Definitely Dylan Live - 20 October 2019

This week’s Definitely Dylan Live is big, melodious, and contagious, as we’re tackling Bob Dylan’s choruses! Laura and Robert discuss which Dylan albums are full of catchy choruses, and which (surprisingly?) don’t have any choruses at all!

The list of albums that was mentioned in the episode can be found here - let us know where you disagree, and please help us complete the list by finding the choruses on Dylan’s songs that appear on compilations etc.

What do you think why some of Dylan albums have more choruses than others? Do you prefer songs with big choruses or are you not too fussed about them?

Don’t forget to find the show on Twitter and Instagram, as well as over on Facebook, and join the mailing list if you haven’t already!

Playlist:

1. Blowin’ In The Wind (snippet)

2. Blowin’ In The Wind (snippet, live at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA, 16 March, 2000)

3. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, 25 October, 1963)

4. Mr. Tambourine Man (Live at BBC Studios, London, UK, 1 June, 1965)

5. Precious Angel (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada, April 1980)

6. License To Kill

7. Brownsville Girl (snippet)

8. Workingman’s Blues #2

PS: We had a little confusion at the very beginning of the episode, which has been edited out of the website version, hence the slight chaos at the very top of the hour!

Definitely Dylan Live - 13 October 2019

A new drummer and a new guitarist, Dylan on guitar, Lenny Bruce, and mannequins in formal wear! Bob Dylan kicked off the autumn leg of his tour this past Friday, and there have been quite a few surprises! So this week on Definitely Dylan Live, Laura and Robert discuss some of the recent changes, the return of Lenny Bruce, and of course play some tunes!

If you’re interested in checking out the recent, truly truly gorgeous version of Lenny Bruce, you can listen to it here. In the words of the person standing next to the taper, “wow!”. One thing that wasn’t mentioned on air is that Dylan has also changed some of the lyrics to the song, for example the first verse, which now includes the words “Never did make it to the Promised Land, never made it out of Babylon”.

You can also check out the new arrangement of Not Dark Yet here. It’s incredibly powerful!

Here’s a picture of the mannequins that are surrounding the band on stage.

Let us know what you make of the recent changes, and tell us whether you’d like to hear a Definitely Dylan Live about Dylan’s choruses!

If you enjoy the show, please don’t forget to tell your friends about it and spread the word!

Playlist:

1. Beyond Here Lies Nothing

2. Lenny Bruce (Live at Earl's Court, London, June 27, 1981)

3. Not Dark Yet

4. In The Summertime (Live at The Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA, October 21, 1981)

Definitely Dylan Live - 6 October 2019

Absolutely, Obviously, Most Likely, Positively, Approximately - this week’s Definitely Dylan Live is all about Bob Dylan’s adverbs! For a brief moment in the “groovy” mid-sixties, Dylan loved to add adverbs to his song titles, and this hour is dedicated to those songs, as Laura and Robert speculate what the adverbs might mean or whether they are completely random.

Are there any post-1966 songs that should be added to the list? What do you think the meaning behind those adverbs is? Let us know in the comments!

Playlist:

1. Absolutely Sweet Marie (Take 1, Alternate Take)

2. Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine (Before The Flood)

3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues [Alternate Version]

4. Positively Van Gogh (Denver Hotel Tape)

5. Positively 4th Street (Live at the Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA - December 4, 1965)

6. Obviously 5 Believers

Definitely Dylan Live - 29 September 2019

This week on Definitely Dylan Live Laura and Robert remember Grateful Dead lyricist and occasional Dylan collaborator Robert Hunter, before discussing the newly announced Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin’ Through: 1967 - 69. The two speculate on the reasons behind the collection’s timing and talk about what we can expect from this release.

Here’s the full video of Rodney Crowell’s version of Understand Your Man / Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right), including the intro in which he tells his story of meeting Johnny Cash for the first time.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s Marion Williams’ gorgeous version of I Pity The Poor Immigrant.

And for those of you who are wondering… the version of I Pity The Poor Immigrant on the album John Wesley Harding was Take number 10!

Let us know what you make of this upcoming Bootleg Series in the comments or over on Twitter!

Playlist:

1. Forgetful Heart

2. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine - Bob Dylan and the Band (live at the Isle of Wight 1969)

3. Understand Your Man / Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right) - Rodney Crowell

4. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (Take 4)

5. Tell Me That It Isn’t True (Take 2)

6. Wanted Man - Johnny Cash (live at San Quentin)

Definitely Dylan Live - 15 September 2019

Definitely Dylan is back after the summer break! Back in the Resonance FM Studio, Laura and Robert catch up on everything that went down in the Dylan world since the last episode, before diving into some current Dylan favourites, including two songs with a Hank Williams connection.

Here’s a link to the article by David Browne about “Love & Theft” and its pre-rock sound.

Regarding the musician personnel playing on Can’t Escape From You, the recording info mysteriously doesn’t even mention an organ. Bob Dylan is credited as “Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar & piano)”, but I think we can safely assume that he was also responsible for the droning organ.

Edit: a mystery rarely stays a mystery for long in the Dylan world, and so I’m pleased to add some further information on the line about the Christmas Pie in Can’t Escape From You, courtesy of the great Scott Warmuth: http://swarmuth.blogspot.com/2008/10/tell-tale-signs-dispatch-1.html?m=1

Playlist:

1. Summer Days

2. Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking (Rehearsal with Horns)

3. Help Me Understand (Soundcheck)

4. Can't Escape from You (Unreleased, December 2005)

5. Autumn Leaves

Edit: As a few people kindly pointed out, Help Me Understand was not written by Dylan after all, but is in fact a song by Hank Williams, sung by his alter ego Luke the Drifter.