The 2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour features an unprecedented lineup including headliners Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and John Mellencamp with Brittney Spencer, Celisse, and Southern Avenue. Billy Strings will also join the tour for one special night at The Gorge in Washington.
See the bobdylan.com On Tour page for dates and ticket links.
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Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the Catalog Division of Sony Music Entertainment, Has Released Bob Dylan – The Complete Budokan 1978.
Newly Remixed & Remastered from Original 24-Channel Analog Tapes, The Complete Budokan 1978 Celebrates the 45th Anniversary of Bob Dylan’s First Concerts in Japan
Deluxe Box Set Presents Two Complete Shows from Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall (February 28 & March 1, 1978) featuring 58 Tracks, 36 of which are Previously Unreleased
Bob Dylan – Another Budokan 1978, a 2LP Highlight Edition, features 16 Select Unreleased Live Performances
November 17, 2023-New York, NY- Columbia Records and Legacy Recording, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has released Bob Dylan – The Complete Budokan 1978.
Order today!
A deluxe box set celebrating Bob Dylan’s 1978 world concert tour and the 45th anniversary of the artist’s first concert appearances in Japan, The Complete Budokan 1978 presents two full shows originally recorded on 24-channel multitrack analog tapes at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall on February 28 and March 1, 1978 and offers fans 36 previously unreleased Dylan performances. The Complete Budokan 1978 will be available in 4CD, 8LP (Japan only) and digital configurations. Also available, Bob Dylan – Another Budokan 1978, a 2LP highlight edition featuring 16 specially selected unreleased tracks from the box set.
A preview of the album, a previously unreleased performance of “The Man In Me” from The Complete Budokan 1978 is available here
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 marked the artist’s first international concert dates since 1966 and his first live shows since the Rolling Thunder Revue blasted through North America in 1975-76. A major international musical event, the year-long tour found Bob Dylan performing 114 shows in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe, to a combined audience of two million fans.
The tour launched in February 1978 with eleven historic performances: Dylan’ first-ever concerts in Japan which included eight shows at the revered Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. Two of the Budokan shows–February 28 and March 1, 1978–were recorded on 24-channel multi-track analog tape with 22 performances excerpted from those shows appearing on Bob Dylan At Budokan, a 2LP set first issued on Columbia Records as a Japan-only release in November 1978, followed by a global release in April 1979 in response to widespread demand. The Complete Budokan 1978 marks the first time any of Dylan’s complete performances from his 1978 world tour have been officially available.
For his 1978 performances, Dylan (rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals) led an ensemble featuring Billy Cross (lead guitar), Ian Wallace (drums), Alan Pasqua (keyboards), Rob Stoner (bass, vocals), Steven Soles (acoustic rhythm guitar, vocals), David Mansfield (pedal steel, violin, mandolin, guitar, dobro), Steve Douglas (saxophone, flute, recorder), Bobbye Hall (percussion), Helena Springs (vocals), Jo Ann Harris (vocals), and Debi Dye (vocals). The original Bob Dylan At Budokan album was produced by Don DeVito, who also helmed Dylan’s Street-Legal, recorded and released during the 1978 world tour, featuring the same musicians.
According to Tetsuya Shiroki, co-producer of The Complete Budokan 1978, the newly restored, remixed and remastered recordings “…capture(s) two days of this history-making tour. Nothing has been removed or altered in any way.”
Many individuals involved in the original Bob Dylan at Budokan album reunited for the new release. Under the supervision of Heckel Sugano, the CBS Sony product manager for Bob Dylan in Japan at the time, the engineer responsible for the 1978 recording has worked on the new 2023 remix using the original 24-channel multi-tapes, while the album cover showcases artwork by the same photographers as the original.
Chief engineer Tom Suzuki says, “We mixed the record with the keyword ‘passion’ in mind. The result is a mix that surpasses the original 1978 release, providing a crisper and clearer sound where each instrument and Bob Dylan’s voice are distinctly audible.”
Heckel Sugano says, “The completed album documents the remarkable sound of the legendary Budokan shows that are forever etched in history. We tried to faithfully reproduce the sound the Japanese audience would have heard in the concert hall.”
Presented in a luxurious deluxe box, The Complete Budokan 1978 includes newly remixed complete live recordings from the two Budokan concert dates featuring 36 previously unreleased tracks; facsimile memorabilia such as concert tickets, pamphlets, posters, and flyers; 60-page full-color photo book of previously unpublished photos of Dylan on-stage and behind-the-scenes at the airport, press conferences and more; exclusive liner notes. The 2LP Another Budokan 1978 features 16 previously unreleased tracks from the Budokan box.
In her liner essay for The Complete Budokan 1978, music critic Edna Gundersen notes that the original Bob Dylan At Budokan album “has undergone a sober reappraisal over the decades as consumers and critics grew to admire its adventurous arrangements and provocative performances.” She heralds the new restored and remastered release, writing that “Captured at Budokan, Dylan is in good spirits and fully engaged. He sings with brio and urgency, his voice clear and melodic and his phrasing impeccable as ever….The band crackles with careening energy…. (Dylan) saw the stage as a proving ground that brought his tunes to life.”
The Complete Budokan 1978
4-CD Deluxe Box
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978
CD1
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Repossession Blues*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man*
4. I Threw It All Away*
5. Shelter From The Storm
6. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
7. Girl From The North Country*
8. Ballad Of A Thin Man*
9. Maggie’s Farm*
10. To Ramona*
11. Like A Rolling Stone*
12. I Shall Be Released*
13. Is Your Love In Vain? *
14. Going, Going, Gone*
CD2
1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind*
3. Just Like A Woman*
4. Oh, Sister*
5. Simple Twist Of Fate
6. You’re A Big Girl Now*
7. All Along The Watchtower*
8. I Want You*
9. All I Really Want To Do*
10. Tomorrow Is A Long Time*
11. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
12. Band introductions*
13. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
14. Forever Young
15. The Times They Are A-Changin’
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978
CD3
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Love Her With A Feeling*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man
4. I Threw It All Away*
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit*
6. Shelter From The Storm*
7. Girl From The North Country*
8. Ballad Of A Thin Man
9. Maggie’s Farm
10. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
11. Like A Rolling Stone
12. I Shall Be Released
13. Is Your Love In Vain?
14. Going, Going, Gone
CD4
1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. Just Like A Woman
4. Oh, Sister
5. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) *
6. You’re A Big Girl Now*
7. All Along The Watchtower
8. I Want You
9. All I Really Want To Do
10. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
11. The Man In Me*
12. Band introductions*
13. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)*
14. Forever Young*
15. The Times They Are A-Changin’*
*Previously Unreleased
The Complete Budokan 1978
8-LP Deluxe Box
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978
LP1 – Side A
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Repossession Blues*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man*
4. I Threw It All Away*
LP1 – Side B
1. Shelter From The Storm
2. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
3. Girl From The North Country*
4. Ballad Of A Thin Man*
LP2 – Side A
1. Maggie’s Farm*
2. To Ramona*
3. Like A Rolling Stone*
LP2 – Side B
1. I Shall Be Released*
2. Is Your Love In Vain? *
3. Going, Going, Gone*
LP3 – Side A
1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind*
3. Just Like A Woman*
4. Oh, Sister*
LP3 – Side B
1. Simple Twist Of Fate
2. You’re A Big Girl Now*
3. All Along The Watchtower*
4. I Want You*
LP4 – Side A
1. All I Really Want To Do*
2. Tomorrow Is A Long Time*
3. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
4. Band introductions*
LP4 – Side B
1. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
2. Forever Young
3. The Times They Are A-Changin’
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978
LP5 – Side A
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Love Her With A Feeling*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man
4. I Threw It All Away*
LP5 – Side B
1. Love Minus Zero/No Limit*
2. Shelter From The Storm*
3. Girl From The North Country*
4. Ballad Of A Thin Man
LP6 – Side A
1. Maggie’s Farm
2. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
3. Like A Rolling Stone
LP6 – Side B
1. I Shall Be Released
2. Is Your Love In Vain?
3. Going, Going, Gone
LP7 – Side A
1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. Just Like A Woman
4. Oh, Sister
LP7 – Side B
1. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) *
2. You’re A Big Girl Now*
3. All Along The Watchtower
4. I Want You
LP8 – Side A
1. All I Really Want To Do
2. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
3. The Man In Me*
4. Band introductions*
LP8 – Side B
1. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) *
2. Forever Young*
3. The Times They Are A-Changin’*
*Previously Unreleased
Another Budokan 1978
2-LP with Gatefold Sleeve
All Tracks Previously Unreleased
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978
LP1 – Side A
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
2. Repossession Blues
3. Ballad Of A Thin Man
4. To Ramona
LP1 – Side B
1. Like A Rolling Stone
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. All Along The Watchtower
4. Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978
LP2 – Side A
1. Love Her With A Feeling
2. I Threw It All Away
3. Girl From The North Country
4. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)
LP2 – Side B
1. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
2. You’re A Big Girl Now
3. The Man In Me
4. Forever Young
Statement from Bob Dylan on the passing of Robbie Robertson:
“This is shocking news. Robbie was a lifelong friend. His passing leaves a vacancy in the world.”
]]>“The entire show was one jaw-dropping delight after another.” – Rolling Stone
“He hasn’t sounded better in decades.” – Variety
Order Now!
Shadow Kingdom originally aired as an exclusive streaming event in July 2021 and will now be available on vinyl, CD and streaming platforms for the first time.
Shadow Kingdom presents Bob Dylan performing revelatory 21st century versions of songs from his storied back catalog — including fan favorites like “Forever Young” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and deep catalog gems like “Queen Jane Approximately” and “The Wicked Messenger.”
The full-length Shadow Kingdom feature film will also be available for download and rental on Tuesday, June 6.
]]>From The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2022
Bob Dylan Q&A
By Jeff Slate
While the book covers a lot of ground, many of the songs were written and released in the 1950s. Was that a significant time in shaping the modern popular song? And did the post war technology boom – the evolution of the recording process, the ubiquity of the radio and television, electric instrumentation – play a part in that, do you think?
I think they all played a part, and they still do play a part. But yes, the book does cover a lot of ground, and the 50’s was a significant time in music history. Without postwar technology these songs may have dissipated and been overlooked. The recording process brought the right people to the top, the most innovative, the ones with the greatest talent.
How did you first hear most of those songs? And do you think the way you first heard them – I’m assuming on the radio, as well as television and in films – play a part in your relationship to them?
I first heard them on the radio, portable record players, jukeboxes. We didn’t have a TV, and I never heard them in films, but I was hearing them in my head. They were straightforward, and my relationship to them at first was external, then became personal and intense. The songs were simple, easy to understand, and they’d come to you in a direct way, let you see into the future.
How do you listen to music these days? On vinyl, CD, streaming? And is there a way you prefer to hear music?
I listen to CD’s, satellite radio and streaming. I do love the sound of old vinyl though, especially on a tube record player from back in the day. I bought three of those in an antique store in Oregon about 30 years ago. They’re just little, but the tone quality is so powerful and miraculous, has so much depth, it always takes me back to the days when life was different and unpredictable. You had no idea what was coming down the road, and it didn’t matter. The laws of time didn’t apply to you.
How do you discover new music these days?
Mostly by accident, by chance. If I go looking for something I usually don’t find it. In fact, I never find it. I walk into things intuitively when I’m most likely not looking for anything. Tiny Hill, Teddy Edwards, people like that. Obscure artists, obscure songs. There’s a song by Jimmy Webb that Frank Sinatra recorded called, “Whatever Happened to Christmas,” I think he recorded it in the 60s, but I just discovered it. Ella Fitzgerald’s “A-Tiskit, A-Tasket.” Janis Martin, the female Elvis. Have you heard her? Joe Turner is always surprising me with little nuances and things. I listen to Brenda Lee a lot. No matter how many times I hear her, it’s like I just discovered her. She’s such an old soul. Lately, I discovered a fantastic guitar player, Teddy Bunn. I heard him on a Meade Lux Lewis – Sid Catlett record.
Performers and songwriters recommend things to me. Others I just wake up and they’re there. Some I’ve seen live. The Oasis Brothers, I like them both, Julian Casablancas, the Klaxons, Grace Potter. I’ve seen Metallica twice. I’ve made special efforts to see Jack White and Alex Turner. Zac Deputy, I’ve discovered him lately. He’s a one man show like Ed Sheeran, but he sits down when he plays. I’m a fan of Royal Blood, Celeste, Rag and Bone Man, Wu-Tang, Eminem, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, anybody with a feeling for words and language, anybody whose vision parallels mine.
Waterloo Sunset is on my playlist and that was recorded in the 60s. “Stealer,” The Free song, that’s been there a while too, along with Leadbelly and the Carter Family. There’s a Duff McKagan song called “Chip Away,” that has profound meaning for me. It’s a graphic song. Chip away, chip away, like Michelangelo, breaking up solid marble stone to discover the form of King David inside. He didn’t build him from the ground up, he chipped away the stone until he discovered the king. It’s like my own songwriting, I overwrite something, then I chip away lines and phrases until I get to the real thing. Shooter Jennings produced that record. It’s a great song. Dvorak, “Moravian Duets.” I just discovered that, but it’s over 100 years old.
Music is made very differently now, and your grandchildren are hearing songs for the first time in whole new ways, like via Spotify. Does the way you first hear a song matter? Do you think that has changed the relationship of the listener to the song?
The relationship you have to a song can change over time. You can outgrow it, or it could come back to haunt you, come back stronger in a different way. A song could be like a nephew or a sister, or a mother-in-law. There actually is a song called “Mother-in-Law.”
When you first hear a song, it might be related to what time of day you hear it. Maybe at daybreak – at dawn with the sun in your face – it would probably stay with you longer than if you heard it at dusk. Or maybe, if you first hear it at sunset, it would probably mean something different, than if you heard it first at 2 in the afternoon. Or maybe you hear something in the dead of night, in the darkness, with night eyes. Maybe it’ll be “Eleanor Rigby,” and it puts you in touch with your ancient ancestors. You’re liable to remember that for a while. “Star Gazer,” the Ronnie James Dio song would probably mean a lot more to you if you first heard it at midnight under a full moon beneath an expanding universe, than if you first heard it in the middle of a dreary day with rain pouring down.
One of my granddaughters, some years back, who was about 8 at the time, asked me if I’d ever met the Andrew Sisters, and if I’d ever heard the song “Rum and Coca Cola.” Where she heard it, I have no idea. When I said I’d never met them, she wanted to know why. I said because I just didn’t, they weren’t here. She asked, “Where did they go?” I didn’t know what to say, so I said Cincinnati. She asked me if I would take her there to meet them. Another time, one of the others asked me if I wrote the song “Oh, Susanna.” I don’t know how she heard the song, or when, or what her relationship to it is, but she knows it and can sing it. She probably heard it on Spotify.
And since everything is at our fingertips, has streaming democratized music? Are we back to the days when “Strangers in The Night” can top “Paperback Writer” and “Paint It Black” on the pop charts?
We could very well be. There’s a sameness to everything nowadays. We seem to be in a vacuum. Everything’s become too smooth and painless. We jumped into the mainstream, the big river, with all the industrial waste, chemical debris, rocks, and mudflow, along with Brian Wilson and his brothers, Soupy Sales, and Tennessee Ernie Ford. The earth could vomit up its dead, and it could be raining blood, and we’d shrug it off, cool as cucumbers. Everything’s too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that’s all it takes, and we’re there. We’ve dropped the coin right into the slot. We’re pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers, hanging in, hanging out, gobbling blue devils, black mollies, anything we can get our hands on. Not to mention the nose candy and ganga grass. It’s all too easy, too democratic. You need a solar X-ray detector just to find somebody’s heart, see if they still have one.
What’s the gold standard for a song these days? What song will walk off with the trophy? “Paint it Black” is black as black can be, black as a crow’s head, a galvanizing song. “Paperback Writer” sounds good, too. The biographer, the ghost writer, doing it long hand. I can visualize that song; see it in my mind’s eye. “Strangers in the Night,” that, too. A couple of people who don’t know each other on the dark side of things. I don’t know which one I’d vote for. I have sympathies for them all.
There are already dozens of playlists on Spotify of the songs listed in your book, made by fans. Virtually the entire history of recorded music is available to anyone with the few touches of their finger. Try to imagine if you’d had that available to you in the 50s. How does a young creative person navigate that?
You’d just have to cruise through it the best you can, try to unravel it, feel your way in until you get somewhere. There’s a lot of outstanding music in the past. Works of genius, and much, if not all of it, has been documented. It would take more than a few lifetimes to hear it all. Musically, it would be too much to comprehend. You’d have to limit yourself and create a framework.
Do you think there is anything about the technology used today to record music that would have changed the impact or value you place on the songs you’ve included in the book, and especially the performances, or is a great song a great song?
I think a great song has the sentiments of the people in mind. When you hear it, you get a gut reaction, and an emotional one at the same time. A great song follows the logic of the heart and stays in your head long after you’ve heard it, like “Taxman,” it can be played with a full orchestra score or by a strolling minstrel, and you don’t have to be a great singer to sing it. It’s bell, book, and candle. Otherworldly. It transports you and you feel like you’re levitating. It’s close to an out of body experience.
A great song mutates, makes quantum leaps, turns up again like the prodigal son. It crosses genres. Could be punk rock, ragtime, folk-rock, or zydeco, and can be played in a lot of different styles, multiple styles. Bobby Bland could do it, Gene and Eunice, so could Rod Stewart, even Gene Autrey. Coltrane could do it wordless.
A great song is the sum of all things. It could be the turning point in your life. Louis Armstrong does it like a scat singer, Jimmie Rodgers can yodel it. It’s timeless and ageless. It’s a field holler, it’s blood and thunder, it’s on easy street and in the land of milk and honey. It’s everywhere. It can be sung by a lead singer or a backup vocalist; it’s non-discriminating. A great song touches you in secret places, strikes your innermost being, and sinks in. Hoagy Carmichael wrote great songs, so did Irving Berlin and Johnny Mercer. Some people you wish had written songs: J.Frank Dobie, Teddy Roosevelt, Arthur Conan Doyle, people like that. They probably could have written great songs but didn’t.
You write in the book that “everything is too full now; we are spoon-fed everything.” Do you think that technology aids or hinders everyday life, and especially creativity?
I think it does both. It can hamper creativity, or it can lend a helping hand and be an assistant. Creative power can be dammed up or forestalled by everyday life, ordinary life, life in the squirrel cage. A data processing machine or a software program might help you break out of that, get you over the hump, but you have to get up early.
Technology is like sorcery, it’s a magic show, conjures up spirits, it’s an extension of our body, like the wheel is an extension of our foot. But it might be the final nail driven into the coffin of civilization; we just don’t know.
Creative ability is about pulling old elements together and making something new, and I don’t believe silicon chips and passwords know anything about those elements, or where they are. You have to have a vivid imagination.
Let’s not forget, science and technology built the Parthenon, the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman coliseum, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, rockets, jets, planes, automobiles, atom bombs, weapons of mass destruction. Tesla, the great inventor, said that he could take down the Brooklyn Bridge with a small vibrator. Today, we can probably do the same thing with a pocket computer. Log in, log out, load and download; we’re all wired up.
Technology can nurture us, or it can shut us out. Creation is a funny thing. When we’re creating or inventing something, we’re more vulnerable than we’ll ever will be, eating and sleeping mean nothing. We’re in “Splendid Isolation,” like in the (Warren) Zevon song; the world of self, like Georgia O’Keefe alone in the desert. To be creative you’ve got to be unsociable and tight-assed. Not necessarily violent and ugly, just unfriendly and distracted. You’re self-sufficient and you stay focused.
Keypads and joysticks can be like millstones around your neck, or they can be supporting players; either one, you’re the judge. Creativity is a mysterious thing. It visits who it wants to visit, when it wants to, and I think that that, and that alone, gets to the heart of the matter.
You write about how so few songs of the video age went on to become standards.
Do you think music videos – which are still prevalent – ultimately hurt songwriting and songwriters?
Who is going to write standards today? A rap artist? A hip hop or rock star? A raver, a sampling expert, a pop singer? That’s music for the establishment. It’s easy listening. It just parodies real life, goes through the motions puts on an act. It’s a computer model.
A standard is something else. It’s on another level. It’s a song to look up to, a role model for other songs, maybe one in a thousand.
As far as videos go, they can hurt an artist if there’s no justification for them. For some artists, videos are necessary, they can recreate an emotional state of a song. Death songs would make great videos, like “Tell Laura I love Her.” Car songs too, like the one about the sky-blue Jaguar and the Thunderbird. There’s a Creedence song, “It Came Out of the Sky,” that would make a great science fiction movie. If you think about it, films have become the new pop music videos. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, they’re a new kind of superstar.
It doesn’t seem to me that many of the songs included in the book were written “for hire.” Do you think that them coming from a place of inspiration, rather than on deadline, helps elevate them?
Having a deadline can be terrifying. You got to pay back a loan by 12 o’clock on Thursday, have a song ready to record by 9 in the morning. Things can get completely out of hand if you don’t think it out ahead. Sometimes, you have to play for time, be cool, and believe you can do anything, then do it on your own terms.
Still, many of the writers here did work in a goal-oriented manner, or scheduled time to write / create. Do you think that’s conducive to great songwriting?
Most of the time you do it when the mood strikes you, although some writers might have a set routine. I heard Tom Paxton has one. I’ve wondered sometimes about going to visit Don McLean, see how he does it. My own method is transportable. I can write songs anywhere at any time, although some of them are completed and redefined at recording sessions, some even at live shows.
What inspired this book? Do you read books about songwriting and/or music history (and what are some standouts, in your mind)? Also, how did you choose the songs and how did you narrow your choices? Did you learn anything about the songs / artists – or even the art of songwriting – while writing the book?
I’ve read Honkers and Shouters, Nick Tosches’ Dino, Guralnick’s Elvis books, some others. But The Philosophy of Modern Song is more of a state of mind than any of those.
Some of the artists here had pretty colorful – and sometimes checkered – histories. What do you think about the current debate separating the art from the artist? Do you think a “weakness of character” can hold a songwriter back?
People of weak character are usually con artists and troublemakers; they aren’t sincere, and I don’t think they would make good songwriters. They’re selfish, always got to have the last word on everything, and I don’t know any songwriter like that. I’m unaware of the current debate about separating the art from the artist. It’s news to me. Maybe it’s an academic thing.
Is there a technology that helps you relax? For instance, do you binge on movies via Netflix, because you mention streaming films in the chapter about “My Generation”; or do you use a meditation app or workout app, especially while you’re on the road?
My problem is that I’m too relaxed, too laidback. Most of the time I feel like a flat tire; totally unmotivated, positively lifeless. I can fall asleep at any time during the day. It takes a lot to get me stimulated, and I’m an excessively sensitive person, which complicates things. I can be totally at ease one minute, and then, for no reason whatsoever, I get restless and fidgety; doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
Two or three hours in front of the tube is a lot of binge watching for me. Too much time to be involved with the screen. Or maybe I’m too old for it.
I’ve binge watched Coronation Street, Father Brown, and some early Twilight Zones. I know they’re old-fashioned shows, but they make me feel at home. I’m not a fan of packaged programs, or news shows, so I don’t watch them. I never watch anything foul smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting; nothing dog ass. I’m a religious person. I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it.
As far as being physically active, boxing and sparing are what I’ve been doing for a while. It’s part of my life. It’s functional and detached from trends. It’s a limitless playground, and you don’t need an App.
You mention how important Ricky Nelson being on TV every week was important to his career and to rock and roll. That has been replaced by a whole new set of technologies. But, as you write, it “turns out, the best way to shut people up isn’t to take away their forum – it’s to give them all their own separate pulpits.” Do you use social media, and what do you think of Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and TikTok, which you also mention a few times?
I’m only name dropping those names. I’ve everything to learn when it comes to that. I only know the basic elements.
I think these sites bring happiness to a lot of people. Some people even discover love there. I think it’s a wonderful thing. These sites can bring pleasure and infinite joy to millions. It’s like opening a window that’s been shut forever, and letting the light in. It’s fantastic if you’re a sociable person; the communication lines are wide open. A lot of incredible things you can do on these forums. You can refashion anything, blot out memories and change history. It’s boundless. But they can divide and separate us, as well. Turn people against each other.
What was your lockdown like? You made a highly acclaimed album and released a streaming special that was quite elegant and elaborate, plus, you wrote this book, but I have to imagine a lot of it was spent at home trying to find outlets for your creativity. Did technology play a role in that?
It was a very surrealistic time, like being visited by another planet or by some mythical monster. But it was beneficial in a lot of ways, too. It eliminated a lot of hassles and personal needs; it was good having no clock. A good time to put some things to an end. I changed the door panels on an old 56 Chevy, and replaced some old floor tiles, made some landscape paintings, wrote a song called “You Don’t Say.” I listened to Peggy Lee records. Things like that. I reread “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” a few times over. What a story that is. What a poem. If there’d been any opium laying around, I probably would have been down for a while.
I listened to The Mothers of Invention record Freak Out!, that I hadn’t heard in a long, long time. What an eloquent record. “Hungry Freaks, Daddy,” and the other one, “Who Are the Brain Police,” perfect songs for the pandemic. No doubt about it, Zappa was light years ahead of his time. I’ve always thought that.
The book makes it clear that you’re a true fan of most of the artists included. But are you able to listen to music passively, or do you think maybe you are always assessing what’s special – or not – about a song and looking for potential inspiration?
That’s exactly what I do. I listen for fragments, riffs, chords, even lyrics. Anything that sounds promising.
You write about how lyrics are not necessarily poetry; that they are “meant for the ear and not for the eye.” But how important is the first line of a song?
Very important. It might not sound like something you know, but if you trust it, it will get you closer to what you do know.
Ringo Starr told me that he believes being a good musician – and songwriter – makes you good at other things – in his case cooking – because you’re in tune with your senses. What are your thoughts on that idea?
I love Ringo. He’s not a bad singer, and he’s a great musician. If I’d had him as a drummer, I would’ve been the Beatles, too. Maybe. Didn’t know he was a cook, though. That’s encouraging.
You write that, “the thing about being on the road is that you’re not bogged down by anything. Not even bad news. You give pleasure to other people, and you keep your grief to yourself.” Is that why you keep doing it?
No, it’s not the reason you do it. The reason you do it is because it’s a perfect way to stay anonymous, and still be a member of the social order. You’re the master of your fate. You manipulate reality and move through time and space with the proper attitude. It’s not an easy path to take, not fun and games, it’s no Disney World. It’s an open space, with concrete pillars and an iron floor, with obligations and sacrifices. It’s a path, and destiny put some of us on that path, in that position. It’s not for everybody.
What style of music do you think of as your first love?
Sacred music, church music, ensemble singing.
What’s your favorite genre of music these days?
It’s a combination of genres; an abundance of them. Slow ballads, fast ballads, anything that moves. Western Swing, Hillbilly, Jump Blues, Country Blues, everything. Doo-wop, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Lowland ballads, Bill Monroe, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie. Music historians would say when you mix it all up it’s called Rock and Roll. I guess that would be my favorite genre.
Would you like to discuss the significance of any of the artwork used in the book?
They’re running mates to the text, involved in the same way, share the same outcome. They portray ideas and associations that you might not notice otherwise, visual interaction.
Why is the “crew from Dunkin’ Donuts” thanked?
Because they were compassionate, supportive and they went the extra mile.
]]>From The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2022
Bob Dylan Q&A
By Jeff Slate
While the book covers a lot of ground, many of the songs were written and released in the 1950s. Was that a significant time in shaping the modern popular song? And did the post war technology boom – the evolution of the recording process, the ubiquity of the radio and television, electric instrumentation – play a part in that, do you think?
I think they all played a part, and they still do play a part. But yes, the book does cover a lot of ground, and the 50’s was a significant time in music history. Without postwar technology these songs may have dissipated and been overlooked. The recording process brought the right people to the top, the most innovative, the ones with the greatest talent.
How did you first hear most of those songs? And do you think the way you first heard them – I’m assuming on the radio, as well as television and in films – play a part in your relationship to them?
I first heard them on the radio, portable record players, jukeboxes. We didn’t have a TV, and I never heard them in films, but I was hearing them in my head. They were straightforward, and my relationship to them at first was external, then became personal and intense. The songs were simple, easy to understand, and they’d come to you in a direct way, let you see into the future.
How do you listen to music these days? On vinyl, CD, streaming? And is there a way you prefer to hear music?
I listen to CD’s, satellite radio and streaming. I do love the sound of old vinyl though, especially on a tube record player from back in the day. I bought three of those in an antique store in Oregon about 30 years ago. They’re just little, but the tone quality is so powerful and miraculous, has so much depth, it always takes me back to the days when life was different and unpredictable. You had no idea what was coming down the road, and it didn’t matter. The laws of time didn’t apply to you.
How do you discover new music these days?
Mostly by accident, by chance. If I go looking for something I usually don’t find it. In fact, I never find it. I walk into things intuitively when I’m most likely not looking for anything. Tiny Hill, Teddy Edwards, people like that. Obscure artists, obscure songs. There’s a song by Jimmy Webb that Frank Sinatra recorded called, “Whatever Happened to Christmas,” I think he recorded it in the 60s, but I just discovered it. Ella Fitzgerald’s “A-Tiskit, A-Tasket.” Janice Martin, the female Elvis. Have you heard her? Joe Turner is always surprising me with little nuances and things. I listen to Brenda Lee a lot. No matter how many times I hear her, it’s like I just discovered her. She’s such an old soul. Lately, I discovered a fantastic guitar player, Teddy Bunn. I heard him on a Meade Lux Lewis – Sid Catlett record.
Performers and songwriters recommend things to me. Others I just wake up and they’re there. Some I’ve seen live. The Oasis Brothers, I like them both, Julian Casablanca, the Klaxons, Grace Potter. I’ve seen Metallica twice. I’ve made special efforts to see Jack White and Alex Turner. Zac Deputy, I’ve discovered him lately. He’s a one man show like Ed Sheeran, but he sits down when he plays. I’m a fan of Royal Blood, Celeste, Rag and Bone Man, Wu-Tang, Eminem, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, anybody with a feeling for words and language, anybody whose vision parallels mine.
Waterloo Sunset is on my playlist and that was recorded in the 60s. “Stealer,” The Free song, that’s been there a while too, along with Leadbelly and the Carter Family. There’s a Duff McKagan song called “Chip Away,” that has profound meaning for me. It’s a graphic song. Chip away, chip away, like Michelangelo, breaking up solid marble stone to discover the form of King David inside. He didn’t build him from the ground up, he chipped away the stone until he discovered the king. It’s like my own songwriting, I overwrite something, then I chip away lines and phrases until I get to the real thing. Shooter Jennings produced that record. It’s a great song. Dvorak, “Moravian Duets.” I just discovered that, but it’s over 100 years old.
Music is made very differently now, and your grandchildren are hearing songs for the first time in whole new ways, like via Spotify. Does the way you first hear a song matter? Do you think that has changed the relationship of the listener to the song?
The relationship you have to a song can change over time. You can outgrow it, or it could come back to haunt you, come back stronger in a different way. A song could be like a nephew or a sister, or a mother-in-law. There actually is a song called “Mother-in-Law.”
When you first hear a song, it might be related to what time of day you hear it. Maybe at daybreak – at dawn with the sun in your face – it would probably stay with you longer than if you heard it at dusk. Or maybe, if you first hear it at sunset, it would probably mean something different, than if you heard it first at 2 in the afternoon. Or maybe you hear something in the dead of night, in the darkness, with night eyes. Maybe it’ll be “Eleanor Rigby,” and it puts you in touch with your ancient ancestors. You’re liable to remember that for a while. “Star Gazer,” the Ronnie James Dio song would probably mean a lot more to you if you first heard it at midnight under a full moon beneath an expanding universe, than if you first heard it in the middle of a dreary day with rain pouring down.
One of my granddaughters, some years back, who was about 8 at the time, asked me if I’d ever met the Andrew Sisters, and if I’d ever heard the song “Rum and Coca Cola.” Where she heard it, I have no idea. When I said I’d never met them, she wanted to know why. I said because I just didn’t, they weren’t here. She asked, “Where did they go?” I didn’t know what to say, so I said Cincinnati. She asked me if I would take her there to meet them. Another time, one of the others asked me if I wrote the song “Oh, Susanna.” I don’t know how she heard the song, or when, or what her relationship to it is, but she knows it and can sing it. She probably heard it on Spotify.
And since everything is at our fingertips, has streaming democratized music? Are we back to the days when “Strangers in The Night” can top “Paperback Writer” and “Paint It Black” on the pop charts?
We could very well be. There’s a sameness to everything nowadays. We seem to be in a vacuum. Everything’s become too smooth and painless. We jumped into the mainstream, the big river, with all the industrial waste, chemical debris, rocks, and mudflow, along with Brian Wilson and his brothers, Soupy Sales, and Tennessee Ernie Ford. The earth could vomit up its dead, and it could be raining blood, and we’d shrug it off, cool as cucumbers. Everything’s too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that’s all it takes, and we’re there. We’ve dropped the coin right into the slot. We’re pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers, hanging in, hanging out, gobbling blue devils, black mollies, anything we can get our hands on. Not to mention the nose candy and ganga grass. It’s all too easy, too democratic. You need a solar X-ray detector just to find somebody’s heart, see if they still have one.
What’s the gold standard for a song these days? What song will walk off with the trophy? “Paint it Black” is black as black can be, black as a crow’s head, a galvanizing song. “Paperback Writer” sounds good, too. The biographer, the ghost writer, doing it long hand. I can visualize that song; see it in my mind’s eye. “Strangers in the Night,” that, too. A couple of people who don’t know each other on the dark side of things. I don’t know which one I’d vote for. I have sympathies for them all.
There are already dozens of playlists on Spotify of the songs listed in your book, made by fans. Virtually the entire history of recorded music is available to anyone with the few touches of their finger. Try to imagine if you’d had that available to you in the 50s. How does a young creative person navigate that?
You’d just have to cruise through it the best you can, try to unravel it, feel your way in until you get somewhere. There’s a lot of outstanding music in the past. Works of genius, and much, if not all of it, has been documented. It would take more than a few lifetimes to hear it all. Musically, it would be too much to comprehend. You’d have to limit yourself and create a framework.
Do you think there is anything about the technology used today to record music that would have changed the impact or value you place on the songs you’ve included in the book, and especially the performances, or is a great song a great song?
I think a great song has the sentiments of the people in mind. When you hear it, you get a gut reaction, and an emotional one at the same time. A great song follows the logic of the heart and stays in your head long after you’ve heard it, like “Taxman,” it can be played with a full orchestra score or by a strolling minstrel, and you don’t have to be a great singer to sing it. It’s bell, book, and candle. Otherworldly. It transports you and you feel like you’re levitating. It’s close to an out of body experience.
A great song mutates, makes quantum leaps, turns up again like the prodigal son. It crosses genres. Could be punk rock, ragtime, folk-rock, or zydeco, and can be played in a lot of different styles, multiple styles. Bobby Bland could do it, Gene and Eunice, so could Rod Stewart, even Gene Autrey. Coltrane could do it wordless.
A great song is the sum of all things. It could be the turning point in your life. Louis Armstrong does it like a scat singer, Jimmy Rogers can yodel it. It’s timeless and ageless. It’s a field holler, it’s blood and thunder, it’s on easy street and in the land of milk and honey. It’s everywhere. It can be sung by a lead singer or a backup vocalist; it’s non-discriminating. A great song touches you in secret places, strikes your innermost being, and sinks in. Hoagy Carmichael wrote great songs, so did Irving Berlin and Johnny Mercer. Some people you wish had written songs: J.Frank Dobie, Teddy Roosevelt, Arthur Conan Doyle, people like that. They probably could have written great songs but didn’t.
You write in the book that “everything is too full now; we are spoon-fed everything.” Do you think that technology aids or hinders everyday life, and especially creativity?
I think it does both. It can hamper creativity, or it can lend a helping hand and be an assistant. Creative power can be dammed up or forestalled by everyday life, ordinary life, life in the squirrel cage. A data processing machine or a software program might help you break out of that, get you over the hump, but you have to get up early.
Technology is like sorcery, it’s a magic show, conjures up spirits, it’s an extension of our body, like the wheel is an extension of our foot. But it might be the final nail driven into the coffin of civilization; we just don’t know.
Creative ability is about pulling old elements together and making something new, and I don’t believe silicon chips and passwords know anything about those elements, or where they are. You have to have a vivid imagination.
Let’s not forget, science and technology built the Parthenon, the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman coliseum, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, rockets, jets, planes, automobiles, atom bombs, weapons of mass destruction. Tesla, the great inventor, said that he could take down the Brooklyn Bridge with a small vibrator. Today, we can probably do the same thing with a pocket computer. Log in, log out, load and download; we’re all wired up.
Technology can nurture us, or it can shut us out. Creation is a funny thing. When we’re creating or inventing something, we’re more vulnerable than we’ll ever will be, eating and sleeping mean nothing. We’re in “Splendid Isolation,” like in the (Warren) Zevon song; the world of self, like Georgia O’Keefe alone in the desert. To be creative you’ve got to be unsociable and tight-assed. Not necessarily violent and ugly, just unfriendly and distracted. You’re self-sufficient and you stay focused.
Keypads and joysticks can be like millstones around your neck, or they can be supporting players; either one, you’re the judge. Creativity is a mysterious thing. It visits who it wants to visit, when it wants to, and I think that that, and that alone, gets to the heart of the matter.
You write about how so few songs of the video age went on to become standards.
Do you think music videos – which are still prevalent – ultimately hurt songwriting and songwriters?
Who is going to write standards today? A rap artist? A hip hop or rock star? A raver, a sampling expert, a pop singer? That’s music for the establishment. It’s easy listening. It just parodies real life, goes through the motions puts on an act. It’s a computer model.
A standard is something else. It’s on another level. It’s a song to look up to, a role model for other songs, maybe one in a thousand.
As far as videos go, they can hurt an artist if there’s no justification for them. For some artists, videos are necessary, they can recreate an emotional state of a song. Death songs would make great videos, like “Tell Laura I love Her.” Car songs too, like the one about the sky-blue Jaguar and the Thunderbird. There’s a Creedence song, “It Came Out of the Sky,” that would make a great science fiction movie. If you think about it, films have become the new pop music videos. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, they’re a new kind of superstar.
It doesn’t seem to me that many of the songs included in the book were written “for hire.” Do you think that them coming from a place of inspiration, rather than on deadline, helps elevate them?
Having a deadline can be terrifying. You got to pay back a loan by 12 o’clock on Thursday, have a song ready to record by 9 in the morning. Things can get completely out of hand if you don’t think it out ahead. Sometimes, you have to play for time, be cool, and believe you can do anything, then do it on your own terms.
Still, many of the writers here did work in a goal-oriented manner, or scheduled time to write / create. Do you think that’s conducive to great songwriting?
Most of the time you do it when the mood strikes you, although some writers might have a set routine. I heard Tom Paxton has one. I’ve wondered sometimes about going to visit Don McLean, see how he does it. My own method is transportable. I can write songs anywhere at any time, although some of them are completed and redefined at recording sessions, some even at live shows.
What inspired this book? Do you read books about songwriting and/or music history (and what are some standouts, in your mind)? Also, how did you choose the songs and how did you narrow your choices? Did you learn anything about the songs / artists – or even the art of songwriting – while writing the book?
I’ve read Honkers and Shouters, Nick Tosches’ Dino, Guralnick’s Elvis books, some others. But The Philosophy of Modern Song is more of a state of mind than any of those.
Some of the artists here had pretty colorful – and sometimes checkered – histories. What do you think about the current debate separating the art from the artist? Do you think a “weakness of character” can hold a songwriter back?
People of weak character are usually con artists and troublemakers; they aren’t sincere, and I don’t think they would make good songwriters. They’re selfish, always got to have the last word on everything, and I don’t know any songwriter like that. I’m unaware of the current debate about separating the art from the artist. It’s news to me. Maybe it’s an academic thing.
Is there a technology that helps you relax? For instance, do you binge on movies via Netflix, because you mention streaming films in the chapter about “My Generation”; or do you use a meditation app or workout app, especially while you’re on the road?
My problem is that I’m too relaxed, too laidback. Most of the time I feel like a flat tire; totally unmotivated, positively lifeless. I can fall asleep at any time during the day. It takes a lot to get me stimulated, and I’m an excessively sensitive person, which complicates things. I can be totally at ease one minute, and then, for no reason whatsoever, I get restless and fidgety; doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
Two or three hours in front of the tube is a lot of binge watching for me. Too much time to be involved with the screen. Or maybe I’m too old for it.
I’ve binge watched Coronation Street, Father Brown, and some early Twilight Zones. I know they’re old-fashioned shows, but they make me feel at home. I’m not a fan of packaged programs, or news shows, so I don’t watch them. I never watch anything foul smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting; nothing dog ass. I’m a religious person. I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it.
As far as being physically active, boxing and sparing are what I’ve been doing for a while. It’s part of my life. It’s functional and detached from trends. It’s a limitless playground, and you don’t need an App.
You mention how important Ricky Nelson being on TV every week was important to his career and to rock and roll. That has been replaced by a whole new set of technologies. But, as you write, it “turns out, the best way to shut people up isn’t to take away their forum – it’s to give them all their own separate pulpits.” Do you use social media, and what do you think of Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and TikTok, which you also mention a few times?
I’m only name dropping those names. I’ve everything to learn when it comes to that. I only know the basic elements.
I think these sites bring happiness to a lot of people. Some people even discover love there. I think it’s a wonderful thing. These sites can bring pleasure and infinite joy to millions. It’s like opening a window that’s been shut forever, and letting the light in. It’s fantastic if you’re a sociable person; the communication lines are wide open. A lot of incredible things you can do on these forums. You can refashion anything, blot out memories and change history. It’s boundless. But they can divide and separate us, as well. Turn people against each other.
What was your lockdown like? You made a highly acclaimed album and released a streaming special that was quite elegant and elaborate, plus, you wrote this book, but I have to imagine a lot of it was spent at home trying to find outlets for your creativity. Did technology play a role in that?
It was a very surrealistic time, like being visited by another planet or by some mythical monster. But it was beneficial in a lot of ways, too. It eliminated a lot of hassles and personal needs; it was good having no clock. A good time to put some things to an end.
I changed the door panels on an old 56 Chevy, and replaced some old floor tiles, made some landscape paintings, wrote a song called “You Don’t Say.” I listened to Peggy Lee records. Things like that. I reread “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” a few times over. What a story that is. What a poem. If there’d been any opium laying around, I probably would have been down for a while.
I listened to The Mothers of Invention record Freak Out!, that I hadn’t heard in a long, long time. What an eloquent record. “Hungry Freaks, Daddy,” and the other one, “Who Are the Brain Police,” perfect songs for the pandemic. No doubt about it, Zappa was light years ahead of his time. I’ve always thought that.
The book makes it clear that you’re a true fan of most of the artists included. But are you able to listen to music passively, or do you think maybe you are always assessing what’s special – or not – about a song and looking for potential inspiration?
That’s exactly what I do. I listen for fragments, riffs, chords, even lyrics. Anything that sounds promising.
You write about how lyrics are not necessarily poetry; that they are “meant for the ear and not for the eye.” But how important is the first line of a song?
Very important. It might not sound like something you know, but if you trust it, it will get you closer to what you do know.
Ringo Starr told me that he believes being a good musician – and songwriter – makes you good at other things – in his case cooking – because you’re in tune with your senses. What are your thoughts on that idea?
I love Ringo. He’s not a bad singer, and he’s a great musician. If I’d had him as a drummer, I would’ve been the Beatles, too. Maybe. Didn’t know he was a cook, though. That’s encouraging.
You write that, “the thing about being on the road is that you’re not bogged down by anything. Not even bad news. You give pleasure to other people, and you keep your grief to yourself.” Is that why you keep doing it?
No, it’s not the reason you do it. The reason you do it is because it’s a perfect way to stay anonymous, and still be a member of the social order. You’re the master of your fate. You manipulate reality and move through time and space with the proper attitude. It’s not an easy path to take, not fun and games, it’s no Disney World. It’s an open space, with concrete pillars and an iron floor, with obligations and sacrifices. It’s a path, and destiny put some of us on that path, in that position. It’s not for everybody.
What style of music do you think of as your first love?
Sacred music, church music, ensemble singing.
What’s your favorite genre of music these days?
It’s a combination of genres; an abundance of them. Slow ballads, fast ballads, anything that moves. Western Swing, Hillbilly, Jump Blues, Country Blues, everything. Doo-wop, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Lowland ballads, Bill Monroe, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie. Music historians would say when you mix it all up it’s called Rock and Roll. I guess that would be my favorite genre.
Would you like to discuss the significance of any of the artwork used in the book?
They’re running mates to the text, involved in the same way, share the same outcome. They portray ideas and associations that you might not notice otherwise, visual interaction.
Why is the “crew from Dunkin’ Donuts” thanked?
Because they were compassionate, supportive and they went the extra mile.
]]>BOB DYLAN – FRAGMENTS – TIME OUT OF MIND SESSIONS (1996-1997): THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 17 TO BE RELEASED IN DELUXE 5 DISC SET ON COLUMBIA RECORDS/LEGACY RECORDINGS FRIDAY, JANUARY 27
Latest chapter in acclaimed Bootleg Series unveils Time Out of Mind 2022 Remix + previously unreleased recordings including studio outtakes, alternate versions and live performances (1997-2001) of songs penned by Dylan for 1998’s Grammy-Winning Album of the Year
Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 Also Available in 2CD and 4LP Highlight Editions
Previously Unreleased “Love Sick” (Version 2) Available on All Streaming Services Today
November 17, 2022-New York, NY-Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 on Friday, January 27.
The complete Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 will be available as a deluxe box set in 5CD and 10LP 12″ vinyl editions. Also available, a two-disc/4LP standard edition of Fragments which includes the Time Out of Mind 2022 remix disc and a disc of twelve select Outtakes and Alternates highlights. Digital versions of the complete (five disc) and highlights (two disc) editions of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 will be available on all Streaming Services on Friday, January 27.
Fans can get their first taste of the album when version 2 of “Love Sick” (recorded January 14, 1997 at Criteria Studios) is released to all Streaming Services today.
The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy’s highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at Time Out of Mind, Dylan’s mid-career masterpiece, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release on September 30, 1997. Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 follows the evolution of songs written for the album, from intimate early incarnations in the previously unreleased 1996 Teatro sessions featuring Dylan (vocals, guitar, and piano), Daniel Lanois (guitar and organ), Tony Garnier (bass) and Tony Mangurian (drums and percussion) through incandescent live renditions (also previously unreleased) showcasing Dylan and his touring ensemble channeling the songs on-stage from 1998-2001.
In early 1996, Dylan (whose last album of originals had been 1990’s Under the Red Sky) began writing a group of new songs and, in August-October that year, went into Teatro studio in Oxnard with Daniel Lanois (who’d produced 1989’s Oh Mercy) to record demos for a potential album. Recording for Time Out of Mind took off in earnest in January 1997, when Dylan moved the sessions to Criteria Studio in Miami and the studio ensemble was expanded to encompass a mix of all-star session players and members of Dylan’s touring band including Bucky Baxter (acoustic guitar, pedal steel), Duke Robillard (guitar, electric Gibson L-5), Robert Britt (Martin acoustic, Fender Stratocaster), Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar), Tony Garnier (bass guitar, upright bass), Augie Meyers (Vox organ combo, Hammond B3 organ, accordion), Jim Dickinson (keyboards, Wurlitzer electric piano, pump organ), and drummers Jim Keltner, Brian Blade, and David Kemper.
The end result, Time Out of Mind, became a new pillar in the Bob Dylan album pantheon, its songs–“Love Sick,” “Cold Irons Bound,” “Can’t Wait,” “Not Dark Yet”–becoming concert staples and fan favorites with one composition, “Make You Feel My Love,” achieving rare status as a new contemporary standard in the Great American Songbook, a tune covered by hundreds of artists including Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond, and Adele. Time Out of Mind won the 1998 Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Folk Album while “Cold Irons Bound” took home the trophy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
Disc One of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 premieres 2022 mixes, by Michael H. Brauer at Brauer Sound Studios, of the eleven original recordings on Time Out of Mind. In his liner notes for the set, Steven Hyden writes, “The album itself has been remixed to sound more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room, without the effects and processing that Lanois applied later. It’s not meant to replace the Time Out of Mind that won all of those Grammys a quarter-century ago; it’s a reimagining, an alternate view of a great work of art. If the original album remains mythic and enigmatic, this Time Out of Mind puts you in close proximity to the players.” The Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix) disc will be available in immersive audio, a first for a Bob Dylan recording.
Discs Two and Three of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 are comprised of rare outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out of Mind including four original Dylan compositions–“Dreamin’ of You,” “Red River Shore,” “Mississippi” (later re-recorded for “Love & Theft” in 2001) and “Marchin’ to the City”–not included on the canonical 1997 tracklist. A fifth unreleased performance, Dylan’s interpretation of “The Water is Wide,” a traditional folk song of Scottish origin (and spiritual precursor of “Highlands,” Time Out of Mind‘s epic closer) opens Disc Two.
Disc Four of Bob Dylan – Fragments presents songs from Time Out of Mind in a series of spectacular live performances from 1998-2001 featuring Dylan and his touring ensemble: Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and slide guitar), Bucky Baxter (pedal steel and slide guitar, 1998-1999), Charlie Sexton (guitar, 2000-2001), Tony Garnier (bass) and David Kemper (drums). All tracks on Disc Four are previously unavailable with the exception of “Make You Feel My Love” (May 21, 1998, Los Angeles), previously released on the “Things Have Changed” maxi-single.
As a bonus for fans, Disc Five brings together studio recordings of the four Dylan songs omitted from the original Time Out of Mind track list as well as exemplary live performances of “Cold Irons Bound” and “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven.” The twelve tracks on Disc Five were previously available on Columbia/Legacy’s The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006.
All songs on Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 are written by Bob Dylan, except “The Water is Wide” traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan. The original Time Out of Mind sessions were produced by Daniel Lanois…in association with Jack Frost Productions.
On November 1, 2022, Simon & Schuster published The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan’s first book of new writing since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One — and since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.
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Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17
Disc One – Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix)
1. Love Sick
2. Dirt Road Blues
3. Standing in the Doorway
4. Million Miles
5. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
6. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You
7. Not Dark Yet
8. Cold Irons Bound
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. Can’t Wait
11. Highlands
Disc Two – Outtakes and Alternates
1. The Water is Wide (8/19/96, Teatro)
2. Dreamin’ of You (10/1/96, Teatro)
3. Red River Shore – version 1 (9/26/96, Teatro)
4. Love Sick – version 1 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
5. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 1 (10/3/96, Teatro)
6. Not Dark Yet – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Can’t Wait – version 1 (1/21/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Dirt Road Blues – version 1 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios)
9. Mississippi – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
10. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 2 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Standing in the Doorway – version 1 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios)
12. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – version 1 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
13. Cold Irons Bound (1/9/97, Criteria Studios)
Disc Three – Outtakes and Alternates
1. Love Sick – version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
2. Dirt Road Blues – version 2 (1/20/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Can’t Wait – version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Red River Shore – version 2 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
5. Marchin’ to the City (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Make You Feel My Love – take 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Mississippi – version 2 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Standing in the Doorway – version 2 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios)
9. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 3 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
10. Not Dark Yet – version 2 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – version 2 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios)
12. Highlands (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
Disc Four – Live (1998-2001)
1. Love Sick (6/24/98, Birmingham, England)
2. Can’t Wait (2/6/99, Nashville, Tennessee)
3. Standing In The Doorway (10/6/00, London, England)
4. Million Miles (1/31/98, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
5. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (9/20/00, Birmingham, England)
6. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You (4/5/98, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
7. Not Dark Yet (9/22/00, Sheffield, England)
8. Cold Irons Bound (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
9. Make You Feel My Love (5/21/98, Los Angeles, California)
Previously released on the “Things Have Changed” maxi-single
10. Can’t Wait (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
11. Mississippi (11/15/01, Washington, D.C.)
12. Highlands (3/24/01, Newcastle, Australia)
Disc Five – Bonus Disc (Previously Released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006)
1. Dreamin’ of You – Tell Tale Signs (10/1/96, Teatro)
2. Red River Shore – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Red River Shore – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/8/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (9/96, Teatro)
5. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 3 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Marchin’ to the City – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Marchin’ to the City – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/6/97, Criteria Studios)
9. Can’t Wait – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (10/1/96, Teatro)
10. Can’t Wait – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Cold Irons Bound – Tell Tale Signs, live (6/11/04, Bonnaroo Music Festival)
12. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – Tell Tale Signs, live (10/5/00, London, England)
OTHER STRANGERS… Interview with Steve Forbertby Bill Elliott
Born in Meridian, Mississippi, in 1955, Steve Forbert grew up in the same town as Jimmie Rodgers, a fact acknowledged on his latest album, Any Old Time, a musical homage to the founding father of country music. But it was the classic retro folkie image of Forbert with acoustic guitar and Dylanesque harmonica rack on the cover of his debut album, Alive On Arrival (1978), which first grabbed the public imagination. The following year’s Jackrabbit Slim album proved a commercial breakthrough, its tuneful single, Romeo’s Tune, charting on both sides of the Atlantic. A heavy touring schedule followed, including appearances in the UK, but subsequent albums failed to replicate his early chart success. Instead, Forbert carved out a career as one of the most respected American singer-songwriters of the last quarter-century, teaming up with the E Street Band’s Gary Tallent and others for a series of richly detailed and lyrically complex albums charting the intricacies of the American psyche.
Steve, early images can be both a help and a hindrance to an artist. To dispense with the most cliched and possibly most annoying journalistic question first, how soon did you become tired of the “new Dylan” tag? And was it any consolation that John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III and even Steve Goodman shouldered the same burden?
John Prine, Loudon Wainwright, Steve Goodman, BRUCE Springsteen, myself, a guy named Sammy Walker, Andy White in the UK; the list went on and on. By the time I was tagged with it, the term had become clearly a press cliché. It was, nevertheless, a nuisance, and, yes, I guess there was some consolation in the fact that I was in good company. Was Elliot Murphy also on the list?
What was your first experience of Dylan’s music, in terms of a particular song or album? Were his albums easily available in Meridian, Mississippi?
I heard the smash hitLike A Rolling Stoneon the radio and bought it along with lots of other hit 45s of the mid ’60s. A few years later, becoming an avid reader of the rock press, I saw that I needed to find out what all this Bob Dylan ‘voice of a generation’ business was about. I started withTHE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’. It’s still a special LP to me.With God On Our Sidewas a revelation.Hattie Carrollsaid a helluvah lot.Hollis Brownwas ‘a picture from life’s other side’. And I remain extremely impressed byNorth Country Blues. (Imagine sitting in Mississippi listening toOnly A Pawn In Their Game.). I guess this would’ve been 1970 becauseNEW MORNINGwas the first Dylan album I bought upon its initial release. (I’m pretty partial to it, too.)
Have you ever met Dylan? If so, what were the circ*mstances and your impressions of the man?
I met Mr Bob Dylan at the Lone Star Café in NYC that night he sangBlues Stay Away From Mewith Rick and Levon. I’d sent him a copy of the Jimmie Rodgers biography and asked him if he’d received it. Later, in 1988, I opened four of the initial Never-Ending-Tour shows. I spoke with him then, but we were interrupted by a person working with me at the time. Mr Dylan seemed very nice.
In terms of the development of your songwriting style, how has Dylan’s work shaped, influenced or fed into your own songs – for good or ill?
I think in whatever way his style influenced me, it was for the good. He continues to influence anybody paying close attention in our culture and no doubt anyone with an interest in seriously writing song lyrics. Look, he’s the best and being influenced by him means gaining an increased awareness of the many possibilities.
Dylan has often appeared to be chameleon-like in the course of his long career, shedding the early Woody Guthrie jukebox folkie image for hipster rock ‘n’ roll poet and acid seer, before his post-accident transformation into a country gentleman, not to mention his late 70s Born Again phase? Are you drawn to any particular Dylan incarnation, or do you simply accept the man in his variousness?
The chameleon thing, as long as it intensely lasted, was and is intriguing. It’s added a lot to Robert Zimmerman’s charismatic ‘Bob Dylan’ creation. But for me the key issue is the material, so I just have particularly favorite songs throughout the decades, not a favorite Dylan incarnation. By the way, in the chameleon sense, David Bowie was the real ‘New Bob Dylan’.
What is your opinion of the later Dylan, particularlyTime Out Of Mindand“Love And Theft”? Do you value the so-called Never Ending Tour?
I’ll try to be brief . . . It seems to me that Bob Dylan forced himself to ‘wear a hair shirt’, if you will, after his disappointing/confusing output of the ’80s. If it meant releasing no new original material, or reinterpreting traditional folk songs, or touring incessantly, or God knows what else privately, then that’s the discipline he set for himself. He managed to make his way through this regimen and got to wherever it was psychically/emotionally/spiritually that he needed to get to in order to produce the first-rate material on these two CDs. None of his ‘peers’ could do it. Several of them may be excellent (and more consistently satisfying) live performers, but they can’t seem to write any songs that still cut to the bone and allow us a 3D sense of some of their real inner struggle at this (their later-middle-aged) stage of life. All things considered,TIME OUT OF MINDand“Love And Theft”are awesome.
To be honest,TIME OUT OF MINDstruck me at first as being too unduly bleak. (“I thought some of ’em were friends of mine, I was wrong about ’em all.” “My eyes feel like they’re fallin’ off my face.” “nothin’ but clouds of blood.” “And even if the flesh falls off my face.”) It seemed like the world-weariness of, say, an eighty-year-old artist instead of a sixty. After more listening, though, I accepted the emotional state and changed my mind. As far as the shows go, I mainly say, ‘whatever.’ I saw an excellent one here in Nashville a few years ago (Bob and band were joined by Marty Stuart for the entire show) and I’ve also seen some disappointing ones. Maybe you’d think most of the shows this month are awful or maybe you’d think several of them are great. Enjoying the show is, of course, a subjective/relative thing.. As we all know, the shows are usually sold out. People who don’t know any better think they’ve seen a wonderful show or are just happy to be able to say they saw the legend in person and people who do know any better don’t have to keep coming back.
I say what difference does ultra-informed, critical opinion of the shows really make if he manages, through this personal modus operandi, to create CDs that are the quality ofTIME OUT OF MINDand“Love And Theft”? Down through whatever ages the world has left, it’s the albums (especially the best ones) that will matter most regarding the artist known as Bob Dylan.
]]>Bob Dylan’s First 60 Years as a Columbia Recording Artist to be Celebrated with New “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022” Video and Interactive Augmented Reality Filter
Dylan60 Microsite Launching Today
To commemorate Bob Dylan’s 60th Anniversary as a recording artist of immeasurable musical and cultural impact, a new music video, “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022,”—featuring a kinetic collage of visuals by a diverse array of artists inspired by the original video’s lyric cue cards—is launching today. Release of the video was announced by Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings (SME’s catalog division), all of whom are also revealing, an Augmented Reality filter that provides a POV interactive experience featuring Dylan’s iconic Ray-Ban Wayfarers.
Developed by the independent creative agency Intro, and Sony Music’s Josh Cheuse, the new “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022” clip pays homage to the iconic opening sequence of D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back (the game-changing cinéma vérité documentary chronicling Dylan’s 1965 UK tour) with new lyric/cue card visuals created by contemporary artists, filmmakers, musicians and graphic designers. The handwritten cue cards in Pennebaker’s original clip–featuring selected words and phrases from the song seasoned with deliberate misspellings, puns and ‘hidden’ jokes–have been visually reinterpreted and redesigned for the new short film by Julian House, Patti Smith, Zep, Cey Adams, Francis Cabrel, Wim Wenders, Anthony Burrill, Naoki Urasawa, Michael Joo, John Squire, Azazel Jacobs, Bruce Springsteen, Futura, Noel Fielding, Jim Jarmusch, Bobby Gillespie, Paris Redux, Wolfgang Niedecken, Jun Miura, Kate Gibb, Jonathan Barnbrook, Dave Shrigley, and Eric Haze.
Dylan60 Microsite: HERE
As a companion to “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022,” fans may experience an Augmented Reality lens filter, on Instagram and Snapchat, that allows users to try on a virtual pair of Dylan’s iconic Ray Ban sunglasses while a select 10-second loop of the new “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022” video plays in the lenses.
The new “Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022” music film and AR lens filter may be found on the new Dylan60 microsite, which also includes both the original and the newly-designed lyric/cue cards (with artist attribution for the new images) and the classic original clip starring Bob Dylan (with background cameo appearances by Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth).
The lead track and first single from 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home (Dylan’s fifth studio album for Columbia), “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was one of the artist’s first releases to showcase his new electric sound and became the first Dylan record to break into the US Top 40. A groundbreaking highly influential record, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” has been cited as a precursor to rap while the song’s video clip–featuring Dylan staring into the camera while throwing out lyric/cue cards–is widely acknowledged as one of the cornerstones of music video history.
The Bob Dylan Center is scheduled to open in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 10, 2022. Designed by Olson Kundig, the Bob Dylan Center will house and exhibit more than 100,000 exclusive cultural treasures created and owned by Bob Dylan over seven decades. These include handwritten lyric manuscripts to some of the world’s most treasured songs, previously unreleased recordings, never-before-seen film performances, rare and unseen photographs, visual art and other priceless items spanning Dylan’s unparalleled career as one of the world’s most important cultural figures.
]]>Announcing The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan’s unique reflection on the ideas and philosophy contained in modern popular song. This is the Nobel Prize laureate’s first book of new writing since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One. Learn more and order your copy today.
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