The Official Bob Dylan Thread

[The High Heat]

On the topic of running into Bob Dylan, I wondered if I could.

According to boblinks:

11/7/10 University of Pittsburgh

11/9/10 Penn State University

 

I imagine Bob would spend the 8th in Pittsburgh instead of State College, but who knows. I will keep an eye out for him.

Check for historical music locations that would appeal to Dylan in those areas. Apparently he likes to literally check out musical roots. In fact, he almost got arrested for it last year !

[calvino]

On the topic of running into Bob Dylan, I wondered if I could.

According to boblinks:

11/7/10 University of Pittsburgh

11/9/10 Penn State University

 

I imagine Bob would spend the 8th in Pittsburgh instead of State College, but who knows. I will keep an eye out for him.

 

Just walk around with your copy of Self Portrait, I'm sure he will find you.

[LouieB]

ok, i just find it revisionist. i am sure you're thinking of another film other than eat the document - i know you've said this before - but it is nowhere near as disjointed or messy as you think. it gives an exact representation of what happened - which is: dylan being thrown around from location to location, and it's edited in a way that makes that experience apparent to the person watching it. the best part in no direction home is the final bit where he looks knackered, and ruined, and is rubbing his eyes (apart from the musical moments) - but the rest of the film doesn't really show why that's happened at all, or rather it doesn't really give me a sense of what it was like. eat the document shows that. also dylan edited it himself at the time - so that must count for something as to showing what he felt like. if you don't get the same messy feeling from no direction home perhaps that's a good reason why its revisionist. eat the document has also got loads of great music in it.

Eat the Document is a mess. It has never been officially released and has too few actual musical moments (Don't Look Back is far better for many many reasons...) I understand you like it, but really it sucks. There is a great movie in it somewhere but not in the version we have. It certainly is not an "exact representation of what happened". The fact that Dylan edited it himself doesn't make it any better. He also worked on Renaldo and Clara which is also a mess and also not an exact representation of what happened on the ROlling Thunder tour, although it too has moments that are fun. Mostly it is a stone drag. No Direction Home is just what it is, a documentary in the classic talking heads by people who were there/old footage vein. It also is not perfect (although Martin Scorcese is a real filmmaker, which Dylan is not...) but for those who don't know much about Dylan and even those of us who do, it is informative and mostly fun to watch.

 

There is no real point in arguing about this, but really a drunk/stoned Dylan talking to a slightly less drunk and clearly irritated John Lennon in some smeary footage in the back of a limo doesn't constitute either a documentary or a real representation of what either man was up to at that point in their lives.

 

LouieB

[mjpuczko]

eat the document & renaldo & clara flat out suck. they are a druggy mess/disaster. i tried watching both numerous times & had to just shut it off

[LouieB]

eat the document & renaldo & clara flat out suck. they are a druggy mess/disaster. i tried watching both numerous times & had to just shut it off

thanks for backing me up on this. I have seen Eat the Document (own a copy) a few times, but Renaldo I only saw in a theater, with a bad print and have never seen it again. I stayed and watched the entire thing, but had to fight to stay with it. I suppose there are bootleg copies to watch, but somehow I have never had the interest to seek one out and check it out again. It is too bad because that was an important point in Dylan's career, but even Dylan, who certainly is now interested in cashing in on every aspect of his career, including material that has been bootlegged numerous times (such as the Mitmark demos, etc.) somehow hasn't seen fit to issue/reissue either of these monstrosities. Don't look back has been released and re-released now serveral times, but these other films even he must not be that comfortable with. If he was, he would reissue them and collect all the dough he can so that his kids and grandkids never have to work a day in their lives.

 

LouieB

[mjpuczko]

the RTR era is my fave dylan period too. the whole thing just seems like a bunch of musicians who thought they could make a movie (and clearly taking too many drugs). it's a piece of shit. some of the live performances are great but i just want to see those. i have both on dvd actually.

[Analogman]

Renaldo and Clara use to be on Youtube. I think one of the greatest things about No Direction Home was the recent interviews he did for the film. I would be surprised if he ever did anything like that again.

[LouieB]

The main problem with Renaldo, as I recall (aside from the incomprehensible plotline), is that they cut away from the performances frequently so there are almost no songs that aren't interrupted. I bought a bootleg copy of Eat on DVD. I then talked someone into giving me a second one of what was supposedly better print, but actually it was the same shitty smeary mess as the other one I bought.

 

Did R&C ever come out as an authorized DVD? Just curious. I suppose I would like to see it again, if only for the footage of Ginburg and Dylan visiting Kerouac's grave.

 

LouieB

[Analogman]

The main problem with Renaldo, as I recall (aside from the incomprehensible plotline), is that they cut away from the performances frequently so there are almost no songs that aren't interrupted. I bought a bootleg copy of Eat on DVD. I then talked someone into giving me a second one of what was supposedly better print, but actually it was the same shitty smeary mess as the other one I bought.

 

Did R&C ever come out as an authorized DVD? Just curious. I suppose I would like to see it again, if only for the footage of Ginburg and Dylan visiting Kerouac's grave.

 

LouieB

 

I have read the original version is 4 hours long.

 

I don't think it ever came out officially, except for some of the music performances. Someone gave me a VHS copy of it back in the early 1990s, but it would not play in my VCR. The copy of Eat The Document I have came from you, if I recall correctly.

[mjpuczko]

Renaldo and Clara use to be on Youtube. I think one of the greatest things about No Direction Home was the recent interviews he did for the film. I would be surprised if he ever did anything like that again.

those interviews are amazing. i need to watch that again.

[froggie]

there's a cool bootleg DVD of R&C with just the music parts. i forced myself to sit through the whole 'movie' once. Eat the doc had some good parts, but it doesnt compare with Dont look back.

 

No direction home was great

[Sir Stewart]

I feel like watching the Ed Bradley interview again.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/02/60minutes/main658799.shtml

[LouieB]

I have read the original version is 4 hours long.

 

I don't think it ever came out officially, except for some of the music performances. Someone gave me a VHS copy of it back in the early 1990s, but it would not play in my VCR. The copy of Eat The Document I have came from you, if I recall correctly.

I recall R&C being four hours long, but seemed like eight.

 

Oh yea, I guess I did send you the extra copy.

 

Again I think both movies in the hands of real film editors would be fantastic, but someone needs to drastically rework them.

 

LouieB

[HungryHippo]

fyi, 1 more day until the Witmark demos/ mono box!

[Synthesizer Patel]

I recall R&C being four hours long, but seemed like eight.

 

Oh yea, I guess I did send you the extra copy.

 

Again I think both movies in the hands of real film editors would be fantastic, but someone needs to drastically rework them.

 

LouieB

 

Apparently D.A Pennebaker has got his own cut of Eat The Document, maybe that'll come out one day. I don't think too much of Ronaldo & Clara - that is boring to me. I just really like Eat The Document for some reason - it's really funny to me. I can understand why people don't like it, the only thing I have issue with is that you think it's not got much music, and it really does have a lot of music in it, maybe not as much as No Direction Home - but that suffers from the annoying thing of playing a bit of a song and then having people talk over it, whereas when a song comes on in Eat The Document at least they let it play without interuption.

[froggie]

maybe those witmark demos will become public domain soon... maybe thats why Sony has released them officially?. doesnt matter - i'll buy 'em, even though the bootleg is still stuck in my head!

[LouieB]

maybe those witmark demos will become public domain soon... maybe thats why Sony has released them officially?. doesnt matter - i'll buy 'em, even though the bootleg is still stuck in my head!

Maybe you know something, but I think these sides have been bootlegged so many times that it is finally time for them to be put out by Sony (Sony needs the money...). I would imagine that they are still undercoywrite.

 

LouieB

[Synthesizer Patel]

i don't think with these things that the actual music becomes public domain, it's just that the songs themselves do - so you can cover them without paying royalties - at least, that's how i think it works.

[HungryHippo]

if any of you are Borders Rewards members, they just e-mailed out a coupon for 40% off all CDs in store. granted, they don't have a large selection, but based on the coupon's ad, they'll be stocking both the Bootleg Series vol. 9 and the mono set. with the coupon, you can pick up both items for $87.00 (maybe less if they deduct the coupon off the sale price.)

[froggie]

Maybe you know something, but I think these sides have been bootlegged so many times that it is finally time for them to be put out by Sony (Sony needs the money...). I would imagine that they are still undercoywrite.

 

LouieB

 

so, does this mean that bootlegers cant lay a finger on them from now on? i thought they may become public domain cause they're studio recordings and not live ones. i thought music lasts for 50 years under copywrite. i agree Sony needs the money!

[The High Heat]

Isn't it that copyright protection lasts 70 years after the death of the author, even for unpublished works?

[LouieB]

so, does this mean that bootlegers cant lay a finger on them from now on? i thought they may become public domain cause they're studio recordings and not live ones. i thought music lasts for 50 years under copywrite. i agree Sony needs the money!

Bootleggers have never cared about copyrights, so I figure they are probably still out there somewhere. After reading what titles are being released, I think nearly all this material has been floating around since bootleggers got going in the late 60s. I have many of these titles on cassettes recorded off of old LPs (and some on old LPs.) I will still buy this stuff under the assumption that they will sound better and a few titles that never made it to boots are included, but all of these songs are fairly well known.

 

Disc: 1

1. Man On The Street (Fragment)

2. Hard Times In New York Town

3. Poor Boy Blues

4. Ballad For A Friend

5. Rambling, Gambling Willie

6. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

7. Standing On The Highway

8. Man On The Street

9. Blowin’ In The Wind

10. Long Ago, Far Away

11. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

12. Tomorrow Is A Long Time

13. The Death of Emmett Till

14. Let Me Die In My Footsteps

15. Ballad Of Hollis Brown

16. Quit Your Low Down Ways

17. Baby, I’m In The Mood For You

18. Bound To Lose, Bound To Win

19. All Over You

20. I’d Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day

21. Long Time Gone

22. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues

23. Masters Of War

24. Oxford Town

25. Farewell

Disc: 2

1. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

2. Walkin’ Down The Line

3. I Shall Be Free

4. Bob Dylan’s Blues

5. Bob Dylan’s Dream

6. Boots Of Spanish Leather

7. Walls of Red Wing

8. Girl From The North Country

9. Seven Curses

10. Hero Blues

11. Whatcha Gonna Do?

12. Gypsy Lou

13. Ain’t Gonna Grieve

14. John Brown

15. Only A Hobo

16. When The Ship Comes In

17. The Times They Are A-Changin’

18. Paths Of Victory

19. Guess I’m Doing Fine

20. Baby Let Me Follow You Down

21. Mama, You Been On My Mind

22. Mr. Tambourine Man

23. I’ll Keep It With Mine

 

One of the first Dylan cover albums was Hamilton Camp's Paths of Victory, which is available on CD and includes covers of some of these songs and is well worth a listen. Just these songs alone would have made Dylan one of the all time greats, even if he had never done anything else.

 

LouieB

[HungryHippo]

anyone receive their mono box/ Bootleg Series yet and care to share their opinions? in all honesty, I've owned the Witmark demos for years now but never really listened to them. the handful of tracks I listened to at the time seemed dull and uninspired so I put the discs away. but for some reason, I am enjoying this set more than I thought I would (especially disc 2.) btw, Walls of Red Wing was not included in the release despite track listings posted online.

 

as for the mono set. wow. wow. wow. what else can I say? listening to Like A Rolling Stone in mono is a revelation. my only gripe regarding the box is with Visions of Johana. that song just sounds better in stereo. the other songs are up for debate.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

BS9 is good. It's not near as mindblowing for me as Tell Tale Signs was. But few albums are. Either way, it's a good set to have.

 

I'd love to get the mono box set. But I held back. Maybe for Christmas.

[Analogman]

anyone receive their mono box/ Bootleg Series yet and care to share their opinions? in all honesty, I've owned the Witmark demos for years now but never really listened to them. the handful of tracks I listened to at the time seemed dull and uninspired so I put the discs away. but for some reason, I am enjoying this set more than I thought I would (especially disc 2.) btw, Walls of Red Wing was not included in the release despite track listings posted online.

 

as for the mono set. wow. wow. wow. what else can I say? listening to Like A Rolling Stone in mono is a revelation. my only gripe regarding the box is with Visions of Johana. that song just sounds better in stereo. the other songs are up for debate.

 

I got it, plus the bonus disc. But - I have not listened to it yet. The liner notes give you a short history of song publishing. I found that sort of interesting.