Bob Dylan Thread

[P.J.]

Yeah, "'Cross the Green Mountain" is on my playlist a lot these days.

Dylan Convert Playlist:
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Workingman's Blues #2
- Forever Young
- Mississippi
- You're a Big Girl Now
- Most of the Time
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Can I extend this to 'quadrilogy' (Time Out of Mind) and throw in the 'Things Have Changed' single too? Thanks.

I know that Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft/Modern Times was suppose to be Dylan's new trilogy like Bringing it All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde on Blonde but I feel that Time Out of Mind, although a masterpiece in its own right, has a different production to the other two... and am guessing the new album.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Dylan Convert Playlist:
- Most of the Time

Another great one; hard to believe it's 20 years old already. I like both the Oh Mercy version and the Tell Tale Sign version; almost like two different songs.

[Luther]

I really can't enjoy Oh Mercy at all, even though I think its songs are pretty good. Another reason I like Telltale Signs, I guess. (It's funny, a friend of mine who is a total raw/rough punk-edged garage rocker LOVES Oh Mercy, production and all. Swears by it. Just goes to show...um...something. I don't know what.)

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yes, Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind were successes because the songs were good. However, I know it's a controversial subject, but I'll ask the question: Daniel Lanois - yes or no?

[Luther]

For me, no, although I prefer TOoM to Oh Mercy, so I think that decade did him good. (That or co-producer "Jack Frost" exerted more control?) Oddly, I like Lanois' production on The Joshua Tree.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yeah, it was Bono who introduced Dylan to Lanois....Being a Doors' fan, and basically liking the organ sound, that spooky and haunting "atmosphere", I like what Lanois did with Dylan. Sometimes I question if it really WAS Dylan, or was he just going along (much like Brian Wilson's solo stuff).

In the end, I guess it was legitimately Dylan, because he's gone through so many phases, why couldn't the Lanois projects just be another one, and, second, Dylan used him twice. If he wasn't happy after Oh Mercy, he wouldn't have gone back again; Dylan's not like that. What would be interesting is if Dylan would re-visit Lanois for a third time.

[Luther]

I think that it would be interesting mostly because when he releases this next album, that's three consecutive self-productions. It feels and sounds to me that he's really found his sound (although obviously what that sentence really means is that I think he's using the sound that I like best, that I think suits him best). So to use someone else now would be an interesting turn. (I think he's the best producer he's ever used, no disrespect to some of the guys who did great work for him before.)

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yes, there's really no reason to change producers now, unless he gets bored.

[Luther]

But of course, if anyone might do it because he gets bored, he's the guy.

[Loaf]

Yes, Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind were successes because the songs were good. However, I know it's a controversial subject, but I'll ask the question: Daniel Lanois - yes or no?

I love TooM, but unless Dylan has written a sequel to that album there is no need to re-hire Lanois. Dylan/Jack Frost is a brilliant producer in his own right, starting with Things Have Changed in 2000, and should stick with his own instincts while he's on a hot streak.

I don't like the production on Oh Mercy, so I will say No to Lanois.

Put it this way, if I heard that Lanois was producing the next Dylan album, I would be disappointed at the news.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm really psyched for the new Dylan album. I'm looking forward to what the Tex-Mex approach, with accordian, will sound like. So, I started listening to some country Dylan. One of my favorite "western" Dylan songs is "Lily Of The West" (I wonder if he ever played this live?), and, inspired by it, came up with a comp, just for the fun of it, to hold me over until the new album....

Bob Dylan - Lily Of The West

1. Lily Of The West
2. Drifter's Escape
3. One More Cup Of Coffee For The Road
4. All The Tired Horses
5. Billy 1
6. Senor
7. Alberta No. 2
8. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
9. Tonight I'll Be Staying With You
10. Little Sadie
11. Billy 7
12. Wigwam
13. John Wesley Harding
14. Days Of '49
15. Bunkhouse Theme
16. Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts
17. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
18. Shenendoah
19. Time Passes Slowly
20. One More Night
21. Down In The Flood
22. River Theme

Any suggestions on how to improve it are welcome!

[MBE]

Man I have to catch up on my Dylan listening. I have the vinyl for the last two bootleg series but have so much backloged I haven't played them yet. They look terrific. I guess I like his pre 78 stuff the best because of the clarity of his voice, but the last three LP's are amazing. The most I ever spent on a single record was Ten Of Swords a classic 10 LP boot. $400 and it's so good I don't regret it. Saw him in 1992 and 2006 and he was much better the second time. It was one of the tours he played piano on. I think in 1992 he hadn't yet learned to work within the limitations of his voice and by the 1996-97 he had. It's kind of like how Brian is much more on pitch since 1998 then he was the twenty years previous.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I saw him at Austin City Limits... I was front row. He played by two favorite songs "Workingman's Blues #2" and "I Shall Be Released". The best night of my life.

P.J., care to share anymore on the Austin City Limits show?

[P.J.]

I saw him at Austin City Limits... I was front row. He played by two favorite songs "Workingman's Blues #2" and "I Shall Be Released". The best night of my life.

P.J., care to share anymore on the Austin City Limits show?

Well, like I said he played those two songs. I was really into "Workingman" at the time and had been keeping up with his setlists for that year. You know, to get a feel for what songs he'd possibly play. I remember thinking that "Cat's in the Well" was the for-sure opener and that "Workingman" was taken off his setlist (pretty bummed out for that). I made a CD comp for my girlfriend and a couple of friends for the road trip up to Austin. Man, I was surprised. I kept on calling out for "Workingman's Blues #2". I'd like to think he heard me, and played it (my own little fantasy). He played a great set. His voice was pretty ragged in the beginning for "Rainy Day Women" and "Hard Rain" but by the end we was killing. "It Ain't Me, Babe" was a total transformation. I think I loved that new version over the original! "Nettie Moore" was chilling.

Me and my girlfriend had been standing out in that front row since 9 or 10 in the morning. Dylan's set wasn't until the evening. We were both so tired from standing in all those people. When Dylan came out for his encore she clutched onto my hand. She was ready to go but stayed for me. She knew I wanted to see this encore. He played "I Shall Be Released" for his finale. Being a huge Basement Tapes fan I was floored. According to my cataloging he hadn't played that song in a couple of years I believe. It was a real treat for me. When me and my girlfriend first started dating I was in a band. She came to see me and that was the first song I ever "sang to her". Not a "love song" per say but it's very pretty with a nice sentiment when sung to a woman. She remembered and we danced on tired legs until the crowd dissipated.

It was a very meaningful experience to me and Jessica. I loved that night.

2007-09-16 ACL Setlist:
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35; It Ain't Me, Babe; Watching The River Flow; Spirit On The Water; The Levee's Gonna Break; Tangled Up In Blue; Things Have Changed; Workingman's Blues #2; Highway 61 Revisited; Nettie Moore; Summer Days; Ballad Of A Thin Man.
Encore: Thunder On The Mountain; Like A Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released.

OH YEAH! This just in...



Bob Dylan Talks About His New Album with Bill Flanagan

Man, I am looking forward to this album big time. Love & Theft and Modern Times were such big records for me these past years.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Great, great post, P.J.

Dylan concerts can be meaningful; I know exactly what you mean. Great set list, also. And, I know what you mean about his vocals; he starts out a little rough but improves as the concert progresses. Looking forward to seeing Dylan again, and the new album.

[8o8o]

Free download of one of the new songs ("Beyond Here Lies Nothin'") here:

http://www.bobdylan.com/

 

[phirnis]

Still looking forward but that cover art has to be among the downright worst to ever grace a Dylan record

[TdHabib]

I'm really psyched for the new Dylan album. I'm looking forward to what the Tex-Mex approach, with accordian, will sound like. So, I started listening to some country Dylan. One of my favorite "western" Dylan songs is "Lily Of The West" (I wonder if he ever played this live?), and, inspired by it, came up with a comp, just for the fun of it, to hold me over until the new album....

Bob Dylan - Lily Of The West

1. Lily Of The West
2. Drifter's Escape
3. One More Cup Of Coffee For The Road
4. All The Tired Horses
5. Billy 1
6. Senor
7. Alberta No. 2
8. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
9. Tonight I'll Be Staying With You
10. Little Sadie
11. Billy 7
12. Wigwam
13. John Wesley Harding
14. Days Of '49
15. Bunkhouse Theme
16. Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts
17. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
18. Shenendoah
19. Time Passes Slowly
20. One More Night
21. Down In The Flood
22. River Theme

Any suggestions on how to improve it are welcome!

He just played "Billy" for the first time live on the neverendingtour.
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I'm late to this, but I like Daniel Lanois' production on Oh Mercy. I just dislike highly the sequencing and the choice of songs in some places. Was wondering if John Stone could re-sequence OH MERCY without "What Good am I," "Disease of Content," "What Was It You Wanted" and with "Dignity," "Series of Dreams," "Born in Time" and "God Knows" (the last two from Tell Tale Hearts). Could you do that? Thanks...

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm late to this, but I like Daniel Lanois' production on Oh Mercy. I just dislike highly the sequencing and the choice of songs in some places. Was wondering if John Stone could re-sequence OH MERCY without "What Good am I," "Disease of Content," "What Was It You Wanted" and with "Dignity," "Series of Dreams," "Born in Time" and "God Knows" (the last two from Tell Tale Hearts). Could you do that? Thanks...

I agree with you, both about Lanois' production, and the sequencing. I gave your alternate Oh Mercy a shot:

1. God Knows
2. Dignity
3. Ring Them Bells
4. Political World
5. Where Teardrops Fall
6. Man In The Long Black Coat
7. Born In Time
8. Everything Is Broken
9. Shooting Star
10. Series Of Dreams
11. Most Of The Time

[TdHabib]

I'm late to this, but I like Daniel Lanois' production on Oh Mercy. I just dislike highly the sequencing and the choice of songs in some places. Was wondering if John Stone could re-sequence OH MERCY without "What Good am I," "Disease of Content," "What Was It You Wanted" and with "Dignity," "Series of Dreams," "Born in Time" and "God Knows" (the last two from Tell Tale Hearts). Could you do that? Thanks...

I agree with you, both about Lanois' production, and the sequencing. I gave your alternate Oh Mercy a shot:

1. God Knows
2. Dignity
3. Ring Them Bells
4. Political World
5. Where Teardrops Fall
6. Man In The Long Black Coat
7. Born In Time
8. Everything Is Broken
9. Shooting Star
10. Series Of Dreams
11. Most Of The Time

Thanks a bunch!