Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

The Monday Book – Bob Dylan, Performing Artist, 1960-1973

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Monday Book review by Jack Beck

Bob Dylan, Performing Artist, 1960-1973, The Early Years. Paul Williams (1990 Omnibus Press)

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Regular readers of this blog will already know that I’m a big fan of Dylan and his music.

This book is both interesting and frustrating. It’s well written and researched and Williams gives due credit to other writers who have covered the same subject and time period. But the more I read, the more it seemed to be as much about the author as about Bob Dylan.

It wasn’t until I got almost to the end that I discovered that Williams had been a rookie cub reporter on a local newspaper in the early 1970s and was able to interview Dylan. He says that Bob was relaxed and straightforward and not doing his usual enigmatic and obscure stuff. That’s fine, but I’m not sure it necessarily gives you any special insights!

At various points Williams puts Dylan on a level with Shakespeare, James Joyce, Beethoven and Picasso. I think that might just be over-egging things a bit.

The book is written chronologically as the title suggests and Williams has certainly covered the period in depth, including both commercial and bootleg recordings as well as un-recorded live performances. But it’s in between this valuable information that he lets loose with his personal and (I think) overblown analysis.

Despite all the careful research I did discover one surprising omission. Williams spend a fair bit of time on Dylan’s 1966 world tour which ended in the UK. He lists the various concerts around the country but misses Edinburgh. I know it’s missing because I was there and have an excellent recording of that night!

So – a bit of a mixed bag, but for died in the wool fans well worth a read!

A Not So Aging Songwriter–

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Once again Jack gets his guest post in on time – –

Readers of this blog and my guest posts will know already that I’m a big fan of Bob Dylan. I first heard him in the early 1960s and was completely captivated. I even saw him live towards the end of the infamous world tour of 1966 – he played the ABC cinema in Edinburgh a few days before the final concert in Manchester where someone shouted “Judas!”

I never miss a chance to include one of his songs in my weekly Celtic music radio show, but I’m working now on a program completely devoted to his songs. I can hear you now –already, from here — wondering how that’s possible.

When he first arrived in New York, he hooked up with Joan Baez, and she was singing English and Scottish ballads, and he also was pals with the Clancy Brothers, who sang mostly Irish songs. Then he spent a month in London, where he met many Scottish, English, and Irish singers. So, many of his subsequent songs used tunes from the songs and ballads he’d heard. Actually, I was surprised by just how many of his original songs from that time used not just British tunes but lots of words and phrases from British ballads.

Then in the 1980s he revisited those times and recorded two albums of folk songs that included “Canadeeio,” based on Nic Jones’ version, and “Arthur McBride,” based on the arrangement by Paul Brady.

Just recently I was alerted by a friend to two more Dylan songs that I’d never heard –

Neither of them have any particular connection to Celtic music, although their sentiments are pretty much universal. One is “Wallflower,” and when first listening it seems like just another country song with classic rhythm and chord sequence. It seems like either a conversation or maybe just inward thoughts of a man at a dance in a small town dancehall, who feels out of place and awkward. But it immediately reminded me of an experience I had in my late teens, when some friends persuaded me to go to just such a dance. I’m useless at dancing, and I remember feeling exactly like the guy in this song.

The second is “To Make You Feel my Love,” which is very different. It’s a heartfelt and yearning love song with a gorgeous and quite unusual tune, and it has been covered by many other singers.

It’s maybe worth mentioning that Dylan has always had a good ear for unusual chord progressions, starting with “House of the Rising Sun” on his very first album and continuing over the years. Borrowing from others for sure but making something of his own and new at the same time.

Dylan never fails to surprise me and has done so many times over the years. Just when you think he has settled into some kind of pattern he jumps out, grabs, and shakes you…and then takes you down a different road altogether.

Have a little listen, yourself, if you like:

Joan Osborne – To Make You feel my Love

Diana Krall – Wallflower

Bob Dylan – The Walls of Red Wing (tune is The Road and the Miles to Dundee)

Come back next Wednesday for more from Jack