Bob Dylan, Renaissance Man

[Knocked Out Loaded]

https://youtu.be/Oj2CPqX-tLc

[Knocked Out Loaded]

Bob Dylan was in a not so good shape artistically in the early 90’s. ”Under The Red Sky” was released in 1990 and the next album with original material did not surface until 1997 (”Time Out Of Mind”). In between there were live albums, compilations and two albums on which Dylan covered various traditional songs. "Good As I Been To You" came in 1992 and "World Gone Wrong" the year after. One of the songs on the latter is called Delia (by Blind Willie McTell). Dylan has performed that song 9 times altogether. Three of these are available on YouTube. The earliest clip is from the Supper Club performances in NYC in 1993. The most recent is from when the song last was performed live, in Las Vegas 2012. The third is from a concert in Newcastle in 2000:

https://youtu.be/p_juKSv6Kec

It is like Dylan and the song are alone together. Like the audience and the band have disappeared. Like time has stopped.

[Knocked Out Loaded]

Columbia Records release the 13th volume of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series on November 3. It is titled ”Trouble No More” and covers the years 1979-1981, Dylan's period as a born again Christian. The principal release is a box set of 8 CD’s and a DVD. There also is a condensed version available as a double CD or as a 4 LP vinyl release. Columbia have learnt how to make Dylan fans part from their money! The DVD has live footage originally envisioned for a TV show that for some reason never materialized, and also some extra material. The live songs are intercut with short meditations written by Luc Sante which are read by Michael Shannon. The film was shown at New York Film Festival earlier this year. I had the opportunity to see it last weekend. Dylan’s concerts at the time were pretty fierce stuff. Here, the intensity is a little broken up by the intercut material. Michael Shannon is subdued and the words he teach are for the most part adequate, and not too intrusive for a non believer as myself.

https://youtu.be/K01EAM2TtD4

[oldkid]

I was familiar with Dylan before, but that period is when I became really interested in Dylan.  I was a young Christian and I loved his much derided album "Saved".  Still love it.  I also love a number of his other albums as well, now, but it took some time to be used to his style.  Saved is all gospel rock and blues and it is one of the few albums that he rehearsed with his band on the road before he went into the studio.  If this volume has got outtakes of Slow Train Coming as well, I might pick it up.

[Smoke]

https://www.landmarktheatres.com/chicago/century-centre-cinema/film-info/trouble-no-more

Playing tomorrow. I hope it comes for a longer run.

[Teproc]

I was familiar with Dylan before, but that period is when I became really interested in Dylan.  I was a young Christian and I loved his much derided album "Saved".  Still love it.  I also love a number of his other albums as well, now, but it took some time to be used to his style.  Saved is all gospel rock and blues and it is one of the few albums that he rehearsed with his band on the road before he went into the studio.  If this volume has got outtakes of Slow Train Coming as well, I might pick it up.

Saved is derided ? Huh.

[Knocked Out Loaded]

There are a few Dylan albums that have an even worse reputation than Saved has (among them Knocked Out Loaded from 1986 ), but it is seen like an ugly duckling among many fans for sure. The Christian context becomes a veil before their eyes I guess. Dylan cut the album in just five days in the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, AL while on tour, as oldkid indicated. I hope that the Trouble No More volume restores this period's reputation a little! Dylan's singing often was unusually inspired because of the material.

Those who have the opportunity can check for themselves in Chicago tomorrow!

[Knocked Out Loaded]

You Belong To Me was among the songs Bob Dylan covered when he recorded the Good As I Been To You album, but it eventually was left off the album. The song later surfaced on the soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s 1994 movie Natural Born Killers.

https://youtu.be/iJ1HvnYlKR4

[Knocked Out Loaded]

When Bob Dylan went Hasidic at a Chabad Telethon:

(The man in the center is Dylan's son-in-law Peter Himmelman. He is married to Maria, who was adopted by Bob when he married Sara Lownds in 1965.)

https://youtu.be/KE6Yg7eQC0o

[Knocked Out Loaded]

The 14th volume of Bob Dylan's bootleg series has the title More Blood, More Tracks and it chronicles the making of 1974’s Blood On The Tracks album. Tangled Up In Blue maybe is the most well-known song from the album. This clip is from the Renaldo And Clara (1978) movie.

https://youtu.be/YwSZvHqf9qM

A related story reports that the director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) will be making a film adaptation of the album. While not being a themed one in itself, some of the material was derived from Dylan's divorce with Sarah.