylan made. Yeah, there aren’t any Blood On The Tracks here, just old fashioned, fun blues and rock and roll.

Gearing Up For "Together Through Life"

Yes, I already pre-ordered the deluxe edition on Amazon and I am pumped. I was a Dylan fan when Modern Times came out in 2006 and got that the week it came out, but now, since I'm just insane about Dylan, this time feels a little different.

I also hope everybody's reading Every Little Thing!

Together Through Life

'Nuff said.

More 2009 Dylan Album News

Mojo magazine apparently got a first listen to seven songs, and their review can be found here.
Now, I'm really excited. A lot of early information we'll get will probably leak from overseas, since this year's "Never Ending Tour" starts in Europe. So, the European press seems to be getting extra sneak peaks.
I still highly doubt that it will be out in April. The article mentions that there is no cover art or title lined up. Dylan hasn't even come up with the song order.
We shall see...

Album of the Day #143: ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL - Bob Dylan & The Band

Location: Wooton, Isle Of Wight, England

Artist: Bob Dylan, The Band

Label: (yet to be fully released)

Recorded: August 31, 1969

Songs: She Belongs To Me/I Threw It All Away/Maggie’s Farm/Wild Mountain Thyme/It Ain’t Me Babe/To Ramona/Mr. Tambourine Man/I Dreamed I Sat St. Augustine/Lay Lady Lay/Highway 61 Revisited/One Too Many Mornings/I Pity The Poor Immigrant/Like A Rolling Stone/I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight/Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)/Minstrel Boy/Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Written by: Bob Dylan ("Wild Mountain Thyme": traditional, arr. by Bob Dylan)

Thoughts: In 1969, Dylan agreed to appear at the Isle Of Wight rock festival. It had been three years since he toured and it would be another four years before he would tour again. This made the Isle Of Wight show more important, because it would be the only show he would perform between 1966 and 1974.

Historical importance aside, how is the show itself? Well, the Band appears to be spot on and Dylan, singing his only live show with the Nashville Skyline voice, is pretty on top of things. It's amazing how Dylan changed all these songs to fit the format of a show he knew was just a one-off. He knew he wasn't going to use the show as a kick-off for a tour, so why did he spend so much time coming up with new arrangements for these songs? He even cut down most songs to under three minutes, making the 17-song show run less than an hour. The most drastic cuts come during his acoustic set. After the Band runs through frantic versions of "She Belongs To Me", "I Threw It All Away" and "Maggie's Farm", Dylan goes solo with an amazing take on "Wild Mountain Thyme", one of just four acoustic songs he will do. It is followed by a full "It Ain't Me Babe" then by a short version of "To Ramona" (cut from 3:52 on Another Side to just over two minutes) and a substantially cut up "Mr. Tambourine Man" (cut from 5:30 on Bringing It All Back Home to barely three minutes...it took him almost nine minutes to do it during the '66 tour). Granted, he plays the tracks wonderfully, giving them a unique sound with the new voice, but it would have been nice to hear the whole song. The rest of the show even features shortened tracks.

My personal favorite track is the insane, rolling "Highway 61 Revisited". This arrangement, like all of the others here, would never be performed again. The best part of it is Levon Helm's drumming, which is thankfully audible over Robbie Robertson's screeching guitar. Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel's piano and keyboards on the track are also great. Helm's drumming throughout the show is spectacular, especially during "Like A Rolling Stone". It is also worth noting that Dylan performed three songs that had yet to be released. They are the after mentioned "Wild Mountain Thyme", the Basement Tapes song "Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" and "Minstrel Boy". The latter two would be released on Self-Portrait along with the show opener "She Belongs To Me" and "Like A Rolling Stone".

As for the rest of the show, it has never been released and can only be found on bootlegs, all of which are reported to have terrible sound. I would still seek it out. The problem may lie in the fact that it was poorly recorded, which is probably it. Robertson's guitar sounds distorted throughout, Rick Danko's bass is practically invisible and Dylan's vocals do get muffy. "I Pity The Poor Immigrant" even sounds inaudible.

It is a great listen, though, of, perhaps, an opening show to a tour that never was.

Bob Dylan & Polka - "Got My Blood Pumping"

The number one instrument for polka is the accordion. Apparently, according to a new article in the Rolling Stone, Bob's new album has an accordion on all the tracks, so he must be working on a polka album...(Which, according to Chronicles, "Polka dances always got my blood pumping. That was the first type of loud, live music I'd ever heard.")
I'm really just kidding...I highly doubt it's a polka record. Dylan probably just listened to his "Red River Shore" and said 'Man, I can really use an accordion like that one, again!'
The Rolling Stone article I'm talking about can be found here. I'm really excited about it, but I'm not trusting anything until Sony and Dylan's camp announce it.

"Watching The River Flow" - Hypothetical 1972 Bob Dylan Album

It's hard to believe it, but in 1971 to 1972, Bob Dylan's career was in serious danger. 1971 was the first year without an album release by Bob since 1963. After New Morning things dried up and Dylan put an odd amount of devotion into Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. II by recording several of his famous compositions that he hadn't recorded himself. He also recorded one new song, "Watching The River Flow" with Leon Russell. Leon also produced a recording of the Basement Tapes song "When I Paint My Masterpiece". At the sessions with Leon he also recorded "Wallflower", which wouldn't be released until The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, and the infamous "George Jackson" single, which has yet to make a widespread CD appearance. (It has been released on several international compilations, although none in North America; it is currently available in the iTunes Collection, though you have to re-buy his whole catalog.)
However, I think it is right to contemplate: What if, instead of spreading these tracks out on singles and on a compilation, he released an album in 1972? Here's my hypothetical idea:
Side One:

1. Watching The River Flow (3:39)
2. George Jackson (Big Band Version) (5:35)
3. Wallflower (2:49)
4. When I Paint My Masterpiece (3:25)

Side Two:

1. George Jackson (Acoustic Version) (3:33)
2. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (3:38)
3. I Shall Be Released (3:06)
4. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (2:49)
5. Down In The Flood (Crash On The Levee) (2:48)

Now, the run time would be about 31 minutes, which is short. For an album in 1972, though, it wouldn't be such a stretch. Side one would include all four electric Leon Russel songs. Side two would have the acoustic "George Jackson" as the lead off, since it is such a strong track. "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue", recorded during New Morning, featuring just Dylan and a piano, so it fits as a perfect lead-in to the three Basement tapes songs from GH, V. II, recorded with Happy Traum. "Crash On The Levee" is such a strong song, that I think it would make for an ideal closer, since it performs that job relatively well on GH, V. II.
Whether this album would have been a hit or not, no one could know. Dylan himself obviously did not feel the songs would have worked together as an album, if he even ever considered it.

Ragged & Dirty - Bob Dylan

Album (and/or Video) Of The Day #119: MTV UNPLUGGED - Bob Dylan

Title: MTV Unplugged
Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Released: 1995 (CD), 2004 (DVD)
Songs: Tombstone Blues/Shooting Star/All Along The Watchtower/The Times They Are A-Changin'/John Brown/Desolation Row/Rainy Day Women #12 & 35/Love Minus Zero/No Limit/Dignity/Knockin' On Heaven's Door/Like A Rolling Stone/With God On Our Side
Executive Producers: Jeff Kramer & Jeff Rosen
Thoughts: Oh, the days when MTV was actually Music Television...Anyway, enough reminiscing, what do we have here?
The point of the "Unplugged" program was to have artists perform their songs with no electric instruments. The only other "Unplugged" program that I've ever enjoyed is Paul McCartney's, which was the first to be issued on CD. Paul sparingly had acoustic tracks on his solo LPs and it was nice to hear Beatle tracks like "And I Love Her" and "We Can Work It Out" in acoustic form. It was also really cool to hear Paul tear through some covers and hear Paul talk about his songs. The thing with Dylan though, is that he hates to talk or even slightly interact with an audience. In this program, he doesn't say a word, so the producers actually have to have the song titles appear on screen.
Bob's original plan was to use the show as a showcase for traditional material and make the show like a live version of his Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong LPs. Of course, Bob was somehow convinced otherwise and brought out his then-current "Never Ending Tour" band and they essentially put on a regular show. The humor in that is that they didn't have to change a thing - Bob already performs mostly acoustic tracks anyway! This is probably why Bob wanted to do something different, because otherwise, it would just be a standard show.
Bob gives all the songs pretty much a standard reading, although he puts on a great performance of "Dignity" and "Shooting Star". The version of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" is also great. It is rather odd that the track was left off the US CD version, but it is on the DVD and is on the international CDs.
"John Brown", a song Bob wrote back in the Freewheelin' days, makes it first official appearance and it's a really pretty, heartbreaking song about a mother wanting her son to go to war, and when he comes back, she regrets her decision because he is wounded.
I would suggest getting the DVD over the CD, because, first off, you've heard all these songs, so do you really need another version of them? Secondly, it's great to see Bob smile and it is kind of funny to see him struggle and fight with the stool. Throughout the entire concert, he has problems sitting and playing guitar at the same time and it looks awkward. (Plus, it's great to see an audience full of rich folk who can't figure out what song he's doing.) He looks really uncomfortable and like he just wants to throw it off the stage. Still, he pulls off an enjoyable performance and it really is the only full official "Never Ending Tour" document.

Pictures From The Concert

Here are two pictures from the concert. It just goes to show you how
far back we were. Still, I thought they were great seats.

Bob Dylan Gives Special Concert for Fans

This is my review of Bob Dylan's concert at the United Palace Theater in NYC on November 21st, 2008. There is more background information than probably needed because it hopefully will be published in the Hofstra Chronicle, the university's newspaper.

Bob Dylan, 67, has been touring the world since 1963, but for the first time, on November 21^st, he gave a concert strictly for fans only.

On October 27^th, it was announced that Mr. Dylan would give an exclusive concert at the United Palace Theater in New York City to www.bobdylan.com readers. Tickets went on sale on October 30^th, quickly selling out the next day. Fans were required to type in a special password in order to get tickets. Those who got tickets in the first ten rows of the orchestra were required to pick them up personally at the ticket window.

As for the show itself, it certainly was special, although it mostly followed the format of his other recent concerts. That is, performing five songs from his last album, 2006’s “Modern Times” and performing songs from the 1960’s in such a way that it makes them almost impossible to figure out. Still, he performed enough different material to make me happy.

Mr. Dylan came out with “Gotta Serve Somebody”, the song that gave him his first Grammy award in 1979 from his “Slow Train Coming” LP. Tonight was the first time Dylan performed the song since 2003. From there, there the concert just snowballed into something incredible. He ran through an electrified “The Times They Are A-Changin’” before going into “The Levee’s Gonna Break”, from “Modern Times”. The other four songs from his 2006 LP that he performed were “Beyond The Horizon”, “Spirit On The Water”, “Ain’t Talkin’” and “Thunder On The Mountain”. All the songs were given incredible performances and probably the only songs that remotely felt like their in-studio cousins.

After “The Levee’s Gonna Break”, Dylan broke from the confines of his keyboard to get on guitar and perform “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”, a song not played since 2005. Following that, he ran back to his keyboard to do an incredible version of “Things Have Changed”, his Oscar-winning song from 2000. The performance was amazing, proving how even recent songs are not invincible from Dylan’s re-arranging habit. Next, he went to two of his most well-known compositions from 1965, the breathtaking “Desolation Row” (from “Highway 61 Revisited”) and the amazing “It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” (from “Bringing It All Back Home”). Both were recorded as acoustic tracks 43 years ago, so it is really cool to see how Dylan changes them for his electric band. Next was “Beyond The Horizon” before he ran through two tracks from 1997’s “Time Out Of Mind”, “’Til I Fell In Love With You” and “Make You Feel My Love”. The latter was a rather pedestrian reading, but “’Til I Fell In Love With You” was amazing. He stood in the center stage, playing harmonica only the entire time. It was just incredible, especially when he went on a tear for a solo! Next was “Honest With Me”, a rocker from 2001’s “Love And Theft”, the slow, almost grueling “Spirit On The Water” and then he threw “Highway 61 Revisited” on. It was a great version of the song, although the police car noises were greatly missed. After that, he ran through his apocalyptic “Ain’t Talkin’” and the fun, rocking “Thunder On The Mountain” before disappearing from the stage for a good five minutes.

Of course, Dylan came back for an encore, which was just as special as the rest of the show. He ran through great versions of “Like A Rolling Stone” and “All Along The Watchtower”. Usually, Dylan only does two songs for an encore, but here, he actually did a third. He ran to his guitar to do “Blowin’ In The Wind” to close the absolutely amazing concert.

As for everything else, the United Palace Theater, a converted church, was a great place for Dylan to play, as it was small, but had this amazing sound system where you could hear every nuance from the stage. His band, made of Tony Garnier (bass), George Recile (drums), Stu Kimball (rhythm guitar), Denny Freeman (lead guitar) and Donnie Herron (violin, viola, banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel), was on fire, spouting solos left and right whenever Dylan allowed for it. Freeman on lead guitar was just incredible, especially during “All Along The Watchtower” and “Honest With Me”.

Honestly, my only complaint is that the audience that goes to these concerts, even some ‘fans’, doesn’t seem to care what Dylan is doing, as long as he is on stage. The audience, at least in the balcony where I was, could have cared less that he was actually doing “The Times They Are A-Changin’” or “Things Have Changed”. I think the problem though, might actually lie in Dylan’s hands. He never addresses the audience, although if anyone is familiar with his history, they wouldn’t expect him to. Anyway, as a self-appointed Dylan nerd, I had fun and the concert is not one I shall soon forget.

This year marked a special anniversary for Mr. Dylan. He has been touring non-stop since June 7, 1988, when he began a tour promoting the recent release of his “Down In The Groove” LP, making 2008 the twentieth anniversary of “The Never Ending Tour”. Although this concert has been announced as the last for this year, Mr. Dylan is only taking the winter off. He will start a tour of continental Europe in March, and, if the past is any indication, he will be back in the U.S. for a summer or fall tour.

Soon, I will have a few pictures of the band and the stage that my roommate took posted on the blog. We sat in the balcony, so they aren't the best pictures, but they suffice in proving that we were there!

Album Of The Day #113: HARD RAIN - Bob Dylan

Title: Hard Rain
Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Released: 1976
Songs: Maggie’s Farm/One Too Many Mornings/Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again/Oh, Sister*/Lay, Lady, Lay/Shelter From The Storm/You’re A Big Girl Now/I Threw It All Away/Idiot Wind
Written by: Bob Dylan, except *by Bob Dylan & Jacques Levy
Produced by: Don DeVito and Bob Dylan
Thoughts: Originally, this was the only legal document of The Rolling Thunder Revue, until 2002’s Live 1975. It was recorded as the soundtrack to the television special Hard Rain and ironically, doesn’t have “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” on it.
What the album offers is new versions of old Dylan songs, which is what practically all of his live albums offer. The album opens with a strange version of “Maggie’s Farm”, which bares practically no resemblance to the original recording. “One Too Many Mornings” is an electric rendition of one of the most beautiful tracks from his acoustic era. It’s pretty straightforward; he just acclimates electric guitars and drums to the melody. “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again”, probably my favorite track from Blonde On Blonde, is kind of nice, but I think he sort of ‘dumbs’ it down to fit the tight band he has here. “Oh, Sister” is also pretty bland, since it is very similar to the Desire version. I would like to know why of all the Desire songs he performed at the concert, why did he choose this one. The version of “Lay, Lady, Lay” that follows features new lyrics, only retaining the first two verses of the original hit from Nashville Skyline. To tell you the truth, the original is so much better. What made the original so cool was his campy, hilarious ‘country’ voice, which is gone here.
Three out of the four songs on side two come from Blood On The Tracks. The first one is “Shelter From The Storm”, which is transformed into this rock romp and it’s really the only track here that sticks out. “You’re A Big Girl Now” is also pretty straightforward. Although the cover shows that it goes to seven minutes, it really doesn’t. That’s just all the crowd noise, because this version doesn’t really change the tempo and pace of the original. “I Threw It All Away”, from Nashville Skyline, is oddly stuck here, but this version is pretty cool. Unlike “Lay, Lady, Lay,” a song that is only successful if Dylan sings it the way he recorded it, “I Threw It All Away” actually benefits from the Dylan voice of 1976. There are little to no lyrical changes here, so it really feels like the original with just a new vocal. The album ends with a (barely) ten minute rendition of “Idiot Wind”, another Blood On The Tracks number. Dylan sings it with the same ferocity and rage that can be found on the studio take, so it doesn’t vary too much. What makes this version, though, is this great piano playing by Howard Wyeth.
Still, the problem with the album is that it sounds terrible. There are points in the opening “Maggie’s Farm” where you can’t even hear Dylan. Then, there’s parts of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile…” where the only thing you hear is Dylan. The second half is better, but you don’t by an LP for half the material. For the CD issue, Columbia really should have fixed it up. It just sounds awful and I’m sure that if they could make it sound as good as Live 1975, this album might get some deserved attention. Until then, skip it.

Album Of The Day #111: TRAVELING WILBURYS, VOL. 1 - The Traveling Wilburys

Title: Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
Artist: The Traveling Wilburys
Label: Wiblury/Warner
Released: 1988
Songs: Handle With Care/Dirty World/Rattled/Last Night/Not Alone Anymore/Not Alone Anymore/Congratulations/Heading For The Light/Margarita/Tweeter And The Monkey Man/End Of The Line
Written by: The Traveling Wilburys
Produced by: Otis & Nelson Wilbury
Thoughts: I was originally going to write this as a complete joke and actually use the Wilbury names that they gave themselves, but I thought that was a little much and I decided to go with a straight up review.
This has to be one of the greatest albums of all time. The group comprised of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison…and how could you go wrong with that? All of them threw their egos out the door and did it for fun, which completely shows throughout the record. What really sticks out is that all of them make significant contributions; with at least one song by each member (although I guess Tom got a free pass). George and Bob have the most, with three each, but why should they not? They are the best songwriters out of the five.
However, the most annoying thing is Bob’s songs. Down In The Groove, one of his absolute worst albums came out in the same year as this, 1988. The album, a hodge-podge that only included two solo Dylan compositions, could certainly have been made so much stronger with just one of his songs. Although, we have to be thankful that the Wilburys lit the fire that Dylan apparently needed and used to make Oh Mercy. Still, was the Dylan that wrote “Tweeter And The Monkey Man” really the same man that wrote “Had A Dream About You Baby”?
George’s songs are very much in the vein of Cloud Nine. “Handle With Care”, “End Of The Line” and “Heading For The Light” could easily have found homes on that album.
Now, the rest of it is pretty good, like Roy’s amazing “Not Alone Anymore”, Jeff’s “Rattled” and the full-group collaborations, “Last Night” and “Margarita”.
Even if you do split them up and attribute a song to each member, you can see that all members still made significant contributions and none of them would sound good without some missing part.

Election Night

Even though I love politics, I try to keep it away from this blog, which is, after all, only about music. However, I am a little excited by the fact that Barack Obama won. On the night of the election, Bob Dylan had a performance in Minnesota, his home state. On YouTube, the audio portion of the final song he performed, "Blowin' In The Wind" was posted by robert25260. Here it is:



Now, here's to hoping he sounds that good on the day of the NYC concert...

Album Of The Day #106: LIVE 1975: THE ROLLING THUNDER REVUE - Bob Dylan

Title: The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue
Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Released: 2002
Recorded: November, 1975 to December 1975
Songs: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You/It Ain’t Me, Babe/A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall/The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll/Romance In Durango/Isis/Mr. Tambourine Man/Simple Twist Of Fate/Blowin’ In The Wind/Mama, You Been On My Mind/I Shall Be Released/It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue/Love Minus Zero/No Limit/Tangled Up In Blue/The Water Is Wide/It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry/Oh, Sister/Hurricane/One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Bellow)/Sara/Just Like A Woman/Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Written by: Bob Dylan, except “Romance In Durango”, “Isis”, “Oh, Sister” and “Hurricane”, by Bob Dylan & Jacques Levy. “The Water Is Wide”: traditional
Produced by: Jeff Rosen & Steve Berkowitz (Original recordings supervised by Don DeVito)
Thoughts: The Rolling Thunder Revue had to be the most insane idea in all of rock history. I mean, really…traveling with a bunch of musicians as a circus/vaudevillian act? Sure, it’s a fun idea, but when the guy who comes up with it is Bob Dylan, you have to wonder how soon it will be until it breaks down into a disaster…or until he gets bored with it.
Live 1975 presents the beginning of the tour, in November and December, 1975. Dylan kicked things off in New England and south-eastern Canada. Now, the 2 disc set doesn’t give a sense of what a full show was like, unlike the other bootleg sets (which I don’t have), which present a full show. What we do get, though, is a highlight reel of just Dylan’s songs.
I think listening to these recordings is not enough to get a full sense of the pure adrenaline that ran through Dylan and those performing with him on stage, though. You need to see some of the footage from these concerts. They’re all over YouTube and most of them are impressive. Dylan really goes berserk, taking these songs and running wild on stage with them. Hearing just the audio is not enough, although you do sort of feel it, especially with the amazing mastering job. These two discs sound better than any live album you’ll hear.
To me, the treasures of this set are not the live versions of the Desire tracks, which are presented in a way very similar to the yet-to-be-released album versions. (Desire wasn’t issued until January 1976, two to three months after these shows were recorded.) The great stuff is the versions of Dylan’s older songs. “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” is amazing. My favorite track is the version of “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll”, where Bob takes this delicate acoustic track from The Times They Are A-Changin’ and makes it a stomping rocker, but a somehow touching track that retains the power of the original song. Also worth mentioning are the wonderful versions of “Simple Twist Of Fate” and “Tangled Up In Blue”, both from Blood On The Tracks, which was released in early 1975.
“Isis”, by the way, has to be the only Desire track here that is better than the studio version. He just takes the song and runs with it, lighting it on fire. There’s that video of him performing the song on YouTube is just amazing. His fists are clenched throughout the entire song, only being lifted when he blasts through the harmonica. He leaves the microphone to walk around the stage as his band explodes and then runs back after the solo or sequence is over. It’s really just amazing. Overall, this is just an amazing set that I would highly recommend to anyone who not just likes Desire, who not just likes Bob Dylan but to anyone who just loves listening to a good concert.

Now, unfortunately, this is the end of my Dylan coverage! I have now reviewed every Dylan product I own, except the useless compilations that I have. There won't be anything Dylan related until the November 21st concert. I will have a write-up on it, you can bet on that.
Also, Dylan fans who have found this site over the past month, don't stop coming here! I'll still do reviews on music that most of us enjoy anyway. There's no reason to stop coming here. It's a shame that I won't get coverage on www.expectingrain.com anymore, (a link to this blog was posted on the day of my reviews of Bob Dylan and Infidels) but don't forget about this blog!

Album Of The Day #105: "LOVE AND THEFT" - Bob Dylan

Title: “Love And Theft”
Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Released: 2001
Songs: Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum/Mississippi/Summer Days/Bye And Bye/Lonesome Day Blues/Floater (Too Much To Ask)/High Water (For Charley Patton)/Moonlight/Honest With Me/Po’ Boy/Cry A While/Sugar Baby
Written by: Bob Dylan
Produced by: Jack Frost
Thoughts: This album is so much fun! The best thing about it is that Bob feels so relaxed and you can easily sense it straight from the beginning with the hilarious “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum”. “Mississippi” is so much better suited for the stripped-down approach Bob has here than the Daniel Lanois over-produced version found on Tell Tale Signs. (I’m talking about #2, since #1 is beautiful.) It is such a delicate song that required Dylan’s new “I’m in the middle of the Great Depression” mentality. “Floater (Too Much To Ask)” and “High Water (For Charley Patton)” are both awesome, as is “Po’ Boy”, this wonderful track about a poor boy and his adventures.
To me, though, the masterpiece of this album is “Sugar Baby”. At 6:40, it is the longest song on the LP, but it just amazes me. I love this verse:
Every moment of existence seems like some dirty trick
Happiness can come suddenly and leave just as quick
Any minute of the day the bubble could burst
Try to make things better for someone, sometimes,
You just end up making it a thousand times worse
I guess the whole point of the song is that this ‘sugar baby’ has realized that there are all these problems, but Bob is ushering him/her to continue anyway and not try to fix it. The chorus is pretty intense, too:
Sugar Baby, get on down the line
You ain't got no brains*, no how
You went years without me
Might as well keep going now
[*“sense” on last chorus]
Perhaps Bob himself is this sugar baby and he has decided to just keep going and that there’s no use in fixing anything.
Also, as the first album with his touring band, musically this album is very strong. They get better on Modern Times, but they are awesome here. Considering how long these guys had been with Dylan, the sense of comfort is definitely there. These songs are all brimming with life and there isn’t a single musical section to question. You get the feeling that Bob had a strong idea for every song and wanted them recorded as fast as possible. The great thing about this is that sometimes it works, but the bad thing about it is that sometimes it leads to a rushed, weak album. Thankfully, the case with “Love And Theft” is that it turned out to be not just a good album, but a great one.

I already did Modern Times, which was only the second review I ever wrote for this blog. That was way back in 2006, so maybe down the road I should do another write-up, looking at it from a 2008 perspective! This isn’t the end for Dylan, though. I’ll have a write-up on Live 1975, the only other Bootleg album I have besides Tell Tale Signs, in a day or two. Also, I managed to get tickets to see Dylan at the bobdylan.com exclusive concert at the United Palace Theater in New York on November 21st. So, as you can guess, there will be something on my blog about that!