JOTTING DOWN NOTES
The Bob Dylan product mill (official and unofficial) continues to roll with lots of promotional and conventional releases in the wake of Time Out Of Mind, a number of line recordings and more books. With a triumphant tour just concluded, the shows garnering excellent reviews from discerning critics, all is set fair for a bumper year.
DOWN IN THE GROOVE - OFFICIAL RELEASES
A plethora of promos to catch up on this time around all of which are worth searching out.
Time Out Of Mind Promo Cd Only, Not For Resale, XPCD 914 Columbia CSK 2926 presents the first four tracks from the album.
Columbia SAMPCS 4671 pairs Love Sick and 'Til In Fell In Love With You.
Le Sampler Rock & Folk (SAMPCD 4609 2) is a French promo, a nifty package which provides a collection of six songs from across Dylan's career:
LIVE '96, CO CSK 3818
Available only through Coalition Independent Music Shops in the U.S.A. in a limited edition of 5000.Obtained free of charge by presenting a completed form available on the Internet. Contains four live tracks from The House Of Blues, Atlanta, Aug. '96.
Pick of the bunch is a full-length effort, Bob Dylan Music & Words 1998 to 1963 (CSK 6226) which features a backwards chronological review of Dylan's career with some great songs and is available in the U.S.A. only.
Not Dark Yet, COL 665443 2
This CD single was released in Sweden and Norway in February 1998. Apart from the fact that it is a great title track, there are some tasty live cuts. Seems like Columbia are starting to make sensible use of this type of release now.
Also available is a two-track CD single, COL 665443-1, featuring the same versions of Not Dark Yet and Tombstone Blues and packed in a cardboard case rather than a jewel case.
Love Sick single
Two different versions of this single have been released in Norway and the UK. Columbia have continued their new policy of providing the punter with added value by including different unreleased material on each CD. It means you have to buy them both, of course, but what the heck!
Finally the latest Joan Baez CD showcases her duet with Dylan on It Ain't Me, Babe from Newport 1963.
Bob On The Net
In August 1997 the official Bob Dylan website was created on the internet and can be accessed on www.bobdylan.com .It contains details of all the albums, including samples of every song. The site also provides the lyrics to most of Bob's songs, including some where he hasn't released a version for example Wanted Man. You can also find related items such as: newspaper reviews; a discourse on the Anthology Of American Folk Music 6CD set and "You Only Have To Feel Them" by Peter Stone Brown.
This would have been interesting enough for an official site but more excitingly, official and complete unreleased recordings began to appear in September 1997. Every couple of weeks there was something new. They are found under the heading "perfomances" and are almost all live songs, PA, line or "field" recordings.
Cover Versions
Singin' Mike Singer has re-issued his old LPs from back in the 1960s on CD. These feature many Dylan covers or songs covered by Dylan. There are three CDs and they can be obtained from Mike though e-mail SINGER29@hotmail.com. All the albums were recorded at coffee house concerts and have just Mike on guitar, banjo and autoharp with lots of singalongs on the choruses.
There is a new CD of covers due out by The Zimmermen, a band who have entertained us so royally at the UK Dylan conventions. Entitled After The Ambulances Go.
The Dylan Project
Steve Gibbons, his long time guitarist P.J. and Dave Pegg are recording an album of their favourite Dylan songs for October release on Woodworm Records. They will also be undertaking an October tour to promote this album. Catch 'em if you can.The recent Fairport Convention CD The Cropredy Box (Woodworm WR3CD026) contains more Dylan covers.
FORMS OF PSYCHIC EXPLOSION - MEDIA NEWS
VIDEO AND TELEVISION
The BBC T.V. Arena programme featuring Van Morrison originally broadcast 16 March 1991 has now surfaced in an uncut version. This features film of Dylan and Morrison performing on the Hill of Muses in Athens around the 27 June 1989. All of the material from the programme is included plus one extra song (And It) Stoned Me. Here Morrison forgets the words and has to re-start the song giving one and a half versions of the song.
The promo video of the recent single Not Dark Yet has enjoyed little exposure but has been shown on the music channel, VH-1. Of course the full video was first shown on the Bob Dylan website.
Bob Dylan is featured in a cameo role in the recent promo video from Wyclef Jean, Gone 'Til November. He is seen sitting next to lead singer Fugees for about a minute in an airport lounge.
An excellent Eat The Document outtake featuring Ballad Of A Thin Man has emerged. This is an eight-minute video of the whole performance mixing the live concert footage interspersed with other images. For those who crave complete live footage from 1966 these foreign images render the whole a little disappointing but it is nonetheless essential.
The show from 3 August 1996 Atlanta show has emerged as an excellent professional video. Dylan played two concerts at the temporary replica of the New Orleans, House Of Blues constructed in Atlanta for the concluding celebrations of the Atlanta Olympic Games. This film is out of the top drawer and, had it been broadcast, would have given the wider public a glimpse of Dylan in fine form. A line recording of the show is also around and more readily available.
9 AUGUST BURGETTSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, COCA-COLA STAR LAKE AMPHITHEATRE
Bob Dylan was nominated for three gongs at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. They were for Album of the Year (Time Out Of Mind), Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (Cold Irons Bound) and Best Contemporary Folk Album (Time Out Of Mind). In addition there was a nomination for the Jimmie Rodgers Tribute CD. The awards were presented on February 25, 1998 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 40th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was broadcast live on CBS TV from 8PM to 11PM and live in Europe by TV1000 and Premier.
IS IT ROLLING BOB?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 3 September 1965
Undoubtedly this is the pick of recent tapes, a line recording from the dawn of the semi-electric concerts. Alternately assured and naive, it is nevertheless fascinating and definitely required listening. John Davis tells it like it is....
Moving more up to date there are two 1974 line recordings which have recently surfaced. The first is almost the complete show and is a stereo mix. The second misses the first song but has the remaining Dylan tracks with some Band songs. This tape is rougher and only mono. Nevertheless, they are both interesting tapes and the full track listings are included here.
Another worthwhile addition to the oeuvre which shows Dylan performing the songs from which Before the Flood was drawn. Hence, we get a reasonably tight performance albeit ever-so- slightly jaded - this was the end of an intense return to performing. A must for collectors and pretty good verions of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Ballad Of Hollis Brown.
Oakland, 11 February 1974 afternoon show
Los Angeles, 14 February 1974 afternoon show
Atlanta 3rd August 1996 line recording full show
Vienna, Virginia, Wolf Trap, Feline Center
Line Recordings 23 and 24 August 1997
Due to the induction loop system it seems that we can look forward to an annual set of line recordings from the Wolftrap. These two are even more welcome as they are complete and include some very interesting songs. Of the twenty eight songs featured in the two shows there are twenty two different ones! They give a good flavour of the shows from 1997 and to get good versions of Blind Willie McTell and Tough Mama alone make the tapes essential.
We don't intend to provide a forum or platform for bootleg records, however where there is some historical significance, or new material appears before it has circulated on tape, this will be commented upon.
The Band Crossing The Great Divide - The Genuine Bootleg Series Vol. 4 {sic}is a three CD set of Band material containing outtakes, demos and live recordings. There is some Dylan interest in that it contains two Planet Waves outtakes given as Instrumental Jam and Crosswind Jamboree. Also included is The Weight (Robertson) a line recording from Dylan's contribution to a Levon Helm concert at the Lone Star Café, New York, 29 May 1988. This was previously available as an audience recording. The other Dylan material included has all been available previously, although a couple of the Basement Tapes songs included are thought to be slightly improved in quality, I'm Your Teenage Prayer and Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies.
EON MELBOURNE INTERVIEW 1986
Broadcast Feb. 21 (?) 1986 on EON-FM, Melbourne, Australia Taped Feb. 20/21(?) 1986, Rockman's Regency Hotel, Melbourne (poolside) Interviewer Unknown (DJ)
This fascinating little tape presents Dylan as DJ, well at least introducing one of his songs and plugging the station ID. He is also very co-operative and reasonably revealing, obviously having a relaxed time of it. He provides some personal insights into his view of selecting songs for shows and performing in general.
EDUCATED RAP
BOOKS
LIKE THE NIGHT
Bob Dylan and the Road to the Manchester Free Trade Hall:
C. P. Lee (Helter Skelter 1998)
Thanks to Paula Radice for this review of a most worthwhile addition to the bookshelf and here illustrated with some photographs which do not appear in the book.
Forthcoming Books
And talking about forthcoming texts the following are imminent (dates are subject to change):
BOB DYLAN: A CRITICAL STUDY
CHRISTOPHER RICKS
Viking 27 February 1999 UK
Hardback 0-670-80133-X
Bob Dylan: The Life and Music of America's Folk-Rock Icon
Stephen Matteo
Friedman/Fairfax Pub. August 1998 USA
Hardback 1-56799-634-5
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright; the Stories Behind Every Song
Andy Gill
Thunders Mouth Press 1 July 1998 USA
Paperback 1-56025-185-9
DYLAN
Prentice Hall 1 January 1999 Australia
Paperback 0-13-368689-2