Bob Dylan

It’s Not Dark Yet – Happy 81 To Living Songwriter Icon BOB DYLAN

Posted on by JL

24 May 2022

Robert Zimmernan was born on 24 May 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota.
Happy 81 to my all-time favorite singer-songwriter.

To mark the day here’s one of the most
affecting songs about getting older,
written by the man himself.

NOT DARK YET
.
Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day
It’s too hot to sleep, time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal
There’s not even room enough to be anywhere
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writing what was in her mind
I just don’t see why I should even care
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Well, I’ve been to London and I’ve been to gay Paree
I’ve followed the river and I got to the sea
I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies
I ain’t looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes
Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

I was born here and I’ll die here against my will
I know it looks like I’m moving, but I’m standing still
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

The Never Ever Ever Ever Ending BOB DYLAN Tour

Posted on by JL

18 April 2022

.

My all-time favorite singer/songwriter BOB DYLAN
started his never-ending tour about 50 years ago.
And at the age of 80, he isn’t done yet.

North America dates

28 May 2022 – Spokane, Washington, First Interstate Center for the Arts

29 May 2022 – Kennewick, Washington, Toyota Center

31 May 2022 – Portland, Oregon, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

1 June 2022 – Seattle, Washington,Paramount Theatre

2 June 2022 – Seattle, Washington,Paramount Theatre

5 June 2022 – Eugene, Oregon, Hult Performing Arts Center

7 June 2022 – Redding, Californa, Redding Civic Auditorium

9 June 2022 – Oakland, California, Fox Theater

10 June 2022 Oakland, California,,Fox Theater

11 June 2022 – Oakland, California,Fox Theater

14 Jun 2022 – Los Angeles, California,Pantages Theatre

15 Jun 2022 – Los Angeles, California, Pantages Theatre

16 Jun 2022 – Los Angeles, California, Pantages Theatre

18 Jun 2022 – San Diego, California, San Diego Civic Theatre

Ticket info here / More dates to come (of course)

Here’s Dylan’s epic 17-minute story Murder Most Foul (from
his 2020 album ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways) about the assassination
of President JFK in Dallas on 22 November 1963.

BOB DYLAN: Facebook – Sporify

BOB DYLAN – The Noble Prize Winner’s New Book ‘THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG’ Comes In November

Posted on by JL

2 April 2022

New book: THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG

Author: BOB DYLAN – It’s the Nobel Prize laureate’s
first new book since 2004’s Chronicles: Volume One.

Out: 8 November 2022 – Order info here.

Content: Dylan’s unique reflection on the ideas and philosophy contained in modern
popular song. He began working on the book in 2010, offers a master class on the art
and craft of songwriting. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists,
spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank
Williams to Nina Simone.

He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny.

And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on
the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos
as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work’s transcendence.

BOB DYLAN: Website

Now Playing… Debut Album BOB DYLAN – Released 60 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

20 March 2022

My all-time favorite singer-songwriter BOB DYLAN released his self-titled
debut album 60 years ago (19 March 1962). The start of an unsurpassed
career still going.

AllMusic wrote: “Bob Dylan’s first album is a lot like the debut albums by the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones — a sterling effort, outclassing most, if not all,
of what came before it in the genre, but similarly eclipsed by the artist’s own
subsequent efforts. A significant portion of the record is possessed by the style
and spirit of Woody Guthrie…his album marked the pinnacle of that earlier phase,
before it was overshadowed by this artist’s more ambitious subsequent work.”
Score: 4/5

One of the highlights Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (original by Gary Davis
and Eric Von Schmidt) played here with a full BAND, years later…

Stream the acoustic waterfall of words right here..

.
BOB DYLAN: All Albums


Back sleeve

(Unfortunately) Relevant (Once) Again – MASTERS OF WAR By BOB DYLAN -1963

Posted on by JL

2 March 2022

Seems like the times never changed at all.
The masters of war still rule the world.
To hell with all the power-greedy criminals.

MASTERS OF WAR – 1963

Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you sit back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
While the young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I’ll follow your casket
By the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead

No, when it comes to war, the times didn’t change at all…

BOB DYLAN – Masterpiece Album (One Of Many) ‘BLOOD ON THE TRACKS’ Topped US Charts 47 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

8 February 2022

Artist: BOB DYLAN
Album: BLOOD ON THE TRACKS
His fifteenth and one of his most
memorable longplayers ever.

All Music: “This is hardly nostalgia, this is the sound of an artist returning to his strengths, what feels most familiar, as he accepts a traumatic situation, namely the breakdown of his marriage. This is an album alternately bitter, sorrowful, regretful, and peaceful, easily the closest he ever came to wearing his emotions on his sleeve. That’s not to say that it’s an explicitly confessional record, since many songs are riddles or allegories, yet the warmth
of the music makes it feel that way.” Score: 5/5.

TUTV: It’s simple. Dylan is my all-time favorite singer-songwriter
and this LP is one of my all-time favorite Dylan albums.

Score: The LP topped the US Albums Chart on 8 Feb 1975, 47 years ago today.
Also Number One in Canada, New Zealand and several European countries.
In the UK it peaked at #4

‘Tangled In Blue‘, the only single off the LP…

Album in full…

.
BOB DYLAN: Facebook


Back sleeve

BOB DYLAN Defending Convicted Black Boxer Robert ‘HURRICANE’ Carter 45 Years AGo

Posted on by JL

Top singles from the past

3 January 2022

At the end of 1975 living legend BOB DYLAN released single HURRICANE.
A protest song co-written with Jacques Levy, about the imprisonment of black
boxer Rubin Carter, whose nickname was Hurricane.

“Carter and a man named John Artis had been charged with a triple murder at the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1966. The following year Carter and Artis were found guilty of the murders, which were widely reported as racially motivated. In the years that followed, a substantial amount of controversy emerged over the case, ranging from allegations of faulty evidence and questionable eyewitness testimony to an unfair trial.”

The song entered the US Singles charts this day 45 years ago.
It peaked at #33 and was part of his stellar 1976 album Desire
released on 5 January 1976.

Lyrics video…

Live…

BOB DYLAN: Facebook

Picked By TURN UP THE VOLUME – 10 Ace Albums Turning 25 in 2022

Posted on by JL

13 December 2021

Back to 1997…

Band: RADIOHEAD (UK)
Album: OK COMPUTER

Released: 21 May 1997 – their 3rd LP
Score: No 1 in the UK, Scotland
and Belgium, #21 in the USA

Pitchfork said: “The record is brimming with genuine emotion,
beautiful and complex imagery and music, and lyrics that are
at once passive and fire-breathing. OK Computer is like tossing
David Bowie, old U2, Spacehog and lots of Pink Floyd into a
blender and pushing the ‘kill’ button.” Score: 5/5.

Stream here…

.
RADIOHEAD: Facebook
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Band: THE VERVE (UK)
Album: URBAN HYMNS

Released: 29 September 1997 – 3rd LP
Score: #1 in the UK, Ireland, New-Zealand
and Ireland, #23 in the USA

NME wrote: “Its sheer magnificence and spirit is such that
the danger of it overwhelming anything that follows it is obvious.
This, after all, is the musical signature of the year.” Score: 4/5.

Stream here…

.
THE VERVE: Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Band: SPIRITUALIZED (UK)
Album: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE

Released: 16 June 1997 – 3rd LP
Score: #4 in the UK

Pitchfork: “Masterpiece. The music is timeless.” Score: 5/5.

Stream here…

.
SPIRITUALIZED: Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Band: PRIMAL SCREAM (Scotland/UK)
Album: VANISHING POINT

Released: 7 July 1997
Score: No 2 in the UK and Scotland

AllMusic said: “The group is still capable of creating exotic,
thoroughly entrancing sounds, which is what makes Vanishing
Point a remarkable comeback.” Score: 4.5/5.

Stream here…

.
PRIMAL SCREAM: Facebook

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Band: GRANDADDY (US)
Album: UNDER THE WESTERN FREEWAY – debut LP

AllMusic said: “A fairly brilliant album, combining a warm, earnest,
and rustic feel with sometimes goofy experimentation.” Score: 4/5.

Stream here…

.
GRANDADDY: Facebook
________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. The Boatman’s Call by NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
7. Evergreen by ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
8. Time Out Of Mind by BOB DYLAN
9. ‘Stupid Stupid Stupid’ by BLACK GRAPE
10. ‘Dig Your Own Hole’ by THE CHEMICAL BRORTHERS