Monday, February 18, 2019

Bob Dylan: Fort Collins Stadium Radio Broadcast, Colorado, May 23rd 1976

A 2017 limited release vinyl for the EU market, the Fort Collins Stadium Radio Broadcast, features material left off Hard Rain live album 1976, as well some extra tracks from the concert. The penultimate show of the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue, it was taped for a TV special that aired September 14, 1976 on NBC to disappointing ratings. The album was released on the same day, except four of the tracks from a concert at Fort Worth performed a week before. Although the limited release does contain the full concert, all the material is from that particular show.

Side A

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna-Fall
Blowin' in the Wind
Railroad Boy
Deportee
I Pity the Poor Immigrant 

All five of these tracks did not appear on the original release. Joan Baez contributes background lyrics, all of which have a political bent. A plodding version of "Hard Rain" hints at the exhaustion setting in on the tour, this was actually the closing number. An acoustic version of "Blowin' in the Wind" follows. "Railroad Boy" tells a tragic love story, a song usually credited to Baez. "Deportee" was a Woody Guthrie song dealing with the use of Mexicans for hard labor by wealthy Americans. Here's a verse

Some of us are illega, and others not wanted
Our work contract's out and we have to move on
But it's six hundred miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.


"I Pity the Poor Immigrant" from John Wesley Harding is given a more upbeat arrangement

Side B

Shelter From the Storm
Maggie's Farm
One Too Many Mornings
Mozambique
Idiot Wind

With the exception of "Mozambique" all these tracks appeared on the 1976 Hard Rain release. "Shelter From The Storm" is a far cry from the Blood on the Tracks version, here Dylan is full of anger, hope, and desperation. "Maggie's Farm" features some ferocious guitars. "One Too Many Mornings" is a reworked into a soulful rock ballad accompanied by Scarlet Rivera's violin. "Mozambique" is played at a Ramones style pace. "Idiot Wind" borders on emotionally draining, perhaps the purest expression of that song.

Most critics agreed the excitement of the fall '75 tour had collapsed into excess and backstage drama for the '76 tour. After one last performance in Salt Lake City, Dylan would take a 21 month hiatus from touring. 




Saturday, February 16, 2019

Bob Dylan: The New York Tapes


A limited release from 2015, Bob Dylan: The New York Tapes features some of Dylan's earliest studio recordings as well as his first single for Columbia, "Mixed Up Confusion." Many of these tracks would appear in a more polished form on the debut record Bob Dylan, while others are rare outtakes, including some radio performances from the early 1960s.

Side A

Smokestack Lightening - A blues traditional made famous by Howlin' Wolf.

You're No Good - Another blues recording, would be the first track on the first album.

Roll On, John - Not the tribute to John Lennon that appeared on Tempest, but another blues number.

Talkin' New York - One of Dylan's first originals that's appeared on many releases.

Hard Travelin' - Sounds rough, but features a passionate vocal.

HIghway 51 - The guitar riff sounds like a primordial version of "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"

Standing on the Highway - A rushed and fragmented Guthrie pastiche. 

Side B

House of the Rising Sun - A favorite from the early days that according to Dave Von Ronk Dylan stole from his repertoire, but the Animals would record the definitive rock version.
Dylan's rough vocals are almost in the grunge style made popular in the 1990s.

Mixed Up Confusion - The first single that features guitar, bass, and drum that never quite took off upon release. Still a fun record with Dylan making an early attempt to stretch his sound.

The Death of Emmett Till - Performed on a radio show, the song's power grows with each verse.

Man of Constant Sorrow - Another standout from the debut record, very much in the Woody Guthrie tradition.

Corrina, Corrina - A bit looser than than the official release on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, always an underrated song.

Song to Woody - Maybe Bob's first great song about saying goodbye his idol and going his own way.

All in all, The New York Tapes presents a vivid portrait of early Dylan emerging as a songwriter and performer. 






Thursday, February 14, 2019

Bonus Post: Bob Dylan in the 80s Volume One

Release Date: March 25, 2014
In 2014 ATO records unveiled a collection of Bob Dylan songs from the 1980s featuring reinterpretations by an assortment of Indie Rock artists. Novelist Jonathan Lethem contributed the liner notes. As Lethem explains, Dylan was a sort of "bad companion" to his fans during the 1980s, as each album left even his most ardent admirers with varying degrees of disappointment. The project was made with the intention of sparking some discussion on Dylan's work during this period.

The decade began with Dylan recording religious music. The born again fervor of Saved (1980) faded into more upbeat Shot of Love (1981). Infidels in 1983 signaled a renewed interest in Judaism and world events. At the same time Infidels became known for what did not appear on it like "Blind WIllie McTell" and "Foot of Pride." Dylan shed his born again image for good with a triumphant appearance on Late Night With David Letterman backed by the L.A. punk band The Plugz. In 1985 Dylan took part in the iconic "We Are the World" session and recorded the excessive Empire Burlesque. He toured with The Grateful Dead and Tom Petty, yet many were wondering if Dylan had much left in the tank after two unremarkable records of mostly covers, Knocked Out Loaded (1986) and Down in the Groove (1988) both flopped with critics. Then Oh Mercy arrived in 1989 to high acclaim, featuring some of Dylan's strongest material in years. So the 1980s were wild ride of different personas combined with the uncomfortable reality of becoming an elder statesman of rock.

The collection begins with "Got My Mind Made Up" from Knocked Out Loaded. Langhorne Slim took a blue grass approach with a primal vocal performance. Built to Spill gave "Jokerman" a post punk treatment that enhances the song's fantastical imagery. Reggie Watts does a complete reworking of "Brownsville Girl" into a Reggae beat box hymn. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady offers a playfully rocking version of "Sweetheart Like You" and even changes the lyrics.

Ivan and Alyosha bring a modern folk sound to "You Changed My Life", an outtake from Shot of Love. A rarity from Dylan's 1987 film Hearts of Fire "Night After Night" gets a 60s pop overhaul from Deertick. "Dark Eyes", the sadly beautiful closing track on Empire Burlesque is wonderfully recreated by Bonnie Prince Charlie with a stirring vocal from Dawn Landes, totally changing the impact of the song. "Waiting to Get Beat", an obscure outtake from Empire, gets a makeover from San Francisco jam band Tea Leaf Green.

Not all the songs are from the 80s, two from Dylan's 1990 LP Under the Red Sky also appear. "Wiggle, Wiggle" with Aaron Freeman and featuring Slash on guitar (who also played on the original) is a tad slight. Blitzen Trapper provide a lo-fi version of "Unbelievable." Singer-Songwriter Elvis Perkins added a fairly standard rendition of "Congratulations" Bob wrote for the Traveling Wilbury's. An instrumental version of "Every Grain of Sand" by Marco Benevento speaks to the song's sense of peace and renewal. Hannah Cohen delivers a dreamy vocal of "Covenant Woman" and Glen Hansard performs a soulful version of "Pressing On."

"Series of Dreams" performed by The Yellowbirds sounds close to Dylan's own version, a tough one to cover since its one his most modern sounding tracks. One of the most inspired moments comes from Lucius in their rousing version of "When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky," reimagined as a New Wave epic of melodic jangle rock. Appropriately, the collection concludes with "Death is Not The End" from Carl Broemel (former member of My Morning Jacket) played as a gentle folk ballad.

Bob Dylan in the 80s is a worthy collection of eclectic interpretations of some of Dylan's lesser discussed work. By now it's passe to claim the decade was a lost one for him. These songs hold up and are amenable to a new generation of artists taking inspiration from their inspiring and sometimes strange power. The spiritual songs sound more secular and the secular ones seem more spiritual. A worthy project, Bob Dylan in the 80s will allow any fan to look at decade in a new light.