A Complete Unknown — the 2024 film about the life and music of Bob Dylan between the years 1961 and 1965 starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro — was not made for me, at least not for people like me. Biographical films about musicians, also known as music biopics, are notContinue reading “Some Thoughts on A Complete Unknown”
Category Archives: Bob Dylan
Allen Ginsberg & Bob Dylan Ride the “Vomit Express”
In November 1971, Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan entered the Record Plant recording studio in New York City to record adaptations of Ginsberg’s own poetry, arrangements of poems by William Blake, and a few Ginsberg-Dylan original songs. The resulting recordings are rough and ragged. However, the most successful work is “Vomit Express,” which constitutes aContinue reading “Allen Ginsberg & Bob Dylan Ride the “Vomit Express””
The Guy on the Cover of Bob Dylan’s Under the Red Sky
Let’s pretend that the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1990 album Under the Red Sky doesn’t depict one of the most recognizable musicians of the last 50 years. What is being presented in this black and white photograph? The setting is the Mojave Desert, probably near Palm Springs. But it has the feel of any ofContinue reading “The Guy on the Cover of Bob Dylan’s Under the Red Sky”
Bob Dylan in Asheville, NC – March 21, 2024
I unexpectedly attended Bob Dylan’s performance at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in my hometown of Asheville, NC last night. I am fortunate to be covering the 2024 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN this coming weekend (watch this space for my day-after reviews), so did not think that I would have the opportunity to take inContinue reading “Bob Dylan in Asheville, NC – March 21, 2024”
Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concertwas recently released, documenting Cat Power’s take on the now infamous recording of Bob Dylan’s performance at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on May 17, 1966, which was mistakenly attributed to his performance at the Royal Albert Hall nine days later. As all Dylan obsessives know,Continue reading “Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock”
Recitations on Waitresses & Art Within Terry Allen’s “The Beautiful Waitress” and Bob Dylan’s “Highlands”
In a 2011 interview to accompany a catalog on his latest group of paintings, Bob Dylan was asked by curator and art critic John Elderfield if he kept up with contemporary art. He replied: “I don’t follow it that much. Owen Smith, Terry Allen, I like their work. I think miniature golf courses are greatContinue reading “Recitations on Waitresses & Art Within Terry Allen’s “The Beautiful Waitress” and Bob Dylan’s “Highlands””
Desolation Row
In 1963, the director Federico Fellini released his film 8 ½ with the following scene opening the movie: The scene depicts a man feeling a panic attack come over him during a traffic jam in the inner city. Smoke or steam pours into his car. He struggles to leave the car while faces from theContinue reading “Desolation Row”
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
The legend of The Basement Tapes is that Bob Dylan and The Band woodshedded in Woodstock, NY, making music and writing songs during the summer and fall of 1967 away from the rest of the world. At the time, Dylan was 26 years old and the father of three, including his adopted five-year old daughterContinue reading “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
In an interview for Spin in December 1985, Bob Dylan said the following about the act of songwriting: “The best songs are the songs you write that you don’t know anything about. They’re an escape. I don’t do too much of that because maybe it’s more important to deal with what’s happening rather than toContinue reading “Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)”
When I Paint My Masterpiece
The crime novelist James Ellroy, who is known for giant and intricate novels such as L.A. Confidential and American Tabloid, opens his public appearances book readings with a hyperbolic self introduction. Here’s one version: “Good evening peepers, prowlers, pederasts, panty-sniffers, punks and pimps. I’m James Ellroy, the demon dog with the hog-log, the foul owlContinue reading “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
Recliner Notes 