Artist: Bob Dylan
Column from web archive October 10, 2008
Yet another side of Bob Dylan, to boot
Now that this week’s release of Tell Tale Signs has extended Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series to eight volumes (albeit oddly numbered: the 1991 three-disc box that launched the series was billed as Vols. 1-3, while this set, available in either a two-disc or three-disc version, is Vol. 8), let’s consider this particular dimension of Dylan’s [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #73 Jan-Feb 2008
John Mellencamp / Los Lobos – Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, IA) Bob Dylan / Elvis Costello – Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
Following the raucous reception for “Small Town”, one of John Mellencamp’s heartland anthems that have as much resonance in Iowa as they do in his native Indiana, the Hoosier populist mentioned there was a visitor backstage who was also from a small town. “I’ve had a friend for seven-eight years who just happens to be [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #66 Nov-Dec 2006
Bob Dylan – Modern Times
It seems like a lifetime ago that a Chaplinesque scamp established the audacity of his songwriting vision with The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Flash forward 43 years, and Dylan has never sounded more freewheeling than he does on his new album with the Chaplinesque title Modern Times. Produced by Dylan (as Jack Frost) and featuring the [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #60 Nov-Dec 2005
Bob Dylan – No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
Among reviewers who have given faint praise to this two-disc soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film, dismissing it as a marginal addition to the Dylan canon, the common reservation is that the alternate takes here aren’t as good as the released originals. Well, duh. No other artist has ever experienced a year’s growth spurt such [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #57 May-June 2005
Bob Dylan / Merle Haggard / Amos Lee – Chiles Center, (Portland, OR)
I go to see Bob Dylan perform every chance I get. If Picasso were going to paint tonight in the public square and I could get a ticket to watch, I wouldn’t miss that either. Dylan shows are idiosyncratic, spontaneous and far more adventurous than those of most young acts, much less other established superstars. [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #54 Nov-Dec 2004
Bob Dylan – Principal Park (Des Moines, IA)
As my boyhood hero Ernie Banks liked to say, “Let’s play two today!” With co-headliners Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson offering the musical equivalent of a doubleheader, and a warmup set by Hot Club Of Cowtown serving as batting practice, this concert was like Rolling Thunder on the Field of Dreams. Starting in Cooperstown, New [...]
Sittin' & Thinkin' - Essay from Issue #48 Nov-Dec 2003
Highway to Heaven Revisited
Among the disadvantages of being Bob Dylan, I imagine, is enduring the aftermath of being dubbed the voice of your generation. It’s one thing to switch from folk to rock just as millions of people were waiting, without realizing it, for you to push your talents in that direction. It’s quite another to become a [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #43 Jan-Feb 2003
Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Revue
For the better part of eight years, beginning in 1966, Bob Dylan stopped touring. When he returned to the stage in January 1974, backed by his ’66 tourmates the Band, America’s rock concert machine, built during those “lost” years, had become such a behemoth, not even Dylan could resist it. For the first few months [...]
Miked - Live Reviews from Issue #34 July-Aug 2001
Bob Dylan Tribute – Town Hall (New York, NY)
Sometimes, tributes that sound like a bad idea wind up surprising you. The initial hesitation when you scan a suspect list of guests evaporates once the event begins. As accolade follows accolade, the event is turning out better than expected. And by the end of the evening, you’re left wondering why you ever doubted it [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #23 Sept-Oct 1999
Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, Vol II
As the ’60s bled into the ’70s, Bob Dylan evinced a growing discomfort with his persona. Whether fueled by the lingering effects of a near-fatal motorcycle accident, an increasing dissatisfaction with the masks of stardom, or a general sentiment in the air, the artist became obsessed with stripping away artifice, with uncovering the “real” Bob [...]
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