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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 5, 2021 1:53:08 GMT
I saw Bob Dylan back in January 1980, at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. This was what people call the gospel tour. All 9 songs from the recently released Slow Train Coming, plus a bunch of songs that would end up on Saved later that year. It was a very moving show, partly because of his commitment to the material, partly because the band was so strong, but also because there were some truly great songs being performed. Bob came back to Seattle that November, with what was billed a retrospective show. About half of the songs were from Slow Train and Saved; the other half were the classics, along with some well chosen covers (I remember Bob and the band doing a great version of the old classic "Fever"). It didn't hurt that we had seats in the third row. Bob and the group were in top form, the sound was great; as far as just being musically great, it was the better of the two shows. Can you imagine the roar that went up from the crowd when, 3 or 4 songs into the show, Bob went into "Like A Rolling Stone"? So yes, it is great to hear the classics performed live. That night, Bob gave us the best of the new - "Solid Rock", "Gotta Serve Somebody", "Senor", "Slow Train" - and the best of the old - "Girl From the North Country", "Forever Young", "Just Like a Woman".
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 11, 2021 21:43:25 GMT
Been checking the setlists for the current tour, and it seems to be the same every night. That's quite a change from the days when he did different songs every night. Again, gotta respect the man's courage for bucking the greatest hits trend.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 11, 2021 23:56:40 GMT
Been checking the setlists for the current tour, and it seems to be the same every night. That's quite a change from the days when he did different songs every night. I wonder if his age has something to do with it, too. I think I read in the review that Kapitan posted above that Dylan was reading off a lyric sheet. It's amazing he made it that long with the lyrics to his songs. And his new album...a lot of lyrics there. So, playing the same songs every night makes it easier on his recall. Sinatra did the same thing in his 80's.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 12, 2021 5:45:04 GMT
Been checking the setlists for the current tour, and it seems to be the same every night. That's quite a change from the days when he did different songs every night. I wonder if his age has something to do with it, too. I think I read in the review that Kapitan posted above that Dylan was reading off a lyric sheet. It's amazing he made it that long with the lyrics to his songs. And his new album...a lot of lyrics there. So, playing the same songs every night makes it easier on his recall. Sinatra did the same thing in his 80's. I'm sure that's part of it. I know my recall for lyrics is not what it used to be - except for songs I learned 20 years ago. I can still sing Like a Rolling Stone, Mr. Tambourine Man, Tangled Up in Blue, Hurricane, and Changing of the Guards all the way through without a lyric prompt. I might be able to get through Idiot Wind. The one time I sang Desolation Row onstage, I had lyrics taped all over the mic stand and the guitar!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 24, 2022 15:34:12 GMT
Yes, it's another one of those album rankings. Eh...not bad. Of course there'll be a few disagreements. For this one, I think Tempest, Rough And Rowdy Ways, Slow Train Comin', and Desire are rated too high.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 24, 2022 20:00:28 GMT
Yes, it's another one of those album rankings. Eh...not bad. Of course there'll be a few disagreements. For this one, I think Tempest, Rough And Rowdy Ways, Slow Train Comin', and Desire are rated too high.
You can't disagree, it's science!
"To determine the best Bob Dylan albums of all time, Stacker analyzed data from Best Ever Albums (last updated March 2021), where overall rank is determined by calculating the aggregate position of each album from more than 38,000 different top albums charts. The 38,000 charts referenced are a blend of publications' charts (e.g. Rolling Stone, New Music Express, Stereogum, The Quietus) and people's personal charts. In theory, the more charts that an album has appeared on and the higher its rank score, the better it will be. Only solo studio albums were considered, meaning no live albums, shared billings, or compilations."
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 24, 2022 21:03:52 GMT
Yes, it's another one of those album rankings. Eh...not bad. Of course there'll be a few disagreements. For this one, I think Tempest, Rough And Rowdy Ways, Slow Train Comin', and Desire are rated too high.
These lists are always just click bait to me. I only made it a few pages in. For starters, there were the comments about Shot of Love, from "Jewish born atheist Bob Dylan"...Bob was never an atheist. He may not have appeared to be a devoutly religious man in the early days, but he was always drawing from the Bible. It's a fun parlor game, but in the end, music wasn't created to be ranked; just listened to, appreciated, and in some cases, something deep in your soul.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 24, 2022 21:14:48 GMT
Yes, it's another one of those album rankings. Eh...not bad. Of course there'll be a few disagreements. For this one, I think Tempest, Rough And Rowdy Ways, Slow Train Comin', and Desire are rated too high.
These lists are always just click bait to me. I only made it a few pages in. For starters, there were the comments about Shot of Love, from "Jewish born atheist Bob Dylan"...Bob was never an atheist. He may not have appeared to be a devoutly religious man in the early days, but he was always drawing from the Bible. It's a fun parlor game, but in the end, music wasn't created to be ranked; just listened to, appreciated, and in some cases, something deep in your soul. Yeah, there is no question about Dylan's spirituality. He seems to have wandered in and out of both Jewish and Christian orthodoxy (I don't mean the specific sect/denominations called Orthodox, I just mean the roughly mainstream, formal practices) at times, but through it all he has always been both heavily influenced lyrically and I think in his life generally by both the Bible itself and just a quest for divinity/God.
And I agree about the ratings game, too. It's fun, and I can't resist, either ... but it's really silly to do.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 29, 2022 20:43:51 GMT
Yes, it's another one of those album rankings.
Here is their ranking: 1 Highway 61 Revisited 2 Blonde on Blonde 3 Blood on the Tracks 4 Bringing It All Back Home 5 The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 6 Desire 7 The Times They Are A-Changin' 8 Time Out Of Mind 9 Nashville Skyline 10 John Wesley Harding 11 Love & Theft 12 Another Side of Bob Dylan 13 Oh Mercy 14 Modern Times 15 Street Legal 16 Slow Train Coming 17 Bob Dylan 18 Rough and Rowdy Ways 19 Tempest 20 Infidels 21 Planet Waves 22 New Morning 23 Together Through Life 24 Shot of Love 25 Self Portrait
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Post by B.E. on Jan 29, 2022 21:17:59 GMT
Eh...not bad. Of course there'll be a few disagreements. For this one, I think Tempest, Rough And Rowdy Ways, Slow Train Comin', and Desire are rated too high. First, I'd swap Blonde on Blonde and Another Side of Bob Dylan. Then I'd drop Nashville Skyline and Time Out Of Mind about 10 spots, and bump up Planet Waves and New Morning. Then I'd remove a lot of the later stuff entirely: Oh Mercy, Modern Times, Together Through Life, Tempest, and Rough and Rowdy Ways. I'll take his live albums, Before the Flood and Hard Rain, over those. Saved and Under the Red Sky, too. I'd also consider Dylan, Empire Burlesque, Down in the Groove, and his '90s acoustic albums, for that final spot or two.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 31, 2022 4:33:23 GMT
For what it's worth, my toppermost of the Dylanmost is Oh Mercy, Blood on the Tracks, Shot of Love, Desire, Street Legal, Nashville Skyline, Time Out of Mind, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, and Slow Train Coming.
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Post by Kapitan on May 24, 2022 16:38:16 GMT
Today is the Bard's 81st birthday, so here's to Bob Dylan, the rare rock and roll artist who was able to keep going into his later years with a certain amount of dignity.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 25, 2022 0:53:52 GMT
Yes, Happy 81st Birthday to Bob Dylan! At 6:00 PM tonight I was listening to an FM radio station that was saluting Bob on his birthday. The first song they played was "Tangled Up In Blue" and it sounded so great to hear again on the radio. I remember when Blood On The Tracks came out in 1975 and a local FM radio station played "Tangled Up In Blue" over and over. They were so happy to have Dylan back, back on the radio, back to making great songs, back to making great albums.
The second song played tonight stunned me, not because I don't like it - I love it - but because it is so obscure. "Lily Of The West" is the song, from the 1973 album, Dylan. What a rollicking, cowboy/western, atmospheric song, rockin' song. Recorded June 3, 1970 at Columbia Studios in New York City with Bob Dylan (guitar, harmonica, and piano), Charlie Daniels (bass), David Bromberg (guitar, dobro), Ron Cornelius (guitar), Al Kooper (organ), and Russ Kunkel (drums). For those not familiar with the song:
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Post by lonelysummer on May 25, 2022 1:26:38 GMT
Lily of the West. Probably the best track on that collection of outtakes. A Fool Such As I rocks pretty good, and Spanish is the Loving Tongue is nice - but the best version of that song was the b-side of Watching the River Flow.
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Post by Kapitan on May 25, 2022 15:46:45 GMT
About a month back I'd posted that T-Bone Burnett developed a new analogue recording medium that was intended to create one-of-a-kind objects serving both as art and music medium.
Well, Bob Dylan has recorded "Blowin' in the Wind" as the first such "Ionic Original" (which is "one-of-a-kind aluminum discs painted with lacquer featuring “a spiral etched into it by music.”"). It will be sold at auction by Christie's, and is expected to bring in as much as a million pounds.
That is an expensive single...
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