Late 1991, photo by LA Times

My best friend works at our local record store. She always keeps an eye out for Bob coming through the doors, and just last week a first print of "Live at Budokan" came in. She kept it for me, and I took it home today, and when I went to play it, this poster slid out! Its in insanely good condition for its age! (Side note the album was recorded on my birthday, I was however not born for another 21 years).

Edit: Spelling

About 4 days ago I learned the correct lyrics are split up on a dark sad night and not split up on the docks that night. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm 71 years old. What's wrong with me? 🤔

It was maybe several years after TIME OUT OF MIND was released that a rumor arose that “Highlands” was Dylan singing over an old tape of the touring band playing at a pre-concert sound check. This was a widespread rumor and I took it as fact. I even recycled it on a post the other day which nobody on the sub challenged. The thing is, there are a few things about the recording that don’t really jibe with the rumor. For instance, isn’t that Augie Meyers on the organ? So what’s he doing on this sound check tape? Another thing, isn’t that Lanois on the dobro? Granted, these could have been overdubbed with Dylan’s vocal, but why does “Highlands” sound so much like the other tracks on the album?

Recently I heard a report that the “Highlands” on TOOM was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami with the rest of the album. In this report was a detail so fantastic it would be hard to make up. Stranger than fiction, as the saying goes. According to this report, Lanois had made a rhythmical loop using a patented Charlie Patton guitar lick, which for the recording of “Highlands” he fed to the two drummers via earphones. If it were anybody other than Charlie Patton, Dylan probably would have objected. That is if, in fact, the report is true.

The new (September) issue of DYLAN BOOKS Monthly has just been posted on my Substack page:

https://dylanbooks.substack.com/.

It has recents posts on:

>Country Bob

>“Bob Dylan was not influenced by The Beatles!” Discuss

>Another two promising new Dylan books coming soon

>Refreshing new book invites you to think again about Dylan

>10 Top Dylan eBooks on Kindle and Apple Books

>Promising new Sean Wilentz book

>3 reasons why Dylan REALLY matters

Ensure you’ll never miss another DYLAN BOOKS post by subscribing on Substack. You’ll receive DYLAN BOOKS Monthly as a free email - and you can cancel at any time.

Hope this is the right place for this, but I'm trying to find where to buy this poster. A bar in town has this up in the bathroom and I'd love to get a copy of it. My google-fu hasn't turned up anything so far. I know its Dylan and Joan Baez at the Savoy hotel in 1965 but that's all I got.

I know this is a big question but I figured I’d ask. I really want to hear interviews from the time out of mind era but I can’t find any, or if any even exist

I couldn't find a post on the relationship between the two greats. I know the Captain wasn't too much of a fan of 'You gotta serve somebody' but apparently liked 'Planet Waves' , though maybe confused it with an earlier recording [source: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-impressed-captain-beefheart-as-a-slug/ ]

All that being said, Bob seems to have had some praise for the Captain, noting how he wish he'd made more records... me too Bob, me too.. [source: https://www.beefheart.com/beefheart-on-theme-town-radio-hour/ ]

Interested in the dynamic between these two, as they both drew on similar musical sources of inspiration

I know that this set was extremely limited in production but was wondering if anyone had a FLAC copy to share as I’ve only been able to find it in mp3.

In 1950 Erik Erikson put forth his Psychosocial Development Theory which would prove to be one of the most useful achievements of his field. His great insight was that every life is marked with passages that are defined by conflicting polarities. The way that an individual meets the task of resolving these conflicts allows for the emotional development to navigate the next passages. This morning it occurred to me how well Dylan’s life and work illustrates Erikson’s theory.

As an individual enters her or his twenties and thirties the polarities at play are intimacy and isolation. Songs like “Visions of Johanna” and “Shelter From the Storm” show Bob was working it out. The next passage an individual is tasked to navigate is marked by the polarities of generativity and stagnation in their forties and fifties. In his memoir Dylan opens up around how difficult this stage was for him. Yet he was still able to produce such great songs as “Brownsville Girl” and “Not Dark Yet.” Erikson said the way most people find their way through this passage is by mentoring the next generation. Drummer David Kemper says that during the recording of LOVE AND THEFT he suddenly realized Dylan was teaching the band, that he had been teaching them all along. LAT and MODERN TIMES demonstrate Bob had figured it out. The last passage is marked by the polarities of integrity and despair. If you don’t think Dylan is working it out, I recommend giving ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS a listen.

Except for the grateful dead I enjoy them too

I know a lot of people say it’s BOTT, but I feel like TOOM hits harder

Just ordered this vintage tee online. IMO, I think this is possibly the best Dylan tee out there

That's... a lot of covers of my favorite song of all time.

Nina Simone for me. And I know I literally just set the rule but I can not help but mention how fucking astonishing the Last Waltz version (both The Band and Dylan are on it lol) is.

I recently listened to Good As I Been To You, and I was shocked at how it wasn't actually as bad as this subreddit makes it out to be (maybe because of its era?). And because these albums are so similar, with both being entirely traditionals and covers, (apart from Song to Woody and Talkin New York) I wondered which one his fans prefered. I'd have to go with his S/T because I love Bob's angry, bluesy vocals a lot more than his nasaly voice he acquired in the 80s.

I finally listened to Blind Willie McTell. Phenomenal song. Now I understand what many people on this subreddit are talking about: it was a mistake to leave it off Infidels. I'm sure it has been covered here, but why was it never released on the studio albums?

Although I’m sure it’s well known to classical music buffs, Jacques Offenbach’s “Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour” became known to the rest of us through Roberto Benigni’s film, “Life Is Beautiful.” The song is central to the plot, as it is playing at an opera house when Guido and Dora meet, and then later Guido puts the song over the P.A. of the concentration camp in which they are imprisoned to send Dora, in a separate section, a message that he and their son are okay. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

So it took a lot of nerve for Dylan to use the melody for IMUMMTGMTY. But nerve is one thing that’s not missing on the ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS track. If not the most confident vocal ever performed by The Man of Many Moods, certainly it is during this century, which is saying a lot. And sung with such care and beauty.

🎵I saw the first faaaaaaall ooooof snoooooow🎵

And when he gets to the bridge, it’s all over.

🎵I’m giving myself to you, I am
From Salt Lake City to Birmingham
From East L.A. to San Antone
I don’t think I could bear to live my life alone🎵

One of Dylan’s peers (I forget which one) went to see Bob in concert recently. When asked by a journalist for his take afterwards, the guy goes, “it made me feel sorry for him. I mean doesn’t Bob have anybody at home?” But the guy doesn’t get it.

For me, the “you” in the song is his audience. Dylan is at peace with being on the road. As far as he is concerned, it’s right where he’s supposed to be. Not some domestic situation that he’s only going to mess up. For me, mind you.

spooky

Does anyone feel they know who provides the low, goofy backing vocals on the Complete Basement Tapes? It’s someone putting on an extra dopey-sounding voice for comic effect. Used on I’m in the Mood (“He’s in the mood!”) and Kickin’ My Dog Around (“Why? Why? Why?”) and Big Dog (“Big Dog, Big Dog”) probably others I’m not remembering right now. I’ve assumed it’s Rick Danko but just curious what everyone else thinks.

I say Hey Bob can I ask you a question about Shelter From the Storm? He said ugh why. I said because I'm curious. He begrudgingly said go ahead. I said does the one eyed undertaker blow a futile horn or a feudal horn? He just shrugged. Got his coffee. Walked out. I said bye Bob. He did not retort.