Red River Shore

The 1997 album Time Out of Mind was considered a comeback for Bob Dylan, receiving critical praise on the album’s release, which had not been a regular occurrence for Dylan to that point. The album even won multiple Grammys, including Album of the Year. Yet recording the album was not without its disagreements with producerContinue reading “Red River Shore”

Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

In the days after my wife and I told our friends that we were expecting our first child, a friend handed me an article torn out of GQ or Esquire with examples of music that parents can play for their kids that won’t turn the parents’ stomach. Included on the list was Bob Dylan’s TheContinue reading “Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)”

Pressing On

On November 17, 1978, Bob Dylan was performing in San Diego at the San Diego Sports Arena. He recalled an incident that happened onstage: “Towards the end of the show someone out in the crowd … knew I wasn’t feeling too well. I think they could see that. And they threw a silver cross onContinue reading “Pressing On”

Positively Van Gogh

Music collecting takes on many forms. For some, the collecting attraction is about the physical object itself; to be the only one or one of a select few to obtain a copy of a certain record. Collectors can focus on a certain type of recorded format, such as the search for old-time 78s as documentedContinue reading “Positively Van Gogh”

Patty’s Gone to Laredo

Because of Bob Dylan’s prolific songwriting talents, one of the biggest draws for Dylan obsessives is that there are always songs to be discovered. Like Coronado seeking the lost cities of gold, the completists are always on the search for an undiscovered Dylan song. With the ongoing success of Dylan’s Bootleg Series and the regularContinue reading “Patty’s Gone to Laredo”

Outlaw Blues

In 2017, Bob Dylan was interviewed by Bill Flanagan to promote Triplicate, Dylan’s third consecutive album of standards. In the interview, he talked about the music before rock ‘n roll and how thinking back on that time informed the making of Triplicate. But rock ‘n roll changed him as he described that moment in theContinue reading “Outlaw Blues”

One Too Many Mornings

“One Too Many Mornings” is a song that Bob Dylan has returned to again and again over the years, in a variety of situations with many different performers, always changing the delivery of the song to reflect the setting and milieu. Dylan’s original recording of the song was from October 24, 1963: Released on TheContinue reading “One Too Many Mornings”

One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

The established narrative around the making of Blonde on Blonde is that in early 1966, Bob Dylan was dissatisfied with the music he was recording in New York City, and so, with the urging of his producer Bob Johnston, shifted operations to Nashville where the bulk of the album was recorded with the so-called NashvilleContinue reading “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”

One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)

During the last days of the month of May, gypsies from across Europe make a pilgrimage to the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in Southern France and gather to celebrate what is known as the Roma Festival to worship their patron saint, Saint Sara, otherwise known as the Black Sara or Sara the Black. Legend has itContinue reading “One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)”

Mr. Tambourine Man

Bob Dylan recorded “Mr. Tambourine Man” in January 1965 as the first track on the acoustic side of Bringing It All Back Home, which was released in March 1965. By all accounts, Dylan had written the song a year previously in the first months of 1964 until it was recorded during the Another Side ofContinue reading “Mr. Tambourine Man”