Please note: As this news is old, some of the links may be inactive.
10 July, 2025
November 2025 UK Bob Dylan Dates:
Fri 7th: Brighton Centre, Brighton
Sun 9th: Swansea Building Society Arena, Swansea
Mon 10th: Swansea Building Society Arena, Swansea
Tue 11th: Swansea Building Society Arena, Swansea
Thurs 13th: Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry
Fri 14th: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Sun 16th: Armadillo, Glasgow
Mon 17th: Armadillo, Glasgow
Wed 19th: Waterfront, Belfast
Thurs 20th: Waterfront, Belfast
There will be no shows in London.
As usual, a limited amount of ‘Fan Club’ tickets will be available to current ISIS E-Journal subscribers. We will confirm which shows we have tickets for over the next few days. Subscribers should keep an eye on their inboxes.
Tickets will go on general sale on Friday 18th July.
4 June, 2025
Our online store will be closed from Friday June 6, 2025 through to July 7, 2025. During this period, you will not be able to place any orders. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
14 May, 2025
Outlaw Music Festival Tour 2025
13 May, 2025
Phoenix, Arizona
Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
1. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Bob on piano)
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe (Bob on piano and guitar)
3. Forgetful Heart (Bob on piano)
4. Axe and the Wind? (Bob on piano)
5. To Ramona (Bob on piano)
6. (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 (Bob on piano) (by Bobby Troup)
7. All Along the Watchtower (Bob on piano)
8. I’ll Make It All Up To You (Bob on piano) (by Charlie Rich)
9. It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry (Bob on piano)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob on piano)
11. Under the Red Sky (Bob on piano and harp)
12. Scarlet Town (Bob on piano)
Band Introductions
13. A Rainy Night In Soho (Bob on piano) (by Shane MacGowan)
26 March, 2025
Bob Dylan began his spring ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour last night (March 25, 2025) at the Tulsa Theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Song-wise, the 17-song set was a carbon copy of his final show of the autumn European tour at London’s Royal Albert Hall (November 14, 2024).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we have another new drummer. I doubt anyone expected Keltner to have an extended stay in the band. His replacement, Anton Fig, who has played with everyone from Paul Simon to Kiss, and was the longtime house drummer in the Paul Shaffer-led ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ band, has worked with Dylan on ‘Empire Burlesque (1985) and ‘Knocked Out Loaded’ (1986). Fig also played drums alongside Jim Keltner at Dylan’s ‘30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.’ In any event, Fig sounded great last night and I’m sure he will be a perfect fit with Dylan’s tour band. There was a planned break mid-way through the show. After ‘To Be Alone with You,’ Dylan said: “Thank you. We’re gonna take a 10-minute break here. We’ll be right back.” Dylan was in great voice in Tulsa. He seemed to be moving well and look really happy. A couple of altered arrangements and even more of a move to a cappella performances. All looks promising.
The tour moves on to Little Rock, Arkansas tonight (Wednesday 26)
1: All Along the Watchtower (Dylan on guitar and baby grand piano)
2: It Ain’t Me, Babe (Dylan on guitar and baby grand piano)
3: I Contain Multitudes (Dylan on baby grand piano)
4: False Prophet (Dylan on baby grand piano)
5: When I Paint My Masterpiece (Dylan on baby grand piano & harp)
6: Black Rider (Dylan on baby grand piano)
7: My Own Version of You (Dylan on baby grand piano)
8: To Be Alone with You (Dylan on baby grand piano)
15-minute intermission
9: Crossing the Rubicon (Dylan on baby grand piano)
10: Desolation Row (Dylan on baby grand piano)
11: Key West (Philosopher Pirate) (Dylan on baby grand piano)
12: Watching the River Flow (Dylan on baby grand piano)
13: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Dylan on baby grand piano)
14: I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You (Dylan on baby grand piano and harp)
15: Mother of Muses (Dylan on baby grand piano and harp)
Band introductions
16: Goodbye Jimmy Reed (Dylan on baby grand piano)
17: Every Grain of Sand (Dylan on baby grand piano and harp)
28 January 2025
With regards to the death of Garth Hudson, who died in his sleep on 21 January 2025, at the age of 87, on 27 January, 2025, Bob Dylan wrote on X: “Sorry to hear the news about Garth Hudson. He was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind The Band. Just listen to the original recording of The Weight and you’ll see.”
The unfounded rumours that Bob Dylan played his final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 November 2024 can finally be put to bed. Dates are now beginning to come in for March/April 2025. Four have been announced so far.
The tour is again publicised as the ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour.’ Some of you might remember that the tour, which began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 2, 2021, was initially billed to run until 2025. However, the date was very quickly amended to read 2024.
Spring 2025 Tour Dates So Far.
March 25: Tulsa, Oklahoma – Tulsa Theater; (Capacity 2800)
March 29: Wichita, Kansas – Century II Concert Hall; (Capacity 2197)
April 4: Mankato, Minnesota – Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center; (Capacity 6500)*
April 6: Green Bay, Wisconsin – The Weidner Performing Arts Center; (Capacity 2020)
* This figure can vary for events with unique venue configurations.
Finally for today, our Pre-Loved pages have been update with more goodies.
We also have a number of Reduced Items in our Pre-Loved section. These drastic ‘to clear’ reductions are for 10 days only.
21 January, 2025
A Complete Unknown
To coincide with excellent Dylan biopic, ‘A Complete Unknown,’ Sony Music/ Searchlight Pictures is releasing 19-track vinyl Soundtrack Album and a 23 track CD. The CD will be released 28 Feb 2025 and the vinyl album is released this Friday, 24 Jan. We have received our shipment of the vinyl release today for delivery to our customers on or around the official release date.
Bob Dylan and Jahanara Romney Visit Woody at Greystone
This 23 minute YouTube interview was with Jahanara Romney (Bonnie Beecher), Dylan’s girlfriend in Dinkytown, was conducted by Stephanie Kip . In the video, Romney discusses her visit with Dylan to see Woody Guthrie at Greystone Hospital in NJ. The video is part of the Greystone Oral History project. The interview is here courtesy of Stephanie Kip. For more videos and information regarding the Greystone Oral History project click HERE.
Our Pre-Loved General Collectables has been updated today with lots of new items. See HERE.
10 December, 2024
Many thanks to Mick Gold for making notes for ISIS Magazine when he attended a preview screening of the upcoming Dylan biotic, A Complete Unknown. You can read the article HERE
At 6:49 pm on 4 December 2024 Bob Dylan made another post on his X (twitter account).
“There’s a movie about me opening soon called A Complete Unknown (what a title!). Timothee Chalamet is starring in the lead role. Timmy’s a brilliant actor so I’m sure he’s going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me. The film’s taken from Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric – a book that came out in 2015. It’s a fantastic retelling of events from the early ’60s that led up to the fiasco at Newport. After you’ve seen the movie read the book.”
Bob Dylan
As we announced last Tuesday, Columbia Records with Searchlight Pictures will be releasing a Various Artists album of the music from the film. A Complete Unknown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) will be available on CD and Red vinyl.
The CD contains 23 songs from the film. The Red Vinyl album features 16 of the tracks.
Note: The CD is scheduled for release Friday 28 February, 2025. Pre-Order HERE
The Red Vinyl LP is scheduled for release Friday 24 January, 2025. Pre-Order HERE
The music on the soundtrack album is performed by the cast of the film, not Bob Dylan.
Pre-Loved Updates:
We are suspending our Pre-Loved updates after Today, 10 December until Tuesday 14 January, 2025.
Closing Over Christmas and New Year:
Our office will be closed from Monday 23 December until Tuesday 14 January, 2025.
05 November, 2024
As previewed a few weeks ago, our Pre-Loved section is now back in action. We have updated the site today and will hopefully do so on Tuesday mornings for the foreseeable future.
Collectors are advised to keep a keen eye on our Tuesday mailouts because we will be offering some extremely rare and exciting items over the next few weeks.
11 October, 2024
We are pleased to say that we have now received our allocation of Royal Albert Hall tickets from the promoter. These arrived earlier than expected, which gives us more time to get these out ahead of the shows.
We are planning to send tickets out on Monday 14th October via 24hr tracked post to those who were fortunate enough to obtain their tickets through the ISIS allocation.
17 September, 2024
Having taken a break for personal reason – the sad passing of Tracy’s dad – and then taken a couple of days leave to get our heads together, as promised, we are back today with our Pre-Loved pages, and some nice items we have too.
Also, today we have received our delivery of stock of ‘Bob Dylan & The Band The 1974 Live Recordings’.
We will be working hard to pack and dispatch all orders for delivery on or around the official release date.
23 July, 2024
Tickets for the November UK Bob Dylan tour sold incredibly quickly, especially for the London shows at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall. I’d like to thank the tour Agent / Promoter for once again allowing ISIS Magazine a ticket allocation. I wish we could have helped more people, but we do what we can. I hope some of you who couldn’t obtain tickets from us were lucky in the public sale. However, the feedback is that the RAH sold out almost immediately, as did most of the venues.
Although things can always change, I was informed yesterday that no further UK shows are planned.
To prevent secondary selling, paper tickets will be released to us by the promoter approximately 10-14 days before the shows. We will allocate seats and mail them by registered post to those who were fortunate enough to obtain tickets from us.
All our seats are ‘Front Arena’ (toward the left and right of the floor) in rows 6-11.
It has been a busy few weeks for us, but with the dust now settling on sales of the 1974 Box Set and concert tickets, we hope to be able to update our Pre-Loved sales pages next week.
15 July, 2024 Update
Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour (Northern Europe 2024)
October 4: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 5: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 6: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 8: Erfurt, Germany, Messehalle
October 10: Berlin: Germany, Uber Eats Music Hall
October 11: Berlin: Germany, Uber Eats Music Hall
October 14: Nürnberg: Germany, Frankenhalle
October 16: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 17: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 18: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 21: Stuttgart: Germany, Porsche Arena
October 22: Saarbrücken: Germany, Saarlandhalle
October 24: Paris: France, La Seine Musicale
October 25: Paris: France, La Seine Musicale
October 27: Düsseldorf: Germany, Mitsubishi Electric Hall
October 28: Esch-sur-Alzette: Luxembourg, Rockhal
October 29: Antwerp, Belgium: Lotto Arena
Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour (UK 2024)
November 1: Bournemouth: BCI Windsor Hall (capacity 4,000 seated)
November 3: Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena (capacity 10,600 seated)
November 5: Edinburgh: Usher Hall (capacity 2,200 seated)
November 6: Edinburgh: Usher Hall (capacity 2,200 seated)
November 8: Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (capacity 9,300 seated)
November 9: Wolverhampton: The Halls (Civic Hall) (capacity 2,346 seated)
November 10: Wolverhampton: The Halls (Civic Hall) (capacity 2,346 seated)
November 12: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
November 13: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
November 14: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
Please Note: Some venue capacities can change due to different configurations.
ISIS Magazine has an allocation of tickets for the shows in London on November 12, 13 & 14.
These tickets are only available to ISIS Subscribers. Two per person, per show.
We do not have tickets for any other venues.
Tickets go on general sale on Friday 19th at 9AM.
All information is subject to change.
15 July, 2024
BOB DYLAN: Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour (Northern Europe 2024)
October 4: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 5: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 6: Prague: Czech Republic, O2 universum
October 8: Erfurt, Germany, Messehalle
October 10: Berlin: Germany, Uber Eats Music Hall
October 11: Berlin: Germany, Uber Eats Music Hall
October 14: Nürnberg: Germany, Frankenhalle
October 16: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 17: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 18: Frankfurt: Germany, Jahrhunderthalle
October 21: Stuttgart: GermanyPorsche Arena
October 22: Saarbrücken: Germany, Saarlandhalle
October 24: Paris: France, La Seine Musicale
October 25: Paris: France, La Seine Musicale
October 27: Düsseldorf: Germany, Mitsubishi Electric Hall
October 29: Antwerp, Belgium: Lotto Arena
BOB DYLAN: Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour (UK 2024)
November 1: Bournemouth: BCI Windsor Hall (capacity 4,000 seated)
November 3: Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena (capacity 10,600 seated)
November 5: Edinburgh: Usher Hall (capacity 2,200 seated)
November 6: Edinburgh: Usher Hall (capacity 2,200 seated)
November 8: Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (capacity 9,300 seated)
November 9: Wolverhampton: The Halls (formally Civic Hall) (capacity 2,346 seated)
November 10: Wolverhampton: The Halls (formally Civic Hall) (capacity 2,346 seated)
November 12: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
November 13: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
November 14: London: Royal Albert Hall (capacity 5,272 seated)
9 July, 2024 (3pm)
BOB DYLAN & THE BAND: THE 1974 LIVE RECORDINGS
Released on Friday, September 20, 2024, BOB DYLAN & THE BAND: THE 1974 LIVE RECORDINGS is a 27-CD Deluxe Box Set Featuring 417 Previously Unreleased Performances, including Newly-Mixed Recordings and Liner Notes by journalist and critic Elizabeth Nelson.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s return to touring in 1974, this box features all professionally recorded shows from his 1974 performances backed by The Band.
The 1974 Live Recordings offers fans 417 previously-unreleased Bob Dylan live tracks – including 133 recordings newly mixed from 16-track tape.
Please Note: This release is extremely limited.
Order HERE (If you are unsuccessful with your order, please email, as we hope to receive a further allocation. We will keep a list and allocate further stock on a first come first served basis.) Please email tracy.barker@bobdylanisis.com
24 June, 2024
As I’m sure most of you will know, the ‘2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour’ began on June 21 in Alpharetta, Georgia. Tracy and I were away for two weeks but now I’m back in the office, and with a two-day break in touring (June 24-25) I’ll take this opportunity to write a few words about the first three shows on the tour.
The first thing to say is that Things Have Changed. There have been two changes in band personnel. Exit stage left drummer Jerry Pentecost and the excellent multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron. Pentecost has been replaced by veteran drummer Jim Keltner, but there is no replacement for Herron, which means the backing musicians are down from five to four and there is no longer any pedal steel, lap steel, or violin, which changes the sound greatly. After serving almost 20 years with Dylan, Herron’s departure was a surprise.
Tony Garnier (electric and standup bass), Bob Britt (acoustic and electric guitars) and Doug Lancio (acoustic and electric guitars) remain. In the pictures and videos I’ve seen, the band are kitted out in black trousers and matching black and white cowboy shirts. Bob, who is on piano for all songs, has also played harp on ‘Early Roman Kings,’ ‘Under The Red Sky,’ Soon After Midnight’ and ‘Ballad Of a Thin Man.’
The opening night’s set contained 13 songs whilst the following two shows both featured 14 songs. No Rough and Rowdy Ways songs were performed.
Is this radical change in songs just for Willie Nelson’s annual Outlaw Music Festival Tour or is the Rough and Rowdy Ways World-Wide Tour finally over. The ‘Outlaw’ tour is a multi-artist affair with changes en route, but Dylan is playing all of the dates. Unfortunately, Willie Nelson, 91, is unwell and on doctor’s orders has missed the first three dates, but it is hoped that he will rejoin the tour in Virginia Beach on June 26. For the moment, Nelson’s son, Lukas, has taken over leadership of Willie’s band and has been joined by guests Derek Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi.
On the first night, the stage lighting was dimmed for Bob’s set and although the big screens were left on, they only showed a wide-angle shot of the whole stage with no camera changes and no close ups. On the opening night, Bob included five covers in his 13-song set, all from the Fifties. There was also an unexpected outing for ‘Under The Red Sky,’ the first in 11 years. ‘Things Have Changed’ had a totally new arrangement to the point of being almost unrecognizable. The setlist was changed markedly for the second night but remained the same for night three (see below). I will, of course, write much more about these shows, especially the cover songs, in the next issue of ISIS magazine.
I’m expecting more dates to be announced – to take place outside of the United States – before the end of this year.
Alpharetta, Georgia
Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
June 21, 2024
1. My Babe (song by Willie Dixon/Little Walter)
2. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
3. Simple Twist Of Fate
4. Little Queenie (Chuck Berry)
5. Mr. Blue (DeWayne Blackwell/The Fleetwoods)
6. Pay In Blood
7. Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams)
8. Early Roman Kings
9. Under The Red Sky
10. Things Have Changed
11. The Fool (Naomi Ford and Lee Hazlewood. First recorded by Sanford Clark)
12. Scarlet Town
13. Long and Wasted Years
Charlotte, North Carolina
PNC Music Pavilion
June 22, 2024
1. Highway 61 Revisited
2. Shooting Star (harp)
3. Love Sick
4. Little Queenie (Chuck Berry)
5. Mr. Blue (DeWayne Blackwell/The Fleetwoods)
6. Early Roman Kings (harp)
7. Can’t Wait
8. Under The Red Sky (harp)
9. Things Have Changed
10. Stella Blue (Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia)
11. Six Days On The Road (Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, made famous by Dave Dudley)
12. Soon After Midnight (harp)
13. Ballad Of a Thin Man (harp)
14. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Raleigh, North Carolina
Coastal Credit Union Music Park
June 23, 2024
1. Highway 61 Revisited
2. Shooting Star (harp)
3. Love Sick
4. Little Queenie (Chuck Berry)
5. Mr. Blue (song written by DeWayne Blackwell/The Fleetwoods)
6. Early Roman Kings
7. Can’t Wait
8. Under The Red Sky (harp)
9. Things Have Changed
10. Stella Blue (Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia)
11. Six Days On The Road (Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, made famous by Dave Dudley)
12. Soon After Midnight (harp)
13. Ballad Of a Thin Man (harp)
14. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
On other matters: Please note that the Mike Wyvill & John Wraith book, Go All the Way: Bob Dylan’s Concerts 2023, has been delayed. Originally scheduled for June, we are now expecting stock to arrive in early July. Order HERE.
15 November, 2023
Hi everybody,
You may have noticed there was no Pre-Loved Collectables sales yesterday. Unfortunately, our time has been taken up over the past five days with packing a dispatching the monster that is The Complete Budokan 1978. Those of you who ordered this release should keep one eye/ear on your front door as Postman Pat is now on his/her way to you. Hopefully, the goodies will arrive with customers on or around the release date of Friday 17th November.
We will be back with more great Pre-Loved Collectables next week (Tuesday 21st November).
16 October, 2023
The current leg of Bob Dylan’s ongoing Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour was announced in three tranche. The final sequence of dates runs from Kansas City, Missouri (October 1) to Evansville, Indiana (December 3), a total of 39 North American shows.
October:
1 Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre (capacity 3,000)
2 Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre (capacity 3,000)
4 St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre (capacity 3,100)
6 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
7 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
8 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
11 Milwaukee, WI – The Riverside Theatre (capacity 2,450)
12 Milwaukee, WI – The Riverside Theatre (capacity 2,450)
14 Grand Rapids, MI – DeVos Performance Hall (capacity 2,543)
16 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre (capacity 2,500)
17 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre (capacity 2,500)
20 Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J. Brady Music Center (capacity 4,500)
21 Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre (capacity 3,000)
23 Erie, PA – Warner Theatre (capacity 2,250)
24 Rochester, NY – Auditorium Theatre (capacity 3,901)
26 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall (capacity 2,752)
27 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall (capacity 2,752)
29 Montreal, QB – Place des Arts, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (capacity 2,900)
30 Schenectady, NY – Proctors Theatre (capacity 3,250)
November:
1 Springfield, MA – Symphony Hall (capacity 2,611)
3 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
4 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
5 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
7 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre (capacity 1,800)
8 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre (capacity 1,800)
10 Providence, RI – Providence Performing Arts Center (3,100 capacity)
11 Waterbury, CT – Palace Theater (capacity 2,900)
14 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre (capacity 3,000)
15 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre (capacity 3,000)
19 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore (2,500 capacity)
20 Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center (2,868 capacity)
21 Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center (2,868 capacity)
24 Baltimore, MD – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (capacity 2,443)
25 Baltimore, MD – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (capacity 2,443)
27 Richmond, VA – Altria Theater (capacity 3,565)
29 Roanoke, VA – Berglund Center – Performing Arts Theater (capacity 2,440)
30 Huntington, WV – Keith Albee Performing Arts Center (capacity 2,633)
December:
02 Richmond, KY– Eastern Kentucky University – EKU Center For The Arts (capacity 1,957)
03 Evansville, IN – Old National Events Plaza (capacity 2,633)
24 September, 2023
Bob Dylan At Farm Aid 2023!
Bob Dylan stunned the 2023 Farm Aid crowd with his first appearance at the event since its inception in 1985. The late-night set contained three previously long-rested songs, all performed on the guitar, no ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ numbers and a band consisting of ‘Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench on keyboards and Steve Ferrone on drums. The band also included Mike Campbell’s ‘Dirty Knobs’ bandmates Chris Holt on guitar and Lance Morrison on bass. None of the musicians were scheduled to appear at Farm Aid so Dylan and his musicians for the night were a complete shock. Before the set, photographers were cleared from the camera pit and the performance began without an announcement. Dylan’s appearance could be the reason that Neil Young’s set was reduced to just four songs.
Dylan started his surprise Farm Aid set with his first performance of ‘Maggie’s Farm’ since he played the song at the Grammys in 2011. Next up was ‘Positively 4th Street,’ a song he hadn’t played since November 2013. The final number, ‘Ballad of a Thin Man,’ was played regularly in the US during his 2019 fall tour but he had not played the song since.
The 17-minute set, which began in the dark, saw Dylan standing at the mic playing a Fender Telecaster (with a Humbucker pickup in the neck position). After a very hesitant ‘Maggie’s Farm,’ there was a lot of tuning and noodling before a familiar keyboard sound heralded in ‘Positively 4th Street.’ At the beginning of the song, Dylan reached out and pulled a chair towards him. He sang the next two songs seated with his lap taking the guitar’s weight. This, and the final song, ‘Ballad of a Thin Man,’ were sung really well.
During ‘Thin Man,’ Dylan nodded-in a nice Mike Campbell guitar solo. At the end of the song, bandleader Campbell tapped Dylan on the shoulder and Bob rose cautiously from his seat to play the song’s final few chords.
The sold-out festival to benefit family farms was staged at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. Held on Saturday, September 23, the festival was headlined by Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, along with fellow board members Dave Matthews and Margo Price.
12 September, 2023
The promised November extention to the Fall 2023 East Coast tour is beginning to take shape but more dates are still to be announced.
November 2023:
1 Springfield, MA – Symphony Hall (2,611 capacity)
3 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
4 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
5 Boston, MA – Orpheum (capacity 2,700)
7 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre (capacity 1,800)
8 Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre (capacity 1,800)
10 Providence, RI – Providence Performing Arts Center (3,100 capacity)
11 Waterbury, CT – Palace Theater (capacity 2,900)
14 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre (capacity 3,000)
15 Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre (capacity 3,000)
19 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore (2,500 capacity)
20 Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center (2,868 capacity)
21 Newark, NJ – New Jersey Performing Arts Center (2,868 capacity)
07 September, 2023
Bob Dylan: The Complete Budokan 1978
Buy your copy HERE
Disc 1:
1 A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 28, 1978), 4:33*
2 Repossession Blues (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 28, 1978), 2:49*
3 Mr. Tambourine Man (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, February 28, 1978), 5:27*
4 I Threw It All Away (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:25*
5 Shelter from the Storm (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:44
6 Love Minus Zero / No Limit (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:16
7 Girl from the North Country (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:03*
8 Ballad of a Thin Man (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:45*
9 Maggie’s Farm (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:05*
10 To Ramona (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:40*
11 Like a Rolling Stone (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 6:34*
12 I Shall Be Released (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:29*
13 Is Your Love in Vain? (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:01*
14 Going, Going, Gone (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:04*
Disc 2:
1 One of Us Must Know (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:32*
2 Blowin’ in the Wind (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:32*
3 Just Like a Woman (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:02*
4 Oh, Sister (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:40*
5 Simple Twist of Fe (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:16
6 You’re a Big Girl Now (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:33*
7 All Along the Watchtower (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:13*
8 I Want You (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 2:32*
9 All I Really Want to Do (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 3:57*
10 Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 4:24*
11 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:08
12 Band Introductions (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 2:41*
13 It’s Alright, Ma (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 6:34
14 Forever Young (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 7:18
15 The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978), 5:02
Disc 3:
1 A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:05*
2 Love Her With A Feeling (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 2:53*
3 Mr. Tambourine Man (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 5:04
4 I Threw It All Away (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 5:17*
5 Love Minus Zero / No Limit (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:05*
6 Shelter from the Storm (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:52*
7 Girl from the North Country (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:18*
8 Ballad of a Thin Man (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:49
9 Maggie’s Farm (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 5:31
10 One More Cup Of Coffee (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 3:29
11 Like a Rolling Stone (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 6:51
12 I Shall Be Released (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:23
13 Is Your Love in Vain? (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:15
14 Going, Going, Gone (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:04
Disc 4:
1 One of Us Must Know (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:44*
2 Blowin’ in the Wind (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:36
3 Just Like a Woman (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 5:07
4 Oh, Sister (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:57
5 I Don’t Believe You (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:23*
6 You’re a Big Girl Now (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:59*
7 All Along the Watchtower (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 3:27
8 I Want You (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 2:43
9 All I Really Want to Do (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 3:50
10 Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 4:10
11 The Man in Me (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 3:52*
12 Band Introductions (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978) 1:56*
13 It’s Alright, Ma (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 6:39*
14 Forever Young (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 7:50*
15 The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978), 5:12*
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings is set to release ‘Bob Dylan: The Complete Budokan 1978’ on Friday, November 17, 2023.
Newly Remixed & Remastered from Original 24-Channel Multitrack Analog Tapes, ‘The Complete Budokan 1978’ celebrates the 45th Anniversary of Bob Dylan’s first concerts in Japan.
The 4-CD Deluxe Box Set presents Two Complete Shows from Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall (February 28 and March 1, 1978) featuring 58 Tracks, 36 of which are Previously Unreleased. The 36 tracks include 34 unreleased songs and the band introductions from both nights.
‘Bob Dylan – Another Budokan 1978’ is a 2-LP Vinyl ‘Highlight Edition,’ features 16 specially selected unreleased tracks from the box set.
Presented in a luxurious 12″ x 12″ box containing facsimile memorabilia such as concert tickets, pamphlets, posters, and flyers; 60-page full-colour photo book of previously unpublished photos of Dylan on-stage and behind-the-scenes at the airport, press conferences and more; exclusive liner notes and a liner essay by music critic Edna Gundersen.
The year-long tour, which launched in February 1978 with eleven historic performances in Japan saw Bob Dylan performing 114 shows in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe, to a combined audience of two million fans.
Two of the eight Budokan shows (February 28 and March 1, 1978) were recorded on 24-channel multi-track analog tape with 22 performances excerpted from those shows appearing on ‘Bob Dylan At Budokan,’ a 2-LP set first issued on Columbia Records as a Japan-only release in November 1978, followed by a global release in April 1979 in response to widespread demand.
According to Tetsuya Shiroki, co-producer of The Complete Budokan 1978, the newly restored, remixed and remastered recordings “…capture(s) two days of this history-making tour. Nothing has been removed or altered in any way.”
Many individuals involved in the original Bob Dylan at Budokan album reunited for this new release. Under the supervision of Heckel Sugano, the CBS Sony product manager for Bob Dylan in Japan at the time, the engineer responsible for the 1978 recording has worked on the new 2023 remix using the original 24-channel multi-tapes, while the album cover showcases artwork by the same photographers as the original.
Chief engineer Tom Suzuki says, “We mixed the record with the keyword ‘passion’ in mind. The result is a mix that surpasses the original 1978 release, providing a crisper and clearer sound where each instrument and Bob Dylan’s voice are distinctly audible.”
Heckel Sugano says, “The completed album documents the remarkable sound of the legendary Budokan shows that are forever etched in history. We tried to faithfully reproduce the sound the Japanese audience would have heard in the concert hall.”
The Complete Budokan 1978 will be available in 4-CD, 8-LP (Japan only) and digital configurations.
A preview of the album, a previously unreleased performance of ‘The Man In Me’ from The Complete Budokan 1978 is available below.
06 September, 2023
COMING SOON
25 August, 2023
The Double Life of Bob Dylan Volume 2, 1966-2021: ‘Far away from Myself’ by Clinton Heylin
The long-awaited second volume of Clinton Heylin’s Dylan biography takes us from Dylan’s infamous 1966 motorcycle accident to the present day. Heylin, who will need no introduction to readers of ISIS magazine, paints the fullest and brightest portrait yet of an iconic figure that has defined contemporary culture.
Scrupulously researched and revelatory, this huge tome is based on unprecedented access to the official Dylan Tulsa archive and other new sources.
Publication Date: 28 September 2023. Hardback. 848 pages. Pre-order your copy HERE.
22 August, 2023
US Fall Tour 2023
After quite a wait, on August 22 Dylan’s people announced tour dates to close out the year. As expected, the shows are in North America. The tour begins on October 1 in Kansas City, MO where Dylan will play two nights at the 3,000-seat Midland Theatre. The tour then tracks through the Midwest before heading north west and up into Canada, beginning on October 22 at Massey Hall, Toronto. The tour takes in some really nice theatres with seating capacities being mostly between two-and-a-half and three thousand.
More dates to be announced soon.
October 2023:
1 Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre (capacity 3,000)
2 Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre (capacity 3,000)
4 St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre (capacity 3,100)
6 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
7 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
8 Chicago, IL – Cadillac Palace Theatre (capacity 2,344)
11 Milwaukee, WI – The Riverside Theatre (capacity 2,450)
12 Milwaukee, WI – The Riverside Theatre (capacity 2,450)
14 Grand Rapids, MI – DeVos Performance Hall (capacity 2,543)
16 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre (capacity 2,500)
20 Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J. Brady Music Center (capacity 4,500)
21 Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre (capacity 3,000)
23 Erie, PA – Warner Theatre (capacity 2,250)
24 Rochester, NY – Auditorium Theatre (capacity 3,901)
26 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall (capacity 2,752)
27 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall (capacity 2,752)
29 Montreal, QB – Place des Arts, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (capacity 2,900)
30 Schenectady, NY – Proctors Theatre (capacity 3,250)
14 August, 2023
My Greenwich Village – ISIS UK Exclusive
My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me by Terri Thal is an illustrated hardcover that promises much.
Originally planned for publication in the UK on November 2, 2023, it seems that this title will now be held over for release until February 2024. But don’t despair, those nice people at publisher McNidder & Grace are allowing ISIS magazine access to special and exclusive pre-UK publication copies, which we should have on or around October 5, 2023, a month ahead of the original UK publication date and some four months ahead of the actual date!
This exciting title is already receiving dozens of rave pre-publication reviews in the United States.
You can pre-order your copy here.
Below, are just a few of the reviews so far:
“Here’s a new book that features Bob Dylan that Bob Dylan will actually read.”
Eric Andersen, folk music singer-songwriter
“No one was closer to all of it in Greenwich Village than Terri Thal.”
Tom Paxton, folk singer-songwriter
“The burgeoning folk music revival from the late Fifties through the Sixties in New York’s Greenwich Village was a halcyon time, and Terri Thal was an “insider” for all of it. Her insights about her life and the talented, colorful, somewhat eccentric characters that she knew make for a fascinating trip through that historic era.”’
Happy Traum, folk musician
“A rare eyewitness account from a funny, feisty, independent-minded woman who was Dylan’s first manager and lived to tell the tale.”
Elizabeth Thomson
“Terri Thal, who was at the center of the Greenwich Village folk music bohemia, has some great stories to tell about the people she knew and loved and didn’t love so much…”
Sean Wilentz, Professor of American History and author of Bob Dylan in America
“I was fascinated, amused, and very pleased by Terri’s memoir.
Elijah Wald, Musician and author of Dylan Goes Electric, and co-author of The Mayor of MacDougal Street
“Terri Thal’s memoir is told from the privileged position of not only having been there for the crowning, but as a woman on the cultural front lines. Her detailed recall brings a fresh perspective on the Greenwich Village folk scene of the ’60s.”
Marc Eliot, author of Phil Ochs: Death of a Rebel
“I opened this book expecting to revive the memories of a magical decade and I was not disappointed … Terri’s journey, so eloquently narrated here, weaves the music, news events, and culture of the last half century into a story we might all recognize, leaving me envious of her honesty, compassion and achievement.”
David Wilson, Former Editor, Broadside of Boston
“Terri Thal, with her razor sharp wit, takes you right back to the late 50’s and early 60’s Greenwich Village folk scene along with behind the scenes on being Bob Dylan’s first manager. She was a huge link in Bob’s chain of success. This is a must read book!”
Marc Percansky, co-author of Bob Dylan in Minnesota
20 July, 2023
Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes On Disc [1968 – 2014]
By Andrea Brillo (Author-signed copies)
ISIS Subscribers will have read my review of this title in issue 222.
Elegant design with hundreds of full-colour images throughout, this 207-page silk finish softback book lists and analyses in chronological order the songs recorded by Bob Dylan and The Band in the Basement Tapes sessions spanning March-October 1967.
Designed primarily for bootleg collectors, this comprehensive book features all-known releases of the Basement Tapes material by the underground and official markets. Lovely attention to detail with quality reproduction of images.
We have managed to import a very small quantity of this title from Italy. These books, which are signed by author Andrea Brillo, are printed from a new and uncorrupted data file and do not have the print faults that plagued previous Amazon printings.
We have very limited numbers of this title and we are therefore initially offering these to 2022 and 2023 ISIS Subscribers only on a first-come-first-served basis.
Order your copy HERE
28 June, 2023
Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members
A different and extremely interesting look at Bob Dylan, Ray Padgett’s great new book, Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members, collects together more than 40 original, in-depth interviews. This is the first book to look at Dylan’s career entirely from the perspective of the musicians that have played on stage with him – From his earliest days in the Sixties, all the way through the 21st century and the Never Ending Tour. With a few exceptions, these artists are not household names, but they have in many cases spent years making music with one of the most revered and mysterious artists in the world of music.
Up to now, Dylan’s bands and his life on the road has seemed fairly impenetrable. Many of the people in this book have never spoken before about their time with Dylan, or certainly not in as much depth. Interviewees span every era of Dylan’s career, from Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Martin Carthy talking about the early folk scene up through Benmont Tench and Alan Pasqua talking about recording Rough and Rowdy Ways. Other contributors include: Jim Keltner, Scarlet Rivera, Rob Stoner, Billy Cross, Regina McCrary, Richard Fernandez, Marshall Crenshaw, Winston Watson and Larry Campbell. The list, which is too large to preview in full, includes one-off guest appearances, behind-the-scenes touring personnel and a notable Grammy Awards stage-crasher.
If Dylan is, as he famously put it back in 1965, a “song and dance man,” these are the people who have sung and danced alongside him.
Praise for Pledging My Time:
Ray Padgett is the ideal interviewer—he really knows his stuff, so he can draw the best out of every musician he talks to. This is a tremendous collection of acute, revealing, often funny stories from those who’ve played on stage with Bob Dylan.
— Michael Gray, author of Song and Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan.
There already is an endless supply of books about Bob Dylan in the world. What could possibly be written now that seems fresh, much less indispensable? Enter Ray Padgett, one of the great modern Dylanologists, who has done the Lord’s work of tracking down Bob’s many collaborators over the years and getting the inside story. The result is insightful, fascinating, hilarious, illuminating, and, yes, indispensable.
— Steven Hyden, author of six books and the co-host of the Bob Dylan podcast Never Ending Stories.
These talks open up like running streams. There seems to be no guile, no self-promotion, no agendas: maybe because Ray Padgett doesn’t either … more fine stories than you can count.
— Greil Marcus, author.
27 June, 2023
After being out of the office for a few days, I thought I’d take this opportunity to mention some of the highlights from the recent southern European shows on the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour.
With two-thirds of the tour now behind us, not too much has changed from the Japanese leg. With ‘That Old Black Magic’ and ‘Not Fade Away’ competing for the number 14 slot, the first surprise arrived in the shape of Van Morrison’s ‘Into The Mystic.’ Dylan performed the song, originally released on Morrison’s 1970 Moondance album, in Alicante, Spain on June 15.
After a slow, almost ponderous start, Dylan performed a very strong version of the song. The Dead (as opposed to the Grateful Dead) played this one in concert during 2004 and 2009.
Dylan covered half-a-dozen Morrison songs during the course of the Never Ending Tour and duetted with Van at Slane Castle in 1984 on ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ and the gorgeous ‘Tupelo Honey.’ Dylan also duetted with Morrison on June 27, 1989 in Athens, Greece, on The Hill of The Muses for the March 1991 BBC Arena documentary One Irish Rover – Van Morrison in Performance.
The next show, in Huesca, Spain, was cancelled due to torrential rain.
June 21 in Logrono, Spain Dylan gave ‘Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’ a surprise outing.*
After performing ‘Truckin’,’ ‘Brokedown Palace’ and ‘Not Fade Away’ from the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire in April, Dylan performed a beautiful rendition of ‘Stella Blue’ in Barcelona, Spain on June 23. The Garcia-Hunter song closes the first side the Dead’s 1973 album, Wake of the Flood. Coincidentally, the album artwork for Wake was designed by the counterculture artist Rick Griffin who is featured in the current issue of ISIS magazine. As for the song, Hunter wrote the lyrics to the mysterious ‘Stella Blue’ while staying at the Hotel Chelsea in 1970. The Dead played the song live 328 times between June 1972 and July 1995. Willie Nelson covered ‘Stella Blue’ on his 2006 Songbird album. Directly before his performance of ‘Stella Blue’ in Barcelona, Dylan gave ‘Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’ another outing. The inclusion of both ‘Stella Blue’ and ‘Tweedle Dee…’ meant that this was an 18-song show.
*(Amendment: The first performance of ‘Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’ was in Madrid on June 8).
help those that cannot understand not to understand
Robin Witting’s new book, help those that cannot understand not to understand, is now available exclusively through ISIS magazine.
As reviewed in the current issue of ISIS, this e-book is the last word on Dylan’s mid Sixties poetic novel, Tarantula.
Written in a concise, straight-talking manner, using bullet points and examples, Witting guides the reader through Dylan’s much misunderstood novella, holding their hand as they go. Witting has been untangling this spider’s web since the early Nineties and this new work is the culmination of decades of devotion to cracking the code.
While Witting does not pretend to have all the answers, he comes closer than anyone to unpacking Tarantula’s secrets. If you haven’t had faith in Tarantula before, give yourself one last chance. If Robin Witting can’t convince you of its beauty, no one can.
Released today, you can buy and download this pdf e-book HERE.
Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan – Vol. 1 Language and Tradition
After being out of print for a while, Michael Gray’s classic book, Song & Dance Man, is now again available as a three-volume set. The series, which marks the 50th Anniversary of the original edition, reprints the full contents of the monumental 900-page Song & Dance Man III.
Although the content is the same as Song & Dance Man III, the order of material has been rearranged for these three paperback books.
VOLUME 1: Language & Tradition – Approaches Dylan as an artist rather than a folk-singer or a star, exploring how his early writing relates to folk music, blues, rock and mainstream literature.
VOLUME 2: Yonder Comes Sin – Centers around Dylan’s move to Born Again Christianity and beyond. This volume studies albums including Slow Train Coming and Oh Mercy plus celebrated outtake ‘Blind Willie McTell’.
VOLUME 3: World Gone Right – Explores Dylan’s Nineties work, including a defense of Under the Red Sky, a history of the folk & blues covers albums, a re-assessment of Time Out of Mind and an overview of Dylan’s artistry.
The 371-page first volume paperback, Language & Tradition, is now available and we are taking orders for this volume.
Published by The FM Press, these books are printed to order so there will be a short lag between customer orders and dispatch. Order your copy HERE.
31 May, 2023
Tuesday was a hectic day at ISIS HQ. Magazine subscribers will have received their link to access issue 222 while we were busy packing copies of the Shadow Kingdom album ready for mailing out in time for Friday’s release date.
Issue 222 was the final installment of the current subscription year. Many thanks to all those who flooded us with resubscriptions yesterday. You can subscribe HERE, if you have not already done so.
Etching on Side 4 of the vinyl edition of Shadow Kingdom.
The new magazine contains 11 pages of lengthy book reviews. Below are just five of the titles that are coming soon.
My Greenwich Village: Dave, Bob and Me
13 April, 2023
Coming Soon…
06 April, 2023
There is one change to the band: The excellent Charley Drayton has been repleased by Jerry Pentecost on drums.
Known as the hardest working man in Nashville, the impressive sounding Jerry Pentecost has played with the likes of Brent Cobb, Amanda Shires, Wanda Jackson and since 2019 the Old Crow Medicine Show.
1. Watching The River Flow (Bob on baby grand piano)
2. Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine) (Bob on baby grand piano)
3. I Contain Multitudes (Bob on baby grand piano)
4.False Prophet (Bob on baby grand piano)
5. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob on baby grand piano)
6. Black Rider (Bob on baby grand piano)
7. My Own Version of You (Bob on baby grand piano)
8. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Bob on baby grand piano)
9. Crossing The Rubicon (Bob on baby grand piano)
10. To Be Alone With You (Bob on baby grand piano)
11. Key West (Philosopher Pirate) (Bob on baby grand piano)
12. Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob on baby grand piano)
13. I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You (Bob on baby grand piano)
14. That Old Black Magic (Bob on baby grand piano)
15. Mother of Muses (Bob on baby grand piano)
16. Goodbye Jimmy Reed (Bob on baby grand piano)
17. Every Grain of Sand (Bob on baby grand piano with harp)
After a very long wait, we have finally been able to to get hold of further stocks of Anthony Varesl’s book,
‘The Bob Dylan Albums.’ Published by Guernica Editions, Canada, this 535-page softback has been something of a challenge to get hold of. Order your copy HERE
13 March, 2023
Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour (Southern European Leg)
June 2023:
2 Porto, Portugal – Coliseu do Porto (capacity 3,000)
4 Lisbon, Portugal – Campo Pequeno (capacity up to 9,000)
5 Lisbon, Portugal – Campo Pequeno (capacity up to 9,000)
7 Madrid, Spain – Noches del Botanico (capacity 2,200)
8 Madrid, Spain – Noches del Botanico (capacity 2,200)
10 Seville, Spain – Fibes Auditorium (capacity 3,550)
11 Seville, Spain – Fibes Auditorium (capacity 3,550)
13 Granada, Spain – Teatro del Generalife (capacity)
15 Alicante, Spain – Plaza de Toros Alicante (capacity)
17 Huesca, Spain – Plaza de Toros de Huesca (capacity 5,600)
19 San Sebastian, Spain – Auditorio Kursaal (capacity 1,806)
20 San Sebastian, Spain – Auditorio Kursaal (capacity 1,806)
21 Logrono, Spain – Palacio de los Deportes de La Rioja (capacity 3,809)
23 Barcelona, Spain – Gran Teatre del Liceu (capacity 2,292)
24 Barcelona, Spain – Gran Teatre del Liceu (capacity 2,292)
26 Carcassonne, France – Theatre Jean-Deschamps (capacity 5,000)
27 Aix-en-Provence, France – Arena du Pays d’Aix (capacity 6,000-8,500)
29 Lyon, France – L’Amphitheatre (capacity 3,000)
30 Lyon, France – L’Amphitheatre (capacity 3,000)
Capacities may vary as some venues have flexible seating.
06 March, 2023
At long last our ISIS Pre-Loved General Collectables has been updated today with a host of new items. See HERE.
ISIS e-journal issue 221, all 91 pages, was made available to ISIS subcribers on Saturday. All e-journal issues are now available to purchase individually, see HERE or you can purchase a 4 issue subscription HERE.
Hedi Slimane photographed Bob Dylan in December 2022 at his home in Malibu. He is the latest subject for Slimane’s ‘Portrait of a Musician series’ for CELINE. See HERE for further details.
15 Feb, 2023
‘Bob Dylan in Minnesota’ will be published in the UK by McNidder & Grace on April 6, 2023.
Subtitled ‘Troubadour Tales From Duluth, Hibbing and Dinkytown,’ the book follows the previous two successful McNidder & Grace titles: ‘Bob Dylan in London’ and ‘Bob Dylan in the Big Apple.’
On this project, author K G Miles is assisted by Paul Metsa (the other great folksinger from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range), Ed Newman, Marc Percansky and Matt Steichen.
‘Bob Dylan in Minnesota’ will take readers back in time with stories from Dylan’s “early teacher, tales of the mysterious wandering rabbi, eye-witness accounts from early Dinkytown musical collaborators, as well as secrets from behind the scenes of the classic ‘Blood On The Tracks’ album.”
The book is 198 x 129mm, 176 pages, with a 16-page colour section of photographs and illustrations. Available to pre-order here from ISIS.
We are currently working hard to complete the next issue of the ISIS Magazine e-journal.
Due shortly, it looks like being another bumper issue. Along with a host of other articles, there will be a lengthy three-part feature on the recently released Fragments boxset. If you haven’t subscribed to the e-journal, you can do so here.
9 Feb, 2023
Bob Dylan Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, Japenese Dates
April 2023:
6 Osaka, Japan, Festival Hall
7 Osaka, Japan, Festival Hall
8 Osaka, Japan, Festival Hall
11 Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Garden Theater
12 Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Garden Theater
14 Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Garden Theater
15 Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Garden Theater
16 Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Garden Theater
18 Nagoya, Japan, Aichi Arts Center
19 Nagoya, Japan, Aichi Arts Center
20 Nagoya, Japan, Aichi Arts Center
VIP Tickets go on sale Friday, 10, February, 2023
13 Dec, 2022
Holiday Closing Dates.
We will close on Friday December 16, 2022 and will reopen on Monday January 9, 2023. No orders will be processed during this period.
Please take a look at our Christmas card. It can can be viewed HERE
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over the last year and to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Derek & Tracy
04 Nov, 2022
I hope those who attended the European/UK Dylan tour enjoyed the shows as much as we did. After six days and four fabulous shows at the London Palladium, we were brought back down to earth with a bang. We arrived back in the office to discover that publisher Simon & Schuster had massively increased the price of Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song without warning. The book, which was priced at £19.99, had suddenly rocketed up to £35.00! I have no idea how any retailer can pre-sell something if they don’t know what the product will cost them. Anyway, many, many thanks to all those who helped us combat this potential loss by contributing £10 toward the increase.
To make matters worse, if that were possible, there is now a delay in shipping. Although Simon & Schuster has shipped some books, many sellers, including ISIS, are awaiting their deliveries due to what has been termed ‘a log jam’ at the warehouse. We hope to receive our order very soon, but even then, customers are at the mercy of the wholly justifiable but hugely inconvenient Royal Mail dispute. We endeavour to do our best but these are the harsh realities of trying to run a business in this world gone wrong.
Staying with publisher’s book delays, of which there have been many this year, Anthony Varesi’s The Bob Dylan Albums 2nd Edition has also suffered a delay. Originally due for publication November 1, this title has now moved to a mid-November release.
At last, we have a firm date for The Bootleg Series Vol 17. The release is due Friday, January 27, 2023. The 5-CD box set will consist of:
Disc 1: A remixed Time Out of Mind. A reimagined approximation of how the album might have sounded had Jack Frost been producing rather than Daniel Lanois.
Discs 2 and 3: As I understand, are outtakes and alternate versions from the TOOM recording sessions. There are no songs not already known to us, but rather 25 outtakes/versions that we have not previously heard.
Disc 4: Contains live performances spanning four years from 1998-2001.
Disc 5: Appears to contain only previously released material (TTS).
A good weekend to all of you. I’m off to lie down in a darkened room. Or maybe I should open a bottle of Heaven’s Door.
Best from Derek & Tracy.
15 Sept, 2022
*The promoter has informed us that ‘Fan Tickets’ ordered through ISIS for the London Palladium concerts will be sent to us in ‘early October.’ We will then dispatch to you by insured special next-day mail.
*We are working hard on the first digital ISIS magazine and hope to have this issue ready in a couple of weeks. When it is available to download, subscribers will receive a link from us. If you have not yet subscribed you can do so HERE
*Our Pre-Loved General Collectables page has been updated today. See HERE
Tickets For Sale
*If anyone is looking for tickets for the Nottingham show, due to unforeseen circumstances, an ISIS reader has 4 tickets to sell:
4 tickets Row L, seats 5-8, to see Bob Dylan at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham on Friday 28 October.
Tickets could be sold individually, in any combination, or as a batch of four.
The tickets are being offered at a reduced price (reduction of £50) – making them £125 each, £500 in total.
Viagogo will email us the e-tickets a week before the concert – which we will then forward to the buyer(s).
Contact lisa.roberts@live.co.uk
Payment to be made by bank transfer.
26 August, 2022
Although it has been on the cards for some considerable time, it has now been confirmed that Bob Dylan will end his ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ European tour in Dublin, Ireland.
The show will take place at the 3Arena, Dublin (N Wall Quay, North Dock, Dublin 1) on November 7, 2022. Tickets go on sale Thursday, September 1, at 9.00am
This extra date will create a six-day gap between the Glasgow show (Monday, October 31) and Dublin (Monday, November 7). There is a possibility that this gap might be filled with further show(s) in the north of the UK.
Please note that ISIS is not handling ‘Fan Allocation’ tickets for any further shows.
22 August, 2022
ISIS Going Digital
It has not been possible to reply to everyone individually, so Tracy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who sent emails, letters, thankyou cards, and phoned, expressing their gratitude and sadness at the ISIS paper magazine coming to an end. We have received nearly 800 emails and reading these has been both lovely and sad. I’m convinced the decision to end the paper magazine was the right one (escalating print and mailing costs, EU VAT charges, customs problems, etc.) but your numerous requests for ISIS to continue as a digital magazine have been overwhelming.
A month on from my previous Blog, we have decided to move with the times and ‘go electric’ (well, electronic). Pete Seeger’s ghost has already tried to cut the cables to my computer.’
A traditionalist at heart, I can nevertheless see the many advantages of an e-journal. Ever-increasing postal charges, which due to the current high fuel prices can only get worse, will be nullified by not having to mail the magazine around the world– our carbon footprint will also be reduced. During the past couple of years, the cost of mailing, especially overseas, has become extraordinarily high. A downloadable magazine will cost the same whether you live in London, Paris, or Canberra.
The magazine, which will include interactive features, will be an ‘e-journal’ presented as a PDF. It will be downloadable and can be printed out as a hard copy if you wish.
Membership to ISIS will include four magazines, regular email updates, discount vouchers redeemable against various products, and more. The membership cost, especially for our overseas customers, is considerably cheaper than the previous print magazine.
As always we welcome articles for inclusion in the magazine. Please submit to Derek derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
18 August, 2022
We now have more stock of ‘In Performance Vol. 3: A Filmography,’ which sold out quickly when published in July.
Another book that sold out very quickly when published was Peter Stone Brown’s book ‘The Joker & the Thief.’ After a long and frustrating wait, this title is due back in stock on Friday (August 18). Outstanding orders will be quickly fulfilled. Sorry for the delay.
The ISIS ‘Back Issue’ page has been updated and several issues are now back in stock!
Our ‘Pre-Loved General Collectables’ page has been updated today, with many items reduced.
Watch This Space: We understand that news regarding ‘The Bootleg Series Vol. 17’ may not be too far away. The box’s content will likely revolve around Bob Dylan’s 30th studio album, ‘Time Out of Mind,’ released September 30, 1997.
Last but certainly not least, we will be making an announcement next Monday (August 22) regarding ISIS continuing as a digital magazine…
18 July, 2022
Everything Passes / Everything Changes
As most ISIS subscribers will know by now, issue 218 is the last magazine of this subscription year and the final magazine ever. It has been a tough decision, but events of the past two years – COVID, Brexit, and soaring costs worsened by Putin’s war – have combined to make running any subscription-based venture an absolute nightmare. Brexit has made it extremely difficult for us to sell to the EU, but all our reasons for quitting are explained in detail to our subscribers in the latest mag. The past two years’ worries have impacted the health of Tracy and myself, and sleep has been a rare luxury.
In issue 218, I referred to “the paper magazine finishing.” This comment has understandably led readers to speculate that there might be an electronic version of ISIS. This had crossed my mind, as had virtually every other scenario, so this might have been a Freudian slip. While an electronic magazine might be possible (it would mitigate the problems of rocketing print and mailing costs), it would still attract VAT in the EU, and new software would be needed to manage all of that. Also, it would not lessen our workload. For now, I’m going to take a short time out and use a dump truck to unload my head.
Tracy and I would like to thank the many hundreds of subscribers who have already contacted us expressing their gratitude for 37 years of the magazine. We have attempted to respond to each and everyone, but by Friday afternoon we still had 480 emails in our inbox and they are continuing to arrive. If we can’t respond to everyone individually, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your kind words.
Note: ISIS Magazine Ltd is continuing to trade as usual (books, CDs, vinyl, back issues, etc.); we are only stopping production of the magazine.
Pay for Your Ticket and Don’t Complain
Despite my misgivings about handling a Fan Tickets allocation for the October Bob Dylan shows (too many VIP packages and corporates these days), a phone call from the promoter convinced me to help get good tickets to at least some of the fans. Having just announced in issue 218 that we were ceasing the magazine, my time out was short (two days). To quote Michael Corleone: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
Thanks to the promoter, we secured some great seats for people, although inevitably, many others were disappointed because our allocation was snapped up so quickly.
I’m told the general sale for The London Palladium through Ticketmaster sold out inside the first minute, leaving it open to secondary sellers who were asking anywhere between £283 (for a ticket at the very back of the venue) to £1,200 (for a decent seat).
Watch this space carefully for updates on the UK tour.
As usual, we will keep in touch with the ISIS faithful through our emailing list and this Blog. If you haven’t yet joined our emailing list, you can do so here.
Books Upon Your Shelf
Those who have back-ordered ‘Bob Dylan In Performance Volume 3’ and the re-print of ‘The Joker and the Thief’ will be aware of the delays. Paper shortages in the UK and print companies closing their doors at an alarming rate (ISIS magazine has had two printers cease trading in the past four months!) have resulted in delays with many titles. However, ‘In Performance Volume 3’ should be with us this week and we are hoping to get ‘The Joker and the Thief’ next week.
Stay Cool,
Derek & Tracy.
13 July, 2022
UK Tour Dates Announced:
19 London – The London Palladium
20 London – The London Palladium
23 London – The London Palladium
24 London – The London Palladium
26 Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena
27 Hull – Bonus Arena
28 Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena
30 Glasgow – SEC Armadillo
31 Glasgow – SEC Armadillo
29 June, 2022
As predicted in my June 21 blog (below), information/rumours are beginning to find their way onto the Internet regarding possible Bob Dylan shows in Europe and the UK for October this year. While dates are not yet confirmed, we felt that we should announce in advance of any concerts that the long-standing ‘Fan’ allocation of tickets so brilliantly organized by the late and greatly missed John Baldwin of ‘Desolation Row’ in association with ISIS Magazine will no longer continue.
In 2018, at John’s request, ISIS agreed to continue alone with the fan allocation, but four years later, the situation is greatly changed.
During two years of the Pandemic, with no concerts being staged, Bob Dylan’s long-standing UK promoter retired. Although we could attempt to begin a new relationship, the landscape for Dylan tickets has also changed.
As beneficiaries of previous Fan allocations will know, we were often blessed with tickets in the first 6-10 rows. However, in the past few years, pricey VIP ticket packages have become the norm and the number of seats allocated to these packages has vastly increased. Having checked some of the shows in the States, on occasions, VIP packages have stretched back as far as row 24. The promoter does not handle VIP tickets, so the chances of securing quantities of good seats is no longer a possibility.
21 June, 2022
We are back feeling refreshed from our summer break. Those waiting will be pleased to know that the day after arriving back, we received delivery of the Peter Stone Brown book The Joker And The Thief, which had been delayed from its original May 26 publication date. All orders are packed and will be collected by Royal Mail later this afternoon. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy, you can do so here.
Bob Dylan: In Performance Volume 3 – A Filmography by Anders Lindh is due at the end of this month. This volume chronicles all of Dylan’s activities caught on video, from major projects such as ‘Masked and Anonymous’ and ‘Shadow Kingdom’ through promo videos, TV appearances, commercial ads, and a wealth of audience videos. Every audience shot video is featured in the book, including many recently unearthed films of unparalleled quality. Three hundred pages in all, 240 printed, plus a 60-page digital appendix.
We are in the throes of finishing issue 218 of ISIS, which we hope to get into the printer in the next week-ten days.
With the expectation of a Time Out of Mind era Bootleg Series release in the fall, The Philosophy of Modern Song due in November, and the possibility of Dylan playing shows outside of the United States later this year (October UK, perhaps), there is much to look forward to.
Happy 80th Birthday to Brian Wilson from fellow performers, including Bob Dylan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWH93dDnfcI#t=6m15s
31 May, 2022
As I’m sure most of you will know by now, Bob Dylan’s third successive tour of the United States kicked off in Spokane, Washington on May 28. Since my last blog, the schedule was extended from 14 to 25 dates. The tour now ends on July 6, with the second of two shows at Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both the touring band and the setlists remain unchanged from the March/April shows.
Rock’n’roll legend Ronnie Hawkins passed away last Sunday morning. Originally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 and given just three months to live, the inoperable cancer miraculously vanished. The tumour’s disappearance was attributed to everything from smoking pot, drinking white oak tree bark, using native herbal medicines, and excepting help from a psychic healer, a mysterious 16-year-old known only as Adam. Sadly, 19 years after cheating death, the cancer returned and The Hawk eventually lost his battle with the disease on May 29, 2022. A larger than life character, he will be sadly missed.
The Peter Stone Brown collection of writings, The Joker and the Thief, scheduled for publication on May 26, 2022, has been delayed. As yet, we don’t have a revised date, but I understand that the delay will be short.
Please Note: That the ISIS office will be closed from Friday, June 3 to Monday, June 20, 2022. However, due to the Platinum Jubilee four-day bank holiday in the UK, there will be no postal collections after Wednesday, June 1.
19 April, 2022
Bob Dylan has announced a 14-dates for May-June 2022. The shows are on the West Coast, two in Oregon, four in Washington, and eight in California. There are multiple nights in Seattle (two shows), Oakland (three shows), and Los Angeles (three shows).
MAY 2022
28 Spokane, Washington – First Interstate Center for the Arts
29 Kennewick, Washington – Toyota Center
31 Portland, Oregon – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
JUNE 2022
1 Seattle, Washington – Paramount Theatre
2 Seattle, Washington – Paramount Theatre
5 Eugene, Oregon – Hult Performing Arts Center
7 Redding, California – Redding Civic Auditorium
9 Oakland, California – Fox Theater
10 Oakland, California – Fox Theater
11 Oakland, California- Fox Theater
14 Los Angeles, California – Pantages Theatre
15 Los Angeles, California – Pantages Theatre
16 Los Angeles, California – Pantages Theatre
18 San Diego, California – San Diego Civic Theatre
‘A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs’ by Greil Marcus is due October 2022. With this hardcover book, Greil Marcus tells Dylan’s story through seven of his most transformative songs. Marcus’s point of departure is Dylan’s ability to “see myself in others.”
The motor of his music is empathy: as at the beginning of his career in New York Dylan spoke of writing a song about Emmett Till in the first person, nearly sixty years later he circled the globe as John F. Kennedy arguing with infinity as he waited between life and death.
Like Dylan’s songs, this book is a work of implicit patriotism and creative skepticism. It illuminates Dylan’s continuing presence in cultures, especially where such capacious imaginative identification with the other is in short supply. This is not only a deeply felt telling of the life and times of Bob Dylan, but a rich history of American folk songs and the new life they were given as Dylan sat down to write his own.
Published October 10, 2022 by Yale University Press, this 288-page hardcover book is available to order HERE from ISIS.
12 April, 2022
Published August 2022, ‘Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas’ is a 176-page, B-format softback from publisher McNidder & Grace. Written by K G Miles and Jeff Towns with a foreword by Cerys Matthews, this book looks at the many strange connections and coincidences, shared passions and associations that tie the two cultural icons, Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas, together.
From the ancient Welsh folk tales of the ‘Mabinogion’ to the poems of the Beat Generation; from Stravinsky to John Cale; from Johnny Ray to Charlie Chaplain. Rimbaud and Lorca, Sgt Pepper’s and ‘The Bells of Rhymney,’ Nelson Algren and Tennessee Williams and much more.
Fifty-two years ago, author Jeff Towns, an admirer of Dylan Thomas, opened his first bookstore in Swansea – he called it Dylans Bookshop – a youthful homage to the poet Dylan Thomas born and raised in Swansea.
London co-author K G Miles has been inspired by Bob Dylan since being awestruck when attending Dylan’s Isle of Wight Festival in 1969. He is now co-curator the of the Dylan Room at London’s Troubadour Cluband was honoured to address the inaugural conference at the Tulsa Archive in 2019. Pre-order HERE
25 March, 2022
We are pleased to inform you that ISIS issue 217 has now been mailed and should be with UK subscribers shortly. EU subscribers who opted for PDFs of the magazine will be sent the link on Monday.
Peter Stone Brown’s excellent collection of writings about Bob Dylan, The Joker and the Thief, is published on May 26, 2022. Peter, a freelance writer, singer-songwriter, DJ, and renowned Dylanologist, saw Bob Dylan nearly 200 times in concerts from 1963-2018. Over the years, Peter has contributed writings to bobdylan.com, American Songwriter, CounterPunch, No Depression and many other publications. This 384-page hardback is available to pre-order now.
8 Feb, 2022
“Together Trough Life: My Never Ending Tour With Bob Dylan” is published February 28, 2022 through Matador books. Written by Matthew Ingate, this 205-page paperback will be available to order shortly at ISIS.
“Together Through Life” is the story of the 10 most recent years of the so-called Never Ending Tour. Tales from Barcelona and Gothenburg, New York and Rome, Paris, Chattanooga and beyond. Featuring encounters with Tony Garnier, Don Was, Spooner Oldham, Lana Del Rey, and more, this is the story of what it is to be a fan on the road with the most important artist of the last 100 years.
During this trip, we revisit the scene of the crime of Bob Dylan’s first electric gig in 1965 as he returned to Forest Hills Tennis Stadium for the first time in more than 50 years. Among other tales, there is the one-off ‘Standing in the Doorway’ in 2017, a few hours after finally picking up the Nobel Prize in Literature, all of which leads us into last year’s ‘Shadow Kingdom’ performance.
Over the coming weeks, we have some fabulous and extremely rare items going into our Pre-Loved section. We have some beauties today, including a bumper collection of Posters. see HERE
Check in every Tuesday around 1pm (UK time).
24 Jan, 2022
Bob Dylan’s 2021-23 tour moves to the southern states in March this year with shows in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, North & South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. The tour kicks off March 3, 2022 in Phoenix and currently runs through to April 14 with a show in Oklahoma City.
The penultimate show is planned for the 2,800 Tulsa Theatre in Tulsa Oklahoma, home of the Bob Dylan Center, which is due to open May 10, 2022. On route, Dylan will also play a show at the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts & Sciences in Lubbock, Texas.
Shows outside of the United States are currently on hold due to the Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
Come back at around 1pm tomorrow for our regular Tuesday ISIS update.
March 2022:
3 Phoenix, Arizona – Arizona Federal Theatre
4 Tucson, Arizona – Tucson Music Hall
6 Albuquerque, New Mexico – Kiva Auditorium
8 Lubbock, Texas – Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts & Sciences
10 Irving, Texas – Toyota Music Factory
11 Sugar Land, Texas – Smart Financial Centre
13 San Antonio, Texas – Majestic Theatre
14 San Antonio, Texas – Majestic Theatre
16 Austin, Texas – Bass Hall
18 Shreveport, Louisiana – Municipal Auditorium
19 New Orleans, Louisiana – Saenger Theatre
21 Montgomery, Alabama – Montgomery PAC
23 Nashville, Tennessee – Ryman Auditorium
24 Atlanta, Georgia – Fox Theatre
26 Savannah, Georgia – Johnny Mercer Theatre
27 North Charleston, South Carolina – North Charleston PAC
29 Columbia, South Carolina – Township Auditorium
30 Charlotte, North Carolina – Ovens Auditorium
April 2022:
1 Greensboro, North Carolina – Steven Tanger Center
2 Asheville, North Carolina – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
4 Chattanooga, Tennessee – Tivoli Theatre
5 Birmingham, Alabama – BJCC Concert Hall
7 Mobile, Alabama – Saenger Theatre
9 Memphis, Tennessee – Orpheum Theatre
11 Little Rock, Arkansas – Robinson Center
13 Tulsa, Oklahoma – Tulsa Theatre
14 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre
14 Dec, 2021
Derek & I would like to wish you all A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We will close for the holidays on Monday 20th December, 2021 and reopen on Monday 10th January. No items will be shipped during this period.
Please take a look at our Christmas card HERE
Thank you for your continued support. Whatever you are planning over the holidays, stay safe.
Take Care,
Tracy
06 Dec, 2021
There’s no need to check your Dylan calendar, it’s not Tuesday! We are busy with lots of Dylan projects at the moment so we are clearing the decks today for a hectic couple of weeks and won’t be listing any new Pre-Loved items until the New Year.
The first leg of the “Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour” ended in Washington D.C. on December 3. From all accounts, the tour was extremely successful and as I’m sure everyone knows by now, Bob played eight songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways. He performed 21 different songs in total in what were fairly static setlists. ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ and ‘Soon After Midnight’ both got a single outing each on the first night of the tour while ‘Love Sick’ and ‘It Takes a Lot to Laugh…’ were both played at the first two shows before being abandoned.
With the recent emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, when the World Tour will venture outside of the USA is anyone’s guess, but on with better news.
Issue 216 of ISIS is now at the printer and will be back to us and mailed out before Christmas.
Bob Dylan in the Big Apple: Troubadour Tales in New York:
Originally due for publication in November but rescheduled for December 9, I’m pleased to say that we have received our copies a few days early and all our customers’ orders will be dispatched today (Monday). With Covid and Christmas postal pressures, please allow extra time for delivery.
We have a handful of author-signed copies of this book left in stock. After these have been sold, further copies will be unsigned. See HERE
Official Bob Dylan calendar:
Those awaiting their copy of the official Bob Dylan calendar will be pleased to know that copies were mailed out mid last week and many of our UK customers have already received their orders. As previously stated, please allow more time than usual for deliveries during the Christmas period.
I have to say that the quality of the images in this calendar are simply stunning.
We still have a few calendars left in stock for those interested, including a handful of very slightly damaged copies at a reduced price. These copies have a slight knock to one corner.
Official Bob Dylan calendar with Slight Damage
Dylan at 80: It used to go like that, and now it goes like this:
We are now taking orders for the softback book Dylan at 80. Edited by Gary Browning and Constantine Sandis, this 235-page celebration of Dylan at 80 contains 35 assays featuring, among others: James Adams, David Boucher, Gary Browning, Anne Margaret Daniel, Ray Foulk, Mick Gold, Michael Gray, Robyn Hitchcock, Barb Junger, and Constantine Sandis.
That’s all for now, stay warm and keep safe,
Derek & Tracy.
04 Nov, 2021
The second show on the November-December US tour took place last night (November 3) at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. There were two song changes from the previous evening with ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ replaced by ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ and ‘Soon After Midnight’ substituted by ‘To Be Alone with You.’ Also, ‘Melancholy Mood’ moved down the set from slot nine to 14.
Chicago, Illinois, November 3, 2021
Watching the River Flow
Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine
I Contain Multitudes
False Prophet
When I Paint My Masterpiece
My Own Version of You
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Black Rider
To Be Alone With You
Mother of Muses
Gotta Serve Somebody
Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
Early Roman Kings
Melancholy Mood
I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
Goodbye Jimmy Reed
Encore:
Love Sick
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Note: ISIS is pleased to announce that we have again been appointed distributor for the only Officially Licensed Bob Dylan Calendar. This 2022 Collector’s Edition Calendar, celebrating the Grand Opening of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, OK, features 16 classic images from 1961-1976 and much more besides.
This calendar will be launched shortly. Watch our website for further details.
03 Nov, 2021
Bob Dylan began his November-December US tour last night (November 2) with a show at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As rumoured in my previous blog, Charlie Drayton has taken over the drum stool for this tour. Rumours had also recently circulated regarding Charlie Sexton leaving Bob’s band to join Elvis Costello and The Imposters. Sexton played with Costello back in August this year and begun touring with The Imposters last month. Nashville based guitarist Doug Lancio has taken over from Sexton. Lancio has toured and recorded with a number of noted artists including John Hiatt, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, and Tom Ovans. He had been a member of Hiatt’s tour bands since 2008.
Bob was at the piano for the whole of last night’s 18-song set. He began five songs centre stage, but on every occasion then on moved over to the piano. The set featured eight songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways with only ‘Crossing the Rubicon’ and ‘Murder Most Foul’ missing from the album. Maybe we’ll get ‘Crossing the Rubicon’ soon.
Milwaukee, Wisconsi, November 2, 2021
Watching the River Flow
Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine
I Contain Multitudes (live debut)
False Prophet (live debut)
Simple Twist of Fate
My Own Version of You (live debut)
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Black Rider (live debut)
Melancholy Mood
Mother of Muses (live debut)
Gotta Serve Somebody
Key West (Philosopher Pirate) (live debut)
Early Roman Kings
Soon After Midnight
I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You (live debut)
Goodbye Jimmy Reed (live debut)
Encore:
Love Sick
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Bob Dylan – piano, vocals
Tony Garnier – bass
Charlie Drayton – drums
Bob Britt – guitar
Doug Lancio – guitar
Donnie Herron – violin, pedal steel, lap steel
12 Oct, 2021
Although I haven’t yet had confirmation, it appears that Matt Chamberlain MAY be departing Dylan’s tour band. The rumour started when the drummer’s website posted a live date for November 6, 2021, stating that Chamberlain would be playing with Brandi Carlile performing Joni Mitchell’s Blue in its entirety on the Perelman stage in Carnegie Hall. The show has sold out. Unless Chamberlain drops out at short notice, this show will coincide with Dylan’s Palace Theatre, Columbus concert.
It has also been noted from an Instagram post that “the amazing @stovetopseedy on drums” will be Dylan’s new drummer. Click through Steve Top Seedy and you arrive at Charley Drayton on Instagram.
Charlie Drayton’s grandfather was a bass player who worked with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday.
Drayton contributed percussion to The Rolling Stones 1985 album Dirty Work and was a member of Keith Richards’ X-Pensive Winos, mainly playing bass on the debut album Talk is Cheap and also on Main Offender. He also appeared on the album Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988. Although Drayton mostly played bass with Richards, Keith describes him as one of his all-time favourite drummers. In October 1991, Drayton played with Keith Richards at “Leyendas de la Guitarra” in Seville, Spain, which resulted in him playing bass with Dylan on ‘Shake, Rattle And Roll.’
In 2008 and 2009, he toured and recorded with Paul Simon and a year later toured with Simon & Garfunkel. Drayton has also worked with B-52’s, Neil Young, and The Cult (as a bass player). Since 2011, he has been the drummer in Cold Chisel, playing on the last three of the band’s albums. From 1990-1996 and 2006-2009 he played with Australian rock band Divinyls, appearing on two of their albums.
A little closer to home, Drayton has worked as Fiona Apple’s tour drummer and also co-produced her album, The Idler Wheel. He is credited in the album notes as “Seedy” (see above).
All will be revealed in three weeks when the Dylan tour kicks off in Milwaukee, WI (see below).
Although Dylan’s people are looking at further tour dates, at the moment, nothing outside of North America is possible. Watch this space.
Finally for today, our Pre-Loved General Collectables section has been updated with a host of new goodies.
28 Sept, 2021
Many of us woke yesterday (Monday) to the announcement that Bob Dylan will soon be back on tour. So far, bobdylan.com has announced 21 dates beginning November 2, 2021 in Milwaukee, WI. The Fall Tour includes a three-night residency at New York City’s Beacon Theatre.
Tickets for the tour go on General Sale on Friday, October I with some presales starting on September 30. VIP tickets will be available for all shows.
According to the bobdylan.com website banner, the “Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour” will run from “2021-2024”! A three-year tour!
November-December 2021:
02 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theatre
03 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
05 – Cleveland, OH – Key Bank State Theatre
06 – Columbus, OH – Palace Theatre
07 – Bloomington, IN – Indiana University, Auditorium
09 – Cincinnati, OH – Procter & Gamble Hall
10 – Knoxville, TN – Knoxville Auditorium
12 – Louisville, KY – Palace Theatre
13 – Charleston, WV – Municipal Auditorium
15 – Moon Township, PA – UPMC Events Center
16 – Hershey, Pennsylvania – Hershey Theatre
19 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
20 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
21 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
23 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
24 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
26 – Providence, RI – Providence PAC
27 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre
29 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
30 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
02 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
We have a few reduced items for you this week. The items are, Clinton Heylin’s A Restless Hungry Feeling: The Double Life of Bob Dylan Vol. 1: 1941-1966. Paul Morley’s You Lose Yourself You Reappear: The Many Voices of Bob Dylan and Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol 16 1980-1985 (2LP)
17 August, 2021
“HANGIN’ ON TO A SoL-iD ROCK” – a celebration of BOB DYLAN & THE GRATEFUL DEAD
THE DOCKYARD CLUB, ONSLOW ROAD, SOUTHSEA, PORTSMOUTH, PO5 2NH
Saturday, November 27, 2021: (midday doors – event finishes around 11-11:30 pm)
THE GRATEFUL DUDES are headlining – the finest Grateful Dead tribute in Europe! They’ll close the evening with a long set, as befits a Grateful Dead tribute!
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TprNVSdljoQ
Also appearing:
ANDY BROAD: excellent blues singer guitarist playing the blues roots of Dylan & The Dead.
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUclh0D4jzE
JEFF “THE HORSE” HORSEY: Devon based guitarist and singer, covering Dylan and the Dead material.
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oAPat-7m-I
ROBIN BIBI & DAVE “THE HARPMEISTER” RAPHAEL: fine blues and harmonica duo, Robin is ex Pretty Things, and has played with Robert Plant & Jimmy Page.
Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Pt4-Zj0Dc
Sunday, November 28, 2021: (midday doors – event finishes around 11-11:30 pm)
SIMPLY DYLAN: is headlining (no introduction necessary). PLEASE NOTE The band will be playing 4:30 to 5:20 pm and 5:40 to 6:40.
Also appearing:
SCARLET TOWN, who will be playing Dylan era material
check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSyMqnVoS4I
JEFF “THE HORSE” HORSEY WITH IAN ROBINSON: (mandolin) who will be playing a set of Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead.
PLEASANTVILLE: Covering a variety of songs from The Band, Tom Petty, etc…
STEVE WATSON: A seasoned veteran Bobcat well-known by many ISIS subscribers.
Steve has played at previous Dylan Conventions.
More to be added! Also, merchandise stalls. There’s a fully stocked bar at social club prices, and plenty of places to eat in the immediate area.
Tickets are just £20 per day or £35 for both days. Available NOW via secure Paypal link from www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com Limited to 120 attendees per day!
10 August, 2021
Read Books, Repeat Quotations: The Literary Bob Dylan is a new book due for publication week commencing August 16, 2021. This 220-page softback by Dr Christopher Rollason offers a collection of essays to contribute to the storehouse of Dylan lore.
The first piece is a discussion of the Nobel Prize and its reception. This is followed by a series of lyric analyses ranging across Dylan’s career. After these come two case studies considering Dylan and individual authors, namely the influence on Dylan of Edgar Allan Poe and, conversely, the influence of Dylan on Salman Rushdie. The book concludes with an examination of the state and prospects of Dylan Studies at present and looking towards whatever future awaits us in what Dylan himself has called our ‘shadowy world.’
This title is available to order now from ISIS. Order a copy HERE.
Those who have ordered the Nigel Williamson book, Bob Dylan ‘Dead Straight Guides,’ will be pleased to hear that after countless delays in printing (barring earth being attacked by an alien life form), this title will be with us this week!
To coincide with the much-anticipated release next month of Springtime in New York – BS16, ISIS has a special offer on Terry Gans’ truly excellent book, Surviving In a Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Voyage to Infidels.
Gans was granted special permission to write, research and quote from Dylan’s personal notebooks, voluminous song drafts, 49 reels of master session tapes and from reference recordings and documents. Together with interviews with musicians, managers, video producers, and more, this 264-page Hardback book creates a detailed picture of Bob Dylan creating his art with all of his usual mystery and magic.
Order a copy HERE
As is usual on a Tuesday, our Pre-Loved General Collectables section has been updated with new items today.
20 July, 2021
I have a few things to write about today.
First is the long-awaited news regarding “Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol 16 1980-1985.” Due out on Friday September 17, 2021, this release will be available in 2-LP, 2-CD, and 5-CD versions. Prices and a full track-listing are due very soon.
Due to Brexit complications with VAT collections in the EU since July 1st we are currently not able to accept orders on this release from our EU customers.
We are working hard to find a solution to this problem, but at the moment, there are none. We are currently talking with third-party tax and IT specialists to find a solution and although we are confident of achieving this, the development of a software interface is still a little way off.
This interface would allow your country’s VAT to be collected at checkout. This would ‘green light’ the goods through customs (avoiding delays) and more importantly, carriers and postal services will not be able to charge customers crazy administration fees, which are currently anywhere between 4 and 15 Euros per delivery, depending on the country.
Our EU customers CAN ‘reserve’ ‘The Bootleg Series 16’ by emailing Tracy tracy.barker@bobdylanisis.com and we will reserve a copy for you from our Sony allocation. This would mean that your payment would not be processed until mid-September, by which time we hope to have the system in place.
Update:
Those who have ordered the Bob Dylan ‘Dead Straight Guides’ book should be aware that this delayed title is delayed even further. The print company is experiencing problems with production at the moment. We are in regular contact with the publisher and will keep you updated with progress on this item.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Bob Dylan seldom does anything commonplace and “Shadow Kingdom” is no exception. The audio and what we see on the screen does not match but it clearly is not supposed to. This should not be regarded as a live performance but rather an extended video / film.
Although Dylan’s guitar part is unmistakeably Dylan, in the film the instrument is used more as a prop. There are also times when the harmonica can be heard shortly before Dylan ‘plays’ the instrument. The vocals are clearly done in a studio, but that does not take away from the ‘performance.’ This is the best I’ve heard Dylan sing in a long time; perfect clear enunciation throughout and plenty of passion. It was nice to see him centre stage and not stuck behind a piano.
Recording the audio and visuals independently provided the makers with far greater control over the final product and what a product it is. The performance was smoking, literally. An intimate atmosphere in a dimly lit, small 1940s era club or bar with people (actors and actresses), are watching, chain-smoking, drinking, and dancing. Directed by Alma Har’el, with cinematography by Lol Crawley, the setting makes you think of “Quest” (1964). The venue for the film was the “Bon Bon Club in Marseille.” At least that is what the credits state, but that seems to be fictional.
The band we see on screen is a little-known group of musicians all wearing Covid masks, assumedly to avoid breathing in the copious cigarette smoke. Although they were masked and anonymous and unknown to me, the end credits identify them as Janie Cowan, Alex Burke, Joshua Crumbly, Shahzad Ismaily, and Buck Meek.
The highlights are way too many to mention.
There are changed lyrics in several songs, especially ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece,’ and ‘To Be Alone With You.’
After a strange 10-minute countdown delay at the start, the show runs for about 50 minutes. For whatever reason, I had expected it to be longer and its abrupt end surprised me. The subtitle “Early Songs” and the relatively short running time, leads me to believe that this is probably one of three instalments. Only time will tell.
When I Paint My Masterpiece – Bob with guitar
Most Likely You Go Your Way
Queen Jane Approximately – Bob with harmonica
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight – Bob with guitar
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Tombstone Blues
To Be Alone With You – Bob with guitar
What Was it You Wanted
Forever Young – Bob with guitar
Pledging My Time – Bob with harmonica
The Wicked Messenger – Bob with harmonica
Watching the River Flow
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Finally for today, our Pre-Loved General Collectables section has been updated with new items today.
29 June, 2021
Please Note: Although I have written about this before, I would like to remind our EU customers that orders shipped from the United Kingdom to the European Union may be subject to additional taxes in your country. Although this ruling came into force on January 1, 2021, EU governments have only randomly enforced these tax collections. However, we have been informed that from July 1, 2021, all EU countries will collect these taxes at the rates applicable in those countries. Tax on books and magazines is zero in the UK, but EU governments charge taxes at varying rates on these products. These charges are the responsibility of the buyer to pay. This situation is beyond our control.
Our Pre-Loved section has had new items added today.
16 June, 2021
Bob Dylan has announced his first public performance since October 2019, after his 2020 touring plans were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. The digital show will mark Bob’s first performance since the release of his acclaimed album, Rough And Rowdy Ways.
The exclusive livestream concert will be available on the Veeps digital platform. The event, named ‘Shadow Kingdom,’ will take place on July 18, at 2 p.m. PT (10 p.m. BST). Tickets for the intimate concert are on sale now at a cost of $25. Purchasers will have access to the show for 48 hours.
Joel Madden, co-founder of Veeps said: “It’s an incredible honour and a high point for us all at Veeps to have the opportunity to be working with Bob Dylan, and to be a part of what is sure to be a truly special and historic performance, not only as professionals, but as music fans too.”
We have no other information at this time.
Tickets for the show are available here.
25 May, 2021
Following on from yesterday’s birthday message, below is a link to the Halcyon Gallery website where there is a lengthy tribute to Bob Dylan and a glimpse of his artwork, old and new. I’m by no means an art expert, but these more recent, 2020-2021, paintings seem to me to be lightyears ahead of Bob’s previous work.
Be sure to scroll down through Halcyon’s pages; there is a lot to see. See HERE
Our Pre-Loved General Collectables section has been updated today.
24 May, 2021
Salute Him When His Birthday Comes
Hi everyone,
Don’t worry, it’s not Tuesday, you haven’t lost a day, we are here a day early to celebrate Bob Dylan’s birthday. Happy 80th Bob!!
What can I say that hasn’t already been said a million times before and will be said a thousand times again today? A few days ago, Mark Bannerman wrote that today’s birthday is a “confection,” asserting that Bob Dylan is around 62 years of age because, before that, he was Robert Zimmerman.
Dylan wrote in Chronicles: “What I was going to do as soon as I left home was just call myself Robert Allen [Allyn]. As far as I was concerned, that was who I was – that’s what my parents named me. It sounded like the name of a Scottish king, and I liked it. There was little of my identity that wasn’t in it.”
Dylan said in 2004: “You’re born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents … You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.”
Even if short-lived, the names have been many: Elston Gunnn, Blind Boy Grunt, Lucky Wilbury, Sergei Petrov, Jack Frost, or perhaps best of all, ‘Alias’. Irrespective of the name, since he emerged from the Supreme Court building in downtown Manhattan in August 1962, having legally changed his name to Bob Dylan, Bob has had many ‘lives’.
The legal name change coincided with Dylan’s tale that he had been “transfigured” from Bobby Zimmerman, a 21-year-old Hells Angel who was killed in 1961 on his way home from the annual Angels Bass Lake Run. Since then, to name but a few of his lives, we’ve had Folk Bob, Electric Bob, Woodstock recluse Bob, Christian Bob, refinding his muse Bob, Wilbury Bob, Radio presenter extraordinaire Bob, visual artist Bob, and more recently, Rough and Rowdy Bob. It’s a long list of rebirths, almost all of them spectacular.
Throughout all of the above changes, apart from Woodstock recluse Bob, those of us living at the same time as Bob Dylan have had the good fortune to be able to see performing Bob play concerts all around the planet.
In his Nobel address, Dylan said: “The words in Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be acted on the stage. Just as lyrics in songs are meant to be sung…”
The astonishing thing is, as Bob has grown older, the frequencies of his live performances have increased. Unlike many Sixties musicians, Dylan’s concerts are ‘real’ rather than a clone of his records. No matter how long ago they were written and recorded, Dylan’s works are still in flux today.
The Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 was the culmination of the many honours bestowed on Dylan throughout his career, including 38 Grammy nominations and 10 Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and one Golden Globe Award. In May 2000, Dylan received the Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI of Sweden. In June 2007, he received the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category. In May 2012, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in November 2013 he received the accolade of Légion d’Honneur from the French minister Aurélie Filippetti. In 2015 he accepted the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. However, his most outstanding achievement is that he has done all of this on his terms.
In these times of incessant social media and unashamed perpetual self-promotion, where even Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame seems lengthy, Dylan has gained unparalleled eminence without ever pandering to the press, the establishment, or even his audience. He has always ploughed his own furrow and his only message, bedsides “keep a good head and always carry a light bulb,” has been ‘you can come along on the journey with me, but only if you come along on my terms’.
Most of the people reading this short tribute have been together through life with Bob Dylan. There is a Dylan lyric for every mood, every human situation. He is our link to the past and our hope for the future. Hopefully, the best is yet to come. May God bless and keep him always…
Derek Barker, ISIS Magazine.
In other news:
It was announced last week that Bob Dylan has agreed to become an honorary patron of The Bob Willis Fund which aims to raise awareness and money for research into the better detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer. The great Bob Dylan Willis added Dylan as his middle name when he was 16 after seeing Bob Dylan in concert in 1965.
“Bob Willis was a great sportsman who left too soon,” Bob Dylan said. “I’m happy to help keep his flame and cause alive.” See HERE.
Another image from the upcoming Retrospectrum Exhibition. See 18 May entry below.
“New York Subways”
18 May, 2021
Hi everyone,
We have quite a lot to cover this week.
First, and most importantly, issue 214 of ISIS magazine is now with our printer. This will be the final magazine of your current subscription. If you have not re-subscribed for 2021/22 (since April 27 when we began taking subs), then your subscription is now due. Here
Thanks to everyone who sent in messages and articles for Bob’s 80th birthday.
Staying with the Big 8.0, published by CPR, with submissions from almost 100 people, “Happy Birthday Mr Bob” is a celebration of Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday by Irish poets, writers, singers, songwriters, artists, photographers and an eclectic mix of admirers, including drawings of Bob Dylan by the rock guitar legend, the late Rory Gallagher. This interesting and collectable artefact, a softback book with French flaps, is expected to arrive with ISIS in the next couple of weeks. We are importing this 250-page book and will have limited stocks. Order your copy Here.
Coming later in the year is “The Dylan Tapes” from Anthony Scaduto. This book is compiled from 36 hours of interviews made by Scaduto for his 1972 landmark Dylan biography. These reel-to-reel tapes were recently found in a box in Scaduto’s basement. Due in September this year is the paperback “Listening to Bob Dylan (Music in American Life)” by author Larry Starr. See Here.
Independent bookseller, ‘The Bookshop’ in East Grinstead, has organised an evening with Jackie Lees & KG Miles, the authors of “Bob Dylan in London: Troubadour Tales.” This zoom event will take place on May 20, 2021 at 7 pm. Details Here.
All our Pre-Loved sections have had new items added today, so, be sure to look in all of the sections.
The largest collection of Bob Dylan’s artwork ever seen will go on display later this year in the US. “Retrospectrum” spans six decades of Dylan’s art, featuring more than 120 of his paintings, drawings and sculptures.
Building on the original Retrospectrum exhibition that premiered in Shanghai, China, in 2019, the new collection will include never-before-seen pieces and additional artworks from a brand-new series called “American Pastoral.”
Debuting in Miami at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum on November 30, 2021, Retrospectrum will run through April 17, 2022. So far, Miami is the only stop announced.
“One Too Many”
26 April, 2021
Several people have been in touch asking when their subscription is due for renewal. I understand this as it has been confusing with the subscription dates being out of sync.
If you have a current subscription (i.e. you received ISIS 212-13 a little while ago) then you are due issue 214 to complete that subscription. ALL subscriptions will then be due.
As is the case for many years now, we do let our customers subscribe early, therefore if you wish to you can do so HERE.
A subscription form will be enclosed in issue 214.
Tracy
20 April, 2021
My short blog this week is mostly about subscriptions for 2021-22.
On April 1, the Royal Mail substantially increased postal prices inside the UK. The increase was the biggest single jump I can remember. Outside of the UK, prices have increased even more. Coronavirus has impacted massively on the movement of all goods by air. With virtually no planes flying for the past 12 months due to the pandemic, most postal companies are now charging air carrier supplements. Post to the USA for example has increased by 49% on average and the cost of mailing the magazine is now greater than the cost of printing it!!!
In an effort to keep subscription prices down, we have decided to do fewer mailings this year. Our recent ‘bumper issues’ (207-08 and 212-13) were very popular, so the solution to the escalating postal costs would seem to be to produce bigger/thicker issues but with fewer mailings. The 2021-22 subscription will be for four bumper issues.
ISIS 2021-22 subscriptions are now available to order HERE
If you currently have a subscription, you are due issue 214, this will then complete that subscription.
There is also the not so small matter of Mr Dylan’s 80th birthday on May 24. As a tribute, we would like to include readers’ musings. Something along the lines of what Bob Dylan means to you, his standing in the world of music, his best concert, or anything else you would like to say about the great man. Email these to derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com and I’ll do my best to include these in the next issue of ISIS.
“No Direction Home Revised Illustrated Edition”. Several ISIS customers have asked about this title and it’s now on our list. Written by Robert Shelton, with foreword and afterword by Elizabeth Thomson, this edition contains 304 pages, 150 of which are in full-colour. You can order a copy HERE
13 April, 2021
Just a couple of things to mention this week and you probably know them already.
Bob Dylan is on the cover of the June 2021 issue of Uncut magazine (issue 289). The magazine, a major celebration of Dylan’s 80th birthday, will be on sale from April 15. It features contributions from Robbie Robertson, Roger McGuinn, Van Morrison, Paul McCartney, Jackson Browne, Elton John, and many others. The issue comes with a cover CD entitled “Dylan Revisited,” which contains 14 exclusive recordings of Dylan songs by artists like Richard Thompson, The Flaming Lips, and Cowboy Junkies. Alongside these covers is an unreleased Dylan track. The song in question is an acoustic rendition of ‘Too Late.’
Recorded during the Infidels sessions, ‘Too Late’ is the working title for ‘Foot Of Pride,’ a song Dylan worked on repeatedly from April 22 to April 29, 1983. In total, there were 62 attempts at capturing the song. The final take on April 29 was released in March 1991 on “The Bootleg Series 1-3.”
July 17, 2021, will see the release of a 12-inch Vinyl 4-track Single from Legacy Recordings. The pressing is limited to 7000 and as is the case with all Record Store Dylan releases is only available through ‘Bricks and Mortar’ record stores, try our friends at Badlands, Cheltenham.
The record contains two reggae remixes each of ‘Jokerman’ and ‘I And I,’ by Doctor Dread. The two “I And I” remixes were previously released in 2003 on “Is It Rolling Bob: A Reggae Tribute To Bob Dylan,” while the two ‘Jokerman’ remixes are newly commissioned and are previously unreleased.
Side A: 1. ‘Jokerman [Reggae Remix]’ 2. ‘Jokerman [Instrumental Dub]’
Side B: 1. ‘I and I [Reggae Remix]’ 2. ‘I and I [Reggae Dub]’
Our Pre-Loved Collectables page has been updated today. Included in this section are some new stock items for clearance.
30 March, 2021
Books, Books, Books…
The update to my “Songs He Didn’t Write Supplement” should be ready and back from the printer in about two weeks. Since the Supplement was published in October last year, it has sold out two printings and this third printing will be an updated version.
This update to the update includes a couple of songs I missed and half-a-dozen new arrivals through “Bob Dylan: 1970.” I have also updated the Sessions Section in the Appendix to include a further 20 new Appendices. I’m sorry for the delay in getting this edition finished, but the changes meant the whole layout had to be re-done. The book is expanded by 21 pages from 144 to 165 pages. Order a copy Here.
The new 528-page (and that’s only part one) mega biography from Clinton Heylin is due for publication next week. “A Restless Hungry Feeling: The Double Life of Bob Dylan Vol. 1: 1941-1966.” Order Here.
Coming May 6, 2021, from Cambridge University Press is the Sean Latham edited “The World of Bob Dylan”. The book contains an accessibly written and diverse collection of essays on all aspects of Dylan’s art, career, context, and legacy. The 370-page Hardback contains 27 essays. Order Here.
We have also updated our Pre-Loved Collectables pages today with a few more Dylan goodies. Take a look Here.
16 March, 2021
Hi everyone,
Here we are again.
Originally due February 26, the gatekeepers of the UK’s borders have finally allowed “Bob Dylan 1970” into the country three weeks after the rest of the world has enjoyed the 3-CD set!!!
ISIS magazine arrived back from our printer late last week and it fell through British subscribers’ letterboxes at the weekend / Monday. Hopefully, it will be finding its way to EU customers and those further afield very soon.
A problem in production resulted in our Contents Page looking rather strange. Anyway, a pdf of the page is provided here for those who want it.
In my editorial in the new ISIS, I mentioned that “The Bootleg Series Vol. 16” would be with us in May/June 2021. Unfortunately, since sending the magazine to the printer, to quote Bob Dylan, “things have changed.” Originally planned for May, around the time of Dylan’s birthday, the release slipped to June but has now been re-schedulable for much later in the year and will appear nearer the more ‘usual’ period for “BS” releases.
“Outtakes On Bob Dylan: Selected Writings 1967-2021” by Michael Gray is published in spring 2021 in UK hardback from Route Publishing. Despite the “Outtakes” title, Michael informs me that the book will include a lengthy study of “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” Unfortunately, ISIS won’t be stocking this title.
Albert Grossman’s widow, Sally Anne, died in her sleep at her Saugerties home near Woodstock on Friday, March, 12. She was 81.
According to Sally, she introduced Bob Dylan to his first wife, Sara Lownds. Sally’s husband, Dylan’s ex-manager Albert Grossman, died January 25, 1986 of a heart attack on a Concorde flight to London. He was due to attend a music convention in Cannes, France. He was aged just 59. There is a discreet memorial to Albert Grossman tucked away by the river behind the Bearsville Theater near Woodstock. When Tracy and I visited Bearsville a while back, we accidentally came across Albert’s memorial on which Sally had just placed fresh flowers.
We have been eager to resume our Pre-Loved Collectables pages for some considerable time but events have continually conspired against us. Trying to battle through Covid and Brexit has left precious little time for anything else. Nevertheless, we have added new items to our pages today and now hope to get back to weekly Tuesday updates.
Keep Safe,
Derek & Tracy.
23 Feb, 2021
Hi everyone,
The first thing to mention this week is to remind you all that there will be a three-week delay to the release of “Bob Dylan 1970”. The album was originally scheduled for this Friday (February 26), but is now put back to Friday, March 19.
We are working hard to get the next ISIS magazine finished and that will be with our printer this week.
T
o celebrate Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday, Red Planet is to publish a huge fully updated edition of The Dead Straight Guide to Bob Dylan. This new Fifth edition, again authored by Nigel Williamson, is bang up to date and includes reviews of Dylan’s most recent masterpiece, Rough and Rowdy Ways.
The first edition of Williamson’s book was published in 2004. A former features editor of The Times and contributor to Uncut and Mojo, Williamson still writes obituaries for The Times, usually about music business people.
This extended 430-page softback is now lavishly Illustrated in colour throughout. The book sifts the facts, rumour and misinformation about Dylan to deliver a concise and informative biography of the man and a unique guide to his music, together with insightful reviews of all his albums, details of his movies, bootleg albums, books, as well as details of his Nobel Award for literature speech.
You can order a copy HERE.
16 Feb, 2021
Hi everyone,
The first thing to mention this week is that there will be a three-week delay to the release of “Bob Dylan 1970”. No specific reason was given other than the release is now scheduled for Friday, March 19. Anyone who has not yet reserved a copy of this release is advised to do so ASAP. We only have 20 copies of our allocation left unsold. This CD is not an ongoing catalogue release and will not be re-pressed.
With Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday looming ever closer, new book titles continue to be announced for 2021.
The success of the recent book, Bob Dylan in London: Troubadour Tales has resulted in publisher McNidder & Grace planning a follow-up, Bob Dylan in the Big Apple: Troubadour Tales in New York. Written by one of the authors of the London book, K G Miles, the 160-page paperback is due out on November 25, 2021. This title is now available to Pre-order from ISIS Magazine.
The next item new to the ISIS Store this week is Chris Gregory’s detailed analysis of Dylan’s late-period work; a field that has previously only been covered by academic anthologies.
In Determined to Stand, Chris Gregory traces how Dylan, by focusing on his roots in folk, blues, country and gospel music, was able to reinvent his art and his persona from the 1990s onward to create a new and unique body of work. The book is an in-depth study of Bob Dylan’s songs from 1997’s Time Out of Mind to 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. It also focuses on the crucial role that the live performances on Dylan’s Never Ending Tour (1988 to the present) played in his battle to find ways of remaining creative despite the onset of ageing.
Determined to Stand is A5 in size and 180,000 words in length. This title is now available to order from ISIS Magazine.
We are continually being asked when we intend to restart our ever-popular Pre-Loved Collectables pages. Unfortunately, with everything that is going on in the world, we simply haven’t had enough time to devote to this. Also, couriers informing us that one-in-five packages were failing to get through UK customs wasn’t an encouraging statistic! Finally, the uncertainty of the VAT aspect of UK sales into Europe has been a major concern. Many UK sellers paused shipping to the EU while they tried, mostly in vain, to get answers from the UK government.
However, feedback from our EU customers has so far been extremely positive. Our Customs Declaration forms seem to be flying through without any delays (well done Tracy) and the Royal Mail is now telling us that VAT should not be applied to low-value items by EU countries until July 2021. So, with all of this in mind, we intend to re-commence our Pre-Loved updates within the next two weeks.
2 Feb, 2021
Hi everyone,
In part, this blog is in response to the many emails we have received asking if everything is alright here at ISIS. My last blog was on December 22. I would have liked to have kept up my Tuesday blogs and our popular Pre-Loved Collectables pages, but I have found myself increasingly bogged down trying to negotiate Covid and Brexshit.
Almost everything we try to do is now taking three times longer and is more expensive due to Covid-19. The whole world has to try and cope with this dreadful disease so there is no point in complaining. At least as an online trader, we are able to continue. Nonetheless, trying to negotiate the impenetrable administration around Brexit wasn’t what was needed during a pandemic.
All mail and parcel carriers report delays due to Brexit with one-in-10 lorries being turned back at the UK border. During January, DPD, Europe’s 2nd largest parcel delivery company, has, on more than one occasion paused all EU road deliveries from the UK due to as many as 1 in 5 of all parcels being rejected at customs.
To make matters even worse, VAT is now being applied to goods sold to EU customers from UK sellers and vice versa. VAT rates across the 27 EU member states vary greatly. VAT is Zero rated both on books and magazines in the UK, but most EU countries charge VAT on books and some apply VAT to magazines and newspapers. Citizens of these countries will know far better than me what rates apply in their countries and in any event, many EU countries have recently reduced their rates of VAT to help with their economies during the Covid crisis. Also, although there is a common EU ruling about VAT charges since Brexit, every country is interpreting and applying the rule differently!
Of course, music enthusiasts who buy from the United States and other overseas territories will be well aware of how these hit and miss tax collection procedures work in their home country.
On a far more positive note, even though Customs Declaration forms have changed several times since January 1, Tracy seems to be getting things right. We have dispatched 100s of items to EU customers since January 1 and other than slight delays (due to Covid), as yet we haven’t been told of any problems. However, only time will tell.
I’d like to spend my days writing about Bob Dylan but half of each day is now spent talking to Government officials (most of which don’t have any answers), working my way round bureaucracy and filling out forms. Unable to get my head around some of the new rules, over the past few days I talked with other small-medium book and music sellers and to my relief, I have discovered that nobody has the answers. Some even suspended sales to the EU for a while but then realized that with no answers being forthcoming they only thing they could do was keep on keeping on.
I hope to continue with my blog next week. Maybe even talking about Bob Dylan and perhaps resume our Pre-Loved Collectables pages. For now, though, we are offering reduced prices on a handful of copies of the fabulous Paolo Brillo photobook No Such Thing as Forever: Images from 30 years of The Never Ending Tour 1989-2019. These are un-signed copies that are not perfect. They have various slight ‘faults,’ though not to the photo pages themselves and are a bargain. You can order a copy HERE
Stay Safe, Tracy & Derek.
22 Dec, 2020
Hi everyone,
I’m going to keep it short today.
In case anyone missed our announcement last week, the 3-CD 50th Anniversary Collection 1970 has unexpectedly been made more wildly available and will now be released February 26, 2021 under the title Bob Dylan 1970. This set, which has a slightly amended running order, will contain two tracks that were inadvertently left of the original 50th Anniversary Collection. We still have some of our allocation left but please note this is not and ongoing ‘catalogue’ item and stocks are limited.
Please Note: The ISIS office will be closed from 5pm today (Tuesday, December 22nd), until Monday, January 4th, 2021. Any orders received before 1pm (UK time) today, will be dispatched today. You can, of course, continue to place orders through our website during the Holiday period, but no goods will be dispatched until we re-open on January 4th.
Tracy and I would like to thank all our subscribers and customers for their continued support during this extraordinarily difficult and surreal year. Let’s hope better times are ahead for us all in 2021.
Our 2020 animated Christmas Card can be viewed HERE
15 Dec, 2020
Hi everyone,
With just 10 days remaining before Christmas, we have decided to halt our weekly used items updates until the New Year. In the UK, and I’m sure elsewhere around the world, our postal guys and gals are under immense pressure with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and more people than ever buying online due to the pandemic. We are finding that some ‘next day’ tracked UK postal deliveries are now taking five days and others seven days and often longer.
As I mentioned last week, we’ll be working on ISIS issue 211 over the holiday season and as always contributions are most welcome. You can email any contributions to derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
Help: I’ve just finished my first draft of a piece, mostly in chart form, allocating ALL of the takes from March 3,1970 through to the August 12, 1970 session, indicating which takes have been officially released (Self Portrait, Dylan, BS 10, New Morning, 50th Anniversary Collection 1970) and which takes remain unreleased. There appear to be a number of discrepancies with take allocations listed on the 50th Anniversary Collection 1970 sleeve. I’m interested to know if anyone else out there has attempted this rather arduous task. Email derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
Please Note: The ISIS office will be closed from Tuesday 22, December and we will re-open on Monday 4, January 2021.
I’m pleased to say that our friends at Dylan Review will release their winter 2020 issue later this month. Dylan Review is a twice-yearly online magazine of peer-reviewed critical articles and more. For further details see the following note from Dylan Review Editors—
* * *
Greetings!
The Dylan Review Editors are pleased to announce the release of the winter 2020 issue (volume 2.2) in late December. This volume includes an interview with Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, a review of Wanderer by Trade: Gender in the Songs of Bob Dylan, poetry by Tom Palaima, and a look at the latest Theme Time Radio Hour.
Dylan Review is open access—all issues are available free online. Summer 2020 (volume 2.1), out last August, offers something for everyone—
Three perspectives on Rough and Rowdy Ways:
- a musicological review of the album by Charles O. Hartman
- an examination of the album’s Classical references by Richard F. Thomas
- and a deep dive into “Murder Most Foul” by Anne Margaret Daniel
Summer 2020 also includes:
- John Hunt and Tim Hunt inquiring into Dylan’s “country” period as evidenced through the Travelin’ Thru box set
- a Dylanista column that ponders some of the more perplexing moments in Dylan’s recent interviews
- Graley Herren’s reading of the “New Morning” chapter from Chronicles as a crossroads morality play
- an interview with Mark Davidson, Archives Director of the American Song Archives at the Bob Dylan Archive
Twice per year the Dylan Review publishes peer-reviewed critical articles, invited reviews and review essays, as well as opinion pieces, interviews, and a regular column. Check out all our content here, and please let us know what you think!
The Editors invite feedback, letters, and submissions pertaining to Bob Dylan’s work and career. The Dylan Review welcomes submissions at any time of the year and encourages contributions from diverse scholarly disciplines.
Please send all submissions to editors@dylanreview.org. To receive updates from the Dylan Review, please sign up here.
With best wishes
The Editors
08 Dec, 2020
Hi everyone,
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday now out of the way it’s time for Dylan Tuesday. Our Pre-Loved Collectables page has been updated today with some incredible discounts in place. Several items are being offered at 75% of our previous prices!
Dylan news was dominated yesterday by the announcement that Universal Music Publishing Group, currently the second largest music publisher in the world, had bought Bob Dylan’s entire publishing catalogue from 1962 to the present day; more than 600 songs.
As is usual with social media, rumours immediately began to circulate that this sale signalled Dylan’s retirement. While I’m not in any way privy as to if and when Bob Dylan might be packing up his uniform, I’m don’t see this sale as any sort of signal.
In recent months, a number of artists have begun hiving off their catalogues to eager buyers. Only a week before the Dylan announcement it was revealed that Stevie Nicks had sold a majority stake in her publishing catalogue for $100m. Selling their publishing means that artists can enjoy an immediate cash payment rather than waiting for royalty checks to arrive over the coming years and decades. Also, I’m sure that as his 80th birthday looms ever closer, Bob is looking to simplify his affairs for all concerned.
I’ve already written a piece about this for the next issue of ISIS magazine. The probability is that we’ll be working on the next ISIS (issue 211) over Christmas and that it will be printed and out in January. What else is there to do during lockdown?
01 Dec, 2020
Hello again,
Some of you may have seen my ISIS Blog yesterday that announced the release of “Bob Dylan: 50th Anniversary Collection 1970.” This year’s release was kept extremely quiet and I only found out about it myself a few hours before it went on sale.
The sale was handled much the same as last year with only a few physical shops in Europe allowed to sell this release. In the UK, the only seller was Badlands, Cheltenham and they sold out in seconds. Full details of this release can be found at the end of today’s blog.
As expected, the Rare Cool Stuff officially licensed Bob Dylan Calendar sold out very quickly. In fact, it sold so fast that we had to pull it down from the website for a short time while we packed and dispatched them. With that job thankfully out of the way, we have a handful left that we can again offer for sale. We also have half-a-dozen that have a VERY slight knock to the corner that can be bought at a discount. See Here.
Pre-Loved: Our Pre-Loved Collectables page has been updated today. Take a look Here.
Please Note: If you are one of our valued United States customers who usually pays ISIS with US Dollar Cheques or US Postal Money Orders, our bank no longer accepts these methods of payment. Unfortunately, the UK Post Office do not cash US Postal Money Orders. We can accept payments from the US by Credit or Debit cards or PayPal.
Bob Dylan: 50th Anniversary Collection 1970
Disc 1:
March 3, 1970
- I Can’t Help but Wonder Where I’m Bound
- Universal Soldier – Take 1
- Spanish Is the Loving Tongue – Take 1
- Went to See the Gypsy – Take 2
- Went to See the Gypsy – Take 3
- Woogie Boogie
March 4, 1970
- Went to See the Gypsy – Take 4
- Thirsty Boots – Take 1
March 5, 1970
- Little Moses – Take 1
- Alberta – Take 2
- Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies – Take 1
- Things About Comin’ My Way – Takes 2 & 3
- Went to See the Gypsy – Take 6
- Untitled 1970 Instrumental #1
- Come a Little Bit Closer – Take 2
- Alberta – Take 5
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano
David Bromberg – guitar, dobro, bass, Al Kooper – organ, piano, Emanuel Green – violin, Stu Woods – bass, Alvin Rogers – drums, Hilda Harris, Albertine Robinson, Maeretha Stewart – background vocals
May 1, 1970
- Sign on the Window – Take 2
- Sign on the Window – Takes 3, 4 & 5
- If Not for You – Take 1
- Time Passes Slowly – Rehearsal
- If Not for You – Take 2
- If Not for You – Take 3
- Song to Woody – Take 1
- Mama, You Been on My Mind – Take 1
- Yesterday – Take 1
Disc 2:
- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Take 1
- I Met Him on a Sunday (Ronde-Ronde) – Take 1
- One Too Many Mornings – Take 1
- Ghost Riders in the Sky – Take 1
- Cupid – Take 1
- All I Have to Do Is Dream – Take 1
- Gates of Eden – Take 1
- I Threw It All Away – Take 1
- I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) – Take 1
- Matchbox – Take 1
- Your True Love – Take 1
- Telephone Wire – Take 1
- Fishing Blues – Take 1
- Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance – Take 1
- Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 – Take 1
- It Ain’t Me Babe
- If Not for You
- Sign on the Window – Take 1
- Sign on the Window – Take 2
- Sign on the Window – Take 3
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
George Harrison – guitar, vocals (Disc 1, Tracks 20 & 24 and Disc 2, Tracks 2-3, 6-7, 10-11, & 16), Bob Johnston– piano (Disc 1, Tracks 24-25 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-3), Charlie Daniels – bass, Russ Kunkel – drums
June 1, 1970
- Alligator Man
- Alligator Man [rock version]
- Alligator Man [country version]
- Day of the Locusts – Take 2
- Sarah Jane 1
- Sign on the Window
- Sarah Jane 2
Disc 3:
June 2, 1970
- If Not for You – Take 1
- If Not for You – Take 2
June 3, 1970
- Jamaica Farewell
- Can’t Help Falling in Love
- Long Black Veil
- One More Weekend
June 4, 1970
- Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie – Take 1
- Three Angels
- Tomorrow Is a Long Time – Take 1
- Tomorrow Is a Long Time – Take 2
- New Morning
- Untitled 1970 Instrumental #2
June 5, 1970
- Went to See the Gypsy
- Sign on the Window – Stereo Mix
- Winterlude
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget 1
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget 2
- Lily of the West – Take 2
- Father of Night – rehearsal
- Lily of the West
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
David Bromberg – guitar, dobro, mandolin, Ron Cornelius – guitar, Al Kooper – organ, piano, Charlie Daniels – bass, guitar, Russ Kunkel – drums, Background vocalists unknown
August 12, 1970
- If Not for You – Take 1
- If Not for You – Take 2
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Buzzy Feiten – guitar
Other musicians unknown
March 3, 4, 5 and May 1, 1970 sessions took place at Studio B, Columbia Recording Studios, New York City, New York
June 1-5 and August 12, 1970 sessions took place at Studio E, Columbia Recording Studios, New York City, New York
Produced for release by Steve Berkowitz
Sessions originally produced by Bob Johnston
Tapes transferred by Matt Cavaluzzo
Rough mixes by Matt Cavaluzzo and Damian Rodriguez
Editing and mastering by Steve Addabbo
Art Direction and Design: Geoff Gans
Product Manager: Jeroen van der Meer
Archivist and Project Coordinator: Parker Fishel
Additional Research: Jeff Friedman
30 Nov, 2020
Hi everyone,
We can now announce that the “Bob Dylan: 50th Anniversary Collection 1970” is on sale at Badlands, Cheltenham. As was the case last year, Badlands is the only UK seller. Pre-orders are being taken by Badlands today (3pm Monday, November 30) and the release date for this Limited Edition 3-CD set is Friday December 4, 2020.
Badlands tell me they have a “handful” of these CDs and that like last year, it will sell out in under a minute. This blog is a news item, the chances of securing a copy of this year’s 50th Anniversary Collection is close to zero. Don’t shoot me, I’m only the messenger.
Please Note: ISIS will not have any stocks of this item.
24 Nov, 2020
Hi everyone,
First of all apologies for not being able to write anything for the past two weeks and for not having the time to update our Pre-Loved Collectables pages. With Covid-19 slowing almost everything, trying to prepare for the complete uncertainty of a no-deal Brexit, and Tracy and I working seven days a week packing and dispatching, we have been hit by the perfect storm.
The last big item to be dispatched before Christmas will be the Dylan Calendar which we hope to begin packing and posting tomorrow.
Note: If you pay ISIS via BACS for items, please check the details on your order because our bank account has changed. Our new account is: 61785606 Sort Code: 60 83 71, Starling Bank.
Before I sign off, I must thank all those who supported ISIS by buying my supplement to “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence.” Your kind words regarding this book have been wonderful to read and sales have surpassed all expectations and more. The first printing sold out in just two weeks but a speedy turnaround from our printer meant that the book was back in stock in less than a week!
Pre-Loved: Our Pre-Loved Collectables page has been updated today. Take a look Here.
03 Nov, 2020
“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” (The Criterion Collection) (release January 19, 2021).
We now have the director-approved Blu-ray 4K digital transfer and the 2-disc DVD available to pre-order at ISIS.
Over and above the Netflix screened version, this release will feature interviews with Martin Scorsese, editor David Tedeschi, and writer Larry “Ratso” Sloman. There will also be restored footage of never-before-seen Rolling Thunder Revue performances of ‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You’ and ‘Romance in Durango,’ and of a never-before-seen cut of ‘Tangled Up in Blue.’ Also included is an essay by novelist Dana Spiotta and writings from the Rolling Thunder tour by Sam Shepard, Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman.
These items are not US imports. The Blu-ray is Region B and the DVD Region 2. Both made for the UK/European market.
Also just announced by publisher McNidder & Grace is “Bob Dylan in London: Troubadour Tales” by authors Jackie Lees, K G Miles (co-curator of the Dylan Room at the Troubadour), and Illustrator Julia Wytrazek.
This is the story of Bob Dylan’s time in London that doubles as a walking guide. “This book explores the key London places and times that helped to create one of the greatest of all popular musicians, Bob Dylan.”
Illustrated paperback, 160 pages. Copies purchased through ISIS will be signed; Covid allowing.
Published February 4, 2021.
Delays due to Covid 19:
Important production updates: With Covid-19 slowing almost everything, I would again like to take this opportunity to keep customers updated on forthcoming items. I’m pleased to say that the supplement book to my “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence” came into stock as expected and all orders have now been dispatched. Customers in the UK and much of Europe should have already received their orders. I’m also pleased to say that the latest issue of ISIS magazine arrived back from our printer on time and was dispatched to subscribers last Friday. Most of our UK customers seem to have received the magazine on Saturday so full marks to our boys and girls at the Royal Mail!
Further good news is that we now have confirmation that Paolo Brillo’s photo book, “No Such Thing as Forever,” will be delivered to our door on Friday, November 6. We will begin packing these over the weekend but please be aware that due to the vast amount of orders we have for this item it will take a few days to pack and dispatch. We intend to start shipping on Monday, November 9. Due to new Covid “lockdown” restrictions that will come into effect on Thursday, November 5 in the UK, we are not able to bring ‘staff’ in to help with this task. In addition, the latest lockdown will mean that very few planes are flying in and out of the UK making overseas deliveries slower than usual. Please be patient.
As I stated in my previous blog, the Rare Cool Stuff Dylan calendar went into production last week, slightly ahead of schedule. However, a single case of Covid-19 at the print company brought preceding to a halt for seven days. Things seem to be back up to speed now and Rare Cool Stuff is hoping to be in a position to dispatch our order sometime next week.
Please Note: For the latest updates, including anticipated delivery dates on all products, please check our website. This information is updated daily.
Pre-Loved: Our Pre-Loved Collectables page has been updated today with a few Very Choice items. Take a look Here.
20 Oct, 2020
“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” (The Criterion Collection) is due for release January 19, 2021.
The director-approved Blu-Ray will be a 4K digital transfer with a 5.1 surround, DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Over and above the Netflix screened version the Blu-Ray will feature interviews with Scorsese, editor David Tedeschi, and writer Larry “Ratso” Sloman. There will also be restored footage of never-before-seen Rolling Thunder Revue performances of ‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You’ and ‘Romance in Durango,’ and of a never-before-seen cut of ‘Tangled Up in Blue.’ Also included is an essay by novelist Dana Spiotta and writings from the Rolling Thunder tour by Sam Shepard, Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman.
ISIS is currently talking with Criterion about the availability of this title in the UK and Europe.
Most of you will have heard by now that Bob Dylan recently joined as an executive producer on the biopic, “Calico Joe.” The story was inspired by the real-life tragedy of Ray Chapman, killed during a baseball match in 1920. The 2012 John Grisham book and the film are, however, set in the 1970s.
A blend of fact and fiction, the film is about a Chicago Cubs batter, “Calico Joe” Castle (whose life is changed after being hit by a near-fatal pitch), and the pitcher as narrated by Paul Tracey, the 11-year-old son of New York Mets pitcher Warren Tracey.
The adaptation to film is being developed by George Clooney and his long-time collaborator Grant Heslov. Bob Dylan’s Grey Water Park Productions is set to produce.’
A few production updates: With Covid-19 delaying almost everything, I’d like to take this opportunity to update customers the best I can on forthcoming items. I’m pleased to say that after a couple of delays, Andrew Muir’s updated “The True Performing Of It: Dylan & Shakespeare” arrived into stock yesterday (Monday). All orders are currently being packed and shipped.
The supplement book to my “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence” went onto the presses yesterday (October 19) and should be dispatched to customers October 27 as initially scheduled.
ISIS magazine is also at the printer and should be mailed by November 1.
Paolo Brillo’s photo book “No Such Thing as Forever” is on the presses as I type and will be dispatched as soon as it arrives with us.
The Rare Cool Stuff Dylan calendar went into production this week, slightly ahead of the print schedule, so that should be shipped November as previously stated. Once stock is shipped to ISIS from the US we won’t be in a position to re-order in time for Christmas so this might be your last chance to grab one of these unique items.
Please Note: For the latest updates on all of the above anticipated delivery dates please see the products on our website. This information is updated daily.
Pre-Loved: We have updated our Pre-Loved General Collectables pages today with another selection of great used items. Take a look Here.
14 Oct, 2020
ISIS magazine is pleased and proud to announce that we have been appointed the official exclusive agent for the UK and Europe for Rare Cool Stuff. Most of you will know RCS from their work designing for Bob Dylan. Rare Cool Stuff has been responsible for many design aspects of the long running, highly acclaimed Bootleg Series releases and much more besides. RCS has now produced a Bob Dylan calendar for 2021.
This will be the first ever officially licensed Bob Dylan calendar. It features 13 classic images from the years 1961-1965. Selected directly from the Columbia Records’ photo archives, the iconic images are reproduced in stunning clarity from the original negatives, some of which have not been published before!
This LP-size premier collector’s edition 12-month calendar features a bonus poster insert, photos of album covers and rare single sleeves, significant release dates and birthdays of interest, including those of other musicians.
Rare Cool Stuff is kindly providing ISIS with a special Limited Promotional Item for our customers. This is available only on the first 100 orders we receive.
The cost of the Rare Cool Calendar is £18.99 INCLUDING Post & Packaging in the UK. See our webpage for delivery costs in Europe and elsewhere. Order your copy HERE.
29 Sept, 2020
A weekend preparing mailing labels and packaging for Terry Gans’ book, Surviving In a Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Voyage to Infidels, left no time to prepare items for our Pre-Loved section but we’ll be back with more new items next Tuesday.
I’m pleased to say that work is almost finished on my supplement to The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence. All of Dylan’s American Songbook and Christmas recordings – 68 in all – are contained in this update. These sit alongside a further 120 songs, some performed in concert, but mostly they are from recently discovered recording sessions like The Complete Basement Tapes, the 1980-81 Rundown Studios sessions for Shot Of Love, the June 1981 Rundown tour rehearsals and Terry Gans’ 2020 documentation of the Infidels recording sessions. Finally, there are a handful of additions and omissions from the original book. In total, these two volumes contain 738 entries across 668 pages.
The 160-page supplement is available independently at £9.95 (Order Here) or as a bundle with the original 510-page book at £19.95 (for both) (Order Here) including post and packing in the UK.
15 Sept, 2020
Although we have been updating the site every week, it has been a while since my last blog.
The first thing to mention today is that it appears Bob Dylan is reviving “Theme Time Radio Hour” with on one-off, two-hour special themed “Whiskey” (what else?). Seeming recorded during lockdown, the show will be broadcast on September 24 by the German radio station Radio Eins. Radio Eins was responsible for giving us the previously un-aired ‘missing’ episode of “Theme Time Radio Hour.” Themed “Kiss,” episode 101 was aired for the first time on Radio Eins on February 11, 2015. Anyway, it seems “It’s night time in the big city” again.
Andrew Muir’s book about Bob Dylan & William Shakespeare, “The True Performing Of It,” has been updated with a new 10,000-word Afterword. Entitled “The Time is Out of Joint,” the new chapter looks at happenings since the publication of the original book including the release of Rough & Rowdy Ways with its many Shakespeare allusions. The updated edition should be in stock at ISIS by the end of September. You can pre-order a copy HERE
Anyone wanting an original copy without the update we have a handful to clear at £12.50 each. See HERE
We have been approached by Wymer Publishing with a view to us clearing their remaining stocks of the Softback Edition of “Bob Dylan’s Picnic.” Authored by Jerry Bloom and published in September 2018, this Softback Edition is lavishly illustrated with 100s of colour photographs and items of memorabilia. The book covers each performance with stories, reviews, anecdotes and memories from the artists and audience alike. The book is packed with photos of Dylan. The retail cover price of “Bob Dylan’s Picnic” is £24.99 plus delivery. ISIS price to clear is £11.99 including post & packing in the UK. You can order a copy HERE
If you have reserved your copy of Terry Gans’ much-anticipated book, “Surviving In a Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Voyage to Infidels,” the publisher informs me that the book is with the printer and that ISIS should receive stock in the next two weeks.
I mentioned in this blog in mid-June that I was working on an update supplement to my popular “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence” book. The task has turned out to be far greater than I first envisaged and I have now written-up more 200 songs! The first draft of the book is now finished and we hope to be able to get it to the printer in the next couple of weeks. The supplement will be available independently or as a bundle with the original 500-page book. Prices and ordering information coming soon.
Pre-Loved: We have updated our Pre-Loved General Collectables pages today with another bumper selection of great used items. We also have some drastic price reductions on older items. Take a look, ISIS currently has more than 200 used Collectables in stock. Don’t forget to check out the other Pre-Loved sections too.
Stay Safe,
Derek & Tracy.
28 July, 2020
Most of you will have heard by now that the legend that was CP Lee tragically passed away on the afternoon of Saturday July 25 from a massive heart attack. He had gone to a pub in Levenshulme, Manchester to talk with the boss of Cherry Red Records about a new Albertos Y Lost Trios Paranoias compilation album. CP was a founder member of the band. We will be including a two-page celebration of CP’s life in the upcoming ISIS so other than offering our sincere condolences to CP’s wife Pam and their family we’ll leave it there for now.
The next ISIS – the first of the 2020-21 subscription year – is coming along nicely and will be going into the printer early next week. If anyone reading this has not re-subscribed in the past three months you are in danger of missing the next issue! You can subscribe HERE.
If you would like to take a look at our magazine before subscribing, you can buy sample issue HERE
Our books pages have been updated today with a few new titles.
17 July, 2020
In my last full blog of June 30, I congratulated Dylan and all those involved with Rough and Rowdy Ways for their success with the first-week sales of the album. Unusually for Bob Dylan, success didn’t end there. Traditionally, a Dylan album sells extremely well during its first week of release and then quickly disappears from the chart. This, however, was not the case with Rough and Rowdy Ways. On the second week’s chart in the UK, the album only slipped one place, from Number 1 to 2, and in its third week only dropped to Number 5! With the vinyl version released this Friday (July 17), it will be interesting to see if LP sales help to maintain a strong chart position.
On the subject of the vinyl release, as I type this blog, the carrier is outside unloading our vinyl delivery so it looks like my itinerary for the next couple of days will be involve packing LPs.
In recent weeks, Covid-19 has slowed things down here at ISIS HQ. Everything seems to take three times longer to organize in these Covid times. Beginning July 1, changes introduced to the postal system, especially in the United States, has necessitated hugely time-consuming changes to our website. Tracy has been working night and day on this but it has meant that other things, such as uploading new product to our Pre-Loved pages, has had to take a back seat. I know how popular our second-hand collectable pages are and we will try to get this service back up and running as soon as possible. We still have a couple of hundred items for sale on those pages and many of those have been drastically reduced this week. See HERE.
Finally for today, ’cause I need to start packing vinyl, we have a quantity of new products on the website. These include a large selection of Dylan vinyl and also a couple of items in the New Books and CD Sections.
Stay Safe,
Derek & Tracy.
08 July, 2020
Sunday July 12 sees Rob Stoner as the guest on the Podcast: “Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan.”
There have been some great guests on this long-running Podcast (Larry “Ratso” Sloman, Michael Gray, Billy Bragg, Barb Jungr, rock journalist Barney Hoskyns and broadcaster and journalist Andy Kershaw to name but a few) so it’s well worth a listen.
https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/talkingdylan
30 Jun, 2020
First of all, congratulations go to Bob Dylan on the chart success of his 39th studio album “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” With chart sales of 34,000 units “Rough and Rowdy Ways” is Dylan’s ninth UK Number 1 album.
Also, huge congratulations go to Sony/Columbia on the success of the album in Germany. “Modern Times” (2006), “Together Through Life” (2009) and “Tempest” (2012) all reaching Number 2 on the German Chart but “Rough and Rowdy Ways” went one better. This is Bob Dylan’s first Number 1 record in Germany. Unfortunately, the album only made Number 2 on the US Billboard Top 200. It was held off the Top Spot by Lil Baby’s “My Turn.”
Please note: Although publication is not due until September 2020, there are now only 10 ‘Signed and Numbered’ copies of the 300 Limited Edition of Terry Gans’ “Surviving In a Ruthless World” left unallocated.
Books Just Arrived into stock: The ‘B’ format paperback edition of my “Too Much of Nothing” arrived into stock this week and has already been mailed out to those of you who have this title on order. This 416-page edition is Fully Revised and Updated with newly discovered facts and corrections to the Hardback edition published in 2018.
I’m pleased to say that Spencer Leigh’s 500-plus-page biography, “Outlaw Blues” arrived today, a week ahead of the publication date. We originally sold this title as Signed but it has arrived as both Signed and Numbered. If anyone wants one of these there are only 16 copies left!
Finally, for those of you who have been waiting, Christopher E. Bowman’s “Me, The Boat And a Guy Named Bob” is back in stock today after an extended wait. There was a lengthy review of this book and also an extract from it published in ISIS (issue 207-8). This title arrived into stock as I was writing this blog and will be mailed out later this week!
Like everyone, we are continuing to experience delays with the post so please be patient.
Pre-Loved: After an enforced two-week break, we have updated our Pre-Loved Collectables page today with some music. There is a general mix of older items at very reasonable prices. In all, we have more than 200 Used Collectables in stock.
16 June, 2020
Three days and counting… If you want to know a little more about Rough And Rowdy Ways before Friday you could do worse than read Anne Margaret Daniel’s review for Hot Press. Anne Margaret, who has written for ISIS in the past, usually comes closest to getting it right. The title of her article, “A Record We Need Right Now,” certainly sums things up.
Advertising posters have been appearing in many locations in the UK. Thanks to Toby Richards-Carpenter for this photo.
On the subject of advertising, a TV advert has been shown on ITV in the UK.
The link below will take you on a short virtual tour of some of Bob Dylan’s Greenwich village haunts. The tour was created by lifelong New Yorker Frank Mastropolo to complement his “Greenwich Village Today” article in the current issue of ISIS magazine (issue 207-8, pp. 62-64). You can use the “Look Around” ‘hand’ to move quicker and to move up and down.
Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village Today
BRAND NEW FROM BOB DYLAN On Saturday 4th July, BobDylanArt will be releasing the first standalone collection of ‘Train Tracks’ graphics since 2012
https://www.facebook.com/BobDylanArt/
12 June, 2020
It seems from yesterday’s blog post that some people thought the “Murder Most Foul” Kennedy image was an inner sleeve. Well, there are no inner sleeves! Just to clear things up, the images below are the front and back covers of the gatefold digipak.
I’d like say more, but I can’t play the record ’cause my needle got stuck!
There is an interview with Dylan conducted by Douglas Brinkley in today’s New York Times that’s certainly worth a look. Brinkley describes Rough and Rowdy Ways as covering complex territory: “trances and hymns, defiant blues, love longings, comic juxtapositions, prankster wordplay, patriotic ardor, maverick steadfastness, lyrical Cubism, twilight-age reflections and spiritual contentment.” I guess that just about sums it up! Brinkley mentioned the “high-octane showstopper ‘Goodbye Jimmy Reed,’ which I have to say was the track that first jumped out at me. That probably means it’s a track that I won’t like so much after a few plays but we’ll see… You can read the full interview HERE.
We have a quantity of A3 (42cm – 17-inch) album posters to give away to ISIS customers. Stocks are limited so it’s one per person. The posters will be rolled and delivered to you in poster tubes. These are free of charge and all we ask is that you cover the cost of the poster tube and the crazy high postage. Grab one HERE.
Note: The much anticipated Paolo Brillo Photobook, No Such Thing As Forever, is selling fast. All 300 copies of the Numbered and Signed Edition have now sold out. We are, however, pleased to announce that we will also have 200 Author Signed copies. Order your copy HERE
Coming soon: Just a quick mention that I am currently working on an update supplement to The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence. The supplement will be available independently or as a bundle with the original 500-page book. More on this soon.
Note: Rough and Rowdy Ways will be shipped next week in an effort to arrive with our UK customers on the day of release (Friday, June 19). However, once we have dispatched the album we are at the mercy of the postal system, which due to Covid-19 is somewhat erratic.
12 June, 2020
Bob Dylan – Rough And Rowdy Ways (Tracklist Reveal)
Watch this space, more exciting news later today!
11 June, 2020
Well, the big day has arrived. We have received our stock of Rough And Rowdy Ways ready for dispatch next week (release date Friday June 19). If you were expecting lots of information, think again. Apart from the Engineer, assistant engineer, and mastering, no other recording details are revealed. Obviously, the musicians and additional musicians are listed but that’s about it. Even the track listing isn’t visible until the shrink wrap is removed. It’s playing here now at ISIS HQ!
You can order the CD HERE or the Vinyl HERE
Watch this space tomorrow for some more exciting news.
09 June, 2020
I mentioned last Tuesday that in the UK the Royal Mail had done a sterling job, in some cases getting the new issue of ISIS to people the day after it was collected from us! The feedback last week was that the magazine had arrived quite quickly in many European counties and some have already made it to the US. This is a vast improvement on the previous magazine mailout and is encouraging news for the dispatch of the new album, next week!
On the subject of mailing out “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” the CD album is due to arrive with us early next week and we will be working full-time bagging up your orders. If you have not already ordered your copy, you can order the CD HERE or the Vinyl HERE.
This is a considerable task which unfortunately won’t leave any time for us to organise our usual Tuesday Pre-Loved sale. Nevertheless, we have a selection of items in today’s Pre-Loved update. In an effort to feature as many different things as possible, this week we have a range of general music books, all of which contain Dylan is some way. Our Pre-Loved pages also contains 20 rare older items at very reduced prices. You can see all the items HERE. Don’t forget to take a look through the other Pre-Loved Sections too.
With the final ISIS magazine of the (2020/21) subscription year now mailed out, if you haven’t re-subscribed in the past three weeks, then your subscription is now due for renewal. To Subsribe see HERE.
02 June, 2020
I don’t have a lot to say this week. The final ISIS magazine of the (2020/21) subscription year was mailed out last Thursday and miraculously arrived with some UK subscribers on Friday morning! A big thank you from me to the Frontline Workers at the Royal Mail for the sterling work they have continued to do during this dreadful pandemic. UK deliveries are still a little patchy in certain areas but those who didn’t receive their ISIS on Friday/Monday will hopefully find it drops through their doors today.
PLEASE NOTE: To help cut down the volume of telephone calls we are currently receiving regarding subscription statuses, unless you have paid in the past two weeks your subscription is now due. Issue 207-8 is the final issue of the current subscription year. Subscribe HERE
Although Terry Gans’ “Surviving In a Ruthless World” and Paolo Brillo’s “No Such Thing as Forever” are not due for publication until September and October respectively, both titles are selling quickly and more than 200 of 300 Numbered Editions of each title have already been sold.
In Holland, VPRO-radio is producing a 26-part Podcast entitled “Bobcast.” The Podcast featuring Chris Krijne and Lars Hulshof will attempt to unravel ‘the mystery’ that is Bob Dylan. Among the people interviewed are Holland’s popular tv presenter Mathijs van Nieuwkerk, actress Monique van de Ven, musician, singer and comedian Herman van Veen, guitarist Larry Campbell and photographer Elliot Landy. “Bobcast” will begin on May 24.
We have updated our Pre-Loved Song Books and Pre-Loved Fanzine pages today and are offering a 20% discount off everything on these two pages for the next seven days. Don’t forget to check our Pre-Loved General Collectables pages. There is nothing new there this week, but we still have more than 200 Collectables in stock.
26 May, 2020
A belated Happy 79th Birthday to Mr Dylan for Sunday just gone.
According to several posts on Facebook and a Tweet from Stacey Earle, ex Dylan band member Bucky Baxter passed away yesterday, May 25, at the age of 65 from a stroke.
Multi-instrumentalist William ‘Bucky’ Baxter appeared on albums by artists such as Ryan Adams, R.E.M., Joe Henry and of course the Bob Dylan album, Time Out of Mind. Bucky played on the first five Steve Earle albums and toured with Earle prior to joining Dylan on the road. He was a full member of Bob Dylan’s tour-band between 1992 and 1999. He performed 740 shows with Dylan including two songs, ‘One Irish Rover’ and ‘I Shall Be Released,’ in Springfield, Illinois on August 19, 1989. At that time, he was member of Steve Earle’s band. Earle was the support act for part of that tour and Bucky was invited to play pedal steel guitar on three or four songs on four further shows during that same Summer US tour.
The final ISIS of this (2020/21) subscription year is due back from our printer during the next couple of days and should be mailed out to subscribers by the end of this week.
With the new Dylan album being announced and all the upcoming books I’ve told everyone about over the past couple of weeks I’ve forgot to mention one item— my book!!! The ‘B’ format paperback edition of Too Much of Nothing will be available shortly. This 416-page edition is Fully Revised and Updated with newly discovered facts and corrections to the Hardback edition published in 2018. Pre-Order your copy HERE.
Our Tuesday ritual continues today with 30 new items added to our Pre-Loved page. Take a look at the new items HERE.
19 May, 2020
We are delighted to announce that we have been approached by Spencer Leigh’s publisher, McNidder & Grace, who are offering ISIS subscribers the opportunity to obtain Signed and Numbered copies of Spencer’s 528-page tome, Bob Dylan: Outlaw Blues. Pre-Order HERE.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have already ordered this book from ISIS, you do not need to contact us as ALL orders will be automatically upgraded to Signed and Numbered copies at no extra charge.
We are also now able to offer Signed and Numbered copies of Terry Gans book, Surviving In A Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Voyage to Infidels. We began selling this title last week as a Numbered Edition but we are now pleased to inform ISIS customers that these books will be exclusively available through ISIS as Signed and Numbered copies. Pre-Order HERE.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have already ordered Numbered copies this book from ISIS, you do not need to contact us as ALL orders will be automatically upgraded to Signed and Numbered copies at no extra charge.
We are currently talking with Paolo Brillo about his upcoming photo book, No Such Thing as Forever: Images from 30 years of The Never Ending Tour 1989-2019. All parties involved with this project, Paolo, Red Planet Books, and ISIS, are in discussions to find a way of getting this book signed for ISIS subscribers and we are very hopeful that we can achieve this. Pre-Order HERE.
Coronavirus is making it extremely difficult to organize author signings, especially for those authors who are outside of the UK (Terry Gans, USA and Paolo Brillo, Italy). Currently, with very few flights available and 14 days quarantine for people coming into the United Kingdom, book signings are a logistical nightmare. We will, however, keep everyone informed of the progress regarding Paolo’s book.
Please Note: Almost half of the 300 Numbered (Signed) Copies of both Paolo Brillo and Terry Gans’ books have already been sold!!!
Coronavirus is continuing to delay postal services world-wide. International freight has been cut back drastically, some Postal Workers are away from work and with many people staying at home, the amount of parcels being sent through the post has increased manifold. Everything seems to be getting through and the situation is slowly improving but please be patient.
The new ‘bumper’ issue of ISIS magazine is now with our printer and with this issue subscriptions are due for renewal. You can subscribe to ISIS Magazine HERE.
After a one-week break, today we are recommencing the Tuesday ritual with 30 new items added to our Pre-Loved page. We have also reduced many other Pre-Loved items this week, some hugely. See items HERE.
Stay Safe / Stay Well.
Derek & Tracy.
12 May, 2020
What a week it’s been in the Dylan world! Another new song and at long last the announcement of the new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways (see below). You can order the CD here or the Vinyl here. We have been working day and night to put the next issue of ISIS magazine together and the good news is that it is now finished. More importantly, our printer re-opened for business this week, albeit with a reduced workforce, but at least the wheels are now in motion. The timings for us finishing the mag and our printer returning to work was partly planned but mostly good fortune.
This dreadful virus is greatly affecting everyone and ISIS is no exception. This issue has been fraught with uncertainty but thankfully our printer reopening after a seven-week enforced break gives us some light at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, even when printed, I know that getting the magazine to subscribers, especially overseas, might be a lengthy process. Postal services world-wide are experiencing increased levels of employee absence and there are also significant delays due to a lack of available transport links. Delivery times to the US have varied greatly with some deliveries of ISIS 206 taking 4-6 weeks and post to Australia and New Zealand even longer. Due to these difficulties, we have decided to produce a bumper two-in-one issue to help negate lengthily delivery times. This issue will complete the subscription year and resubscriptions to ISIS are now available here.
As well as the new album, there are some other significant Dylan goodies in the pipeline. After an unusually long lull in the release of new and meaningful Dylan books, we now have some major titles on the horizon. The two most exciting additions to your bookshelves will be Terry Gans’ Surviving in a Ruthless World and Paolo Brillo’s No Such Thing As Forever. Surviving in a Ruthless World is packed with new material much of which Terry has obtained through his unprecedented research access to the Tulsa Bob Dylan Archives. This title is truly ground breaking.
In my opinion, ISIS Staff Photographer Paolo Brillo is one of the best live music photographers working today and a book of his work is long overdue. ISIS will have both of the above titles available before other sellers and the first 300 copies of each of these publications will be numbered copies available exclusively from ISIS. Watch this space for further details…
This week will see the arrival of the second volume of Anders Lindh’s Bob Dylan In Performance – A Filmography. The first book was published by ‘Two Riders’ in 2017 and this new volume not only continues on from 1988, but also includes substantial updates from the earlier years. Order your copy here.
With everything that is happening at the moment we haven’t been able to devote time to listing new items in Pre-Loved Collectables page but it’s still worth browsing because we have made a number of price reductions this week and there are currently more than 200 items for sale. Take a look here.
Finally, the video below might raise a smile. Thanks to Ian Woodward and Arthur Levy for sending it along.
Stay Safe,
Derek & Tracy.
8 May 2020
Like many Dylan fans, we awoke this morning to another new song from Bob (‘False Prophet’) the third in six weeks! Of course, we all knew that a new album was coming, we have been writing about it in ISIS for months and I think most people expected, or at least hoped, that we’d get a third song posted today; the Thursday midnight ritual. I have to say, however, that I didn’t think that ‘Murder Most Foul’ and ‘I Contain Multitudes’ would be on the album.
Bob’s first album of new original material in eight years will be titled Rough and Rowdy Ways. It will contain 10 new songs, including the three songs already featured on the Internet. The lead-off track will be ‘I Contain Multitudes,’ and the 17-minute-long ‘Murder Most Foul’ will be the sole track on disc 2. The album is scheduled for release on CD June 19, 2020 and on Vinyl, July 17. Both the CD and the LP will be double albums. More news soon…
17 April 2020
Like many Dylan fans, we awoke this morning to another new song from Bob, the second in three weeks! ‘I Contain Multitudes’ is another reflective number with a mood that fits the current uncertainty that we all face. “Today, tomorrow, and yesterday, too/ The flowers are dyin’ like all things do.”
Another minimal arrangement, but with different instrumentation to ‘Murder Most Foul’ (guitar and pedal steel on this one).
Again, we have mentions of artists and song titles including Warren Smith’s wonderful ‘Red Cadillac and Black Moustache,’ a song that Bob has covered in concert. Thanks for the ‘All the Young Dudes’ mention, Bob.
At 4.38, ‘I Contain Multitudes’ is much shorter than ‘Murder Most Foul,’ nonetheless, we now have half an album’s worth of material.
“I contain multitudes… I’m a man of contradictions/ I’m a man of many moods.” That’s an understatement.
31 March 2020
Hello to all our readers.
There is so much we don’t yet understand about COVID-19. Its effects range from people who are entirely asymptomatic and would have no idea that they have the virus right through to people who are dying from respiratory problems and multiple organ failure. Jackson Browne tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-March but reported his symptoms as being “pretty mild,” a “small cough and a temperature,” while it was a very different story for Dylan’s ‘ol sidekick Larry Campbell who was described by his wife and musical partner Teresa Williams as “Sicker than he’s ever been in his life.” After being ill for some time, Larry tested positive for COVID-19 on March 23. Larry’s fever eventually broke March 27/28. He is far from well, but it appears that he might be through the worst.
The recent gift of a previously unreleased/uncirculated Bob Dylan song, ‘Murder Most Foul,’ (see below) was a welcome surprise in these dark and worrying times. I will, of course, be writing about this 17-minute song in the next ISIS and I would like as many readers as possible to send in their thoughts to me. Although I would like a little more than just “I love it” or “I don’t like it,” your thoughts don’t need to amount to an essay (although essays are ALWAYS most welcome). I will try to incorporate your views into my piece in a similar way that John Carvill combined opinions into his Dylan / Scorsese article (ISIS 206, pp34-46). Email: derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
I’m continually being asked where ‘Murder Most Foul’ comes from and when it was recorded. On first listen, the song screams Tempest. Also, the lyric “for the last 50 years they’ve been searching” seems to pin the song to 2012 / 2013 (50 years after Kennedy’s murder). Nevertheless, the vocal sounds much more recent than that, maybe from the last two or three years? Likewise, after further listens the instrumentation doesn’t seem Tempest era. The recording probably comes from a session that we are not yet aware of.
The Royal Mail is working with airline and postal/courier partners across the globe to maintain services. Although the situation is changing daily, at the moment, the only country (where we have customers) that has suspended mail services is New Zealand. Nevertheless, mail to many other counties is suffering some delays so please be patient.
As is usual on Tuesdays, we will be adding many new and varied items to our pre-loved page at 1pm today. The vast majority of these items have not been offered for sale before via our pages. Happy hunting.
Stay Well.
Derek & Tracy.
27 March 2020
Bob Dylan – Murder Most Foul (Official Video)
We woke this morning to the surprise news that Bob Dylan has shared his first new original recording in eight years. The 17-minute song, ‘Murder Most Foul,’ is about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but also VERY much more besides including a plethora of references to events, cultural figures and songs, mostly from the Sixties and Seventies.
Dylan surprised us all with a Twitter post sharing a YouTube clip for the song. “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years,” Dylan tweeted. He continued: “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you.”
24 March 2020
ISIS magazine 206 went into the post last Friday and began arriving with our UK customers yesterday, Monday.
I’m receiving daily emails regarding release dates for new albums being pushed back. Some pressing plants have stopped operating and many stores are now closed world-wide.
It’s great to see many big-name companies helping the small guys get through COVID-19. Sony Music Entertainment UK announced yesterday that they have put temporary amended trading terms in place for Independent retailers, extending 30-day payment terms to 90 days and allowing a full sale or return policy on the new releases that are still coming. Every little helps.
With live music events cancelled or postponed and most of us now confined to barracks, one of the few things left to do is listen to music at home, or maybe read a book! On that front, we are giving a 20% discount of the ‘overstock’ we currently have on ‘Vinyl Records.’ We are also taking pre-orders for the following two book titles:
July 9, 2020 will see the publication of Bob Dylan: Outlaw Blues by Spencer Leigh. Spencer’s music programme, On the Beat, has been running on BBC Radio Merseyside since 1985 and he was kind enough (or maybe just hard-up for guests), to have me on his show talking about Bob Dylan for a couple of hours back in 2008. His first book, Paul Simon: Now and Then, was published in 1973 since which time he has had more books published than I can remember! Outlaw Blues is said to be a fresh take on the Bob Dylan story in which Spencer looks at what motivates Dylan. “Journalists are very fond of saying Bob Dylan is an enigma,” says Leigh, “but that word is flawed. It’s as good as saying you don’t know … I have tried to find answers.” Spencer has spoken to over 300 musicians, friends and acquaintances of Bob Dylan in his research for this book.
Me, The Boat And a Guy Named Bob is a book by Christopher E. Bowman. This one has been out for a little while and due to it being a self-published print on demand title with very little wholesale distribution, we had decided not to stock it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book so much that we are now stocking this title. There will be a lengthy review of the book and also an extract from it published in the next ISIS (issue 207).
I might claim to be a Dylanologist, but I’m certainly not a Virologist! Nevertheless, many of the precautions we all need to take to stop the spread of Coronavirus are common sense. If you have to go out, then remember social distancing. As someone said recently, it’s six feet apart or six feet under. It’s your choice. “Everybody Must Stay Home.” You can recite this mantra to the tune of ‘Rainy Day Women.’
The Royal Mail is, of course, continuing to deliver and as far as I’m aware postal services worldwide are operating. Customers should, however, expect some delays to normal services, on a country by country basis.
The UK Government is actively encouraging online retailing as at the moment this is the safest way to buy the things you want and need. Page three of the Government’s statement published yesterday, March 23, states: “Online retail is still open and encouraged and postal and delivery service will run as normal.”
Not COVID-19 related, I’m sad to say that Julie Felix, folk legend and champion of various causes, died in her sleep on Sunday evening March 22 after a short illness. She was 81.
Banjo player and guitarist Eric Weissberg who first met Bob Dylan in Madison in January 1961 and later play with his band Deliverance on the New York Blood on the Tracks session died March 22 due to Alzheimer’s disease. He was age 80.
As is usual on Tuesdays, we have added many new items to our pre-loved page and it will be updated at 1pm today. Happy hunting in the relative safety of your own homes.
These sorts of emergencies always bring out the best and worst in people. Thank goodness there are more kind and charitable individuals out there than there are the other sort. Let’s not forget, we are all in this together.
Stay Well.
Derek & Tracy.
13 March 2020
BOB DYLAN SHOWS in JAPAN CANCELLED
A Statement on bobdylan.com dated March 12, 2020 says:
Please read this statement from UDO ARTISTS, INC.:
“Given the situation of the widespread Coronavirus, our Prime Minister has requested that we cancel or postpone all forthcoming concerts or events in late March and beyond. We are so sorry to cancel the shows, but in the interest of Public Health and Safety, we are left with no alternative. Therefore we have regrettably decided to cancel the upcoming Bob Dylan concerts here in Japan scheduled April 1 – April 24. We will look to rebook the shows in the future.” ~ UDO Artists, Inc.
10 March 2020
Long time no Blog!
While all around him seem to be cancelling tours, at the moment, Bob Dylan’s tour of Japan appears to be going ahead. An additional show scheduled for Tokyo’s NHK Hall on April 24 did not go on sale, but no shows have (yet) been cancelled due to coronavirus (Covid-19).
Twenty-five dates have now been announced in the United States starting June 4 in Bend, Oregon. At the moment, these dates run through to July 12. See our Tour Dates Page.
News continues to trickle in regarding a new studio album of original material.
ISIS magazine 206 is at the printer this week.
As usual, our Pre-Loved store will be updated at 1pm today with a host of new Dylan items.
This week we have added more Dylan fanzines to Fanzine Section and we also have 20% off all Zines purchased from this section! Take a look HERE
Stay Well.
Derek & Tracy.
11 February 2020
ISIS SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Important Notice.
Several subscribers have recently purchased subscriptions from our online store. Over the past 18 months, our publication dates have slipped a little due to our waiting for news or articles for the magazines. This slippage has meant that we have not yet delivered all of the 2019 subscription.
If you have received issues 203, 204 and 205, then you have a current subscription with us and you do not need to renew yet. The current subscription will end with issue 208 and as always we will include a resubscription form in the final two issues (207 and 208) to remind you that your resubscription is due. Until you hear from us, therefore, hang on to your cash!
As usual, our Pre-Loved store will be updated at 1pm today with a host of new and exciting Dylan items, one of which is the rarest Dylan book ISIS has ever offered for sale. It is expected to sell very quickly, so don’t delay. Don’t forget to take a look in the subcategories, there are new items in the Fanzines section this week too.
28 January 2020
I forgot to post this item earlier today:
Also to coincide with the upcoming Japanese tour, there will be a double Blu-spec CD set entitled Japanese Singles Collection. This CD will be released on March 25, one week before the tour begins. The 31-track collection covers the years 1965 (‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’) through to 1985, (‘Tight Connection To My Heart’) in chronological order.
For further details and a full track listing http://www.searchingforagem.com/2020s/2020.htm
28 January 2020
Not much new to report this week. ISIS magazine will be back from the printer tomorrow and it will hopefully be with most UK subscribers by the weekend.
To celebrate Bob Dylan’s April tour in Japan, Sony is re-releasing Dylan’s first-ever single in that country, ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ / ‘She Belongs To Me’. The 1965 single will be released on April 1, 2020 to coincide with Bob’s first date of the tour. Apart from the catalogue number, the front cover art is identical to ’65 original. This limited edition 7-inch single will be on red vinyl.
As promised, after our January sale, we are now back to re-stocking our Pre-Loved store with lots of new and exciting Dylan items (Updated every Tuesday at 1pm). If you are a regular buyer from our store (or even if you’re not), you won’t want to miss what we have in store for you over the next month.
14 January 2020
A belated Happy New Year to everyone. We are back from our Christmas / New Year break and working hard to finalize ISIS 205, which will be with the printer in a couple of days time.
Things continue to move at a pace in Bobland with the recent news that Fox Searchlight has finalised a deal with James Mangold to direct a yet to be titled Dylan biopic. This will be Mangold’s second film about an iconic musician following the 2005 Johnny Cash-June Carter film Walk the Line. The film, which has a working title of ‘Going Electric,’ is officially sanctioned by Dylan’s people and both Jeff Rosen and Dylan himself are said to be listed as producers. There is currently no date for release.
With a hugely successful US tour now behind him, thoughts turn to April and Japan and to possible concert dates in Europe.
Forget Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Tangled up in Blue Tuesday, ISIS is having a good old fashioned British ‘January Sale’ with a straight 20% off most everything on our website including our every popular ‘Pre-Loved’ store. Our sale will run for Two Weeks from 1pm today, Tuesday, January 14, until 1pm Tuesday, January 28. Take a look through our shop departments.
On Tuesday, January 28, we will recommence stocking our Pre-Loved store 100s of new and exciting Dylan items.
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year from Derek & Tracy
10 December, 2019
Our Pre-Loved and SongBook sections will be updated at 1pm today with more Dylan goodies and collectables.
Please note today will be the last time we update our Pre-Loved section for this year. More items will be added in January.
There will be no mailing of goods between December 20, 2019 and January 13, 2020.
Hoping you all have a fantastic Christmas and A Very Happy New Year.
05 December, 2019
“Bob Dylan: The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969.”
Our good friends at Badlands, Cheltenham has a UK exclusive on “Bob Dylan: The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969.” This is a 2-CD set of material not included on the recent “Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series 15.”
This release, which is extremely limited, is only available from Badlands and is limited to one copy per person. It is available to order tomorrow, December 6 from 9:00am.
Order Here
Disc 1
February 13, 1969, Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
1. To Be Alone with You – Rehearsal (1:11)
2. To Be Alone with You – Take 2 (:48)
3. To Be Alone with You – Take 3 (1:00)
4. To Be Alone with You – Take 4 (1:52)
5. To Be Alone with You – Take 5 (2:34)
6. One More Night – Take 1 (2:17)
7. One More Night – Take 3. (:31)
8. Lay, Lady, Lay – Rehearsal (3:51)
9. Lay, Lady, Lay – Take 1 (3:27)
10. Lay, Lady, Lay – Take 3 (3:29)
February 14, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
11. Peggy Day – Take 2 (1:16)
12. Tell Me That It Isn’t True – Take 1 (2:06)
13. Tell Me That It Isn’t True – Take 3 (2:35)
14. Lay, Lady, Lay – Take 1 (3:15)
15. Lay, Lady, Lay – Take 2 (1:24)
16. Lay, Lady, Lay – Take 3 (3:15)
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Kelton D. Herston, Norman Blake, Charlie Daniels, Wayne Moss: guitars
Bob Wilson: piano, organ
Peter Drake: steel guitar
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
February 17, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
17. One Too Many Mornings – Rehearsal (7:38)
18. One Too Many Mornings – Take 1 (4:14)
19. One Too Many Mornings – Take 2 (3:40)
20. One Too Many Mornings – Take 3 (4:45)
21. I Still Miss Someone – Rehearsal (:58)
22. I Still Miss Someone – Rehearsal (1:14)
23. I Still Miss Someone – Take 1 (1:04)
24. I Still Miss Someone – Take 2 (:40)
25. I Still Miss Someone – Take 3 (2:23)
26. I Still Miss Someone – Take 4 (4:19)
27. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right/Understand Your Man – Take 1 (1:44)
Disc 2
February 18, 1969, Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
1. One Too Many Mornings – Take 2 (4:01)
2. I Still Miss Someone – Takes 1 & 3 (:58)
3. I Still Miss Someone – Take 4 (2:21)
4. Matchbox – Rehearsal (:51)
5. Matchbox – Take 2 (3:05)
6. Big River – Take 2 (1:59)
7. I Walk the Line – Take 1 (2:15)
8. Ring of Fire – Takes 2 & 3 (2:44)
9. Guess Things Happen That Way – Take 1 (:45)
10. Guess Things Happen That Way – Take 2 (1:37)
11. Guess Things Happen That Way – Take 6 (1:44)
12. Waiting for a Train – Take 1 (:55)
03 December, 2019
Welcome to my occasional Tuesday ISIS Blog. We don’t usually deal in rumour and speculation but just for the hell of it I’m reprinting something here that appeared in Dutch on blogger.com
“Anonymous Anonymous said …
Well-informed circles unofficially confirm Bob Dylan as headliner for the Saturday of Werchter 2020. Subsequently touring France, Spain, Alpine countries incl. Northern Italy, Balkan, Turkey (Istanbul) and Israel (Haifa). Even before the tour a new album that is said to be entitled Days of Yore with new material that is already ready.
Vr.gr.
Well-lit circles”
This brief post from that well-known Internet sage “Anonymous” is something that I would usually ignore. Some of the countries given here do, however, reflect information I was given back in September. On September 24 (see Blog post below), I mentioned that a European tour was likely in “July-August,” but I didn’t give the unconfirmed dates or counties. Some of the countries above are the same as my information and Werchter is in July. Coincidence, maybe.
In 2020, the Rock Werchter festival will take place July 1-5 in Rotselaar, Belgium. There has been a lot of speculation as to who might appear, but I’ve yet to see or hear any mention of Dylan.
The $64,000 question is, IF “Anonymous” has the tour dates right, is the long-awaited news of a new studio album correct??? Only time will tell.
As is usual on Tuesdays, we have updated our general pre-loved page today with quite a few items we have not sold before and a handful of “proof” and “Advance Reading” copies of books that I omitted to include last week. Don’t forget to check out the other categories within the Pre-Loved section too. Happy hunting.
26 November, 2016
Apart from the continuing US tour, which from all accounts is extremely good, there’s not too much new to talk about at the moment.
The next ISIS, issue 205, won’t be ready until early next year but we will keep you updated. On that very subject, ISIS is still seeking articles and photos for future issues.
For those who have not yet heard it, below is some information re a podcast entitled: “Dylan, Guthrie, and Roosevelt – the story of a song”
The podcast is 12 x 20 minutes episodes that tell the story of Bob Dylan and The Band’s performances at the two Woody Guthrie tribute concerts staged in Carnegie Hall on 20 January 1968, and of a controversial song as unknown today as then: Guthrie’s last complete composition, ‘Dear Mrs Roosevelt’. Why Woody Guthrie wrote ‘Dear Mrs Roosevelt,’ and how Bob Dylan rescued it from obscurity twenty years later, reflects the close relationship between ‘people’s music’ and progressive politics in America from the 1930s to the 1960s.
PodBean: https://dylanguthrieandroosevelt.podbean.com
Apple/iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dylan-guthrie-and-roosevelt-the-story-of-a-song/id1473733233
Android/Google Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iangwibvf7jtkqj4hsbs4l5d654
As is usual on Tuesdays, we have updated our pre-loved pages today. As promised a couple of weeks back, our “Art Books” section has launched today with 36 hard to find Dylan art books. Our general pre-loved page has also been updated with 40 more new items including, for those of you who collect them, 16 “proof” and “Advance Reading” copies.
Due to time constraints and the Christmas and New Year break, we’ll be halting the pre-love updates soon but don’t go away, we currently have more than 2000 items in stock and we will be back in business in mid-January.
05 November, 2019
The first item today is the results of the ISIS Prize Draw (see my Blog of October 29 below) for copies of the German Rolling Stone with Unique 7-inch vinyl Dylan single. The answer to the question was February 18, 1969. The first three names drawn out of the hat were:
Stephen Windham, Colin Moore and Ian Lee
An ISIS subscriber is offering 90x CDR’s (many doubles) of demos / live recordings / outtakes and studio sessions from Karen Wallace Apt. Tape 1960 to recordings at Columbia Studios NY 28/7/75, plus 8x CDR’s of interview tapes, 1961-1969.
“These were immaculately, meticulously recorded and annotated by a dear friend, David, over the years from the best sources. David has now sadly succumbed to severe dementia and is in care. This is a large collection and would need to be collected from myself in person, I live in Leicestershire. All I ask is that the lucky recipient is prepared to give a generous donation that I can pass onto my friend’s wife towards Alzheimer’s Research and Care. If interested, please contact Rob Bostock.”
Email: robertjohn.bostock@ntlworld.com
Tel No: 01530457436
The “The Bootleg Series Vol 15” is currently at Number 4 on the mid-week UK Official Album Chart. This is of course merely an indicator as the final chart is not announced until Friday 8th. If anyone has not yet got hold of a copy of “The Bootleg Series Vol 15” we have managed to obtain further stocks from Sony of both the 3-CD and 3-LP versions, which will arrive in stock tomorrow.
As is usual on a Tuesday we have updated our Pre-Loved Second-hand store with another bumper collection of goodies. The Fanzine Section has been updated with a large number of single issues of The Telegraph magazine and our general Pre-Loved page has also been updated with a mix of CDs and books. In total another 60 new items have gone up onto the site this week!
29 October, 2019
The first item on the agender this Tuesday is a giveaway to ISIS subscribers with compliments from Rolling Stone magazine, Germany.
The November 2019 issue of Rolling Stone, Germany comes with an Exclusive Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash 7-inch vinyl single. This single is only available with the German edition of ROLLING STONE magazine.
Tracks:
A-Side: Bob Dylan ‘Tell Me That It Isn‘t True’
B-Side: Bob Dylan feat. Johnny Cash ‘Big River’
Copies can be ordered HERE. via www.rollingstone.de/dylan
However, if you are feeling lucky, and with thanks to Rolling Stone, ISIS is giving away 3 copies of the magazine and single. Just answer this simple question to go into the draw.
On what date did Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash record the Nashville Skyline track ‘Girl from the North Country’ in Columbia Studio A, Nashville, Tennessee.
Email your answer to info@bobdylanisis.com
The first THREE names drawn out of the hat will receive a copy of the Rolling Stone magazine and 7-Inch Single. The winners will be contacted by email. Closing date will be November 4, 2019.
Tour Dates have been announced for Bob Dylan in Japan in April 2020.
April 2020
1 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
2 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp DiverCity
4 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
5 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
6 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
8 Osaka, Japan – Zepp Namba
9 Osaka, Japan – Zepp Namba
10 Osaka, Japan – Zepp Namba
14 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Tokyo
15 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Tokyo
17 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
19 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
20 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
21 Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Diver City
“The Bootleg Series Vol 15” has arrived with us today and the latest issue of ISIS magazine is due back from our printer tomorrow (Wednesday), so we have a hectic week ahead of us here at ISIS HQ!
As is usual on a Tuesday, we have updated our Pre-Loved Second-hand store today with another bumper collection of goodies. The 30 Tour Books we put up last week sold out immediately so we have added another 20 this week. We have also added another batch of magazines to our Fanzine section. The general Pre-Loved page has also been updated with a mix of CDs, books, programmes and promotional items. In total there are another 100 new items this week!
22 October, 2019
The new issue of ISIS magazine went to the printer yesterday, so should be with our subscribers in a couple of weeks.
Today is the last chance to guarantee your copy of “Travelin’ Thru, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15.” Stocks are limited and Sony has told me that there will be no re-pressings on this title.
As is usual on a Tuesdays, we have updated our Pre-Loved, Second-hand store today. We mentioned last week that a comprehensive Fanzine section was coming shortly and we have begun this huge task. Unfortunately, we have so many items to offer we ran out of time to list everything today. We will, however, add more next week. Amongst the 100 plus items newly on offer this week is an interesting part set of the extremely rare US ’zine, ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ and a very rare opportunity to obtain a complete collection of ‘The Telegraph’ magazine complete with ‘Rolling Telegraph Supplements’ and six Binders.
***
Below is a review of the opening night of Bob’s current US tour. Many thanks to ISIS subscriber Stacy Stephens for taking the time to write this.
UC Irvine, Bren Events Center, Irvine, California, October 11, 2019 – A Review by Stacy Stephens
It’s around 7:30pm when I finally make my way through security and the merch booth (posters were hand-numbered for this show and limited to 200). I take my seat and immediately notice some major changes. There is indeed a new drummer, as the drum kit is far more basic and smaller than George’s kit was. Then I notice the piano, the baby grand that Bob had been playing since around 2013 is gone and in its place stands a smaller upright piano, something that you might see in an old barroom. This new piano now sits around centre stage, with its back facing the right-hand side of the audience. After heavily favouring the right side of the stage, at least on piano, for the past six years, it appears that the left side and the middle of the stage is now the best view. Thankfully, I was seated towards the middle of the floor, in row seven. It’s now nearly 8:15pm and the band and Bob have still not hit the stage; he is uncharacteristically late.
Finally, the lights dim and the intro music begins to play ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Stravinsky, which as always provides a very dramatic entrance. The band walk out first and 10-15 seconds later, Bob appears, with the audience going absolutely wild. There are three mannequins placed behind the band, near the back curtains. There is a woman far left, a man in the centre and a second woman on the far right. The women are dressed in fancy sequined dresses and the man is wearing a tuxedo. What is going on, I’m thinking to myself?
Anyway, the band kicks into the first song which was ‘Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,’ instead of the usual ‘Things Have Changed’, and one has to wonder whether this was a tribute to Robert Hunter, considering the song had not been played in two years or so. Bob played a Fender Telecaster on this song, which, for a few different reasons, is also a big surprise. I personally haven’t seen Bob play the guitar since 2011 and I’d never seen him play a Telecaster. It was a Stratocaster the last time and is typically a Stratocaster, or Stratocaster style guitar rather than a Tele– at least over these past 10-15 years.
The next few songs are mostly the same as last year. The second number is ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe,’ the third is ‘Highway 61 Revisited,’ and the fourth ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece.’ Last year was the first time I’d heard him play ‘…Masterpiece’ and it’s definitely one of my favourites on this current rotation of songs. The fifth song, ‘Can’t Wait,’ is also one I hadn’t heard Bob play since 2011. As far as I could tell, this is a brand new rendition and not the same as the little funky version he was playing in Europe over the summer. Anyway, it is excellent, especially the breakdown down in the middle when he sang “I’m doomed to love youuuuuuuu. I’ve been rolling through the stormy weaaaaaaaather. I’m dreaming of youuuuuuuuu and all the places we can roam togeeeeeeeeeether.” Then the return, “It’s might funny. The end of time has just begun.” At which point he even adds a little “ahhh yeah” before continuing and singing “Ahh honey, even after all these years your STILL the one.”
It’s really magical the way Bob enunciates certain words, differently, from night to night, or enunciates and holds different letters in each word, which basically gives the songs new emotion and meaning. This ‘Can’t Wait’ is the first of a few new renditions tonight.
At this point, it seemed that Bob is really getting into his groove. He is smiling a lot and even laughing. He has his hands on his hips, strutting around and just posturing and posing in the most beautiful ways possible. This might be the best mood that I’ve personally ever seen him in!
The setlist continues with the sixth song ‘Simple Twist of Fate’. It’s worth noting that Donnie Herron plays a lot of violin on almost all of the songs tonight; more so than I’ve ever heard him play before. This is definitely a good thing. The seventh song is ‘Honest With Me.’ I enjoy this one very much, but it has a very similar sound, or is played very much like, ‘Thunder on the Mountain.’ I can see one of them being dropped and replaced with something else. This, however, is just my own opinion and is a very minor complaint. The eighth song is ‘Tryin’ to Get to Heaven’ and the ninth is ‘Make You Feel My Love.’ There was a lady seated behind me who felt the need to translate/speak every single line of the song to her boyfriend/husband just before Bob sang it. This is, needless to say, very distracting and is something I’ve never heard someone do before. The tenth song is ‘Pay in Blood.’
Then came one of the biggest surprises of the night:
When Bob sang the first line “Lenny Bruce is dead but his ghost is livin’ on and on,” my jaw just about hit the floor and I put my hand over my mouth in pure shock. Not only is this a song I’d never heard him play live before but it’s also just a song that I wouldn’t have expected him to play now, in 2019. It is the first time it had been played in 11 years and it is a beautiful, brand new rendition. A slower, almost solo piano ballad, with more wonderful violin work from Donnie. It’s not a song I’m extremely familiar with, but there are definitely some new lyrics tossed in there. It’s absolutely stunning. The crowd is very quiet during this song and it is amazing to see him play it.
After that unexpected ‘Lenny Bruce’ performance, the band rips right into ‘Early Roman Kings.’ This is a song that has been played almost every night for the past six years or so but I still love hearing it. The version tonight seems to be extra rockin’ and again, even has some nice touches of violin on it. I’m not sure if it is because of the addition of Bob (Bob introduces him as “Bobby”) Britt, or maybe it’s the change of drummer, or something else altogether, but this is a particularly strong rendition. During the lines “I’ll strip you of life, strip you of breath. Ship you down, to the house of death. One day, you’ll ask for me. There’ll be nobody else (and he laughs “a ha!”) that you’ll wanna see,” which is yet another little emotional add-on that tells you he’s really groovin’ and having a great time up there on stage.
‘Early Roman Kings’ sounds better to me now, than it ever has.
Bob also says “Thank you,” right after the end of ‘Early Roman Kings,’ which is something I haven’t heard him do in quite some time. After that, he introduces the band, another thing I haven’t heard him do in a very long time and is fitting with there being new band members.
After that blazing number, he gently rolls into ‘Girl of the North Country.’ This was one I was really hoping he’d continue to play, after introducing this new rendition in the summer and is yet another song that I’d never heard live before and in person. It’s essentially a solo piano ballad, with touches of violin, much like ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ was last year and also ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ from this summer. The contrast with the wall of noise from ‘Early Roman Kings’ flowing into this version of ‘Girl of the North Country’ is a brilliant choice. Bob’s ability to go from high-octane rock and roll directly into a sombre ballad is something that I’ve always loved and this is a perfect example.
We then get yet another surprise, as if everything that had come before this wasn’t enough. Once the first few notes on guitar are played, I realized it might be something new. When he first sang “Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day” my breathe is literally taken away and I am close to tears. Yet another song I’ve never heard him play live and also one of my absolute favourite Dylan songs from any era. Since he hadn’t played this since 2012, I just figured it was something that he was done playing and I’d never get to hear it live. Not only is it ‘Not Dark Yet,’ played for the first time in seven years, but it’s also a brand new rendition. He’s never played it like this before. It is unbelievable and probably my favourite song of the entire night. Earlier in the day, my brother had jokingly messaged me and said he was going over the setlist with Bob and asked if I had any requests. So I replied ‘Not Dark Yet,’ please!!! This was around 3pm. Fast forward approximately six hours and I’m just sitting there, completely dumbfounded. I know that might sound like a tall tale, but it’s the honest truth. What are the odds? There is something funny going on in Irvine tonight, I could just feel it in the air.
The next song, the fifteenth, is ‘Thunder on the Mountain.’ As I mentioned earlier with ‘Honest With Me,’ I enjoy both of these songs, but the manner in which they are played or sound, are very similar, at least to my ears. It’s not a complaint, just an observation. I wondered if the new drummer, Mike Chamberlain, would play the drum solo like George would do and he sure did. He is a very competent drummer, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad for George not being there as he was the only drummer I’d never seen Bob play with. He will be missed and I do hope everything is okay with him.
After that, ‘Soon After Midnight’ is followed by ‘Gotta Serve Somebody.’ This is another one that I first heard last year and I really loved. This is the same swingin’ new arrangement as last year when he introduced the song and almost all the lyrics, apart from the opening lines, are new as of last year. I’m really glad he still plays this, it’s a very powerful song. After the show ended and I was sitting talking to the people next to me, a lady commented on how she was surprised to hear him play ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’ and that she liked it a lot but couldn’t make out any of the lyrics. Well, the lyrics were crystal clear and I could hear every single word perfectly. It’s a great song to play right before the final encore. “You might be on the highway, headin’ for the coast. You might be hallucinating, might think you’ve seen a ghost.”
So then Bob and the band exit the stage for a few minutes and the audience continues to cheer like crazy. When they returns, for the final two songs of the night, they first go into ‘Long and Wasted Years,’ which I did not expect to hear and I don’t think I had heard him play since 2017. It is wonderful to hear it again. I personally would much rather hear ‘Long and Wasted Years’ vs ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’ or ‘Blowin’ in the Wind.’ Again, just a personal opinion. It’s definitely my favourite song from “Tempest” and works extremely well as a closing/encore song.
The final song of the night is ‘It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” This is also a song I’ve never heard before until last year and it is played in the same manner this evening. It is an excellent way to end the show, especially the line “Wintertime is coming, the windows are filled with frost. I went to tell everybody but I, weeelllllll I could not get across.”
I say this just about every time I’ve seen Bob play over the past 10 years or so but this show in Irvine was the best I’ve ever seen from Bob. It was absolutely perfect. He’s truly in fine form and on the top of his game, no doubt about it. It’s really incredible to get to see him in person.
Thank you, Bob!
You are the greatest.
I’ll see you again in NYC come December…
15 October, 2019
As I’m sure you all will know by now, the fall/winter US tour kicked-off in Irvine, California on Friday October 11. Although still only three shows in, this tour is providing us with some of the most radical changes in a long time. After performing for a year as a five-piece, rhythm guitarist Stu Kimball has been replaced by Bob Britt. A Nashville based guitarist, Britt played on four tracks on “Time Out Of Mind”. Britt has previously worked with the likes of Leon Russell, David Allan Coe, The Dixie Chicks and John Fogerty. He also regularly plays guitar with his wife, R&B, soul and blues vocalist, Etta Britt. He spent most of 2016 bravely fighting aggressive blood cancer, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Also new to the band is drummer Matt Chamberlain.
In 1988, Matt Chamberlain joined Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. He was a member of the band until 1991 when they broke up and was with them when they supported Bob Dylan on tour in the summer of 1989. After a brief spell with Pearl Jam, Chamberlain gained employment with the Saturday Night Live house band, replacing one-time Dylan tour drummer, Chris Parker. Chamberlain remained on the show for the 1991-1992 season working under the then bandleader, G.E. Smith.
Instrument-wise, the baby grand has gone, replaced with an upright piano placed almost centre stage. So far, the shows have opened with Bob centre stage on electric guitar. The opening number was something of a surprise, ‘Beyond Here Lies Nothin’’. I would imagine, however, that Bob has introduced the song as a tribute to co-writer Robert Hunter who passed away on September 23 at age 78. Also in the set was ‘Lenny Bruce’. Bruce was born October 13, 1925 so this is no doubt performed to commemorate his birthday. A new addition to the stage ‘props’ for this tour are mannequins dressed in formalwear! I think there were two at the first show but by the second night they appeared to have invited a friend along. Another date has now been added to the end of the tour: Sunday, December 8, 2019 Washington D.C., The Anthem.
As is usual on a Tuesdays, we have updated our Pre-Loved Second-hand store today. In an attempt to vary things as much as possible, last week we featured posters and in the two previous weeks we featured mostly music CDs. This week we are introducing two new sub-categories, Song Books and Tour Books. In total, we have added 80 items this week and hope to have a comprehensive Fanzine section coming shortly.
24 September, 2019
It’s Tuesday and ISIS Blog day has come round again. The first thing to mention is of course the recent announcement regarding “Travelin’ Thru: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15, 1967-1969.”
Dylan’s people had been talking about this release – material from “Nashville Skyline” and the Cash sessions – for a while and I wrote at some length about this in the mid-August issue of ISIS magazine (issue 203). My guess, that “BS15” would be released in November has been proved right. As I said in my piece, it would make sense to release the Cash sessions before January 1, 2020 to avoid any copyright protection problems and in any event, “Bootleg Series” releases coming in November has become a bit of a tradition. Those of you who subscribe to the ISIS mailing list will have been notified of the release at 3pm last Thursday. Any official announcement was embargoed until that time. Sony has informed me that this release will not be an ongoing catalogue product and that it will be limited by the size of the pressing. For further details and to order see here for the 3-CD and here for the 3-LP
I mentioned in my Blog of September 10 that it was my understanding that the upcoming US tour would finish in New York City in the third week of November. The extent of that residency, however, has surprised even me. Bob will play an extensive 10-show residency at New York City’s Beacon Theater for which tickets will go on sale September 27. The Beacon run will commence on Saturday, November 23 and will continue with dates on November 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, and December 2, 3, 5 and 6.
There are currently preliminary discussions regarding Bob Dylan touring in Europe in summer 2020– possibly July-August. Any such tour would be organized around summer festivals and with Britain missing out on indoor shows in spring-summer 2019, concerts in Britain must be on the cards.
There is one new book to mention this week. “Bob Dylan: What the Songs Mean” is by Michael Karwowski. Due end of November, this 576-page paperback is a Print on Demand publication and will be stocked by ISIS. You can order a copy here.
Finally, as usual on Tuesdays, the ISIS Pre-Owned Store will be updated today at 1pm with a mix of music and books.
10 September, 2019
It has been a long time coming but we now have confirmation regarding the Fall US Dylan tour.
As I stated in my blog of July 26 and confirmed yesterday, the tour will begin on the West Coast, making its way over to the East. Proceedings will open in Southern California and the likely first date will be October 11 at UC Irvine, Bren Events Center. Currently, 27 shows are confirmed, but further dates will likely be added at the end of the tour. It is my understanding that the tour will finish in New York City in the third week of November. Dates can be found here.
On September 20, Sony / Columbia will release four more vinyl LPs in their continuing Dylan album re-release project. The latest releases are “Infidels’, ‘Real Live’, ‘Under The Red Sky’ and ‘Down In The Groove’. We are now taking pre-orders for these albums. Order here.
After the success of the “Rock Atlas” books that we are currently selling, we are now offering “500 Lost Gems Of The Sixties”. Published in 2008, this is a thoroughly interesting collection of stories, rumours and details of 500 singles that failed to dent the top 10, yet are still worthy of attention. This is an attractive 208-page, quarter bound hardback. Printed on quality glossy paper with more than 1000 colour photos and illustrations. This is a Numbered, Limited Edition.
Finally, as usual on Tuesdays, the ISIS Pre-Owned Store has been updated today with a further 20 items, many of which are new to our store.
09 September, 2019
The Tour News page has been updated today with dates for a Fall Tour in The US. You can read the dates HERE.
03 September, 2019
We are still awaiting confirmation regarding the proposed US Dylan tour. There are various rumours as to what Bob has been up to of late and these include preparation for his Shanghai art exhibition.
“Retrospectrum,” Dylan’s new “immersive and interactive” art exhibition, will be staged in the Pudong New Area at the Modern Art Museum (MAM), in Shanghai. The exhibition opens on September 28 and will run for 14 weeks.
Staying with Dylan art, Castle Fine Art has just launched a “reimagined” landscape format of the iconic ‘Train Tracks’ image as a silkscreen edition.
On August 27, Rob Stoner posted a photo of himself on his Facebook Page with Stevie Marshall and Tony Garnier. It seems that Tony is filling in for Stoner on the first date of Robert Gordon’s 15-date tour. Stoner is unable to appear at the opening show in Sag Harbor, NY on September 14 due to a previous engagement.
A surprised Sally Kirkland commented about Tony being available due to he is usually performing with Bob Dylan to which Stoner replied: “Dylan’s cutting back on the relentless gigging … Winding down as all things must. Nobody can keep that pace up forever.”
It seems that Tony also has a side project going called The Tony Garnier/Rob Scheps Band. However, gigs are VERY limited and seem to be confined to the New York area. I have no reason to believe that any of the above will impact the upcoming US Dylan tour.
As previously mentioned, the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival was marked with a short Dylan poem. “Echo of the North Country,” a previously unheard and unpublished poem written by Dylan in the early Sixties, was read out by Ashley Hutchings – ex-member of Fairport Convention – at the Million Dollar Bash on the Isle of Wight on August 31, 2019.
Hutchings read the poem as his band, Dylancentric, played the introduction to ‘Girl from the North Country’. (You can see the reading HERE) Hutchings noted that the song and the poem were both inspired by Dylan’s free-spirited Hibbing high school girlfriend Echo Star Helstrom (more recently, Bonnie Jean Beecher has been put forward as the inspiration for the song).
Help raise $2m for musicians’ healthcare. In honour of Bourbon Heritage Month, Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door is launching a September campaign whereby purchases of Heaven’s Door will benefit Music Health Alliance.
The book “Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures” is due into stock at ISIS next week. This is a 256-page hardback with over 300 images.
The ISIS Pre-Owned Store will be updated at 1pm today with a further 15 new items, most of which we have never had in stock before. In the coming weeks, we will continue to add more rare and unusual Dylan items that are new to these pages.
20 August, 2019
The new ISIS magazine, issue 203, was mailed out at the end of late last week and UK subscribers should already have received it.
Before we go any further I feel I must debunk recent rumours that: 1) Bob Dylan is about to retire with “immediate effect:” 2) that he is in the studio with “as many as eight songs having been put to tape” and: 3) that he is “rumoured to be planning a worldwide tour at the end of 2020.”
All of the above rumours originate from the warped minds at the Internet site MediaMass.
I’ve written about MediaMass way back in ISIS 186 when they wrote about the death of Garth Hudson. For those who are not aware, MediaMass is an absurd parody Internet ‘news’ site best known for debunking celebrity rumours that never actually circulated in the first place! MediaMass’ mission statement is to disseminate “satire” and to “expose” and “ridicule” all “contemporary mass production and mass consumption.” In other words, they intentionally spread fake news.
While on the subject of future touring, it is almost a month now (see my July 26 blog below) since I wrote about an upcoming US Fall tour and while I’ve heard very little since, I’d be surprised if we don’t get an announcement before the end of August. As I stated previously, it is my understanding that the tour will begin on the West Coast, making its way over to the East.
Fifty years after headlining the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, Bob Dylan has given a poem to Million Dollar Bash curator Ashley Hutchings which will be read out to commemorate the anniversary of the 1969 festival. Hutchings, a founder member of Fairport Convention, said: “I got some very touching and personal messages from Bob, much of which must remain personal, but I can say he has passed to me a special poem, fittingly something he wrote about 50 years ago, for me to pass on to fans when we play at Million Dollar Bash.”
Hutchings said that he will read out Bob’s poem, a composition that is said to be previously unpublished and unheard at the upcoming event. Million Dollar Bash, promoted by All Wight Now, will take place at the Isle of Wight County Showground on Saturday, August 31.
The ISIS Pre-Owned Store has been updated today with a further 20 new items, most of which we have never had in stock before. In the coming weeks we will continue to add more rare and unusual Dylan items that are new to these pages.
06 August, 2019
There’s not very much to mention this week. Most of you are probably already aware that pioneering filmmaker, D.A. Pennebaker passed away last week of natural causes. He died on August 1, 2019 at his home in Sag Harbor, Long Island. He had celebrated his 94th birthday just 17 days before.
Issue 203 of ISIS magazine went into the printer yesterday, so we are all systems go on that front.
Currently, there is no further update to my July 26 Blog regarding tour news.
If anyone wasn’t able to obtain a copy of the 14-CD Rolling Thunder Box Set, it has come back into stock at ISIS today.
The ISIS Second-Hand Store has been updated today with another batch of Dylan goodies.
30 July, 2019
The new issue of ISIS is hopefully not too far away now. We are still working hard and hope to have it into the printer by the end of this week.
There is no further news on touring. If you missed last Friday’s tour news blog, then see below.
“Sinematic,” Robbie Robertson’s sixth solo album, sprang from his deep immersion in film work. Produced by Robertson and recorded at The Village, the 13-song collection is Robbie’s first album of originals since his 2011 collaboration with Eric Clapton, “How To Become Clairvoyant.”
Released on CD and Vinyl on September 20, we are now taking pre-orders. You can order the CD Here, or the Vinyl Here
“Listen Up! Is a new book by Mark and Chris Howard. The subtitle is “Recording Music with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2, R.E.M., the Tragically Hip, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Waits.”
“Listen Up!” is an excellent read for anyone interested in music and its making. Along with some great inside stories, each chapter gives recording and production information and talks about the equipment and methods used in the making of these albums. Mark Howard has worked with many top musicians, including working extensively with Bob Dylan, most especially on the contentious sessions for “Time Out Of Mind”. “Listen Up!” has four chapters concerning Bob Dylan: Chapter 2 (Bob Dylan), Chapter 5 (Dylan’s Oh Mercy), Chapter 14 (Dylan at the Teatro) and Chapter 15 (Dylan’s Time Out of Mind).
Expected in stock next week. Order now.
As usual on a Tuesday, the ISIS Second-Hand Store has been updated today with another batch of choice items. Take a look HERE
Also, if you are looking for a bargain, further items have been added this week to our “Sale Bin.” Grab yourself a bargain HERE
26 July, 2019
As I wrote two weeks ago, with one tour ended and a follow up not yet announced, the usual Internet speculation has been rife. All possible scenarios seem to have been covered: Bob is taking time off to record a new album, he’s taking an extended break from the road, or he’s retiring completely. My information is that a US tour is likely to be announced shortly and that any such tour will probably begin on the West Coast making its way over to the East. There is likely to be one or more shows in Minneapolis and an excursion into Canada shouldn’t be ruled out.
23 July, 2019
Not much to report this week I’m afraid. Still no news as to any tour dates or what Bob is up to at the moment.
Although still a year away, July 10, 2020 will see the publication of a new Dylan biography. Written by Spencer Leigh and published by McNidder & Grace, “Bob Dylan: Outlaw Blues” utilises conversations with over 300 musicians, friends and acquaintances of Bob Dylan and promises a fresh take on this frequently visited subject.
According to unconfirmed online reports Dylan scholar Stephan Pickering 71, died from a heart attack at the weekend. Rest In Peace.
The new Wyvill & Wraith 2018 tour book, “Over The Road”, is now in stock and available at ISIS and as usual on a Tuesday, the ISIS Second-Hand Store has been updated with another batch of choice hard to find items.
16 July, 2019
The European summer tour finished on Sunday in Kilkenny, Ireland with Bob Dylan and Neil Young sharing a stage for the first time since Roseland, New York (October 1994). Bob’s 20-song Kilkenny set saw Neil make a one-song, mid-set appearance on ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’. Originally a hymn, the song was extensively reworked by A.P. Carter and released by the Carter Family in 1935 as ‘Can The Circle Be Unbroken (Bye And Bye)’.
No further tour dates have been announced and this always brings rumours that Bob is taking time off to record a new album or that he’s retiring.
We are working hard on the first ISIS of the new subscription year, but this is still a few weeks away. As always, ISIS welcomes articles and photographs, please email derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com. If you haven’t yet subscribed, now is the time to do so. You can order HERE.
For those who have not yet got hold of a copy of Andrew Muir’s excellent “The True Performing of It: Dylan & Shakespeare”, we have a very few (20 aprox.) copies of the original ‘Brown Lyric cover’ of the book. This original version was almost exclusive to ISIS (because we bought most of the publishers stock!). Ours are also the only copies signed by the author. Order your copy HERE.
Also, don’t forget that our special offer on the Standard Hardback “ISIS Bob Dylan Anthology Vol.3” finishes at the end of this month. Order a copy HERE.
Our Second-Hand Store has also been updated today with some choice very hard to find items. Take a look HERE.
09 July, 2019
For the remainder of July only, we are reducing the price of the ‘Standard ISIS Bob Dylan Anthology Vol 3’to £15 including postage in the UK. The cover price is £20.
We also have a Very Few ‘proof copies’of the ‘Deluxe ISIS Anthology Vol 3’ that we are making available. These books are NOT signed or numbered, but they do include the unique 70-plus-minute, 18-track Bob Dylan compilation CD. This Collectors’ CD album is officially sanctioned and is not available elsewhere. The original signed and numbered edition with CD sold out in just eight days and is now highly sought-after.
These copies are sold on a first come first served basis.
Our Second-Hand Store has also been updated today with more hard to find items.
02 July, 2019
It has been a month since my last blog and even longer since our last Second-Hand Store listings! After an enforced break, we are back today with a dozen or more used items many of which we have never had in stock before and several of which are highly collectable. See today’s listing Here. More to come next Tuesday.
With the Martin Scorsese Rolling Thunder Revue film and 14-CD box set just arrived, it seems premature to be talking about the next archival project. Nevertheless, Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene is already listing the possibilities!
“A source close to the Bob Dylan camp” has informed Greene: “We’re thinking about possibly doing Bob’s work in Nashville from John Wesley Harding through the Johnny Cash sessions as the next Bootleg Series. The outtakes from that period have never been heard.”
I think most of us are aware that the Dylan Team has a number of archival project’s in the machinery (the Rolling Thunder Revue film was many years in the making), and I have listed these before in ISIS; it’s really just the order of release that is in constant flux.
I doubt there is anything new song-wise from the three October-November Harding sessions, but there are at least 40 assorted takes to choose from. The “source”, however, says that they don’t intend making everything available. “I think we did repeat versions of songs to death on The Cutting Edge”, the source said. “We’re trying to find one really good take of each song. The giant dumps of everything like we’ve done in recent years really aren’t my preference…”
Although the performances with Johnny Cash are not that great, the fifth Nashville Skyline session will probably prove to be the most interesting, especially the ‘Wanted Man’ duet.
I would guess that this will be a November 2019 release.
Available in mid-September is, “Bob Dylan: His Life in Pictures” by Harry Shapiro. This title has been out twice before but if you missed it then, as I did, here’s another chance. You can order a copy Here. While on the subject of Bob pictures, there is a great Dylan photo-book in the pipeline. Watch this space…
If anyone has 2 spare tickets for the Hyde Park concert contact Derek Mankelow: derekmankelow@btinternet.com
Finally, for today, we are pleased and proud to have the latest ISIS Anthology book featured on bobdylan.com http://www.bobdylan.com/books/
28 May, 2019
The response to our recent “Rock Atlas UK” offer has been overwhelming. So much so, that we are now stocking the USA edition.
The sister book to “Rock Atlas (UK and Ireland)”, “Rock Atlas (USA)” is by the same compiler, David Roberts. The US book covers 650 music locations and is full-colour throughout. As one might expect, Bob gets quite a few mentions including his Malibu home, six pages on New York City, three pages on the town of Woodstock, three pages on Minnesota, a page on Woody’s Oklahoma, Criteria Studios, Miami, Plymouth and the start of the Rolling Thunder tour and much more.
Fully indexed, this endlessly entertaining book features some great music locations and the fascinating stories behind them.
Those of you who have already bought the UK hardback edition please be aware that the US edition is the same format (25x19cm), but is a 288-page Softback.
The cover price for Rock Atlas (USA) is £22 but we are offering the book for £17.99 including shipping costs in the UK. Order your copy HERE.
Anybody who hasn’t yet bought the stunning hardback “UK” edition we still have stock and available to purchase HERE.
21 May, 2019
We arrived back from holiday at the weekend and I’m pleased to say that our printer delivered the new ISIS to us first thing Monday morning and that everything went into the postal system yesterday afternoon! So, with a bit of luck, UK subscribers should begin receiving the new ISIS tomorrow (Wednesday 22). Don’t forget, this is the final issue of the current subscription year. If you haven’t re-subscribed yet, now is the time to do so. For those who prefer to subscribe by post, a form is included in the new ISIS. You can subscribe online HERE.
We have a couple of new items for you this week. “Bob Dylan at the Isle of Wight Festival 1969” by Bill Bradshaw in association with festival promoter Ray Foulk is due out June 10. The book is published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic festival where Bob Dylan made his “comeback”. Unlike the previous in-depth Ray Foulk book about the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, this publication focuses on new interviews with festival goers and musicians. Pre-Order HERE.
For those interested, we have a handful of limited edition translucent purple vinyl LPs of Bob’s first album. Issued by Waxtime, this LP includes the tracks from the début album plus Mixed Up Confusion and Baby, Please Don’t Go. This record has been out before but not on coloured vinyl. Copies available HERE.
We are pleased to announce that Andrew Muir’s new book, The True Performing of It: Bob Dylan & William Shakespeare, is scheduled to go to print next week and will be available shortly. ISIS is selling exclusive author signed copies of this title. There will only be one chance at signed copies, so don’t delay. Order HERE today.
Finally, we still have a handful of Rolling Thunder 14-CD box sets left from our allocation available to pre-order. The release date for the box is Friday, June 7. Pre-Order a 14-CD box set HERE or a Vinyl copy HERE
09 May, 2019
Yes, I know I’m supposed to be taking a two-week break but…
We are pleased to say that we now have an increased allocation of the Rolling Thunder 14-CD box set. Don’t miss out, this title will be available for dispatch to arrive with our customers by the June 7 release date. You can order a copy HERE.
The new issue of ISIS magazine is currently being printed and will be mailed out to subscribers on Monday, May 20.
You can pre order exclusive author signed copies of Andrew Muir’s upcoming book, In the True Performing of It: Bob Dylan & William Shakespeare HERE. The book will be available from ISIS very shortly.
We are now stocking a Bob Dylan map guide to New York City. Published by the well-known map-guide people, Herb Lester Associates, the guide charts Bob Dylan’s journey through New York City from 1961 through to 1969. This large-format annotated map includes 53 entries, including the locations of apartments where Dylan crashed, the many clubs and bars where Bob played for pieces of change, locations of LP cover shoots, and much more. Available to order HERE.
After recently winning a Gold Medal in London for one of its whiskeys, Heaven’s Door will be adding new rare whiskeys to its range.
Later this year, Heaven’s Door will release the first of its “Bootleg Series” of rare whiskeys. The first release will be a 25-year-old whiskey finished in Japanese Mizunara oak casks. These casks are made from one of the rarest and most expensive oaks in the world. The suggested retail price for a 750ml bottle will be $499.99.
01 May, 2019
Two blogs in two days. Something must be happening here!
Firstly, if you haven’t yet ordered your copy of the long-awaited Rolling Thunder 14-CD box set, we still have some of our allocation available to pre-order. The release date for the box is Friday June 7. Order Here.
Important notice: Our offices will be closed from this Friday (May 3). We will re-open on Monday May 20. You can of course order as usual online, but our phones will not be answered during this period. Also, please note that no goods will be dispatched between May 3-20.
The new ISIS, issue 202, was delivered to our printer this morning and it will be printed while we are away. The magazine will be mailed out to subscribers on Monday, May 20.
Andrew Muir has an important new book coming soon and ISIS will be selling exclusive author signed copies of this title.
In the True Performing of It: Bob Dylan & William Shakespeare is due soon from Red Planet. The book will be a 368-page softback.
This is what people are saying about the book:
“This is an important and original study. It’s also extremely entertaining and full of fascinating details. Andrew Muir’s expert view of both his subjects ensures that the connection between Shakespeare and Dylan is revealed to be convincing and significant.” (Christopher Green, Trustee and Director, British Shakespeare Association)
“This is a book that had to be written, and no-one is better qualified to have pulled it off than Andrew Muir, who has put in the necessary work, and over the long haul, on both bards … his superbly close attention to the work of each takes us down the often surprising, remarkably rich and unexplored avenue that links the two.” (Michael Gray, D.Litt.)
We hope to have signed copies of this title late this month or early June. Order Your Author Signed Copy Here.
Finally, we currently have a great offer on Rock Atlas (UK and Ireland). This endlessly entertaining 488-page huge slab of a book is beautifully case-bound, fully indexed and packed with colour images throughout. The book features 800 music locations and the fascinating stories behind them. This tome has lots of Dylan entries including the ghost-hunting at Witley Court, Dylan’s Nethy Bridge Highland home, the Severn Crossing, the Troubadour, Fluke’s Cradle in Camden, and much more. Order Here.
Updated and published in hardback in 2015, this edition is extremely hard to come by. We like the book so much we have purchased all of the publishers stock on this one. The cover price is £35 but we are able to sell these for £25 including shipping costs in the UK. Highly recommended.
30 April, 2019
At long last, the lengthy wait for “Chronicles Volume 2” may be coming to an end. Slated to be 256 pages, publisher Simon & Schuster may have the book out by the end of this year. Several websites are listing hardback and paperback editions for December 31, 2019, and are also taking pre-orders! Simon & Schuster, however, have informed us that this December date is what they term as a “holding date,” and that the actual publication is not yet fixed. In actual fact, this December 31 date has been there since 2016! Even if the December 2019 date does come to fruition, the hard and paperback will not arrive on the same date! There is so much uncertainty with this title, we have been advised not to pre-sell. The hardback is being talked about as £17.99 while the paperback is £6.99.
26 April, 2019
Netflix is to release the “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” documentary film on June 12.
Concurrent with the streaming release, the film is being booked into awards-qualifying theatrical engagements in New York and Los Angeles. On the evening before the official June 12 release, Netflix has one-time “roadshow” theatrical showings set for 20 cities.
The June 11 screenings will be in London, Paris, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Portland, Tulsa, Tempe, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Bologna and Sydney – as well as in New York and L.A., the two cities where the film will continue to play the following day and beyond. The film, which has been in the works for many years, contains on Camera interviews with participants in the tour. These interviews have been conducted over the past 10 years. Bob Dylan is interviewed by Jeff Rosen.
To coincide with the Scorsese movie, SME will release a 14-CD box set of material from the 1975 leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. The release will include the five complete Dylan sets that were “professionally recorded” during that leg plus “recently unearthed” tour rehearsals from S.I.R. Studios in New York. In total, the 14-disc set will contain 148 tracks.
The boxset, entitled “Bob Dylan: The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings” will be released by Sony on Friday June 7. Further details, including prices and pre-ordering information, will be available from ISIS next week.
16 April, 2019
ISIS ANTHOLOGY VOLUME 3
We are pleased to announce that we have taken stock of the new ISIS Anthology Volume 3 and have to say a big thank you to our publisher Red Planet Books, it looks amazing.
Derek is currently signing and numbering all of the Deluxe CD Editions and we will be posting all books out as soon as possible. Please bear in mind that there are no UK collections and deliveries over the Easter Holiday weekend. Expect deliveries in the UK Mid to late next week.
May we take this opportunity to thank everyone involved.
The standard edition is still available, you can order a copy HERE
1 April, 2019
The European tour kicked off in Dusseldorf, Germany on March 31. This concert provided us with more or less the same songs played in the same order as the October shows last year. It was quite a laidback performance with Charlie Sexton taking a back seat and Bob, sans hat, spending most of the show behind the baby grand, which tonight was a little more to the fore in the mix. Bob only went centre-stage once and that was for the slot-nine performance of ‘Scarlet Town’.
- Things Have Changed (piano)
- It Ain’t Me, Babe (piano)
- Highway 61 Revisited (piano)
- Simple Twist of Fate (piano & harp)
- Cry a While (piano)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece (piano & harp)
- Honest with Me (piano)
- Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (piano)
- Scarlet Town (Bob centre stage)
- Make You Feel My Love (piano & harp)
- Pay in Blood (piano)
- Like a Rolling Stone (piano)
- Early Roman Kings (piano)
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (piano & harp)
- Love Sick (piano)
- Thunder on the Mountain (piano)
- Soon after Midnight (piano)
- Gotta Serve Somebody (piano)
- Blowin’ in The Wind (piano)
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry (piano)
We can now confirm that the long-awaited Rolling Thunder 14-disc set will feature shows from 1975 and that material from 1976 is being talked about for release at a later date. “Bob Dylan: The Rolling Thunder Revue – The 1975 Live Recordings” will be presented in a ‘box’ (as opposed to a “Bootleg Series” style release), but the discs won’t be housed in simple card sleeves as was the case with “The 1966 Live Recordings”. This release will, of course, complement the two-hour 22-minute film, “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese”. The film will run on Netflix but a date for screening has not yet been fixed; May, however, seems likely. Until this date has been decided upon, a date for the audio box release is in flux.
These images were posted on the ISIS Facebook page by Bob Meyer on Monday morning. I understand that the images originate from Twitter.
Since the ISIS facebook posting, we have been able to confirm that this image is taken from a copy of the new tour programme. (Thanks to Manfred Piltorp)
Don’t forget we are now taking subscriptions for ISIS.
Our Second-Hand Store page has been updated today with another mixed batch of Dylan fanzines.
26 March, 2019
There are only five days left before touring recommences. Watch this space…
Those of you who are collecting vinyl will be pleased to hear that three more Sony / We Are Vinyl releases are now in the pipeline. These three LPs, “Street-Legal”, “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid” and “Planet Waves” are due for release on standard black vinyl on April 5, 2019. These releases, which are available to order now from ISIS, will bring the total number of Bob Dylan / Sony Vinyl releases to 31.
I mentioned in my last blog that the April issue of Record Collector would be a Dylan cover issue with a huge 1975-76 feature inside. My contribution was to compile a detailed mid-70s Dylan Collectables Discography, including rare record values. The magazine, which is available to order from ISIS, is due into stock this week.
In an effort to keep everyone updated, the ISIS “Anthology 3,” both Deluxe and Standard editions, is due back from the printer shortly. Please bear in mind, however, that it will take a little while to sign and number the Deluxe editions and to pack and dispatch all of them! You can still order the Standard edition.
For those interested, IMDb is now listing the “Full Cast & Crew” for the upcoming Martin Scorsese, Rolling Thunder film. It’s a long list that includes musicians who appear on screen as part of the Revue and possibly some of the cast of “Renaldo & Clara” (though Sara is not mentioned). It’s not particularly helpful because we can’t tell from this list who has been interviewed especially for the film.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9577852/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
Don’t forget we are now taking subscriptions for ISIS.
Our Second-Hand Store page has been updated today with new items including a large number of ISIS back issues that have not before been available in the store.
12 March, 2019
I guess the hot topic at the moment has to be the long awaited “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese”. The movie, which runs for two hours and 22 minutes, will air soon on Netflix. As far as a CD release is concerned, Amazon posted this for sale as a Japanese import on 7-8th of March, but having jumped the gun, it was pulled down almost as quick as it went up. More about this when it is officially announced.
I stated in the recent ISIS that with Rolling Thunder close at hand the music monthlies would be gearing up for some Dylan features. I mentioned then that Record Collector’s April issue (out late March) would be a Dylan cover issue with a 1975-76 feature inside and I can now confirm that the feature, which will be ’76 centric, will be circa 14 pages! I have provided Record Collector magazine with a number of images for this special and have compiled a detailed 1975-76 discography, including rare record values. For those not able to obtain Record Collector from your local shops, we are now accepting pre-orders. Order your copy HERE.
Dylan has won yet another prestigious award. In this instance, however, the Dylan in question is a white and black & tan Papillon dog! The Belgian dog, pet name “Dylan the villain,” took the coveted Crufts Best in Show title in a field of almost 28,000 entrants. Described as “small in stature but big in personality,” Dylan, full name Planet Waves Forever Young Daydream Believers, is owned by Kathleen Roosens. Roosens! This is all beginning to sound a bit suspect to me. The record industry has been having a hard time of late but now it’s really gone to the dogs!
Our Second-Hand Store page has been updated today with a few new items.
05 March, 2019
We are pleased to say that the new ISIS, issue 201, was mailed out yesterday and will hopefully be with most UK subscribers tomorrow, Wednesday 6th. Subscriptions are now available on our website and re-subscription forms will be inside the new issue.
There will be a slight delay with “ISIS Anthology 3”. Getting the final design and layout just right has taken a little longer than anticipated but we are there now and the Anthology is booked to go to the printer this week.
There is talk that Bob may have some new songs written, but at the moment this is little more than rumour.
The final party of the Awards Season, an invite-only event that took place at Quixote Studios in West Hollywood on February 26, was serving Heaven’s Door whiskey. The so-called “Season Wrap Party,” which was in partnership with a local charity, The Pony Club, had secured the new whiskey brand as one of its sponsors. According to one report, many at the party “flocked to Heaven’s Door stand to enjoy the illustrious whiskey.”
Time has been very tight of late, but our Second-Hand Store page has been updated today with a few new items.
26 Feb, 2019
Hi everyone,
I hope you are not one of those stricken by the strange virus that is sweeping Britain at the moment? Me and Tracy, along with 9.1 million others in the UK, are suffering the effects!
2019 Subscriptions are now available on the website and re-subscription forms will be inside your next issue of ISIS. We are pleased to say that the price of your subscription remains unchanged for the 5th year in succession. Issue 201 is currently with our printer and will be mailed out early next week.
‘Record Store Day’, Saturday April 13, will see the release of an exclusive Bob Dylan item. The release, a replica of the “Blood On The Tracks” test pressing, including the sleeve, will be produced in a run of 8000 worldwide.
Rumours that the pressing will be limited to 800 are false. As is always the case, ‘Record Store Day’ releases are only available through physical stores. ISIS will not be selling this item, but with more than 200 independent record shops participating across the UK, there should not be too much of a problem in obtaining a copy.
19 Feb, 2019
Our Second Hand / Used section has been updated today.
We have reduced all copies of Bob Dylan: The 5th Day of May by £8 per copy, grab yourself a copy whilst stocks last.
22 Jan, 2019
We have been receiving lots of enquiries regarding subscription renewals to ISIS. Many thanks for all the enquiries and for your eagerness but subs are not yet due! We ran slightly late with some issues in 2018 which means that there are still two magazines left to come in the standard six-issue subscription. There will be renewal forms in the next magazine, issue 201, which is due around the end of next month and subscriptions will then be available to order online too.
Those of you who pre-ordered the Mary Lee Kortes book, “Dreaming of Dylan”, will be pleased to hear that it is due into us later this week. Published in the United States back in November, the book was due to arrive in the UK in late January and looks to be on time. This is rather refreshing as the two previous US imports both suffered substantial delays.
Due to an overstock, we have reduced the price of the paperback printing of “Bob Dylan’s Picnic”. For those who didn’t get the super deluxe Hardback edition and are still thinking about the paperback, we are now offering this 128-page heavily illustrated, full colour book for £14.99 including delivery in the UK. This is a £10 discount off the usual selling price.
We have two slightly damaged copies of the hardback version of the Tudor Jones academic, cultural history, “Bob Dylan and the British Sixties”. These two copies have a small knock to the top right-hand corner of the hard cover. Amazon price £75 our price £55.00 plus p&p.
In the pipeline book wise are “Bob Dylan’s Poetics: How the Songs Work” by Timothy Hampton. Published by The MIT Press, this 352-page Hardback is due April, 2019.
Also due in spring, late May to be more precise, is “Decoding Dylan: Making Sense of the Songs That Changed Modern Culture”. Published by American academic publisher McFarland & Co Inc., author Jim Curtis’ book is said to arrive “at a radically new interpretation of [Dylan’s] body of work”. He apparently reaches his conclusions by “drawing on revelations from Dylan’s memoir Chronicles and a variety of other sources.” We’ll see.
Finally, our Second Hand Store page has been updated today.
15 Jan, 2019
A rather belated Happy New to everyone. We only arrived back in the office yesterday so we have a lot of news to catch up on.
The first thing to mention (as many of you will already know) is that the Deluxe edition of ‘ISIS Anthology Volume 3’ (complete with the officially sanctioned CD Dylan album), sold out in just eight days from the initial announcement!! This was always going to be a very fast seller but eight days surprised even me. We did our upmost to make this very special book available only to ISIS subscribers. It wasn’t advertised anywhere else, not even a mention on Expecting Rain, but even so some of you will have missed out. The Standard Hardback edition is of course still available to order.
This clip on Vimeo clip arrived from nowhere yesterday. This is one I have not seen before.
Dylan somewhere in Germany 1981
Yesterday also saw the broadcast of the first podcast episode of “The Hurricane Tapes” by the BBC.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06wb0zt
The series is said to contain 40 hours of tape recordings. The podcast will be added to weekly, and the BBC says that episodes will be available “indefinitely”.
According to a Telegraph article published yesterday (14th) in their “Sport – Boxing” section: “BBC series on Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter puts Bob Dylan classic in tempestuous context”.
Further news is beginning to filter through with regard to the long talked about Rolling Thunder Revue movie. The title is said to be “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese”. The movie will be screened on Netflix but recent press stories about a Spring 2019 Netflix release seems to me to be highly unlikely.
There are of course two projects here; a film and a Sony “Bootleg Series” release. We have said many times in ISIS that the likely release date for “The Bootleg Series” is the latter part of 2019.
As one might imagine, while billed as a documentary, the film will contain a great deal of performance footage and will concentrate on the 1975 leg of the tour. As was the case with the Scorsese directed “No Direction Home”, Jeff Rosen is believed to have conducted an interview with Dylan for the film.
We will be updating our Second Hand Store page from next Tuesday.
Thanks to: Ian Woodward, Les Kokay and Tom Bromley.
18 Dec, 2018
IMPORTANT NOTE: Although we only announced the special Deluxe Edition “ISIS Anthology Volume 3” last week we have almost sold the entire print run in just eight days! We now have less than 50 copies left on pre sale.
Published by Red Planet to celebrate ISIS reaching our landmark 200th issue, this very special Limited Edition Hardback will be Author Signed and Individually Numbered with a print run of just 500 copies. As stated last week the book will contain a unique 70-plus-minute, 18-track CD album selected by ISIS Magazine and featuring songs from across Bob Dylan’s illustrious career. This officially sanctioned album will only available with the Deluxe Edition of the ISIS Anthology!
Track Listing:
1 Boots of Spanish Leather, 4:37
2 To Ramona, 3:51
3 Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine), 3:27
4 Dear Landlord, 3:15
5 Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You, 3:22
6 The Man in Me, 3:05
7 Time Passes Slowly, 2:35
8 When I Paint My Masterpiece (Studio Outtake – 1971 with Leon Russell), 3:21
9 George Jackson (Big Band Version), B-Side, 5:33
10 Going, Going, Gone, 3:26
11 Isis (Live at Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA – November 1975), 5:11
12 We Better Talk This Over, 4:03
13 The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar, 4:04
14 Heart of Mine (Live at Saenger Performing Arts Center, New Orleans, November 1981), 3:42,
15 Man in the Long Black Coat, 4:33
16 High Water (For Charley Patton), 4:03
17 Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, 3:48
18 Long and Wasted Years, 3:46
A number of people have been enquiring about subscriptions for 2019, asking if we forgot to include a re-subscription form with ISIS 200. In actual fact, there are two issues left on your current subscription and we will be taking online renewals in February 2019 and subs forms will be sent out with issue 201.
After the announcements last week about summer dates in Europe concerts in spring 2019 have now being officially confirmed. The spring tour looks set to kick off in Düsseldorf, Germany on Sunday March 31 with shows going through to Augsburg, Germany April 20 (though there is the possibility of more shows). I believe further dates are likely to be announced for the July leg of the tour.
Unless something important rears its head in the very near future, this will likely be my final blog of the year. Our offices will be closed over Christmas / New Year reopening Monday January 14.
Tracy and Derek would like to wish you a happy Christmas and a great New Year.
View our Christmas Card
10 Dec, 2018
Many of you will already be aware that Bob Dylan will be touring in Europe in summer 2019. The tour will begin in June and run through July. Dates in Bergen (Friday June 21), Helsinki (Monday June 24), Stockholm (Wednesday June 26), Göteborg (Friday June 28), Oslo (Saturday June 29) and Stuttgart (Wednesday July 10) have been confirmed. More dates in Northern Europe will be announced shortly.
As announced last week, Bob will also be performing, along with Neil Young, at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park London (Friday July 12). Although not yet confirmed, Bob is likely to finish his European tour with an appearance on Sunday July 14 in Kilkenny, Ireland. If so, this event will also feature Neil Young.
Rumours of a show in Rome, and Italy in general, are erroneous. The tour is likely to be confined to Northern Europe. Bob of course played concerts in Italy, Spain and one in Portugal in spring this year (2018).
Apart from the Hyde Park festival, Bob’s team are currently not looking to play shows in the UK on this summer tour.
Issue 200 of ISIS magazine was mailed out last Friday and should be with UK subscribers Monday 10 / Tuesday 11 December.
I’m now very pleased to be able to confirm details about the special Deluxe Edition of “ISIS Anthology Volume 3”. Published by Red Planet to celebrate ISIS reaching our landmark 200th issue, this very special edition will be an Author Signed and Individually Numbered, Limited Edition Hardback with a print run of just 500. Any ISIS customer who orders the Anthology before January 21, 2019 can have their name printed in the book. We are pleased and proud to announce that this edition of the book will contain a unique 70-plus-minute, 18-track compilation CD featuring songs from across Bob Dylan’s illustrious career. This officially sanctioned album, featuring tracks from ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ to ‘Long and Wasted Years’, is only available with the Deluxe Edition of the ISIS Anthology.
Several tracks are not available on regular albums; ‘George Jackson (Big Band Version)’, ‘Heart of Mine’ (extended version) and ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ (Leon Russell outtake version). This collection would not be complete without a live performance of ‘Isis’ (Boston Music Hall, November 21, 1975). Many of the tracks included on this compilation are 2005-2013 re-masters. (Final track list to be confirmed).
Order your copy HERE.
27 Nov, 2018
Many of you will have already seen a poster announcing that Bob Dylan and Neil Young are to headline the British Summer Time festival. The festival, which will take place on Friday July 12, 2019 is staged by AEG Presents, will be held in London’s Hyde Park. The festival’s capacity is set at 70,000 with VIP “Diamond” tickets at around £300. Barclaycard customers can take part in a pre-sale today (November 27). Tickets for the festival go on general sale on Friday November 30 at 9pm.
Please Note: As there are 70,000 tickets available and no reserved seating ISIS will not be handling tickets for this event.
I spoke to Bob Dylan’s UK promoter yesterday, before this festival date was announced, and at the moment no other UK shows are confirmed. We will keep you informed if and when anything happens.
Ringo Starr tweeted from last night’s Beacon Theater show: “Thanks for a great night Bob Dylan at the Beacon rock on peace and love”.
Issue 200 of ISIS magazine has now been delivered to our printer.
On the subject of 200 issues of ISIS, the upcoming “ISIS Anthology Volume 3”, which is being published by Red Planet to celebrate this landmark occasion, is moving ever closer to fruition and we very much hope to be able to announce the unique collectors’ edition (available only to ISIS customers) shortly.
Finally, our Second Hand Store page has been updated today.
23 Nov, 2018
Bob Dylan on the Jimmy Fallon show last night.
13 Nov, 2018
First of all our hearts go out to all those affected by what are been talked about as deadliest fires in the history of the State of California. At the time of writing fire-fighters are battling approximately 17 large fires simultaneously. From the fire maps I’ve seen the blaze is VERY close to Bob Dylan’s home. Many people have already lost their homes including Neil Young. I think this is the second home that Neil has lost in Californian wildfires over the years.
If anyone is still undecided or has not been able to get hold of the Deluxe “More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14”, we have just put a couple of the boxes back into stock. We had been holding these back in case of damage or loss. First come, first served.
Also, we have three copies of the latest Bob Dylan cover issue of Uncut, Take 259, left in stock. This issue contains at least a dozen pages on Bob.
Several people have contacted me regarding the upcoming “ISIS Anthology Volume 3”. I didn’t want to announce this yet as it is far from finalised. Nevertheless, as is always the case the gun as been well and truly jumped on this one. Amazon is listing the book as containing 352 pages which is incredible considering I’m only 70% of the way through compiling the book! The Anthology, which is being published by Red Planet to celebrate 200 issues of ISIS, will be available in Spring 2019; probably in March. My advice is to wait until WE officially announce the book because ISIS will be offering subscribers a unique edition with all sorts of extra features. As soon as we have completed discussions with the publisher we’ll let you have the facts!
Finally, after a short enforced break our Second Hand Store page has been updated today.
02 Nov, 2018
Note on the Deluxe Box Set– “BS14”.
Some of you will have noticed that when the makers of “The Bootleg Series Vol. 14” reproduced the red spiral notebook containing Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics for “Blood On The Tracks” that four pages from the notebook (pp 8-11) were mistakenly left out of the “Stories In The Press” hardback book. Bobdylan.com has provided these pages and we are making them available here.
The recent issue of ISIS magazine (#199) included an interview that I conducted with Jeff Slate, author of “The Bootleg Series Vol. 14” liner notes. We are making that interview available here.
Finally, after working all hours to get “The Bootleg Series Vol. 14” mailed out this week we are taking a break today (Friday, November 2) and getting away for a long weekend. Please note therefore that the phones will not be manned, or for that matter womanned, until 9am Monday November 5.
31 Oct, 2018
Well, after almost three days of non-stop packaging – including a 5.30am start on Tuesday – I can report that every last copy of “The Bootleg Series Vol. 14” has been packed and depending on the post, should be with our UK customers by the release date of Friday November 2. This includes all orders for Box-sets, single CD’s and vinyl.
The presentation (very nice indeed) is what we have come to expect from the makers of “The Bootleg Series”. The most interesting part of the deluxe Box-set package is the promised reproduction of the red spiral notebook containing Bob’s handwritten lyrics for many of the songs. In all, 40 pages are reproduced and included are ‘There Ain’t Gonna Be Any Next Time’ (eight verses), ‘Belltower Blues (Climbed Upon the Belltower’(five verses), ‘Church Bell Blues’ (seven short verses), ‘Where Do You Turn (Turning Point)’ (three verses), ‘It’s Breakin’ Me Up’, (three verses and more), ‘Don’t Want No Married Woman’ (six short verses and more), ‘Ain’t it Funny’ (four verses) and two versions of ‘Up to Me’. ‘Lilly, Rosemary’, ‘Tangled’, ‘Shelter’, If You See Her, Say Hello’, ‘Simple Twist of Fate (4th St Affair)’, ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome’ and two versions of ‘Idiot Wind’ are also included. Have fun…
A number of overseas customers have asked if we are stocking the latest issue of Uncut magazine and the short answer is no. However, for those unable to obtain a copy, we have a handful here that we have bought retail.
For those of you who have been wondering, a number of things, including the pressures of getting the last magazine to the printer and dealing “BS 14”, has meant we have had to hold fire on our used items store. We will be starting up again on Tuesday November 13 and we hope to then run through until Christmas.
08 Oct, 2018
The first two shows of the current tour in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona featured the same song lists (see below). Bob was at the piano moving to centre stage for ‘Workingman’s Blues #2’ and ‘Love Sick’. At the third show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ‘Scarlet Town’ replaced ‘Workingman’s Blues #2’.
Conspicuous by his absence from the tour is guitarist Stu Kimball. Internet speculation as to the reason for Stu’s nonappearances is rife with illness being mentioned. There has been no official announcement but a reliable and trusted source has informed me that Kimball has departed the band. Stu had been in Bob’s tour band for 14 years. He joined June 4, 2004 after the departure of Freddy Koella. I’ve not heard that a replacement is currently being sought.
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- Things Have Changed
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Simple Twist Of Fate
- High Water (For Charley Patton)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Honest With Me
- Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
- Workingman’s Blues #2
- Make You Feel My Love
- Pay In Blood
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Early Roman Kings
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Love Sick
- Thunder On The Mountain
- It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry
- Gotta Serve Somebody
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(encore)
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- Blowin’ In The Wind
- Ballad Of a Thin Man
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The new “Mondo Scripto” print collection mentioned last time is now on show UK-wide at Castle galleries. The artwork features a selection of Dylan’s most celebrated lyrics, each handwritten by him in pen on paper and accompanied by an original pencil drawing. The song selections span from ‘Song To Woody’ through to two songs – “Ain´t Talkin´” and “Workingman´s Blues #2” – from the 2006 album “Modern Times”. Many of the lyrics are altered from the originals. ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ for instance includes a variation on the “crimson and clover” lyrics that Dylan had been performing recently in the Far East / Australia and New Zealand. Single prints are priced at £1,895 with Framed Portfolio Sets costing £26,950.
The exhibition of originals opens at the Halcyon Gallery in London tomorrow, Tuesday, October 9.
“Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan” is a new audio podcast by actors Lucas Hare, Kerry Shale. The first two episodes feature actor, director David Morrissey and music journalist and presenter David Hepworth.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669?mt=2
ISIS issue 199 is due back from the printer this Thursday so will be in the mail to subscribers by the end of this week.
02 Oct, 2018
I mentioned last time that the upcoming US Dylan tour would be extended and that a “short run at New York’s Beacon Theater is being talked about”. Most of you are probably now aware that these shows have come to fruition and that the run of dates is in fact seven.
The release date for “More Blood, More Tracks” is now confirmed as November 2. As stated in the August issue of ISIS, the deluxe edition will contain six discs and there are no songs that are new to us. I’m pleased to have recently interviewed Jeff Slate (writer of the liner notes for this release), and that interview will appear in the upcoming ISIS which is currently with the printer. You can expect that to drop through your door in the next couple of weeks. I also mentioned last time that “More Blood, More Tracks” would be reviewed in Uncut and Mojo. I understand that the issue of Uncut that will contain this piece is likely to be a Dylan cover issue. I said the magazine would be out in November which was incorrect. Issue dates on the monthlies always confuse the hell out of me. I believe the Uncut in question will be the December issue which actually comes out, I think, in late October!
Limited Edition prints of Bob Dylan’s new artworks, “Mondo Scripto”, will be exhibited at the Castle Fine Art galleries and those who are registered with the gallery should receive an email with a link for early access on Thursday October 4. The new collection will be available to view at 6pm BST. The main exhibition of originals will take place at Halcyon Gallery in London’s Bond Street. It will be open, I’m told, to the general public from October 9. Some of the Limited Edition prints are already on show at the gallery shop across from Halcyon Bond Street.
French singer Charles Aznavour died yesterday (October 1) at the age of 94. Often dubbed France’s Frank Sinatra, his career spanned more than 80 years during which time he recorded more than 1200 songs in seven different languages and performed in 94 countries. Aznavour, who recently returned from a tour in Japan, undertook a five-city tour of North America in October 2016 and intended to play more shows in November this year. In April 1998 Dylan sang ‘The Times We’ve Known’, an English version of the Aznavour song ‘Les Bons Moments’, in Madison Square Garden, New York. He performed the song again in April 2009 in Paris, France. Aznavour was in the audience. Dylan once described Aznavour as “one of the greatest live performers” he’d ever seen.
We won’t be adding any new items to our used goods page today. Pressure of work, especially getting ISIS 199 finished and into the printer has left little time for anything else. As the famous Nobel Laureate once said, “Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast”. Regardless, there are still several pages of used goods available to buy including a number of items at drastically reduced prices.
11 Sept, 2018
There has been a lot of talk recently about what Bob Dylan might do doing during the first week of December. The rumours began when Charlie Sexton had to cancel a gig he had planned with The East River Truckers. The show, which was to be held this December 7 in Valencia, was postponed until February 1 next year and the reason given was that “Bob Dylan [had] lengthened his autumn tour”.
Dylan’s upcoming US tour was due to end in Waterbury on November 20 but an extra date has now been added on Monday December 3. This addition to the tour will see Bob open Philadelphia’s Metropolitan Opera House following a $56 million restoration. The 12-day gap created by the addition will be filled by more shows and a short run at New York’s Beacon Theater is being talked about.
The release date for “More Blood, More Tracks” looks like being the first week in November, either the 2nd or 9th. As stated in the August issue of ISIS, the deluxe edition will contain six discs. There are no tracks here that are new to us. There is only one surprise, if you can call it a surprise, that’s not listed in the usual session discographies (Bjorner, Dundas). If anyone was hoping for a truckload of exotic “Red Book” songs you will be disappointed. The bulk of the book notes are written by Jeff Slate. The box set will be reviewed in the November editions of Uncut and Mojo.
For those who prefer to read eBooks rather than the real thing, I’m told that my book, “Bob Dylan Too Much Of Nothing”, should be available in electronic format very shortly.
21 August, 2018
First of all, I would like to relay a thank you message from Jane Baldwin and family:
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the kind wishes and messages of support we have received over this difficult time. Austin’s online collection has now closed and raised a fantastic £3512.36, which has been donated to the Garden House Hospice and the Red Cross in memory of John. Austin’s site received several pages of wonderful comments about John, which accompanied the donations you made.
We would also like to thank those who attended the funeral for their support on the day, which we felt was a fitting send off for such a special man. Special thanks go to Derek for his warm and insightful tribute.
We wish you all the best for the future, Jane, Mary-Anne and Tom.”
Yet more dates have been added to Dylan’s October / November US tour. The dates added this week are:-
November 13, Covelli Centre, Youngstown, Ohio
November 14, Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, New York
November 20, Palace Theatre, Waterbury, Connecticut
At long last my book, “Too Much of Nothing”, has arrived in stock here at ISIS. Although not officially published until September 6, we have been expecting our pre-publication delivery for several weeks now. In any event, it arrived on Saturday morning and looks very nice. We spent the entire weekend and Monday morning signing and packaging these books and they should start arriving with ISIS customers tomorrow (Wednesday). Only two copies of the 300 signed books remain in stock. In fact my publisher, Red Planet, is close to selling out the entire print run on pre-sales alone! The book will go to a second edition re-print shortly.
Note: Update, all signed copies are now sold out. The above link will now take you to the unsigned copies.
Derek Barker Signing his latest publication “Too Much of Nothing”
The Wymer Books softback publication of “Bob Dylan’s Picnic” will be available September 14, 2018. Copies ordered through ISIS Magazine will have our customers’ names printed in the back pages of the book. Anyone who would like their name in the book must place their orders with ISIS before 5pm this Thursday (August 23). Written by Jerry Bloom, the book is 210mm x 297mm (A4) and 128 pages. Heavily illustrated throughout with great colour photos, many of Dylan. Memorabilia, stories, reviews, anecdotes and memories from the artists and audience are also included.
According to WDRB-TV, Heaven Hill Distillery of Kentucky is taking legal action against Heaven’s Door Spirits, which is of course co-owned by Bob Dylan. Heaven Hill Distillery is claiming trademark infringement involving its logo. It has been reported that a lawyer acting for Heaven Hill sent a cease-and-desist letter to Heaven’s Door in April, saying its “stacked” logo is similar to theirs. According to reports, the lawsuit allegedly says Heaven’s Door attorneys replied that they didn’t expect confusion over the logos and didn’t plan to change or comply with the demands. For what it’s worth, I had great difficulty finding Heaven Hill’s logo on any of their advertising and when I did I could see the similarity.
“Dylan’s Lost Concerts Of The 1960s”
Six years ago, ISIS magazine published an article entitled “Dylan’s Lost Concerts Of The 1960s” written by Ian Woodward in his ongoing “Tracking Dylan’ series for ISIS. It explored those Dylan concerts in the 1960s that, for one reason or another, did not in the end take place. Since publication, some of its detail has been superseded and some ‘new’ information has come to light. But there may be more additional information. In due course, we plan to publish a follow-up article and would like it to be as comprehensive as possible. Can you help?
It is rare for ISIS articles to be made available on-line. We would very much like you to take the opportunity to read this particular article and hope that it contains something new and of interest to you. If you can contribute further information toward a follow-up piece then even better!
Finally, it’s Tuesday so our Second Hand Store page has been updated today. We are having an August Holiday Sale this week with a large number of items substantially reduced in price.
14 August, 2018
I’m going to keep things brief this week. What I do have for you, however, is an important announcement regarding tickets for future Bob Dylan concerts in the UK.
After discussion with Jane Baldwin and with Dylan’s agent and promoter ITB, ISIS Magazine will take over the significant responsibility of looking after any future “Fan Ticket Allocation” for Dylan concerts in the UK. This is something that the late John Baldwin had discussed with me before he became gravely ill and is supported by his wife, Jane.
ISIS intends to run the allocation along the same lines as John and as before tickets will only be available to people who have a subscription to ISIS ‘paper’ magazine or were on the Desolation Row mailing list. Your subscription to ISIS must be current at the time you apply for tickets.
NOTE: Most of you reading this blog will have come to this page because you requested to join our ISIS email list. We will announce future UK tours and how to obtain tickets for these shows by email so it is important that ISIS Subscribers who want to receive ticket information are on our emailing list.
Please note that there are no expectations of a UK tour this year.
Another US date, Saturday November, 17, has been added to the fall tour. The show will be in the Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, NJ.
Finally, it’s Tuesday so our Second Hand Store page has been updated today (1pm) with a host of VERY unusual items.
07 August, 2018
With four ‘standard’ concerts and a festival set now behind us we can see how the performances have quickly settled. The initial promise of guitar soon faded, as did ‘Watchtower’ as an opener. Also, after playing ‘Autumn Leaves’ at the first show all traces of the Great American Songbook has since disappeared. This does, however, mean that we get Bob stuck behind the piano for the entire set. Next up is Perth and a nine-date tour of Australia. Local feedback from Aus is that the shows have not sold as well as was expected.
The mention of a single date in Thackerville, Oklahoma, which was in my blog of May 22, was evidence that there would be US dates in October / November this year. It has taken until now, however, for further dates to be officially announced.
The US fall tour begins October 9 at Noël Performing Arts Center in Midland, Texas before moving through Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia before making its final two stops in Roanoke, Virginia, (November 10) and Richmond, Kentucky (November 11). In all there will be 25 dates. See our Tour Dates page.
As promised, ISIS magazine (issue 198) went into the mail on Friday of last week and feedback seems to indicate that subscribers in the UK and much of mainland Europe have already received it. Those of you who have read the mag will know that I mention that my original information was that “Bob Dylan: Live 1962-1966” would include ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ from May 17, 1966. However, the version released in July does not include that track. The reason for this has now become apparent– ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is only on the Japanese release and is not included in other territories.
Not as promised is the delivery of “Too Much of Nothing”. There seems to be delay after delay with books in general at the moment; partly to do with a world paper shortage. Delivery is imminent. Watch this space.
Finally, it’s Tuesday so our Second Hand Store page has been updated today (1pm).
31 July, 2018
Well boys and girls, Bob and his trusty band of merry men are back out on the road and there were some surprises at the opening night in Seoul. I don’t think ‘All Along The Watchtower’ has opened a show for a decade and hasn’t been a regular opener since 1998. The inclusion of ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’ was a real surprise as was the fact that Bob played guitar on the openers!
Moving on to Dylan’s second show, JamBase provided selected “Live Streams” from ‘Fuji Rock Festival ’18’ on YouTube but unsurprisingly Bob Dylan’s performance was not one of them. I’ve seen a couple of videos from the festival and was surprised to see that the two big screens were showing Bob’s performance and seemingly for the entire performance. When screens were used at the ‘Desert Trip’ festival at the end of 2016, Bob requested that they be turned off as soon as he spotted them. Dylan performed on the last evening of the big three-day Fuji Rock event and although there were multiple stages at the festival the other stages were not in use during Dylan’s performance. This was said to be in “respect to Mr Dylan”.
It wasn’t any big surprise to me that there were no Great American Songbook numbers played at the festival. Also, this shortened set didn’t feature any guitar from Bob. Let’s see what happens in Taiwan on Thursday!
Interestingly, in the new issue of ISIS, I quote from a recent interview with Australian promoter Michael Chugg who talks with Michael Bailey about Dylan’s “quirks”, i.e. “Banning of video screens at shows [and] having his electric guitar ready on stage even though nobody can remember when he last played it”. Well, perversely, in the course of the two concerts that followed that interview Bob played guitar and allowed video screens!
Seoul, South Korea, July 22
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- All Along The Watchtower (Bob on electric guitar)
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob on electric guitar)
- Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on piano)
- Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on piano)
- Duquesne Whistle (Bob on piano)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob on piano)
- Honest With Me (Bob on piano)
- Tryin’ To Get To Heaven (Bob on piano with harp)
- Make You Feel My Love (Bob on piano with harp)
- Pay In Blood (Bob on piano)
- Tangled Up In Blue (Bob on piano with harp)
- Early Roman Kings (Bob on piano)
- Desolation Row (Bob on piano)
- Love Sick (Bob on piano)
- Autumn Leaves (Bob centre stage)
- Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on piano)
- Soon After Midnight (Bob on piano)
- Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob on piano)
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(encores)
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- Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob on piano)
- Ballad Of a Thin Man (Bob on piano with harp)
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Fuji Rock Festival ’18, Niigata, Japan
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- Things Have Changed
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Simple Twist Of Fate
- Duquesne Whistle
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Honest With Me
- Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Thunder On The Mountain
- Make You Feel My Love (Bob piano with harp)
- Early Roman Kings
- Desolation Row
- Love Sick
- Ballad Of a Thin Man (Bob piano with harp)
- Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob piano with harp)
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ISIS magazine is due back from the printer at the end of this week and will hopefully go into the post on Friday.
My book, “Too Much of Nothing”, will now not be available to the masses, via book stores and Amazon, until September 6. Nevertheless, I have an agreement with the publisher that author signed copies ordered direct with ISIS magazine will be despatched as soon as the book is printed and we are expecting our delivery week commencing August 6 (i.e. next week). Only 29 signed copies of the available 300 remain unsold.
For those of you who haven’t yet spotted it, Uncut magazine has published “The Ultimate Music Guide: Bob Dylan & The Band”, which has been available in shops since July 12. Priced at £8.99, this 124-page magazine is crammed with classic archive interviews from the Melody Maker and NME, as well as some brand new reviews of The Band’s catalogue and the collaborative albums recorded with Dylan.
Finally, it’s Tuesday so our Second Hand Store page has been updated today (1pm). After the huge response we got last week to the handful of Bob fanzines we included on the page, which was followed by requests for more, this week is a fanzine special.
24 July, 2018
After a very warm and what seemed like a never-ending weekend, working until 8pm on Sunday, we finally got the new issue of ISIS into our printer (news there about the upcoming “The Bootleg Series 14”).
“Bob Dylan Live 1962-1966” has come into stock and will be sent out in time for the release date of Friday July 27.
New items that we are now taking advance orders for:
The Band’s landmark début album, “Music From Big Pink”, is 50 years old this year and to celebrate this, Capitol/UMe is releasing a newly remixed and expanded version of the album featuring a new stereo mix from the original four-track analogue masters by Bob Clearmountain. Due August 31.
Due August 3, “Fairport Convention & The Songs Of Bob Dylan – A Tree With Roots” features 17 songs by or associated with Bob Dylan. This is a nice collection at a giveaway price.
Our regular “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has also been updated as usual today.
Dutch subscribers – and indeed anyone else over there looking for some Bob orientated music – might be interested in an upcoming performance on Sunday August 12. I’m told the guys performing include Dylan fans of long standing and that they present an “interpretation” not an “impersonation”.
17 July 2018
The chatter on the Internet is that the next Bootleg Series release will be “Blood On The Tracks”, or More Blood, More Tracks. I know we have an exciting Bob release coming later this year but for now we have to wait to see exactly what that is.
Published late this year, a new hardback book, “That Thin Wild Mercury Sound”, chronicles the making of the album “Blonde On Blonde”. Written by Daryl Sanders, this one sounds very interesting. ISIS is now taking advance orders.
“Dylan On Dylan: Interviews and Encounters”: For those didn’t manage to get a copy of this book when it came out in May, we have now managed to obtain further stocks which will be with us soon.
Neil Cossar – who recently compiled “Bob Dylan: The Day I Was There” – has now published “Bruce Springsteen: The Day I Was There”. There’s a big crossover between fans of Bob and Bruce so for those interested we are now stocking this title.
We are hoping to receive our copies of my book, “Too Much Of Nothing”, from the publisher sometime next week.
Our regular “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has also been updated today with some quite unusual items that are new to the ISIS Store.
Finally, don’t forget that the 2-CD Sony/Legacy compilation, “Live 1962–1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections”, will be released next week (July 27) and can be pre-ordered from ISIS for £9.99.
10 July, 2018
We are now back from a couple of restful weeks in rural France. Our batteries are recharged but I have to say that getting back to the disciplines of office work in the sultry heat of the English Midlands is somewhat testing.
All customer orders for “In Stock” items received over the past two weeks will be dispatched by the end of this week.
The first thing to mention is my new book, “Too Much of Nothing”. In my blog of June 19, I stated that there would be a slight delay which would probably result in the finished product arriving with us in early-mid July. Unfortunately, things seem to be conspiring against us a little and that date will now go back by a further week. The official publication date is July 27, but we expect to have our stock a little in advance of that date. The reason for this delay is that the cover for the book has undergone a very late change.
The good news is, demand has been such (thanks to all of you) that we are now extending Author Signed Copies of the book from 200 to 300. We are taking orders for those extra 100 copies from today but be warned, once these are gone, we will only be selling the regular unsigned edition.
Available later this year are paperback printings of two previously published books. Originally available at £59.50, the academic book, “Tearing The World Apart”, edited by Nina Goss and Eric Hoffman, will be available from November 30 at a more acceptable £27.99.
Published November 15, 2018, the paperback edition of “Why Dylan Matters”, containing the new afterword written from song drafts discovered in Tulsa, is now available to pre-order from ISIS for £9.99 including post and packing in the UK.
Our regular “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has also been updated today. After the recent two-week break we are hoping to have a bumper week of new and unusual items for next week (Tuesday 17).
Finally, the 2-CD Japan only Sony/Legacy compilation, “Live 1962–1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections”, has now gained World-Wide release. Out on July 27, it can be pre-order from ISIS for £9.99.
21 June, 2018
Due for publication September 14, 2018, Wymer is issuing a softback version of their October 2017 Blackbushe book. Originally published as “The Picnic at Blackbushe”, the book was produced as a hardback in a Limited Edition of 500 and presented in an aluminium flight case. The new version, titled “Bob Dylan’s Picnic”, is presented in softback and without the flight case.
Written by Jerry Bloom, the book is 210mm x 297mm (A4) and 128 pages. Heavily illustrated throughout with great colour photos of Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and others, the book also covers each performance with memorabilia, stories, reviews, anecdotes and memories from the artists and audience alike.
Originally costing £79.99 (in hardback & flight case) the upcoming softback will sell for just £24.99.
Anyone who orders a copy of this book before August 17, 2018, will have their name printed in the back pages of the book.
19 June, 2018
I’d like to say a big thank you on behalf of the family to all those who were able to attend John Baldwin’s funeral last Friday. It was an extremely sad occasion, but also a fantastic celebration of John’s remarkable life. A great band, Simply Dylan, kept everyone entertained.
***
A further new date has been added to the July-August Far East tour. Originally due to begin in Japan on July 29 at the Fuji Rock Festival, the new date means that the tour is now scheduled to start on July 27 when Bob will play the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul, South Korea. I mentioned the possibility of this show taking place in my Blog of May 14. It seems it has taken five weeks to come together! Tickets for this concert go on sale on June 26.
My book, “Too Much of Nothing”, will be slightly delayed. The text was delivered to my publisher some time ago but fine tuning to the index pages and changes to the photo spread (my fault) will probably now result in the finished product arriving with us in early-mid July. I’ll also need a few days after this to sign copies for ISIS customers!
The Stephen Scobie collection, “Always Other Voices”, has literally just arrived and will be winging its way to customers in the next few days.
Our regular “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has been updated today with some interesting items, a number of which we have not sold before.
Please note that we will be taking our annual holiday from Saturday June 23 and therefore the last day for us to post out items bought from our online store will be Friday June 22. Our office will re-open on Monday July 9.
Due to this break away, there will be no new items added to our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page over the next two Tuesdays (June 26 and July 3). After today, our next “Pre-Owned” store update will be Tuesday July 10.
14 June, 2018
We have yet another new page on the ISIS website; this one features the screen printed posters of renowned contemporary music and gig poster artist, Zeb Love.
These Dylan posters, which have been commissioned by The Flood Gallery, London, are available in seven variants with a total run of only 250. The ‘Regular’ (5-Colour) poster is made in a Limited Edition of 90, while a variant on Gold Foil (6-Colour) is limited of just ten.
These posters will be launched by The Flood Gallery on Friday, June 15 at 4pm. The gallery has, however, allowed ISIS to offer these 24 hours before the official pre order date. This will give ISIS customers the first chance of securing posters from the very limited editions.
A collectors item for the future, all posters are hand signed and numbered by the artist.
Visit the new Posters section here
12 June, 2018
We have a new page on the ISIS website. Since beginning our Pre-Owned (Second Hand Store) we have bought-in several Dylan collections containing back issue of ISIS and have eventually found the time to list all of these! In total, there are 44 issues that were previously out of stock. Those subscribers who have issues missing from their ISIS collections will hopefully now be able to fill those gaps with used magazines at a relatively inexpensive price.
These used magazines are Sold Out in our “Back Issues” section. Stock of the used mags is very limited and in some cases only single issues are available. These magazines will vary in condition, but all copies are Very Good or better. To see which issues are available please visit out Pre-Owned ISIS page.
Our regular “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has also been updated today. Amongst other items, this week has something of a Traveling Wilburys theme.
Please note that we’ll be out of the office on Friday to attend John Baldwin’s funeral.
10 June, 2018
The Funeral of John Baldwin
Important Road Closure Notice
For anyone using the A1 (M) please follow the instructions below. Be aware that a section of the A602 is closed and your sat nav will try to take down this closed road.
Leave the A1 (M) at junction 7 and join the A602 towards Stevenage. From this point ignore your sat nav.
Go straight over the first roundabout
At the second roundabout turn right at Monkswood Way (go past the football ground on the left)
At the next roundabout turn / keep left (go past a big Tesco store)
At the next roundabout take the second exit on to the B197 heading toward Knebworth
Keep going for quite a while until you reach Knebworth Village and then
At a mini-roundabout turn left into Watton Rd. Continue along this road over speed bumps and it becomes a country lane, Harwood Park Crematorium is on the right.
Flowers / Donations: A number of people have asked about sending flowers to John’s funeral. The family have requested family flowers only. Contributions to good causes are preferred.
You can make your donations here by entering John Baldwin in the Name section.
05 June, 2018
John Baldwin’s Funeral: It would be very helpful if those intending to attend John’s funeral, but have not yet replied to the family, could do so as soon as possible, preferably by Wednesday June 6th.
Replies to: johnabaldwin@btinternet.com
Flowers: A number of people have asked about sending flowers to John’s funeral. The family have requested family flowers only. Contributions to good causes are preferred and details about this will follow shortly.
For further information regarding John’s funeral please see my June 2 blog below.
All information / updates regarding the funeral will be posted on our website.
* * *
To celebrate Bob Dylan’s upcoming appearance at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival (July 29), Sony Music Japan is releasing “Bob Dylan Live: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collection”. Limited to Japan only, this 2CD release features tracks from 1962 to 1966. The release date is July 18, 2018.
CD1: 1962-1964
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- Blowin’ in the Wind (Gerdes Folk City – April 16, 1962)
- Corinna, Corrina (Gerdes Folk City – April 16, 1962)
- John Brown (New York Town Hall – April 12, 1963)
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (New York Town Hall – April 12, 1963)
- Bob Dylan’s Dream (New York Town Hall – April 12, 1963)
- Seven Curses (New York Town Hall – April 12, 1963)
- Boots of Spanish Leather (New York Town Hall – April 12, 1963)
- Masters of War (Carnegie Hall – October 26, 1963)
- The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (Carnegie Hall – October 26, 1963)
- When the Ship Comes In (March on Washington – August 28, 1963)
- The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Royal Festival Hall – May 17, 1964)
- Girl From the North Country (Royal Festival Hall – May 17, 1964)
- Mr. Tambourine Man (Royal Festival Hall – May 17, 1964)
- It Ain’t Me, Babe (Royal Festival Hall – May 17, 1964)
- To Ramona (Newport Folk Festival – July 26, 1964)
- Chimes of Freedom (Royal Festival Hall – May 17, 1964)
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Disc 2: 1965-1966
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- One Too Many Mornings (BBC TV – June 1, 1965)
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (City Hall, Sheffield, England – April 30, 1965)**
- Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Liverpool Odeon, England – May 1, 1965)
- Gates of Eden (Manchester Free Trade Hall, England – May 7, 1965)
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Liverpool Odeon, England – May 1, 1965)
- She Belongs to Me (Royal Albert Hall, London, England – May 10, 1965)
- Maggie’s Farm (Hollywood Bowl – September 3, 1965)
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Newport Folk Festival – July 25, 1965)
- Desolation Row (Sydney Stadium, Australia – 13, 1966)
- Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Wales – May 11, 1966)
- I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Wales – May 11, 1966)
- Ballad of a Thin Man (Odeon Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland – May 20, 1966)
- Visions of Johanna (ABC, Belfast, N. Ireland – May 6, 1966)
- Like a Rolling Stone (Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England – May 17, 1966)
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*Note: The dates and venues above should be correct, but in my defence, I have prepared this very quickly.
** ‘It’s All Right Ma’(I’m Only Bleeding)’: Will this be from Sheffield or Newcastle!?
The Rolling Stones played the Coventry Ricoh Arena (home of the cuckoo’s rugby team [private joke]), about a mile from my home on Saturday June 2. I’m told the 6th song of their set was ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.
Our “Sale Bin” now contains more than 30 items reduced in price. All these are Brand New stock items.
Our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has been updated today (1pm). The demand for fanzines was such last week – they sold out in a couple of hours – we have opted for another mostly fanzine special.
02 June, 2018
We have the extremely sad task of bringing the news to you all that John Baldwin (Desolation Row information service) has passed away. His family has asked that we pass on the following message.
Derek & Tracy Barker.
We are sad to have to announce that John Baldwin, lifelong Dylan fan and provider of the Desolation Row information service, Dignity fanzine and organiser of the Dylan ticket allocation, passed away on 29th May after a short battle with lung cancer. He was surrounded by his family and our love.
Knowing how important Dylan and his community of fans were to John, we’d like to extend an invitation to join the funeral service on Friday 15th June at Harwood Park Crematorium.
There will be an informal celebration of John’s life at a nearby venue (details to follow) where we would ask you to raise a toast to John (his favourite tipple was Pernod).
Please let us know of your attendance by replying to, johnabaldwin@btinternet.com by the 6th June at the latest.
For the sake of privacy at this sad time, we would ask that contact be made by email, not phone.
Date and Venue
Friday 15th June 11.45 – Harwood Park Crematorium, Watton Rd, Datchworth, SG2 8XT
Dress Code
Traditional funeral wear, although Dylan related attire is more than welcome!
Warm regards
John’s wife, Jane and his children, Tom and Mary-Anne
29 May, 2018
Not too much to report this week. Hopefully the latest issue of ISIS (#197) has now arrived with subscribers in the UK and Europe and will make it further afield very soon.
Since my Blog last week, a second show has been announced in Melbourne, Australia. The four day gap in the tour schedule always indicated that more shows were to come. The second Melbourne concert, for which tickets are already on sale, will take place on August 14. As with the first date, the venue is Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne & Olympic Parks.
For those who are interested in getting an author signed copy of my upcoming book, well over half of the 200 allocated copies have already been sold.
I was chatting with Andy Muir the other day about my new book, “Too Much Of Nothing”, when Andy let slip that his next book, to be called “In The True Performing Of It: William Shakespeare and Bob Dylan”, is approaching its final stage. The book will trace the connections and parallels between the two men’s careers and works and is set to be close to 150,000 words. Andy tells me he’s made some great and unexpected discoveries. ISIS will of course stock this item and we should be able to arrange author signed copies for our customers. Publication date and price is not yet known but we’ll keep you in touch as things progress.
Our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has been updated today. Although there is a mix of items, today is a bit of a fanzine special.
22 May, 2018
A show has just been announced for Saturday, October 13, 2018 in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The concert will take place at WinStar World Casino and Resort where Dylan will play the Global Event Center stage. Tickets for this concert will go on sale Friday, May 25, 2018 at the Global Event Center Box Office or online at ticketmaster.com. Bob last played this venue on May 2, 2015.
The 1965 Fender Telecaster guitar played by Bob Dylan o n his first electric tour has been sold at auction for $490,000. The guitar, which at the time was black, was owned by Robbie Robertson.
Dylan used the Tele during the recording of “Blonde On Blonde” and it was later used by Robertson during much of his time with The Band, including him playing it during the recording of “Music From Big Pink and “The Band” (Brown Album). Over the years the Telecaster has gone through a plethora of changes having been stripped of its original black finish, being re-routed to accommodate a humbucker pickup in the neck position and being fitted with a Bigsby tremolo arm. In fact, there’s not much of the original guitar left!
There is talk that there will be an official Vinyl release of The Gaslight Tapes.
Hopefully you remembered from last week’s blog that our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page is now being updated at 1pm every Tuesday.
Please note that ISIS Magazine Limited has updated its Privacy Policy inline with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which come into effect on Friday May 25, 2018. You can read our revised Privacy Policy HERE.
14 May, 2018
I wrote in ISIS 196, early March 2018, that Dylan’s people were talking with promoters regarding possible shows in Australia and New Zealand and also confirmed my suspicions in this blog, March 26. Things then went very quiet. At the time, I thought the tour would be in September but it appears now to have been brought forward a few weeks to fit in with the Japanese Fuji Rock Festival. This re-think of the timing probably accounts for the delay in announcing this tour.
July 29 Yuzawa-cho, Niigata, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival ’18 – Naeba Ski Resort
August 4 Hong Kong – Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
August 6 Singapore – The Star Theatre
August 8 Perth Australia – Perth Arena
August 11 Adelaide, Australia – Botanic Park
August 13 Melbourne, Australia – Margaret Court Arena
August 18 Sydney, Australia – ICC Sydney Theatre
August 20 Wollongong, Australia – WIN Entertainment Centre
August 22 Newcastle, Australia – Newcastle Entertainment Centre
August 24 Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
August 26 Auckland, New Zealand – Spark Arena
August 28 Christchurch, New Zealand – Horncastle Arena
Further dates are likely to be announced.
As has been the case for many years Chugg Ent is promoting the Australian and New Zealand dates and ticket information can be found here: https://www.chuggentertainment.com/tours/bob-dylan-2018/
Extra dates may be added in Australia and as mentioned in my pervious blog below, Seoul and Taipei are possibilities…
Our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page will be updated at 1pm today (Monday) with more Dylan goodies and collectables.
The Day’s They Are A-Changin’
Please Note: From next week forward we will be changing the day for adding items to our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store”. Monday is often a Bank Holiday in the UK and as a result of this we have not been adding new items on these Monday’s. From next week therefore, updates to our popular Pre-Owned page will be every TUESDAY at the usual time of 1pm UK time.
10 May, 2018
The latest ISIS magazine went to our printer on Tuesday this week which was of course the cue for tour dates to begin to arrive!
To coincide with the long announced Japanese festival, Fuji Rock, which Dylan is scheduled to play on Sunday July 29, dates are now emerging in Hong Kong and Singapore with talk of further shows in Seoul (Korea) and Taipei (Taiwan).
Bob will play the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre near Hong Kong’s Central Plaza on August 4, seven years after his last appearance in the city. Tickets go on sale on May 14 via HK Ticketing. Ticket prices will be HK$388 to HK$1,288.
Dylan is also set to return to Singapore at the 5,000-seat Star Theatre on Monday, August 6. Tickets will be available via APACTix on May 14 at 10am. Prices are SGD128, 188 and 248. Purchases can also be made through SingPost outlets and hotline +65 3158 8588.
Dylan last performed in Singapore in 2011 at the Timbre Rock & Roots music festival. Prior to that, he played his first ever concert in Singapore in 1994 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
30 April, 2018
A note from John Baldwin regarding Desolation Row information Service. John is currently not able to access a computer so all Desolation Row email updates will be suspended until further notice.
I wrote in last week’s blog that we had more information on the delayed book, “Bob Dylan: I Was There.” Well, that information has changed yet again. The new book will, as stated last week, now run from 1958 through to 1979. In other words it will now take in Dylan finding Jesus. The title of the book will now be “Bob Dylan: The Day I Was There.” There is also a new publisher, This Day In Music Books. The ‘firm’ publication that we gave last week remains unchanged … May 24, 2018. Although the publisher, title, ISBN and cover are now all new, ISIS magazine will be honouring all prices and customers who have ordered the original book will automatically receive the new expanded version.
As mentioned last week, we are working hard to get the next issue of ISIS, #197, to the printer as soon as possible. It made sense to wait until the European tour was over before attempting to put this issue to bed.
Finally, as is usual on Monday’s, our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page will be updated at 1pm today with more Dylan goodies and collectables. Please note that there will be no update next week as it is a Bank Holiday.
16 April, 2018
Bob Dylan has recorded a song for a compilation of same-sex wedding anthems. The song, ‘She’s Funny That Way’, was originally a hit for Gene Austin in 1929 and later performed by Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. As is the case with the female artists who have previously recorded the song, including Etta James and Billie Holiday, Dylan has altered the lyrics to sing, “He’s Funny That Way” instead. Dylan recorded the song for inclusion on a six-song EP entitled, “Universal Love”. The track is available for download and the EP, released by Sony Music Entertainment Legacy Recordings, will be available in store for Record Store Day. Speaking about Dylan’s contribution, producer Rob Kaplan told The New York Times: “It wasn’t just ‘Yes, I’ll do this’. It was ‘Hey, I have an idea for a song’.”
One rather bizarre piece of news that recently caught my eye was that 50 room doors from New York’s iconic Chelsea Hotel have been sold at auction. The hotel, built in the 1880s, was a long-term residence for many singers, writers and bohemians. Doors to rooms occupied by Madonna and Jimi Hendrix went for just $13,000 while the door to a room used by Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol sold for $52,500. The door from the apartment used by Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen during an affair, as well as the singer Joni Mitchell, fetched $85,000. I guess you all where this one is going. At $100,000 (£70,000), Dylan’s room door commanded the biggest price at auction.
At last we have more information on the delayed book, “Bob Dylan: I Was There 1958-1979”. For starters, as the amended title suggests, the book has now been expanded to include an extra 10 years; the original work being intended to finish in 1969. We also now have what should be a firm date for release … May 24, 2018.
Two new upcoming titles have also just been announced: Published June 2018, “Always Other Voices: Writings on Bob Dylan in the 21st century”, is a 214 page book by Stephen Scobie that brings together various articles produced in the 21st Century. These are from a variety of sources, and were initially addressed to different audiences.
Available June 2018, “Down A Dirty Road: Bob Dylan’s Concerts 2017” is the latest in the long-running series of Bob Dylan tour books from by Mike Wyvill & John Wraith. The book features complete track listings of every 2017 show and is illustrated with photos, tickets and more.
Although we are still a little way off finishing (in fact we’ll wait until the current tour is over) we are well on the way with work on the next issue of ISIS magazine. This one is shaping up to be a practically interesting issue. If anyone out there hasn’t yet renewed their subscription for 2018, now is the time to do so.
Finally, as is usual on Monday’s, our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” page has been updated today with more Dylan goodies and collectables.
26 March 2018
Bob Dylan’s 26-date European tour got underway in Lisbon on Thursday March 22. Many people will I’m sure be pleased to see that at long last there has been a huge reduction in the Great American Songbook numbers. The only song that remained in the set on the opening night was ‘Why Try to Change Me Now?’. The three songs that were reintroduced to the set to replace the missing Songbook numbers were, ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ (last played, June 17, 2017) and ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’, which were both last performed on July 25, 2017. The songs that are out of the set from the end of the previous tour are ‘Melancholy Mood’, ‘Full Moon and Empty Arms’ and ‘Autumn Leaves’. Apart from “Why Try to Change Me Now?’, Dylan spent the entire Lisbon set behind the keyboard. Bob’s centre stage performances have been great in recent times, in fact, more often than not the highlights of the shows could be found there so what we may have gained from moving back to a more ‘Bob’ oriented show we may have lost by having him stuck behind the keyboard.
Altice Arena, Lisbon, Portugal, March 22, 2018
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- Things Have Changed (Bob at Piano)
- It Ain’t Me, Babe (Bob at Piano)
- Highway 61 Revisited (Bob at Piano)
- Simple Twist of Fate (Bob at Piano)
- Summer Days (Bob at Piano)
- Make You Feel My Love (Bob at Piano)
- Honest With Me (Bob at Piano)
- Tryin’ To Get To Heaven (Bob at Piano)
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Bob at Piano)
- Pay In Blood (Bob at Piano)
- Tangled Up In Blue (Bob at Piano)
- Soon After Midnight (Bob at Piano)
- Early Roman Kings (Bob at Piano)
- Desolation Row (Bob at Piano)
- Spirit on the Water (Bob at Piano)
- Thunder on the Mountain (Bob at Piano)
- Why Try To Change Me Now (Bob vocal centre stage)
- Love Sick (Bob at Piano)
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(encores)
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- Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob at Piano)
- Ballad of a Thin Man (Bob at Piano)
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The second night of the tour in Salamanca, Spain saw just one change to the set from the opening show, with ‘Don’t Think Twice’ being replaced by the Tony Bennett song ‘Once Upon a Time’. A Strouse / Adams composition, Bob performed this number as a one-off for the 2016 Tony Bennett celebration. Recorded at the WorkPlay Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama, the song was broadcast on December 20, 2016 in the NBC special, “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come”. That’s the story so far, let’s see what happens tonight in Madrid.
Rumoured for a little while, Bob’s appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival is now confirmed. The Festival runs for three days (July 27-29) and as yet the exact date for Bob’s performance has not been confirmed but is rumoured for Sunday July 29. The festival will be staged at Naeba Ski Resort, Yuzawa-cho, Niigata Pref., Japan. If everything comes together, including favourable exchange rates, the festival could coincide with dates in Australia as recently mentioned in ISIS issue, 197.
Winston Watson recently posted on Facebook:- “My best friend, brother, and confidant left this world, last night. I am crushed. Gonzalo “Chalo” Charlie Quintana wasn’t perfect (none of us are) but he played drums like I wanted to play them and his heart was as big as the world. Tell your loved ones that you love them. Now. Today. RIP, Brother. Now, it is quiet. Now, you may rest”.
Best known as a founding member of the band The Plugz, and as the drummer for the punk rock band Social Distortion, Quintana drummed in Dylan’s backing band between April and September 1992. He played in 44 shows. Quintana died of a heart attack on March 12, 2018. He was 56 years old.
Thanks to Michael Gray for calling to say that Aidan Day has passed away. Aidan, who had been suffering from vascular dementia for quite some time, died at his home in Epsom on the night of Monday March 12. He will be cremated in Leatherhead on April 13. Day had written a number of books including works about Tennyson and Romanticism. His Dylan title, “Jokerman: Reading the Lyrics of Bob Dylan”, was published July 1988.
A quick note for those who have ordered the Neil Cossar book, “Bob Dylan: I Was There 1958-1969”. As you may have gathered, this title is continuing to suffer from delays. We are continually chasing this book with the publisher and it will be dispatch by us as soon as it becomes available, hopefully in the next few weeks.
As is usual on Monday’s, our “Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store” has been updated today with more Dylan goodies and collectables. Next Monday is a Bank Holliday in the UK and also elsewhere so we are taking a week off but we will be back in business the following Monday, April 9.
Finally, I’m pleased to say that plans are coming together very nicely for articles and items for inclusion in ISIS during this new subscription year. I’m delighted to say that Zac Dadic is working on an exciting three-part article looking in depth at Dylan’s visit to Australia in 1978. I’m sure readers will remember Zac’s fantastic series of groundbreaking articles concerning Dylan’s visit to Australia in 1966. We are always looking for articles and photos for publication in ISIS so if anyone any ideas for contributions please drop me an email at derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
23 March 2018
Last night’s Set List
March 22, 2018, Altice Arena – Lisbon, Portugal
Things Have Changed
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Highway 61 Revisited
A Simple Twist Of Fate
Summer Days
Make You Feel My Love
Honest With Me
Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Allright
Pay In Blood
Tangled Up In Blue
Soon After Midnight
Early Roman Kings
Desolation Row
Spirit on the Water
Thunder On The Mountain
Why Try To Change Me Now?
Love Sick
Blowin’ In The Wind
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Jimmy Fallon Tells Trump the Times Are a-Changin’
The Tonight Show host followed the Super Bowl with a Bob Dylan rewrite touching on #MeToo, fake news, and Colin Kaepernick.
29 January, 2018
We are delighted to say that “Bob Dylan & The Fifth Day of May” is back from the printer and after spending a great day with John Baldwin and Jane on Saturday the books are now signed and ready for mailing later today (Monday 29). Demand has been such that we have upped the number of signed copies to 150 but even so only a handful remain unsold. Of course, when these are gone unsigned copies will be available. We are thrilled to have this book as yet another ISIS Magazine exclusive. As well as being an exhaustive examination of one of Bob Dylan’s most enigmatic songs, ‘Isis’, John also briefly looks at the Egyptian influence in another “Desire” song, ‘Oh Sister’, and a “Desire” session out-take, ‘Golden Loom’.
John Baldwin Signing His Books
“Bob Dylan & The Fifth Day of May” is 180-page softback.
“Bob Dylan: I Was There” will now be published week ending February 9.
After taking a break over Christmas and New Year we will recommence adding new items to our Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store on Monday, February 12.
All content here is copyright© ISIS Magazine, Please do not copy and post on other sites or social media groups without first obtaining permission
11 December, 2017
WIN A LIMITED EDITION PRINT BY ARTHUR ROSATO
Our friends at rockarchive.com are offering one lucky reader the chance to win this brand new A3 limited edition print by Arthur Rosato.
All you have to do is answer this simple question: What year did Arthur Rosato take this photograph?
Please send your entry to info@rockarchive.com and mark your entry ‘Competition’ in the subject box.
Please include your answer, name and email address. All entries must be submitted by 31st January, 2018. One entry per person. The winning entry will be selected at random from the correct entries.
By entering the competition your name will be added to the Rockarchive newsletter database; you will be free to unsubscribe at any time. No cash alternative.
Promoter: www.rockarchive.com Unit 13, The Dove Centre, 109 Bartholomew Road, London. NW5 2BJ
06 December 2018
We updated the site a few days ago with news of a show in Lisbon, Portugal, but with more dates now emerging I thought it was time for a short blog.
After a very long hiatus since dates were announced for Italy, shows in Germany have now also been firmed up.
The dates are:
March 22, Lisbon, Portugal, Altice Arena
April 12, Neu-Ulm, Germany, Ratiopharm Arena
April 18, Leipzig, Germany, Arena Leipzig
April 19, Oberhausen, Germany’ KönigPalast, Krefeld
April 21, Bielefeld, Germany, Seidensticker Halle
April 22, Nuremberg, Germany ‘Frankenhalle
April 23, Baden-Baden, Germany, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Tickets go on sale for the shows in Germany on Friday 8th of December.
There are also rumours of a show in Barcelona in March.
I am also hearing that the promoter has been asked to look at the viability of summer shows in Europe based around festivals. The three-day Pori Jazz Festival, which Bob played in 2014, is one of the festivals that has been mentioned but as far as I’m aware as yet there are no firm bookings. A summer tour does, however, appear to be coming together. The Pori Festival runs from July 19-21.
ISIS is due back from the printer this weekend and will be mailed out early next week.
John Baldwin’s book, “Bob Dylan & The Fifth Day Of May”, will be with us shortly. The first 100 copies only will be signed by the author so order soon to avoid disappointment. This title is available exclusively from ISIS.
Grammy nominations 2018 in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album are:
Michael Bublé – Nobody But Me (Deluxe Version)
Bob Dylan – Triplicate
Seth MacFarlane – In Full Swing
Sarah McLachlan – Wonderland
Various Artists – Tony Bennett Celebrates 90
13 November, 2017
First of all, I’m disappointed that some of our readers are of the opinion that the unequivocal photographic evidence we presented last week proving the existence of the Lock Ness monster (see below) is Fake News. I can assure all of you that this is a genuine photograph and it has not been Photo shopped!
Sony’s release of standard Dylan vinyl keeps coming. Scheduled for release Friday December 1 are:
“Bob Dylan” (first LP)
“Greatest Hits”
“The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”
“Another Side of Bob Dylan”
“Desire”
Advance orders are now being taken.
Also, as I mentioned last week, if anyone is still looking for a copy of the Deluxe Box Set “Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13”, at the moment we are still able to obtain this from Sony. Last week’s delivery has already sold out but we will be getting more mid this week!
On another subject completely, I read today that The Who is in negotiations with Caesars Palace to play what could amount to a two-year residency at The Colosseum! The deal is said to be worth about a quarter of a million pounds per show. The Who played a short residency at the 4,298-seat venue this summer. Apparently, the lucrative Sin City deal could worth £35million, depending on how many performances the band agrees to initially. Maybe it’s just me, but a rock band like The Who playing nightly in Caesars Palace just seems wrong. Yes, I know, Bob played a show there in 2010, others have too, but a two-year residency just doesn’t sit right with me. That would certainly sort out their retirement plan though!
Our Monday 1pm ritual continues today with the update of our Pre-Owned / Second Hand Store Pages.
10 November, 2017
Just a couple of quick things to mention today: Firstly, if anyone is still looking for a copy of the Deluxe Box Set “Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13”, at the moment we are still able to obtain this for Sony.
Having already been delayed once, we have been informed today that the Neil Cossar book, “Bob Dylan: I Was There 1958-1969,” will now not be published until early 2018.
Finally, and thanks to John Roberts for alerting us to this one, below is sensational photographic evidence of the existence of the Lock Ness monster.
08 November, 2017
Dates are beginning to emerge for Bob shows in Europe for spring 2018. So far six dates in Italy have been announced. People might find it surprising that Dylan will be playing Europe in spring two years in succession but my understanding is that next year’s tour will take in countries that were not played in 2017, which was very much a tour of Northern Europe. Depending how the tour comes together, things can change, but currently there are no plans to play shows in the UK.
April 2018:
3 Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy
4 Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy
5 Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy
7 Nelson Mandela Forum, Florence, Italy
8 PalaBam, Mantova, Italy
9 Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milan, Italy
The Auditorium Parco della Musica is a music complex in Rome that has three halls but I assume Bob will play the 2,800 Sala Santa Cecilia hall. The Mandela Forum in Florence has a seating capacity of 5,253 while PalaBam, Mantova seats 6,200. The venue in Milan, Teatro degli Arcimboldi, seats 2,375. Tickets go on sale for all shows on Friday November 10.
Anyone still looking for “Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol.13” Deluxe Box Set, we have two copies left in stock!
06 November, 2017
Tangled up in Boxes
The past 10 days have been fraught with frustrations and worry. For Tracy and I, the saga of “The Bootleg Series Vol. 13” began on the evening of Friday October 27 when the much anticipated dispatch notes for our “BS 13” delivery failed to appear. The goods were due to arrive with us on Monday October 30, but with no electronic paperwork appearing late Friday (as it always does) we knew something was wrong. We could not phone Sony until Monday morning so we had a whole weekend of debating/worrying what had happened.
Monday brought good news; “BS 13” had arrived late into Sony UK so all of their trade deliveries would now be a day late. No big deal in itself, other than we would now had one less day to prepare, pack, label and dispatch to our customers. Tuesday arrived and late morning so did “BS 13”. We received all of our allocation and also enough ‘extras’ to supply everyone on our reserve list. We spent the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday knee deep in cardboard and against the odds every single order left us, collected by the Royal Mail, on Wednesday afternoon. Although “2nd Class” mail collected Wednesday would ordinarily arrive on Friday (the day of release), to quote Bob Dylan, “Nothing was Delivered”! We talked with our Royal Mail representative on Friday afternoon and it seems that due to the volume of mail at the Coventry distribution office (and elsewhere) most “2nd Class” parcels had been held-up and should therefore arrive on Saturday. Now, in fairness, the Royal Mail does state that they “Aim to deliver within 2-3 working days,” so Saturday would still be within their remit.
Having heard from customers and done some tracking ourselves, we do know that a large number of deliveries were made on Saturday morning but we are also aware that some were not. I know the music is nearly 40 years old so in the great scheme of things a couple of days isn’t life or death, but our aim is not to let people down and after working so hard to get the stuff out on time we are upset that we have been let down by others. It has also been frustrating that the Royal Mail’s “Click & Drop” 2D scanning system we used to track goods appears to be only partially functional. Those of you who did not receive your orders on Saturday should see them arrive today (Monday). All of this only applies to inland deliveries. Overseas customers are not affected.
Although it is of no comfort to me whatsoever, looking at the Internet forums on Sunday, it would appear that bobdylan.com have also had delivery problems with dozens of their customers saying they did receive their deliveries on either Friday or Saturday. It seems therefore that we are all in the same boat.
To cap it all for us, UPS were booked to collect a consignment of half-a-dozen non-“BS 13” products from us on Friday but their transport was a complete no-show!
We were expecting our consignment of “The Picnic at Blackbushe” Deluxe Photo Book on Wednesday but that didn’t arrive until late Thursday! Nonetheless, we labelled and dispatched those the same day (it took two Royal Mail vans to move them all!) and it seems that most if not all of those were delivered on the next day (Saturday).
I’m seriously beginning to think that I am getting too old for all of this box moving.
Blackbushe Books
Back to “BS 13”: What of the product?
Well, the first thing that those who remove the shrinkwrap will notice is that the lower section of the box front cover is blowin’ in the wind. For reasons not yet clear to me, the back of the box/slipcase has had a glossy paper ‘slick’ pasted over. This slick extends to the bottom of the box and also for two-inches around the front but it has not been pasted on! It appears to me that there has been a late issue with Parental Guidance: “brief reference to violence”. If so, couldn’t this have been stickered rather than a slick being used? I’m not sure what the various laws in different counties demands re this. As for the music, both the quality of the performance and the recordings are simply wonderful.
Now, I don’t have a copy but I have been informed that the bobdylan.com “bonus disc” is not quite as advertised, i.e. a “full show from San Diego”. Track 7, disc 2, ‘In the Garden’, is from November 27, 1979, as are the band introductions, while the main body of the show is from November 28. Track 11, the final track on the second CD repeats ‘In the Garden’, this time from November 28, but the song is incomplete. Also missing, as expected, is the six-song opening set by Dylan’s four-girl gospel chorus and Bob’s brief interactions and his two extended raps. Again this was expected, at least by me.
Moving on, due into us today from Simon & Schuster is “Bob Dylan: The Nobel Lecture”. This is a small 5-inch x 7-inch, 23-page hardback book is priced at £9.99.
In addition to this, we have recently learned that Simon & Schuster is also making available signed copies of this title for, hold your breath, $2,500. Yes, for a mere $2,500 (about £1,880) those with very deep pockets can acquire one of just 100 limited, numbered and signed copies of the book presented in a decretive, protective slipcase. This version of the book, which is only available direct from Simon & Schuster, also comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Also coming into stock at ISIS today from Simon & Schuster is “Bob Dylan: 100 Songs”.
As is usual on a Monday, the Pre-Owned section of our website will be added to at around 1pm.
That’s all for this week folks. I can now get back to banging my head against the office wall!
01 November, 2017
Aftermath of a Sony Bootleg Series delivery. Goods should arrive with our UK customers on Friday.
23 October, 2017
With five shows now gone, very little has changed on the current US tour. The 20-song set list was however extended to 21 songs on October 21 in Broomfield, Colorado when Bob performed a tribute to his ex-Wilburys band mate, Tom Petty. Stood at the piano after the second encore, ‘Ballad Of a Thin Man’, Bob played ‘Learning To Fly’. Written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne in 1991, the song was a Top 30 hit for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers that summer.
Songs Played at the First Five Shows:
Things Have Changed [5] It Ain’t Me, Babe [5] Highway 61 Revisited [5] Why Try To Change Me Now [5] Summer Days [5] Melancholy Mood [5] Tangled Up In Blue [5] Honest With Me [5] Pay In Blood [5] September Of My Years [5] Tryin’ To Get To Heaven [5] Early Roman Kings [5] Desolation Row [5] Soon After Midnight [5] Thunder On The Mountain [5] Long And Wasted Years [5] Autumn Leaves [5] Blowin’ In The Wind [5] Ballad Of A Thin Man [5] Where Is The One [2] Once Upon A Time [2] This Nearly Was Mine [1] Learning To Fly [1]
For those who haven’t yet seen the latest issue of Mojo magazine, it is a Dylan cover issue with a piece about Dylan’s “Gospel Years”. There is also a piece about Tom Petty.
Last Monday I wrote about the Simon & Schuster, Bob Dylan “The Nobel Lecture”, for which we were taking pre-orders. Unfortunately, the link we provided was broken and for the first hour or so it was not possible to order this item. Let’s hope it works this week! Due for publication November 30, 2017, we are now (again) taking orders for this title.
We are temporary out of stock of Clinton Heylin’s great new book “Trouble In Mind: Bob Dylan’s Gospel Years – What Really Happened.” We have already received two large consignments from the publisher and we have more on order awaiting Clinton’s signature. These signed copies should be with us in 7-10 days. Reserve your copy now.
“The Picnic At Blackbushe” from Wymer Publishing is due to arrive with us week commencing October 30. Be warned, we only have a very few spare copies of this item, which is limited to a print run of just 500. This might be the last chance to reserve your copy. The book is Casebound with 128 pages printed on 170 gsm silk paper. This unique item is presented in an aluminium flight case.
Also due into stock next week is “Bob Dylan: 100 Songs” (Simon & Schuster).
One book we haven’t mentioned before is “Mr Tambourine Man”. A biographical book from various authors, this will be available October 31.
“Dylan’s Autobiography of a Vocation: A Reading of the Lyrics 1965-1967” by Louis A. Renza has just arrived into stock. For those interested we have just Two Copies left unsold. Order Here.
Finally, we have release dates on some of the new Dylan vinyl I mentioned last week:
“New Morning” November 3
“John Wesley Harding” November 17
“Modern Times” November 24
“Hard Rain”, “Before The Flood” and “The Basement Tapes” December 1
We are currently taking advance orders on all six of these titles.
The much discussed 20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition of “Time Out Of Mind” has once again reared its head. Originally talked about for November release, this item was recently put back to January 2018. Now, however, it has been brought forward a little to December 8, 2017. Before anyone emails me, I am aware that some shops in the US (and possibly elsewhere) already have this title but most territories, including the UK, haven’t. We will be taking advance orders as soon as we can.
As is usual on Monday our Pre-Owned Webpage has been updated this afternoon. As ever you need to move fast as these items often sell in the first few minutes!!!
16 October, 2017
As I’m sure you will know by now, Bob is back on the road touring in the United States. The six-week tour kicked off in Funner, California on October 13. There is no change to the band members but at the opening night there were live débuts for ‘Where Is The One’ and ‘September Of My Years’. There were a couple of changes to the set list at the second show but no new songs were played. The tour continues tomorrow (October 17), with Mavis Staples as the opening act.
On the book front, “I Was There: 1958-1969” by Neil Cossar has been delayed until November 17.
The Simon & Schuster title, “Bob Dylan: 100 Songs” is still scheduled to arrive at the end of this month. Order Here.
Staying with Simon & Schuster, “The Nobel Lecture” from Bob Dylan, which was originally scheduled for October/November and then put back to “Spring 2018,” has now been pulled forward again to November 30, 2017! We are, therefore, now taking orders for this title. Price £9.99,
As is usual on Monday our Pre-Owned Webpage has been updated this afternoon. As ever you need to move fast as these items often sell in the first hour, if not the first few minutes!!!
05 October, 2017
GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
NOËL COWARD THEATRE
29th December 2017 – 24th March 2018
Tickets now on sale
03 October, 2017
Rest In Peace Tom Petty 1950 – 2017
Tom Petty died on Monday night at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after he suffered cardiac arrest at home.
Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone in a statement. “I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
02 October, 2017
Now that the dust has settled on the “BS 13” announcement there are a few other things to mention. First though, although our initial allocation of “BS 13” sold out very quickly, we hope to have a further allocation somewhere down the line.
The new ISIS, Issue 194, is back from the printer and will go into the mail later today (Monday October 2).
There’s a lot to look forward to in the new issue but of special interest to most readers will be my four-page interview with Clinton Heylin in which he talks about his new book, “Trouble In Mind: Bob Dylan’s Gospel Years — What Really Happened”, the up coming Columbia Legacy box set, “Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13” and much more besides. Clinton’s book, which so far I’ve only had the pleasure of skipping through, is certainly a treasure trove of new facts and information. To quote Clinton:
“…there is more new information in this book than there is in any book published about Bob Dylan, ever, mine included; just because we have never previously had this amount of documentation.”
The interview certainly whetted my appetite for “BS 13”. If you weren’t looking forward to Bob’s Gospel Years box before you will be after reading the interview. Of great interest to collectors / historians will be Appendix 1, a 14-page chronology which Clinton says will necessitate Dylan fans ripping up all other sessionograpies of this period. As one might expect, Clinton pulls no punches in this interview.
The two photos below are of Clinton signing copies of his new book for his publisher ‘route’ and of the same signed books back at ISIS HQ awaiting packing and dispatch later this week. As previously promised, we have the book a full month before publication!
Staying with books, anyone interested in the gorgeous looking deluxe Blackbushe book and would like to have their name printed inside, the deadline for ordering has been extended but only until 12 o’clock midday this Friday October 6. After that date the book will still be available to pre-order but no further names can be included.
I had previously mentioned that Sony is about to release a whole rake of Dylan vinyl including a 20th Anniversary Edition of “Time Out Of Mind”. I have had a lot of emails from vinyl collectors asking why we are not taking pre-orders for this and the answer is simple, there is no confirmed release date for this item and despite Amazon taking pre-orders and wrongly quoting a release date of October 6, this album will not be available until 2018! Alan Fraser quoted me on Searching for a Gem on September 11 stating this but as queries are still coming in I felt I should reiterate here that we will be taking orders for this album but only when we have a confirmed release date from Sony.
Those of you who are awaiting the arrival of the “Hard Rain” vinyl, which has already suffered a delay, the release has now gone back further from October 13 to early next year. The list of vinyl due for release on the Columbia label between November and January 2018 is: “John Wesley Harding”, “The Basement Tapes”, “Before The Flood”, “New Morning”, “Saved”, “Slow Train Coming”, “Modern Times”, “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits”, “Love And Theft”, “Hard Rain” and of course the 20th Anniversary Edition of “Time Out Of Mind”.
Finally, as usual on Monday lunch time our Pre-Owned section will be updated today at 1pm.
21 September,2017
Now available:
Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Deluxe Edition)
Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (Vinyl Edition)
Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 (2-CD Edition)
19 September, 2017
ISIS will make an announcement regarding Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 as soon as Sony UK allows us to do so. Please note: the Amazon 8CD currently listed is a download only. You will receive a link to download one track now and the rest when it is officially released.
29 August, 2017
It was only five days since my last blog so not too much to say this time.
First off, it was great to see so many people up in Liverpool on Sunday for the Simply Dylan concert at the Philharmonic Hall. The turn out was fantastic and the show was relaxed while still being extremely professionally presented. Well done to John and his band.
Our Pre-Owned Items Store has been updated this afternoon; a day late due to yesterday being a Bank Holiday in the UK and us being in Liverpool didn’t help! To compensate we have managed to upload 30 great items this week; none of which we have ever sold before. There are some real quality collectors items this week so don’t miss taking a look.
The big news on the Dylan front is that the film/video that we have been talking about for sometime in ISIS has now been announced as receiving its World Premiere at the Walter Reade Theater on Monday, October 5, 2017, shortly before the release of “The Bootleg Series Vol 13”.
The documentary film, which will feature footage from Bob Dylan’s so-called “born again” period, is being premiered as part of the 2017 New York Film Festival. “Trouble No More”, from director Jennifer Lebeau, includes newly restored footage from Dylan concerts in Buffalo, NY and Toronto, Canada, filmed during his 1980 “Slow Train Coming” tour.
Don’t forget to Pre Order your copy of “The Picnic At Blacbushe” before the end of September to get your name included in the book!
22 August, 2017
After a noticeable silence, tour dates are now starting to arrive for later this year. The first two dates in are:
October 13, The Events Center, Harrah’s Resort SoCal – Valley Center, CA
October 14, The Chelsea Theatre, The Cosmopolitan Hotel – Las Vegas, NV
The response to our Pre-Owned Items Store is continuing to surpass all expectations. The dozen items we put up yesterday afternoon were all sold by first thing this morning! If possible we will try to increase the amount of items we list but properly checking, writing up, scanning and listing these items is quite time consuming. Anyway, everything seems to be going smoothly so we won’t tamper too much. Since we began this project we have listed close to 600 items and less than 40 remain unsold!
I’ve just received an email from Dylan’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, to inform me that there has been a change of schedule to the publication of Bob Dylan’s “The Nobel Lecture”. The date for publication has now moved to “Spring 2018.”
An exciting looking new book project has just been announced. Published by the rather excellent Wymer Publishing, “The Picnic At Blacbushe” should be quite special. This 128-page, casebound book is printed on 170 gsm, silk paper and is presented in an aluminium flight case. Packed with glorious colour photographs and text covering each performance with memorabilia, stories, reviews, anecdotes and memories from the artists and audience alike, the book will be available in late October. ISIS is now taking pre-orders and anyone who orders before September 30 will have there name printed within a dedicated page in the book. The print-run is strictly limited to 500 copies. We are pleased to be have been chosen by Wymer Publishing as their only seller.
Finally, we hope to bump into a few old friends up in Liverpool this Bank Holiday for the Simply Dylan concert at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Sunday August 27).
14 August, 2017
We have a selection of new book titles available from our online store including author signed copies of Clinton Heylin’s new publication, Trouble In Mind which will be published to coincide with the next Bootleg Series. Have a browse here.
If you have not already looked take a look through our Pre-Owned section. We add items here every Monday afternoon. Product from this section sells very quickly so if you see something you are interested in it is best to buy it there and then, as once it’s gone, it’s gone.
26 June, 2017
Bob Dylan’s US summer tour has obviously progressed since last Monday’s blog. So far there have been ten one-off performances at the first ten shows so Bob is mixing it up a little. He played guitar on the second song of the set at four of the first six shows but hasn’t played it at all during the past four concerts. Reports coming in to us are that the very strong performances that we enjoyed in Europe recently are continuing in the States.
I mentioned last Monday that we would soon have full details about Clinton Heylin’s new Dylan book “Trouble In Mind: Bob Dylan’s Gospel Years — What Really Happened.” Published in the UK by those nice people at route publishing, the book will be issued in paperback to coincide with the next official Bootleg Series box set release. Due for publication in the UK during the first week of November, we expect to have copies of this exciting title a month before publication and as was the case with Clinton’s previous Dylan book, “Judas!”, ISIS will have author signed copies. Click here to pre-order your signed copy.
For those of who have haven’t seen a copy, there is a LIFE special magazine now out entitled “Bob Dylan: Singer. Songwriter. Revolutionary.” Produced to celebrate Dylan’s Nobel Prize in Literature, the magazine, price £7.99, contains 96 pages and is packed with a good selections of photos. Unfortunately none of the photos are new to me.
Nonetheless, for a “retrospective” type mag this one is well put together. It is, however, very noticeable that the later part of Bob’s career is hardly covered. This one shouldn’t be too hard to find as I’ve even seen it in Tesco. It also has a long shelf life as it is listed as being on sale until September 7.
I’m hearing rumours that Bob spent time in a studio while in Ireland at the end of his European tour. I mentioned in the latest issue of ISIS some weeks back that Dylan spent several days in Ireland after his concert at the 3Arena in Dublin on Thursday May 11. I heard he was in Dublin until the Monday after the show, which at the time seemed a little strange to me. Well, it appears that during this time he spent three days at Ardmore Studios in Bray. There are rumours that he might have been recording an album there but this would seem extremely unlikely. Ardmore Studios in Killarney, Bray, are used almost exclusively for recording film, television and video. Irish band The Corrs has recorded two albums there but both of those involved filming: “The Corrs Unplugged” was part of MTV’s Unplugged series and “The Corrs, Live In Dublin” was part of the VH1 Presents series.
With its five sound stages, all geared up primarily for film work, Ardmore Studios is just 12 miles south of Dublin city. The recording is said to have been carried out with Irish engineers but also possibly with US personnel flown in for the duration. Dylan’s tour band was present throughout.
The Old Crow Medicine Show is currently on tour in Europe. To celebrate 50 Years of Blonde On Blonde the band is performing the entire album live on this tour. They have already played gigs in Manchester and Glasgow but still have concerts to come at Bristol, Trinity Centre (June 27) and London’s, Shepherd’s Bush Empire (June 28). There is also a concert in Amsterdam, NL but this show is sold out.
I’m pleased to say that I caught John O’Connell’s “Simply Dylan” last evening at his gig at the Kitchen Garden in Kings Heath, Birmingham. I’m ashamed to say that apart from catching part of John’s performance before Dylan’s recent show in Nottingham I haven’t got around to checking out Simply Dylan until know! Big mistake; they really are worth going to see and it was a great night. If you haven’t seen the band yet, or even if you have, I can recommend their big upcoming show at Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. The concert is on Sunday August 27 (August Bank Holiday weekend) and tickets are still available HERE.
Monday has come round again and the ISIS “Pre-used” page has again been updated. We probably won’t be updating next week as Tracy and me are taking a long overdue short break away.
19 June, 2017
With Bob Dylan’s US summer tour now underway I thought this would be a good time to write a short blog.
After a one-month break from the road Bob opened his North American tour with three shows in Port Chester, New York. The first thing that struck me about the opening shows is that for the first time in almost five years Bob played guitar! The last time this happened was during the North American fall tour of 2012***.
The “guitar slot” appears to be the “change” song which is in the number two position. On the opening night in Port Chester this song was ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ which had Bob seated at the piano. The following night, however, when Bob played ‘To Ramona’ in the second slot he played guitar. On the third and final night in Port Chester Bob reverted to ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ but this time on guitar.
The Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware saw a truncated 15-song setlist that contained five songs from the Sixties and nothing at all from the American Songbook. Last evening’s show in Wallingford, Connecticut (June 18) saw the setlist revert back to the more usual 20-song set with Bob back on guitar, but this on the newly introduced ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’.
The July 18 concert in Medicine Hat, Alberta was cancelled a while back but now there has been a cancellation in Victoria, British Columbia (July 27). This is the third show of late to be called off “due to scheduling issues.” The concert in Victoria was intended to be the final show on the tour and there was already a scheduled one-day break between Victoria and Vancouver so it is hard to imagine how a scheduling problem could arise. I said in the new issue of ISIS that I take “scheduling issues” to mean poor ticket sales and this cancellation would seem to confirm that supposition!
On the subject of the new ISIS, I would think that most magazine subscribers should have received issue 192 by now. If any of you feel moved to put pen to paper then as ever we are very interested in seeing articles and contributions from you for upcoming magazines.
Last week saw the opening of an art exhibition in Berlin, Germany. “Kuss. Von Rodin bis Bob Dylan” runs from June 15 through to October 3, 2017. This is the first time we’ve seen this particular piece of Dylan art.
Due for release June 20, “Bob Dylan FAQ” by Bruce Pollock has been short printed by the publisher and retailers’ orders have been cut back until more books arrive from the printer. We only received part of our order and to be fair to all our customers we have decided not to send these out until the rest of our order arrives, which will be sometime in early July.
We have had a number of enquiries from subscribers asking if we will be stocking Scott Marshall’s new book, “Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life.” Unfortunately, Scott doesn’t have a publisher for this title outside of North America and neither is there a European distributor! Although we have talked at length with both Scott and his US publisher we have encountered a number of obstacles and have therefore reluctantly decided not to import this title. Sorry.
On the flip side, we hope very shortly to be in a position to take advance orders for Clinton Heylin’s “Trouble In Mind: Bob Dylan’s Gospel Years — What Really Happened.” Due for publication in the UK during the first week of November, we expect to have copies of this exciting title a month before publication and as was the case with Clinton’s previous Dylan book, “Judas!”, ISIS will have author signed copies.
Finally, it’s Monday so it must be time to update the ISIS “Pre-used” page.
***Angus Gibson emailed to remind me that Bob played guitar on ‘Simple Twist Of Fate‘ on October 13, 2016.
5 June, 2017
17 April, 2017
Most of you will have received your copy of ISIS issue 191 by now. If any of you feel moved to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, then as ever we are interested in seeing articles and contributions from you.
With the British shows now close, Tracy and I hope to see some of you along the way.
We now have in stock from America the new MoFi Mono Dylan releases, “Bob Dylan” and “Bringing It All Back Home” on Hybrid SACD. These titles are both Numbered Limited Edition’s of 3000 only worldwide.
Also from MoFi, we now have further stocks from the States of “Bringing It All Back Home”, “Highway 61 Revisited” and “John Wesley Harding” on 45-RPM, deep groove, 180grm vinyl. These Double Mono LPs are also in Numbered Limited Edition’s of 3000 only worldwide.
We also have three new book titles to mention:
New from the publisher of the long standing beat magazine, Beat Scene, is another in their series of ‘chapbooks’. Billed as an ‘investigation and memoir,’ “Bob Dylan and the Beats: Magpie Poetics” by poet Anne Waldman is available in a limited edition of just 125 numbered copies. This chapbook is an essay of just over 7,500 words in which Waldman invokes Keats, Kerouac, William Carlos Williams, Greil Marcus, Michael Gray, Michael McClure, Clark Coolidge, Allen Ginsberg et al. Waldman was of course on the Rolling Thunder Tour with Dylan. Due the second week in May, we can only obtain 50 copies of this title. Pre-order your copy now.
“Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913” is a very interesting hardback book by Daniel Wolff.
Published July 27, 2017, the book is a dual biography of two of the greatest songwriters ever, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. The book is, however, also a murder mystery and a history of labour relations and socialism, big business and greed in twentieth-century America—woven together in one fascinating saga. Pre-order your copy now.
“Why Bob Dylan Matters” by Harvard Classics professor Richard F. Thomas is a celebration of Dylan’s genius that explores his music in the context of the last half-century and puts his work in the tradition of classical poets like Virgil and Homer. Hardback 208 pages. Not published until November but pre-orders are being taken now.
As we now do every Monday afternoon, our Pre-Used section has been updated today with many more Bob goodies. As of today we have 130 items still for sale in our used Dylan store with lots more due next Monday afternoon. Take a look here.
03 April, 2017
ISIS magazine issue 191, the first of the new subscription year, is currently with our printer.
SVT (Swedish national public television) has confirmed that Bob Dylan received his medal and diploma on the afternoon of Saturday April 1, 2017, under great secrecy. The Academy agreed to present Dylan with the Prize backstage at Stockholm Waterfront (the venue for the fist gig on his current European tour). This was the Prize presentation only. At this point in time the matter of the ‘lecture’ and the eight million kronor (£727,000) still has to be resolved.
Bob Dylan has begun his spring 2017 European tour with two shows at Stockholm Waterfront. The setlist is very similar to the ones played near the close of his 2016 tour. Although guitarist Stu Kimball was noticeable by his absence from the “Triplicate” album, the band remains unchanged for the opening two shows of the current tour.
| April 1, 2017 | April 2, 2017 |
| 1. Things Have Changed 2. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right 3. Highway 61 Revisited 4. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ 5. Full Moon And Empty Arms 6. High Water (For Charley Patton) 7. Melancholy Mood 8. Duquesne Whistle 9. Love Sick 10. Tangled Up In Blue 11. Pay In Blood 12. Standing In The Doorway 13. Scarlet Town 14. I Could Have Told You 15. Desolation Row 16. Soon After Midnight 17. All Or Nothing At All 18. Long And Wasted Years 19. Autumn Leaves (encore) 20. Blowin’ In The Wind 21. Why Try To Change Me Now |
1. Things Have Changed 2. To Ramona 3. Highway 61 Revisited 4. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ 5. Full Moon And Empty Arms 6. Early Roman Kings 7. Melancholy Mood 8. Duquesne Whistle 9. Love Sick 10. Tangled Up In Blue 11. Pay In Blood 12. Sprit On The Water 13. Scarlet Town 14. I Could Have Told You 15. Desolation Row 16. Soon After Midnight 17. That Old Black Magic 18. Long And Wasted Years 19. Autumn Leaves (encore) 20. Blowin’ In The Wind 21. Why Try To Change Me Now |
“Bringing It All Back Home” and Bob Dylan’s first album (“Bob Dylan”) are being released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi) as Numbered Hybrid Mono SACDs. Each edition is limited to 3000 copies Worldwide. ISIS is now taking orders for these two albums.
Coming soon: “Bob Dylan’s Great American Songbook”. A 2-CD set containing 40 cover tracks.
Simon & Schuster will be publishing what they term as “a portable abridged” version of “Lyrics” on October 31, 2017. Entitled “100 Songs”, the songs have been personally chosen by Bob Dylan as his 100 favourites! More about this item nearer the time.
As we now do every Monday afternoon, our Pre-Used section has been updated today with a more Bob goodies.
27 March, 2017
We have received our consignment of Bob Dylan’s “Triplicate” (release date Friday March 31) and I have to say that the packaging is very smart indeed; especially the gorgeous Deluxe bound numbered Limited LP book set. The promo photos of this album really don’t do it justice. The packaging is a very deep metallic purple. If anyone is familiar with the old purple Fry’s Turkish Delight chocolate bar wrapper, it’s quite like that, but more classy.
As we now do every Monday afternoon, our Pre-Used section has been updated today with a few more goodies.
We also have two new Bob books to mention: “Light Come Shining: The Transformations of Bob Dylan” is by Andrew McCarron and published by Oxford University Press. A 232-page hardback, originally scheduled for March 30, this title has been put back until July 6, 2017. You can nevertheless pre-order your copy now from ISIS.
ISIS readers may well be familiar with Backbeat’s “FAQ” series of books; a Band title was recently published. In any event, June 20 sees the publication of “Bob Dylan FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Song and Dance Man”. A 400-page paperback by Deems Taylor Award winning music journalist Bruce Pollock — a record producer at Sony/BMG for 12 years — this title can now be pre-ordered from ISIS.
Finally, anyone who ordered concert tickets for the upcoming UK Dylan dates from ISIS/Desolation Row should receive them by the end of this week.
06 March, 2017
UK Priority Fan Tickets Allocation
This message applies to all those who bought their upcoming Bob Dylan Concert Tickets via ISIS and Desolation Row:
The Promoter has advised John Baldwin that tickets for the UK shows will be sent to him by the various venues over the next 7-10 days. It will then take Jane and John at least 7 days to process all orders and start sending them out. He does not like sending any tickets out until all orders have been processed and double checked for errors. His local post office can only handle 100 special delivery envelopes per day so that adds another 5 working days to the process. The upshot is that, if you expect to be away on holiday or something similar during the last part of March/early April; if you’ve changed address since ordering and haven’t notified John, or have any other reason to want your order handled in a special manner, please notify John as soon as possible on:
Best Wishes, Derek & Tracy Barker
08 February, 2017
Desolation Row & ISIS Ticket Allocation
Bob Dylan will be performing at the 2300-seat capacity London Palladium on April 28th, 29th and 30th – yes, 3 shows. The shows will be all seated. Desolation Row and ISIS have managed to obtain just 100 tickets for each of the shows and these are now being offered to fans who currently subscribe to one or other of the Desolation Row Information Service or ISIS magazine (ISIS by post as a printed magazine). If the allocation is not taken up by subscribers, tickets will be offered to other fans.
Tickets cost £95 each with a £1.50 venue restoration fee and a £2.50 ITB handling charge, making a total of £99 per ticket. Tickets will be strictly limited to 2 per person per show; please do not ask for more. Tickets go on general sale Friday February 10 and we are trying to give you advance opportunity, as you will see.
We have the best category seats. In addition to the ticket cost, and ITB’s (the promoter) booking fee, John will be adding handling/postage charges as usual and costs will certainly be no more (and probably considerably less) than through other outlets depending on how many tickets / shows you require.
All we ask you to do now is to email John at johnabaldwin@btinternet.com telling him how many tickets you want and for which night(s). To allow everyone a chance to see and respond to this offer, do NOT do that until after 6:00 pm this Wednesday (8th). Earlier requests will go to the back of the queue.
Please do not ask for specific seats or areas as this cannot be guaranteed. Tickets will be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. You will get an email back from John as soon as possible telling you whether you have been successful or not and this will also include a booking form with full ordering details. You may not get a reply immediately as there will be an initial rush but John will respond with as much haste as possible and certainly well before tickets go on sale at the Box Offices.
Please only ask for tickets if you really want them. John will presume that you do and will order them from the Promoter and will need to pay for them. He does not want to order tickets and be left with ones that people have ordered but then decided that they don’t want and neither does he deserve to be treated this way as some fans did with the last ticket allocation.
These tickets must be for your own personal use. Steps will be taken to ensure that they are not re-sold and you are invited to purchase them through this fan allocation on the express understanding that they must not be re-sold other than via the allocation using John Baldwin as middle man. He will not charge a fee and will attempt to ensure that tickets are sold on at face value to deserving fans.
John & Derek
Please note that neither ISIS nor Desolation Row make any profit from the sale of these tickets.
***
Also, we now have a new section featuring articles. You can read the first article entitled Some Of These Bootleggers, They Make Pretty Good Stuff & Copulating Blues: an interview with William Stout HERE
31 January 2017
BOB DYLAN’S FIRST THREE-DISC ALBUM – TRIPLICATE – SET FOR MARCH 31 RELEASE
COLLECTION TO FEATURE 30 BRAND NEW RECORDINGS OF CLASSIC AMERICAN SONGS
Each disc to be presented in a thematically-arranged 10-song sequence, illuminating compositions from great American songwriters interpreted by Dylan through his artistry as a vocalist, arranger and bandleader.
(Columbia Records; New York, NY; January 31, 2017) A three-disc studio album from Bob Dylan, Triplicate, will be released on March 31, featuring 30 brand-new recordings of classic American tunes and marking the first triple-length set of the artist’s illustrious career. With each disc individually titled and presented in a thematically-arranged 10-song sequence, Triplicate showcases Dylan’s unique and much-lauded talents as a vocalist, arranger and bandleader on 30 compositions by some of music’s most lauded and influential songwriters. The Jack Frost-produced album is the 38th studio set from Bob Dylan and marks the first new music from the artist since Fallen Angels, which was released in early 2016.
Triplicate will be simultaneously released in several configurations, including a 3-CD 8-Panel Digipak , a 3-LP vinyl set and a 3-LP Deluxe Vinyl Limited Edition packaged in a numbered case. One of its recordings, “I Could Have Told You,” can now be streamed via a “Vinyl Video” on YouTube.
For Triplicate, Dylan assembled his touring band in Hollywood’s Capitol studios to record hand-chosen songs from an array of American songwriters including Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (“Once Upon A Time”), Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler (“Stormy Weather”), Harold Hupfield (“As Time Goes By”) and Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh (“The Best Is Yet To Come”). The titles of the individual discs are ‘Til The Sun Goes Down, Devil Dolls and Comin’ Home Late.
Bob Dylan has sold more than 125 million records around the world.
The complete vinyl track listing for Triplicate is as follows. The CD sequence and track listing is identical to the vinyl version. The vinyl versions come complete with a download card.
| Disc 1 – ‘ Til The Sun Goes Down | Disc 2 – Devil Dolls |
| Side 1: | Side 1: |
| 1. I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plans 2. September Of My Years 3. I Could Have Told You 4. Once Upon A Time 5. Stormy Weather |
1. Braggin’ 2. As Time Goes By 3. Imagination 4. How Deep Is The Ocean 5. P.S. I Love You |
| Side 2: | Side 2: |
| 6. This Nearly Was Mine 7. That Old Feeling 8. It Gets Lonely Early 9. My One and Only Love 10. Trade Winds |
6. The Best Is Yet To Come 7. But Beautiful 8. Here’s That Rainy Day 9. Where Is The One 10. There’s A Flaw In My Flue |
| Disc 3 – Comin’ Home Late | |
| Side 1: | |
| 1. Day In, Day Out 2. I Couldn’t Sleep A Wink Last Night 3. Sentimental Journey 4. Somewhere Along The Way 5. When The World Was Young |
|
| Side 2: | |
| 6. These Foolish Things 7. You Go To My Head 8. Stardust 9. It’s Funny To Everyone But Me 10. Why Was I Born |
|
21 December, 2016
Due apparently to a change in manufacturing costs, Sony has informed us that they are able to drastically reduce the price of the upcoming (January 27) release of the 5xLP vinyl box set, “Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3”.
This is the first time that this album has been available on vinyl since 1991 and it has never before been available on 180gm heavyweight vinyl.
Previously priced at £98.00, ISIS is now able to offer this box set for £59.99 in the UK!!!
Those of you who have already ordered this album will have been contacted and your price adjusted accordingly.
Staying with vinyl, the mighty MoFi (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) has just released three new Dylan titles for the first time in MONO.
These three albums are Numbered Limited Edition, 180gm, Mono Vinyl, 45-RPM, 2LP sets. They are Strictly Limited to 3,000 Copies world-wide.
Available from ISIS at £59.99 (inc post and packing in the UK), the albums are “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Bringing It All Back Home” and “John Wesley Harding”.
Please Note: As is usual at this time of the year we will be taking a Christmas / New Year break to recharge our batteries. We will be posting out customers orders for the final time this year on Friday December 23 and we will be out of the office until week commencing January 9.
Feel free to order and all items will be dispatched as soon as we return.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and A Very Happy 2017. Please take a look at our 2016 Christmas Card
Desolation Row & ISIS Ticket Allocation
Important Notice
When we announced the ISIS / Desolation Row Ticket Allocation yesterday afternoon the posting read that subscribers should apply for tickets after 10PM on Saturday. This was a typo which should have read 10AM. This mistake was corrected shortly after being posted but if you were one of the people who got to the site before this change was made be sure to note it now.
Ticket Allocation starts After 10AM Saturday December 10.
Good luck, Derek & John
08 December, 2016
Desolation Row & ISIS Ticket Allocation
Desolation Row and ISIS have managed to obtain a relatively small allocation of the best tickets for each of the 6 UK shows (200 for each night except Cardiff where we just have 100) and these are now being offered to fans who currently subscribe to one or other of the Desolation Row Information Service or ISIS magazine (ISIS by post as a printed magazine). If the allocation is not taken up by subscribers, tickets will be offered to other fans. The shows are:
May 3rd, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
May 4th, Bournemouth International Centre
May 5th, Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
May 7th, SECC Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
May 8th, Liverpool Echo Arena
May 9th, SSE Arena Wembley
All shows are seated but we don’t yet have prices.
Tickets go on general sale Tuesday December 12 and we are trying to give you advance opportunity, as you will see. Sorry for the short notice but we’ve only just heard from the Promoter.
We have the best category seats. In addition to the ticket cost, and ITB’s booking fee, John will be adding a handling/postage charges, as usual and costs will certainly be no more (and probably considerably less) than through other outlets depending on how many you require. John will be posting out the tickets so will keep costs to a minimum by sending out tickets for more than one venue together (if that’s what you’ve ordered) rather than paying postage costs to each venue. Postage will be by secure, signed-for, mail.
All we ask you to do now is to email John at johnabaldwin@btinternet.com telling him how many tickets you want and for which venues. To allow everyone a chance to see and respond to this offer, do NOT do that until after 10:00 am this Saturday. You will get a response within 24 hours.
There is an initial limit of 2 per person per show but there will also be a reserve list for those who want more if tickets remain available. Please do not ask for specific seats or areas as this cannot be guaranteed. Tickets will be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. You will get an email back from John as soon as possible telling you whether you have been successful or not and a booking form with ordering details will follow by email within a few days. If you are unsuccessful, you will automatically be added to a reserve list. You may not get a reply immediately as there will be an initial rush but John will respond with as much haste as possible and certainly before tickets go on sale at the Box Offices.
Please only ask for tickets if you really want them. John will presume that you do and will order them from the Promoter and will need to pay for them. He does not want to order tickets and be left with ones that people have ordered but then decided that they don’t want and neither does he deserve to be treated this way as some fans did for the last tour.
These tickets must be for your own personal use. Steps will be taken to ensure that they are not re-sold and you are invited to purchase them through this fan allocation on the express understanding that they must not be re-sold other than via the allocation using John Baldwin as middle man. He will not charge a fee and will attempt to ensure that tickets are sold on at face value to deserving fans.
John & Derek
Please note that neither ISIS nor Desolation Row make any profit from the sale of these tickets.
25 November, 2016
Today probably wasn’t the best time to send out an email alerting people to my latest blog. If you’re inbox was anything like mine this morning it was most likely full of unsolicited mail informing of you of Black Friday sales (What some people are gonna do f’r money). I’m certainly not a fan of these sorts of gimmicks and ISIS would never sink that low.
Anyway, the first thing to mention today is that we having a sale! Nothing to do with Black Friday you understand! For those of you who didn’t get round to buying a copy of my “Humdinger Folk Singer: The Story of Judas and the Communists”, we are selling the remaining copies at the much reduced price of £5.99.
Some of you may already be aware, but if you were expecting to receive your copy of “The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert!” from us today then a word of warning. The release date of both the CD and the Vinyl versions of this album has put back one week by Sony to Friday December 2.
The new ISIS magazine, issue 189, is now at our printers and should be with subscribers in the next couple of weeks.
Finally I must mention the Dylan Project. ISIS is proud to have an exclusive on their fantastic new double live album, probably the best the band has done to date. “The Dylan Project: Caught In The Convent” is available here.
Staying with The Dylan Project, don’t forget their Winter Tour is now underway. At these shows the band will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of “Blonde on Blonde” by performing the entire double album live. A full list of the tour dates can be found on page 50 of ISIS 188. Tracy and me will be going along to the gig at the Bilston Robin on Tuesday December 13 so maybe we’ll see you there. Don’t forget; If you see me, say hello!
A new short film made by Sony Legacy to accompany the release of the boxed set “Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings” features previously unseen footage of the tour, onstage and off, shot by D.A. Pennebaker. Bob Dylan On Tour 1966
07 November, 2016
Rather than run what had become two separate news based pages all future breaking news will be included in this blog. We are not always able to inform you of updates via email, so please check back here regularly.
Bob Dylan’s Beaten Path Exhibition runs from November 5 to December 11, 2016. To my eyes these are by far Bob’s best work to date. Take a peek preview here.
Friday November 11 the “Live 1966” Box Set will be released.
To celebrate this, Badlands, Cheltenham are having a Dylan day celebration.
Clinton Heylin will be taking a Q & A session at 12 noon.
02 November, 2016
I can confirm that the recent news given out by Andy Greene at Rolling Stone magazine regarding the next “The Bootleg Series” release is correct (see my October 21st post below). “The Bootleg Series Vol. 13” will feature Bob Dylan’s Gospel Period material. As I suggested in my previous post, the “BS13” box will be issued in 2017 but as yet no date has been fixed for this release.
I mentioned back in ISIS 185 that The Dylan project had recorded a new live album which was to be released late summer. This new double CD album, which contains material not included on their previous releases, was recorded live during the band’s December 20, 2015 show at the Convent, a state-of-the-art venue near Stroud. Until five years ago the Convent was home to four nuns who lived there as part of a silent order. Now, however, the Grade II listed house is being filled with inspiring live music. Released today, “The Dylan Project: Caught In The Convent” is available from ISIS Magazine. This fabulous 20-track double album is probably the best work the band has done to date!
While on the subject of The Dylan Project, don’t forget their Winter Tour kicks off on November 11. At these shows, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Blonde on Blonde”, the band will be performing the entire double album live.
The New Dylan exhibition “The Beaten Path” opens at the Halcyon Gallery on November 5. Those who have already attended previews tell me that this exhibition, featuring media including watercolour and gouache, is far and away Dylan’s best work. Unfortunately, reports have already reached me that some copying might have taken place! Three of the new artworks can be seen here.
One of the pictures, “Classic Car Show” seems to have been influenced by this Stock Footage.
I’m sure you are all aware by now that Bob Dylan has acknowledged news of his Nobel Prize in Literature; did anyone really think that he wouldn’t? Dylan has also said that “If it’s at all possible” he will attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm. More can be found in Edna Gundersen’s Telegraph article / interview.
Last, but certainly not least, a further supply of “The 1966 Live Recordings” has become available. This is still in short supply. Please call for availability.
Vinyl Art
Individual pieces of vintage vinyl art featuring Bob Dylan’s Positively 4th Street, Lay Lady Lay, Knockin’ on Heavens Door, Watching the River Flow, Maggie’s Farm, Like a Rolling Stone, The Times they are a Changing, I Threw it all Away, Hurricane, Blowin’ in the Wind and Highway 61 revisited.
All on the CBS label cut into the shape of Dylan’s silhouette.
Mounted within a black wooden box frame and raised from an orange base to compliment the label. The frame measures 24cm x 24cm (9.5 x 9.5 inches).
Available from TolhurstVinylArt
21 October, 2016
Andy Greene at Rolling Stone posted some information last night re the possible content of the next “The Bootleg Series” project.
Quote: “‘Personally I think the gospel set is more interesting,’ says a source close to the Dylan camp. ‘Blood on the Tracks is similar to The Cutting Edge in what you’re hearing is different version of the same thing. You’re hearing process. The gospel is a lot of stuff that people ignored. Bob continued to tweak the gospel stuff on the road for a couple of years. It kept mutating.’”
In actual fact, not too much is new here, ‘a source close to the Dylan camp’ has said on a couple of previous occasions that the gospel set is “interesting” and in November 2015 a ‘Dylan source’ told Greene, “We’d also love to revisit Blood on the Tracks, Infidels, Oh Mercy and the gospel albums.”
In truth, Dylan’s people always have several projects on the go at the same time and I’ve mentioned many times before in ISIS what those projects are. They will all come to fruition, the only question is in what order. The recent addition of releases for Copyright Protection reasons has tossed a spanner into machinery and these products doubtless have had an impact on “BS” schedules (1965 and ’66 were busy times for Bob Dylan).
I had previously said that “BS13” wouldn’t be issued in 2016 and that I had heard that there had been some talk of ‘overkill’, a glut of Dylan product in recent times, and on that basis I doubt we’ll see “BS13” early next year.
I won’t speculate on what might be included in a Gospel release, we all know there are a lot of outtakes, but video from Toronto and Buffalo, New York has previously been mentioned. In fact, I mentioned this in my MOJO booklet piece last year.
Whether you like or agree with what Bob was saying or singing at these shows there is no denying he was on fire at this time.
Although I haven’t read these comments myself, I’m told that there has been some Internet speculation that the next “BS” release might be the David Bromberg sessions. This fantasy was arrived at because I wrote a piece about the Bromberg sessions in new ISIS (mailed out this Tuesday). There was absolutely no inference on my part that the Bromberg sessions would be the next “Bootleg Series”! In fact, although I would very much like them to be released, I doubt they will be, or certainly not for a number of years. This is a case of putting two and two together and arriving at 137!
Finally for now, although a few Sinatra have crept into the set it’s nice to see that after six shows we are getting mostly Dylan songs on the fall US tour.
Read the Rolling Stone article here.
For speculation on what might be included on a Gospel Period release, see Robert Orbach’s piece on our facebook page.
14 October, 2016
It’s time to draw breath after the furore of yesterday. We managed to get the fantastic news of Bob’s award of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature on our site within half-an-hour of the announcement. We would have been a quicker had we not been tied up answering telephone questions and fending off media enquiries for interviews from the UK and abroad. You can watch and hear the reaction to the official announcement here.
The naysayers have of course come out in force in condemnation of the Award being given to a mere song and dance man but those of us who know Dylan’s lyrics appreciate just how far his words transcend peoples’ understanding of ordinary ‘popular music’. He is of course the first songwriter / musician in the 115-year history of the Nobel to win the prize in literature and his position of being head, shoulders (and probably arms and legs) above everyone else writing song lyrics will almost certainly mean he is also the last.
“An ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies,” wrote “Trainspotting” novelist Irvine Welsh. On the flip side, President Barack Obama tweeted, “Congratulations to one of my favourite poets, Bob Dylan, on a well-deserved Nobel”. The debate will continue for a long time yet and if readers are interested in having their say drop me an email over the next few weeks and I’ll try and include some of your thoughts in ISIS issue 189.
As you will see from last night’s setlist below, my fears that after the Desert Trip Festival Bob would revert to a set laden with Sinatra songs was unfounded! It seems that the Festival wasn’t a one (or should that be two) off .
Bob plays the second of his Desert Trip shows tonight and I assume we will get another Bob set. The real test will now be what happens on Sunday the 16th in Phoenix.
Don’t forget to check out our Pre-used pages. As promised we updated them yesterday but many items sold almost immediately.
October 7, 2016 – Desert Trip Festival, Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Highway 61 Revisited
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Simple Twist Of Fate
Early Roman Kings
Love Sick
Tangled Up In Blue
Lonesome Day Blues
Make You Feel My Love
Pay In Blood
Desolation Row
Soon After Midnight
Ballad Of a Thin Man
(encore)
Masters Of War
October 13, 2016 – The Chelsea, Las Vegas, NV
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Highway 61 Revisited
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Simple Twist Of Fate
Early Roman Kings
Love Sick
Tangled Up In Blue
Lonesome Day Blues
Make You Feel My Love
Pay In Blood
Desolation Row
Soon After Midnight
Ballad Of a Thin Man
(encore)
Blowin’ In The Wind
Why Try To Change Me Now
13 October, 2016
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
Bob Dylan has been put forward for this Prize many times without success. According to bookmakers he was 10/1 favourite to win in 2011.
Predicting Nobel winners is notoriously difficult and there are many who believe that giving the Prize to Dylan would be an admission of the bankruptcy of literature. As you can probably guess, I don’t count myself amongst those people. In many cases his words stand extremely well on the written page without the aid of music. Nevertheless, I doubted that Dylan would win the prize and a week ago the bookies had him at 50/1.
Dylan is of course the first songwriter to have won the prize and there has already been a huge amount of negative reaction to the Award, which I’m not in the least surprised by.
Dylan has received a multitude of awards over the years but this one might just be a bit special. It’s just a pity that the Prize comes in the form of a Gold Medal otherwise he could display it on stage next to his Wonder Boys film Oscar!
News even more staggering than Dylan’s Nobel Prize was the set he played at Desert Trip last week (October 7). Sixteen Bob songs with not a hint of Sinatra! Actually, I’m not totally shocked by that, the real test will be this evening (October 13) when he plays a ‘standard’ Bob show in Vegas. I’m sure Frank will make a comeback at this show!
For those interested in oldies but goodies, our pre-used page will be updated again tomorrow (October 14) and subscribers will be pleased to hear that we expect ISIS issue 188 to arrive back from the printer early next week.
DRAWN BLANK RETROSPECTIVE – 11 – 20 NOVEMBER, 2016
27 September 2016
Well, after my recent blog post I guess readers would have been aware that something was happening soon! We were asked not to release information about “The 1966 Live Recordings” box set and as far as possible we do try to play the game. Amazon has, however, given out information so I guess that makes it open season!
“The 1966 Live Recordings” box set will contain 36 CDs presenting all of the available recordings from Bob Dylan’s momentous 1966 tour. You will have already read in ISIS magazine (issue 187) that all of the European shows from Copenhagen onward were captured either whole or in part by Dylan’s soundman Richard Alderson on a Nagra reel-to-reel recorder. All of these ‘professionally recorded shows plus the available audience recordings from Down Under will be included in the upcoming box. Some of the audience recordings are said to be quite poor quality and one person described them to me as “Frisbees”; The Nagra recordings though are wonderful.
As I previously stated, this box set will be a fraction of the cost of the “Cutting Edge” 18-CD set. “The 1966 Live Recordings” box will be released by Sony Music Cmg on November 11, 2016. I won’t bore you with the track listing at the moment as I think readers of this blog will be very well aware of the content of these shows. We don’t have a firm price from Sony yet but the box is likely to retail for around £105.00. The firm price and ordering details will follow soon. Please be aware that this is not a numbered/limited edition.
23 September 2016
Over the past couple of weeks we have been bombarded with emails and phone calls asking for information regarding upcoming Dylan releases (“Bootleg Series”, copyright dump, the 1966 Live Concerts). As soon as we are permitted to make announcements we will do so. All I can say at present is watch this space. We hope to be able to talk about the ’66 release soon but at the moment my lips are sealed. Nevertheless, a good indication of what will be included in that release was outlined in the last ISIS (issue 187), during my interview with Clinton Heylin. Indications are that this release will be sold at a fraction of the price of “Cutting Edge”.
There has been a lot of Dylan product over recent times so we really are being greedy expecting more and more. Overkill is a factor that needs to be taken into account with new product so we are not likely to see “BS 13” for some time.
One nice item that is due from Sony soon is “Pure Dylan”. This album was originally released on CD by Sony Music, Germany back in 2011 and was specially imported into the U.K. by ISIS. Now, a full five years later (October 7, 2016), it’s coming out on the newly resurgent vinyl format as a double-LP. As was the case with the CD, this item is available from ISIS.
The album contains the “full” version of ‘Trouble In Mind’ from the 1979 “Slow Train Coming” sessions (Previously unavailable on an official release– apart from the CD version of this album). ‘Spanish Is The Loving Tongue’ is the solo piano recording and ‘Moonshiner’ is taken from the 2005 release, “Live At The Gaslight 1962”. You can read more about this album here and a full review can be found in ISIS issue 159.
Side A: Trouble In Mind / Girl from the North Country / Most of the Time / She Belongs to Me / Billy 1
Side B: Shooting Star / Sugar Baby / You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go / Tomorrow Night
Side C: Every Grain of Sand / Percy’s Song / Born In Time / Boots of Spanish Leather
Side D: This Dream of You / Spanish Is The Loving Tongue / If You See Her, Say Hello / Moonshiner
Don’t forget that we are now taking pre-orders for Clinton Heylin’s “Judas!: From Forest Hills To The Free Trade Hall: A Historical View Of The Big Boo”. The book will be published October 21 but ISIS will have copies available prior to publication. We are also pleased to be able to offer “author-signed” copies of this title. Please note however that only our initial order will be author-signed. Ongoing stock will only be the regular unsigned book.
Also just arrived in stock at ISIS is the official “Fallen Angels” songbook.
For those who haven’t yet seen this item this link is to a news item broadcast on News On 6, Tulsa regarding the second shipment of Dylan items arriving at the new Dylan archive.
http://www.newson6.com/story/33143467/new-items-for-dylan-archive-arrive-in-tulsa
7 September 2016
Having taken a week out of the office I thought I would get back in the swing of things with a short blog.
We arrived back to a pallet load of the newly republished “The Ghost of Electricity”. This is an expanded and updated version of John Bauldie’s excellent 1988 book. All ISIS customer pre-orders were dispatched yesterday (Tuesday). If you haven’t yet ordered your copy, you can do so Here.
Those of you who have pre-ordered the new Route Publishing version of Clinton Heylin’s “Judas!: From Forest Hills To The Free Trade Hall: A Historical View Of The Big Boo” will be pleased to know that we now have a confirmed publication date of October 21, 2016. At 320 pages, this is one book that no Dylan fan will want to miss. A great companion to the upcoming Sony 1966 big box live release.
ISIS Magazine is pleased to be able to offer “author signed” copies of this title. Please note however that only our initial order from the publisher will be author signed. Ongoing stock will be the regular unsigned book. Order your signed copy here.
On the subject of Sony big box releases, while I was away, the first week of September, it seems that Amazon advertised the 18-CD big box, “The Cutting Edge 1965–1966”. Rumours quickly appeared on the Internet forums that a re-release of the Limited Edition box set – complete with books, film strip, leopard skin spindle, the works – was due for re-release on September 23, 2016. I have it from an impeccable source that this is completely untrue. The sold out 5,000 Limited Edition release of 2015 is just that– a limited edition. Tales that it will be made available again are utter rubbish.
The Bob Dylan Archive at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is presenting “Dylan on Film”, a collection of Documentaries about Dylan as part of a grand opening celebration.
The film festival, which runs from September 21 to 24, will feature documentaries by D.A. Pennebaker, Martin Scorsese and Murray Lerner. The highlight promises to be outtakes from Scorsese’s “No Direction Home”.
Finally for now, several people have asked when further items will be added to the popular new ISIS “Pre-Used” page. I’m sorry it’s been a while since this page has been updated but rest assured there is much more to come! If only there were more days in a week!
21 June, 2016
Well, it’s been two months since I bothered you all with one of my infrequent blogs.
The latest ISIS and my new booklet, “Humdinger Folk Singer”, have now both been mailed out; most of you will probably have received them by now.
Simon & Schuster have recently been in touch with me regarding the ‘inexpensive” version of “Lyrics Since 1962” that has been promised for quite some time now. For all intent and purposes this is the version that was originally scheduled for October 2014 and then replaced by the hernia inducing deluxe edition.
Published in the UK in October / November 2016 (exact date is unconfirmed), the content will be the same as the deluxe version but the book itself will be physically smaller (thankfully) 254 x 187 mm. Despite what you may have read on some Internet sites, many of the details for this title are not yet finalized. The black and red cover being shown on some sites is not the UK cover but a mock-up US cover. Although the selling price will be £49.99, the page count is seemingly not yet finalized but will run somewhere between 768 and 900 pages (ISBN 978-1-4711-5244-3). Simon & Schuster UK will inform ISIS when all details are confirmed at which point we will begin taking pre-orders.
Those of you who have received your ISIS magazine will know that just before going to print I got word about two new Rattlesnake boot CDs, “After The Empire” and “The 1985 Rehearsal Tape” (page 49 current issue of ISIS). At the time of writing (about three weeks ago, now), I hadn’t heard these two sets so was unable to confirm for sure if they were genuine. Most of you will probably know by now, but just in case, I can confirm that these two are indeed the real deal. After being starved of Bob boots’ for so long it is amazing to get a collection of Dylan originals that we had never heard from a session that we didn’t even know had taken place!
While “After The Empire” is a collection of Dylan originals (apart for one track), “The 1985 Rehearsal Tape” contains more than a sprinkling of cover songs. Over the past 12 months or so I’ve been asked many times if I intend publishing a follow-up to my 2008 book “Bob Dylan: The Songs He Didn’t Write” and the Rehearsal Tape has again pushed this subject to the fore. With more than 50 covers (live and studio) emerging since the 2008 book it’s probably time to seriously consider this.
This update would be an inexpensive (maybe 50/60-page) booklet that size wise would sit next to the original book. At the moment this project is merely under consideration but I would very much appreciate hearing from people who might be interested in this. If you think this is a worthwhile project just drop me an email to derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com with a simple yes and I’ll be able to get an estimate of the people interested.
Finally, with the new ISIS and “Humdinger Folk Singer” behind us, Tracy and I are taking a two-week break beginning this Friday (June 24). You can still order from our website as usual but please note that between June 23 and July 11 no goods will be dispatched.
That’s all for now.
Best wishes to you all, Derek and Tracy.
22 April, 2016
With so much happening at the moment I thought it was high time that I wrote another of my occasional blogs.
Bob is of course playing live in Japan at the moment on his “The Set Remains The Same” tour.
According to a recent news report, this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival might feature a stellar line-up that includes the Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Neil Young, The Who, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan! The festival, which will take place October 7-9, will be staged in the Southern California desert at the 78-acre Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA. One source says the top headliners on the bill are guaranteed as much as $7 million each! I have no idea if Dylan has in fact signed up for this event, but it sure as hell sounds interesting! A second weekend is also in the offing.
The “Pre-Used” section on our website has been added to again today (Friday, April 22). As those of you who have been watching (and buying) from this page will know, most items are selling almost as quickly as we can get them on the site (25 of the 30 items we put up on Monday sold in less than 24 hours!). We will continue to offer items for sale on a regular basis so keep checking back.
Released by the Let Them Eat Vinyl record label as part of the recent Record Store Day celebrations, “Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village Vol 1” and “Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village Vol 2” are now available through ISIS.
Originally compiled by me back in 2011 as a 2-CD set this is the first time this title has been made available on vinyl. The title is now presented as two double album various artists’ compilations featuring the likes of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, Barbara Dane, Buffy Sainte Marie, Tom Paxton, and Simon and Garfunkel.
The new ISIS magazine (issue 185), was mailed out last Thursday and apart from those of you who reside in some of the more far-flung corners of the planet most subscribers should by now have received their copy.
Those of you who have not yet re-subscribed to ISIS be warned, for whatever reason, we are selling an awful lot of one-off single issues of number 185 and as a result we are fast selling out of the first issue of the new subscription year!
* * *
There is quite a lot happening on the book front at the moment: I’m still working away on my booklet, “Humdinger Folksinger”, and I’m still very interested in talking to anyone who was involved with, or attended British folk clubs during the 1960s and had any experience of “Policy Rules” and the wars between the “Progressive” and “Traditionalists” elements of the folk revival.
The Last Great Event
Following on from the excellent “Stealing Dylan From Woodstock,” festival promoter extraordinaire, Ray Foulk, has now completed the second and final volume of the story of the Isle of Wight festivals. Published June 1, 2016, “The Last Great Event” covers the final festival staged in 1970 featuring amongst many others, Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Lenard Cohen, Joan Baez, the Who and of course the late great Jimi Hendrix in his last UK show before his sudden death in London on September 18, 1970. A bumper 363-page hardback, all copies of this beautifully presented book ordered from ISIS will be signed by Ray and Caroline Foulk.
The Ghost of Electricity
To mark the 50th Anniversary of Bob Dylan’s 1966 World Tour and the 20th Anniversary of the tragic and premature death of John Bauldie, The Bridge is publishing an expanded and updated version of “The Ghost of Electricity”.
Written and compiled by John Bauldie and initially published privately in 1988, “The Ghost of Electricity” is long out of print and much sort after. This republication has been put together by John’s lifelong friend, Bill Allison. The book has been updated and will contain previously unpublished photographs from the 1966 tour.
Published sometime during July 2016 and available now to pre-order from ISIS, the book will be A5 in size and perfect bound.
World Wide, The First Twenty Years
Those of you who have ordered the Christoph Maus book “Bob Dylan: World Wide, The First Twenty Years” will be pleased to hear that after a delay this title has now been delivered back from the printer to publisher “Maus Of Music Books”. Our copies now need to be signed and hand numbered, crated up and delivered to us from Germany. We then need to pack and dispatch so it will probably be another couple of weeks before it arrives at our customers’ doors.
Finally, don’t forget – as if you would – that Dylan’s new studio album “Fallen Angles” is released on CD and vinyl on May 20.
That’s all for now. Have a good weekend, Derek.
02 November 2015
First of all, I would I’d like to say how nice it was to meet so many ISIS subscribers on our travels over the last 10 days. I lost count as to how many people, both old and new acquaintances, introduced themselves to Tracy and me and it was great to meet you all.
In addition to how good the shows were and how well Bob is singing at the moment, the hot topic was of course the amount of songs connected to Frank Sinatra that Bob is performing on this tour. I chatted with many of the people I met about the Sinatra songs and although most of the conversations were very positive, some were less so.
I would therefore love to hear from more of you on this subject.
While I know that Bob can and should perform what he wants how he wants, concert goers must have an opinion and ISIS would like to hear those opinions.
PLEASE take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts on the subject and email or write to me. I’m not asking for articles, just some random thoughts:
Are seven Sinatra songs too many?
Did you think he performed them well?
What are your thoughts overall about the current Bob shows?
I’d very much like to publish some of your thoughts in the next ISIS and perhaps compile a poll of the results. So, here’s a chance to have YOUR say. Email me at: derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
While on the subject of the UK shows, I’m sure that everyone who got their tickets through the Desolation Row / ISIS allocation would like to thank John and Jane for all their efforts and it was hugely disappointing to me that John was only able to make it to two of the shows.
* * *
While on the subject of readers’ opinions and ISIS polls, many of you will have read my piece in the “MOJO music guide” – a 52-page Dylan booklet that comes with the latest MOJO magazine (issue 265, December 2015) – In the guide, amongst other things, I list “Ten Great Dylan Concerts”. When I was compiling this list for MOJO I thought what a good idea it would be to get the opinions of ISIS readers on this subject. So, if you don’t have anything to say about the Sinatra songs (come on, you know you do), then maybe you would like to list your “Top 10 Great Concerts”. Actually getting a list down to just 10 is quite hard so if you think you would like to go with a “Top 20” that’s fine.
Let’s make the next issue of ISIS a true “Readers’ Issue”. Many thanks in anticipation.
Again email me at derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
* * *
Published in the United States on October 27 and due for release in the UK at around the same time, “Bob Dylan All the Songs” has been has been delayed in the UK until mid November. We’ll keep you informed on this one.
* * *
For those interested: “A feast of cover versions of Bob Dylan songs from the BBC archives, with classic tracks old and new” will be broadcast on Friday, November 6 on BBC 4 television. The show, entitled “…Sings Dylan”, will also be shown 01:00 on Saturday November 7 and 01:00 on Sunday 8.
* * *
I’m pleased to say that we received our delivery of “The Bootleg Series Vol.12” today. We will be busy packing these over the next couple of days and all orders will arrive with our UK customers in time for the Friday November 6 release date.
For those who can’t wait until Friday’s release, you can hear an advanced sampling of songs (well over an hour of extracts). Listen Here
Enjoy the album and please don’t forget to respond to my requests for your thoughts on the current shows and your opinions as to Bob’s all-time great concerts.
Best to you all,
Derek.
20 October 2015
Pre-Concert Events
A couple of new pre-Dylan English concert events have just announced and I’ve been asked to give them a mention here.
On Friday October 30, the day of Bob’s final British show on this tour, John O’Connell has a “Simply Dylan” gig from 4.30.pm to 6 p.m at The Dancing Man, Town Quay, Southampton, SO14 2AR. This gig will take place after the 12 noon get together at The Guide Dog, 38 Earl’s Road, Southampton, SO14 6SF. So, that a great pub get together, a Simply Dylan gig and Bob in Show and Concert all on the same day!
Author, ISIS subscriber and thoroughly good egg, C.P Lee has organised a pre-gig get-together on Wednesday October 28 before the second Manchester Apollo concert. It’s between 2 pm until 6.30 pm at Fred’s Ale House, 843 Stockport Road, M19 3AW. The pub is on the same road as the Apollo, just a ten minute bus ride from town (no. 192). C.P. suggests ‘day saver’ ticket. Food will be available, Dylan videos on permanent screening and a small PA is in place if anyone wants to perform.
Also, don’t forget the London and Manchester “Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” Waterstones’ events, and that I will be chairing the Friday afternoon London event.
At a Glance:
Friday Oct 23, London Waterstones: “Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” 4pm – 5.30
Friday Oct 23, London Waterstones: “Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” 7pm – 8.30
Tuesday Oct 27, Manchester Waterstones: “Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” 3pm start
Tuesday Oct 27, Manchester Waterstones: “Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” 6pm start
Wednesday Oct 28 Manchester: Fred’s Ale House, Pre-gig get-together, 2pm – 6.30pm
Friday October 30, Southampton: The Guide Dog, Pre-gig get-together, from 12 noon
Friday October 30, Southampton: The Dancing Man, Gig, Simply Dylan 4.30.pm – 6pm
The People’s History of Pop
Calling all Bob Dylan fans, BBC music would love to hear from you. 7wonder.co.uk are crowdsourcing fans’ memories and archives from over 50 years of British rock and pop music for a new series to be broadcast on BBC Four called “The People’s History of Pop”.
Did you see Dylan on his tours to Britain in 1965 or 1966? What where they like? Have you still got your ticket stubs, pictures or even a poster!? If you have memorabilia, please dig it out and go to www.phop.co.uk or email phop@7wonder.co.uk to take part.
“The People’s History of Pop” is a four-part series to be broadcast on BBC Four over 2016 (one episode per quarter).
See ya somewhere on the road… And don’t forget, The key is Frank!
*Please note: The ISIS office will be closed Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 October and Thursday 29 – Friday 30 October.
14 October 2015
Issue 182 of ISIS Magazine arrived back from the printer today and has just gone into the post.
* * *
Anyone who missed “Highway 61: Fifty Years On” – Part One of which was broadcast on BBC 4 radio and Part Two on BBC 2 radio – should think about giving it a listen as it’s still available on BBC iPlayer Radio.
Produced by Colin McNulty, Andy Kershaw re-examines the Bob Dylan album that changed popular music and his life.
* * *
I recently received a review copy of the upcoming book by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon and was instantly surprised and delighted by its presentation.
This one is not quite a “Lyrics: Since 1962”, and therefore will hopefully not require a hernia repair, but at 2.8kg (6.2lbs) it sure is a hefty item.
Each section begins with an arty posterized full-page photo of Bob followed by a short half-page introduction to the album concerned. This is followed by brief sections looking at “The Album Cover”, “The Recording” and variously, depending on the album being reviewed, short sections on “production”, “Technical Details” and “The Instruments”.
We then move onto the album’s songs; each one getting anything from half-a-page to two-and-a-half pages. As with the album write-ups, each song is neatly divided in to sections: “Genesis and Lyrics” and “Production”. Scattered amongst the text you will also find short notes flagging up various bits of information such as “Covers” (giving some of the artists that have covered the song) and “For Dylanologists”, which gives tidbits of other interesting information. “The Bootleg Series” is included as are “Outtakes” and “Singles”.
The book is lavishly illustrated with images; many of Dylan, but many more not.
Published October 29, by Black Dog & Leventhal, “Bob Dylan – All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track” is a large format (11”x8.5” approx) 703-page, hardcover.
This item is previewed in the current ISIS and will be reviewed in full in ISIS 183. Available to pre-order now from ISIS. Full details here
Tracy and I hope to see many of you in London for the upcoming RAH shows and the Friday afternoon Dylan event at Waterstones Piccadilly…
22 September 2015
With October 1 and the European tour only nine days away, I thought it was about time I wrote another of my occasional blogs.
I’m sure we are all eagerly waiting to see what form the set lists will take but I guess only the really optimistic amongst us are expecting much change. Then again, if we have learnt anything about Bob Dylan over the years it is to expect the unexpected.
For those of you at a loose end while in London for the Royal Albert Hall concerts there is a great event planned for the afternoon of Friday October 23.
‘Stealing Dylan From Woodstock’ will be staged at Waterstones, Piccadilly (203/206 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9HD). The event will feature film, live music, recordings and reminiscences’ by Ray Foulk, promoter of the original Isle of Wight festivals and the man brought Bob Dylan to Britain in 1969.
The Dylan show runs twice, 4pm-5.30 and 7pm-8.30. Early attendees can go on to see Bob Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall. I (Derek Barker) will be presenting the programme and Ray and I will be taking part in a Q&A session. Ray’s memoir, ‘Stealing Dylan From Woodstock’ will be on sale.
Similar afternoon events will also take place in Manchester and Cardiff (details to follow).
Those attending the Southampton concert on Friday October 30 will also have somewhere to go before the show.
All Bob fans will be made very welcome at ‘The Guide Dog’ in Southampton. This will be an informal meeting place, and if anyone wants to bring an instrument and play a few tunes, or bring items for sale or to swap, that’s fine too!
Southern Hampshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2014, The Guide Dog is a good old fashioned back street local and a genuine free house; up to nine guest beers on hand-pump, mainly from local breweries. The pub, which will open at 12 noon, is less than a mile from The Guildhall (a 5 minute drive), although parking will be MUCH easier near the pub than closer to the venue. The Guide Dog is situated at 38 Earl’s Road, Southampton, SO14 6SF. The get together is being organised by John Roberts of Barking Spider Promotions.
A couple of book mentions: Due for publication October 29, 2015, “All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track” is a comprehensive account of Bob Dylan’s work with the full story of every recording session, every album, and every single (582 released songs). Hardback, 704 pages).
Finally, just a quick note to say that my limited print run booklet, “A Picnic Surprise: Bob Dylan & the Road to Blackbushe”, has sold out and no further orders can be accepted.
A word of warning; expect another bulletin from me later this week…!
12 May 2015
With ISIS 179 mailed out, my Blackbushe “Picnic Surprise” booklet at the printer, and Bob’s British concert tickets taken care of, I can stop and catch my breath! When I looked back at my last blog I was astonished to see it was dated November 12! Sandy Denny was so right when she said, “Who knows where the time goes?”!
The first thing I want to do here is to thank John Baldwin at “Desolation Row” for all his hard work in once again organizing the now customary “Fan Allocation” of tickets for the British Bob shows. Although John arranges the ticket allocations in association with ISIS Magazine, it is HE who does all the hard work.
For the initial sale, which took place on April 30, for the first six shows (RAH, Manchester & Cardiff), John stayed up ALL night so that he could let fans know before 9 am the following morning whether or not they had been successful with their applications. Those who had not been successful were then able to apply for tickets via the venues and usual agents. Our tickets for the three Royal Albert Hall shows sold out in less than three minutes!
There was a little less demand for the additional Albert Hall dates (October 24 & 25) and everyone who applied during the first hour, i.e. between 8 & 9 pm, had their requests fulfilled. The really good news is that everyone who missed out on the first allocation was able to get tickets for the additional shows. Thank you very much for all your kind words (emails and phone calls), they were very much appreciated, but as stated previously, John did all the hard work. I should just say that a very few people haven’t yet paid John for the tickets they ordered and one or two others have changed the minds about attending the shows! Once ordered, John has to pay ITB for tickets and although he will probably be able to re-sell these tickets it’s not fair to put him in this position.
A quick update on the Ted Russell New York photo book: “Bob Dylan: NYC 1961-1964” has arrived in stock at ISIS – or at least part of our order has – and has now been mailed to our customers.
This title is published in the United States by Rizzoli and it seems that the publisher underestimated demand (a familiar story). ISIS, like all other UK sellers, only received part of our initial order and although the vast majority of our customers will have recently received their books we were unable fulfil every order. Apologies to those still waiting, but a second shipment will soon be on its way from the States.
On the subject of new books, in ISIS 179 I wrote enthusiastically about “When the World Came to the Isle of Wight: Stealing Dylan from Woodstock” by Ray and Caroline Foulk. My review was written from an advance pdf of the book but having now received a finished copy I can honestly say that it looks even better in the flesh than it did in digital form. Published June 4, ISIS will have this one before the official release date and all of our copies are signed by the author (festival promoter) Ray Foulk.
On the subject of Ray Foulk, I note that Ray will be giving a talk at Blackwell’s in Oxford on Tuesday, June 9 (19:00 – 20:00). Tickets for the talk are £5 from events.oxford@blackwell.co.uk
And while on the subject of Blackwell’s of Oxford, I also note that on Tuesday, May 26th (19:00 – 20:00) “The Old Grey Whistle Test’s” ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris will be sharing anecdotes and stories from his forty years in the music industry. His autobiography “Still Whispering After all the Years” is published this month.
Finally, Castle Galleries will shortly be exhibiting and offering for sale Limited Edition prints (less then 100 copies of each), from Bob Dylan’s “Brazil Series”. The exhibition will be launched in the UK on Friday May 15.
12 Nov 2014 – Don’t Start Me Talkin’
We have been informed by Simon & Schuster U.K. that they hope to receive a further shipment of “The Lyrics − Since 1962” from the U.S. Any such shipment is however at least a month away. Due to the huge demand for this huge book the publisher has so far been unable to meet sellers’ requirements and we understand that this second shipment will go some way toward satisfying those outstanding orders. ISIS was fortunate to receive our full allocation first time round so we are unlikely to receive any further copies from this second shipment. I understand that the recommended retail price of the book may be increased to £160.
We are pleased to say that we have now received stocks of Sid Griffin’s “Million Dollar Bash” book (pub date Nov 20) and the “Lost on the River (The New Basement Tapes)” CD (release date Nov 17). We have, however, been informed by Universal Music that the “Lost on the River” vinyl has been delayed until December 29. This might mean that customers will not now receive their vinyl orders until sometime in January, 2015.
While on the subject of vinyl, the release date for the “BS 11” vinyl set has now slipped to November 24. It also appears that this item will be in short supply from Sony.
Hidden tracks on “BS 11”: I’m not too sure that this qualifies in any way as “a hidden track”; it’s not as though you have to put in any detective work in to find it; simply stick the disc in your machine and it plays.
Nonetheless, it’s true to say that both the back of the slipcase and the track listing on page 39 of the “Basement Tapes” book list Disc 6 as containing 21 tracks. There is, however, a track 22 containing two part songs. The track, which runs for 2.27, contains part of a souped up, almost rock ‘n’ roll version of the trad. song ‘900 Miles’ (a song often associated with Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston.) The other part song is an alternate take of ‘Confidential’, a song written by Dorinda Morgan and recorded by R&B artist Sonny Knight in 1956. Oddly enough, the first tracklisting I saw for “BS 11” stated that there were 139 tracks, but I then received the official tracklisting from Sony which listed only 138.
A rumour has begun to circulate that Bob has been in the studio recently. If true, I have no idea what he was doing there.
Finally, the highly respected (cough) weekly supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer reported last week that Bob Dylan was married secretly in 2012 but that he is now in the process of getting a divorce because his wife spent most of his estimated $180 million fortune without him knowing! If this sounds implausible, the Enquirer went on to allege that Dylan is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Although this all sounds far-fetched to say the least, it might explain the huge diamond ring(s) he was wearing a while back. Interestingly, the Enquirer webpage that originally featured this “story” has been down for several days.
Anyway, enough of that, back to work on the next issue of ISIS magazine. Ah, but before I go, I have a request: I’m about to start work on a project about the 1978 Blackbushe festival so if anyone has any information, short stories or anecdotes about the festival, or events leading up to the “Picnic”, I’d be pleased to hear from them. Email derek.barker@bobdylanisis.com
Derek.
30 October 2014
Two blog entries in as many weeks! Yes, after a six months gap this is my second blog in two weeks. The reason for this one is because we are becoming inundated with enquiries as to whether we can fulfil all our orders for “Lyrics Since 1962”.
We understand that publisher Simon & Schuster received pre-sales for more than twice their total print run and that most U.K. retailers have only received a tiny fraction of their orders.
ISIS has been extremely fortunate to have received our full allocation and everyone who ordered “Lyrics: Since 1962” with us (and were told by us that they would receive a copy) will indeed do so. Unfortunately however, we have no spare copies.
We are working hard to parcel and dispatch “Lyrics: Since 1962” and all our customers should receive their copies by the publication date of November 6.
“Bootleg Series 11 – The Basement Tapes” has also arrived here at ISIS and again we have received all of our order. Everyone who ordered the 2-CD (Raw) or the 6-CD (Complete) “The Basement Tapes” from us should receive their orders by the release date of Monday November 3. Note: The vinyl LP version is not released until November 15.
Interestingly, copies of “BS 11” contain a flyer advertising the new Dylan album for 2015.
15 October 2014
I can’t believe it’s been a full six months since I wrote my last “occasional” ISIS blog!– time really is a Jet plane. A lot has happened since my last outing in April; much of which has been written about in ISIS 174 and 175, there are however a few upcoming items that are worth mentioning.
We have been asked repeatedly if the Victor Maymudes book, “Another Side of Bob Dylan”, will be available in the U.K and Europe. Published in the United States by St Martin’s Press on September 9, ISIS was informed that this title would not be published in the U.K. due to fears over libel laws. Nevertheless, after being read by a libel lawyer and found to be quite innocuous, the book has been given the go-ahead for publication outside of the United States. We were contacted with the price yesterday by the U.K. distributor and the book is now available to buy from the ISIS website HERE.
A full review of the Maymudes book will be published in the upcoming ISIS issue 176.
Whilst on the subject of books, a revised and updated edition of Sid Griffin’s truly excellent “Million Dollar Bash”, about Bob Dylan and the Basement Tapes will be published in November 2014.
Sid was invited over to Dylan’s New York City office this summer to hear the previously unreleased Basement recordings with a view to him writing the liner notes for “BS 11”, which he duly did. Armed with this insider information he has now completed the updates and revisions to his book originally published in 2007.
This revised edition, which will have an extra 13,000 words, will include all of the newly discovered “Basement Tapes” songs that will feature on “The Bootleg Series 11” plus the first batch of songs that will appear shortly on the first volume of the “Lost On The River Tapes”. Sid’s book is available to pre-order HERE.
And so to the “Lost On The River Tapes” album. Compiled from a collection of long-lost Dylan manuscripts from the legendary Basement Tapes era, the album, produced by T-Bone Burnett and recorded in March, 2014 at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, sounds like an interesting aside from all things truly Dylan. LISTEN HERE. Anyway, after finding ourselves down numerous blind alleys we finally have the U.K. release of this album on order with Island Records and have the deluxe CD and Vinyl editions available HERE.
With “BS 11”, “Lost On The River”, the Maymudes book, Sid Griffin’s “Million Dollar Bash” and “Lyrics: Since 1962” all due in the same month, November it’s going to be a busy time in the ISIS office! And before I forget, ISIS issue 176 is currently at the printer and should be mailed out to subscribers early next week.
On Tuesday October 21, ahead of the official release, “Classic Album Sundays” is hosting a special “The Basement Tapes 11” listening party at the celebrated classic rock venue, the Bag O’Nails in Soho, where Jimi Hendrix performed.
The evening will include a full play through of the original LP set on 180-gram vinyl (Mobile Fidelity) on Classic Album Sundays’ state-of-the-art hi-fi equipment. There will also be a preview of some of the previously unreleased recordings featured on the upcoming 6-CD deluxe edition.
Sid Griffin, writer of the album’s liner notes and author of “Million Dollar Bash”, will be on hand to relay the story behind Dylan’s legendary 1967 Red Room and Big Pink recordings. There will also be a Q&A session.
Tuesday, October, 21 (7 to 10 pm)
Bag O’Nails, 9 Kingly Street, London. W1B 5PH
Tickets: £10 online HERE and if available, £12 on the door.
Until now I had no intention of commenting about the self-declared “Islamic State”, either in the pages of ISIS Magazine or in this blog. Nevertheless, as the press seem obsessed with asking me questions regarding our name – last week BBC Radio Scotland and yesterday The Guardian newspaper HERE – I thought a response was probably overdue.
We have been trading under the ISIS name for 29 years and the Bob Dylan song from which our name is derived was written 39 years ago. The image of the Egyptian goddess, which we use as our logo, goes back to sometime during the 5th dynasty, about 2,400 BC. By comparison therefore, the barbaric Jihadist terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria are very much the newbie’s on the block.
Originally known as Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), after expanding into Syria in April 2013 the group adopted the name “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL), but were also known as “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The name was however very short lived and on June 29, 2014 the group renamed itself as the “Islamic State” (IS). So, although the name ISIS was only in existence for just over a year and has now been abandoned completely, it seems that sections of our western media favour using the name. Nonetheless, to answer the reoccurring question, “Does ISIS Magazine have any intentions of changing its name”, is a resounding NO!
18 April 2014
I thought it was about time to update my occasional ISIS blog with a couple of bits of news. First of all, Tracy and I would like to wish all our subscribers – and everyone else for that matter – a very happy Easter holiday. On the subject of subscribers, we will be working for most of the holiday (ahhh) finishing off the new issue of ISIS magazine which is due to go to the printer directly after the holiday (Tuesday 22nd). If you haven’t subscribed for 2014, you can do so HERE. Talking about printers, I’m VERY pleased to say that my booklet, “As The Island Slowly Sank: Bob Dylan & the Isle of Wight Festivals”, arrived back yesterday and I’m extremely pleased with the way it’s turned out. We will be trying to envelope all of the orders over the weekend and should get them in the post on Tuesday. We have maybe underestimated the demand for this title; at the time of writing only 104 copies remain unsold! If you wish to order a copy, you can HERE.
As the Bob tour continues to roll on through Japan the feedback is that the shows are every bit as good and consistent as they were when he visited Europe, and especially Britain, at the end of last year. There are some on the Internet, many of whom probably haven’t seen these shows, who are complaining about the static set-lists. All that I can say is that I am happy to forgo the changing set-lists in return for the quality and care that Dylan is currently putting into his performances (the final night at the Royal Albert Hall last November was the best Bob performance I’ve seen in years). We have a great review of Bob’s nine-show Tokyo residency in the upcoming ISIS.
There is no further news regarding Bob recording a new album, although he has been in the studio to record his tribute song for the “Art of McCartney” album. It is rumoured (and I must stress this is only a rumour) that there will be a documentary about the making of the McCartney album and that all the contributing performers, with the exception of Bob Dylan, have consented to being interviewed about their choice of song.
I’ll sign off now and let you enjoy the Easter break.
22 January 2014
First and foremost, Tracy and I would like to wish all our readers a slightly belated but very happy New Year. My first blog of 2014 is a bit of a sales advert but before I get into that I should mention something about touring. Back on December 20, ISIS announced dates for 14 Bob Dylan concerts in Japan. Shortly after (Dec 29), we heard that three further concerts, one each in Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagoya, might be on the cards but since that time there has been no further news. We also said that shows are likely to take place in eastern and southern Europe in 2014 in countries not played in 2013. At the time the tour had not been finalised and although we hoped confirmation might come early in the New Year there is still no word.
We are currently working on the final ISIS magazine of the current subscription year. This should be out in about three weeks time; many thanks to those of you who have already renewed your subs for 2014.
There are currently three new items to mention, all of which are on sale in the ISIS store.
“Bob Dylan – The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration”
Staged at Madison Square Garden, New York in October 1992 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s first Columbia recording, “The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration” is to be released on March 3, 2014 in three formats, all with new bonus features.
The fully remastered 2-CD Deluxe Edition will include two previously unreleased bonus tracks from the concert’s rehearsal: Sinead O’Connor singing ‘I Believe In You’, which was not performed at the concert, and Eric Clapton’s rehearsal of ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’.
The 2-DVD set and the Blu-ray release have been produced from a new High Definition 16:9 video master with remastered audio. Both versions will include 39 minutes of previously unreleased bonus material, including rehearsals, behind-the-scenes footage and interview material.
“From His Head To His Heart To His Hands”
As mention in ISIS 171, Michael Bloomfield is the subject of a career-spanning 3CD/1DVD box set anthology due for release in February 2014.
Produced by Al Kooper, “From His Head To His Heart To His Hands” contains many previously unreleased tracks including some Dylan. The three Dylan tracks mentioned are listed as a 6:35 instrumental version of ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, a 5:58 alternate, i.e. not the one included on “No Direction Home”, but the Chambers Brothers take of ‘Tombstone Blues’ and a live, 5:50, performance from the Warfield of ‘The Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar’.
“The Spirit Of Radio”
This 3-CD box-set brings together three previously released titles: “Folksinger’s Choice”, “Studs Terkel’s Wax Museum” and the radio and TV broadcasts release, “Life And Life Only”. The three CD’s are as previously released, complete with liner notes, but are now bound together in a new outer package at a much reduced price.
Finally, those of you who have already ordered the 2001 Rome Press Conference CD will be pleased to hear that stock is expected to arrive next week.
That’s all for now,
Derek.
9 October 2013
First off, Tracy has made some changes to the ISIS website, just a clean-up really. In any event it’s still a work in progress. You will notice that we now have a small range of non-Dylan CDs in stock.
Subscribers to ISIS will be pleased to know that the magazine is expected back from the printer this weekend.
Those of you who ordered your UK Dylan tickets via ISIS / Desolation Row will be receiving them very soon. John and Jane at Desolation Row are currently in the midst of sorting through these. John expects the first orders to be sent out towards the end of this week and mailings will continue over the following week.
The UK Promoter has asked John to inform concert goers that there is no support act for Blackpool or Glasgow. There will however be a support, at the moment unknown, for the RAH concerts.
We have a new Dylan related item up for sale on our website. “Portrait Of Dylan” is a single CD release along the same lines as “Bob Dylan & The Band’s Basement Tapes Influences”. As was the case with that release, “Portrait Of Dylan” is a collection of “original artists” songs that were covered by Dylan, this time during the recording sessions that eventually produced “Self Portrait”, “New Morning” and “Dylan”. The CD contains 28 tracks by a wide range of artists.
To accompany the recently released “Another Self Portrait BS10”, Columbia Records has gone mobile with an innovative app. As each track plays, an interactive collage of images and artefacts horizontally scrolls across the screen of your iPhone or iPad. Embedded in the scroll are links to unreleased images of Dylan, source material, such as session sheets, and newly conducted interviews with Dylan’s collaborators, including one with Al Kooper.
Columbia’s plan is to continue to release new material corresponding to all of the various bootleg series releases, which will update automatically into the app and unlock if the referenced music is present in a user’s iTunes account. All this stuff is way beyond me I’m afraid.
After weeks of speculation that some lost Doctor Who episodes have been located the BBC has now confirmed that a currently unspecified number of early episodes have been found and returned to them. It seems that the majority of the episodes of the BBC Television sci-fi series had been transferred on to film for foreign broadcasters and it appears that one such broadcaster may have found and returned these films to the BBC. BBC Worldwide is expected to confirm the find at a press conference in London later this week. I’ve never understood why the BBC couldn’t just send the Doctor back in his Tardis to a time before they junked the tapes!
What, you might ask, has this got to do with Bob Dylan? Well, although it might well be wishful thinking there is a rumour, and it’s only a rumour, that other missing 1960s television programmes are included in the find and “Dad’s Army” and “Madhouse on Castle Street” have been mentioned!
The British television play Madhouse on Castle Street, which featured the acting debut of 21 year old Bob Dylan, was aired just once by BBC Television on the evening of January 13 1963, as part of the Sunday Night Play strand.
The play was made with electronic video cameras, although recorded onto film rather than tape. The only known copy of the play was junked in 1968, as was the standard practice of the time, despite the fact that Dylan and lead actor David Warner were by then famous.
In 2005, the BBC launched a worldwide search for a copy of the film and in April 2007, BBC Four Arena broadcast a documentary about the making of the play featuring interviews with amongst others director Philip Saville and Dylan collector and regular ISIS contributor Ian Woodward. As the great man once said; only time will tell…
All the Best, Derek B.
3 September 2013
Announced a few days back, a third show, October 26, 2013, has been added on the upcoming European tour. The concert will be at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany.
Those of you who have “Face Value” on order with us will no doubt be pleased to learn that copies are due to be delivered to us tomorrow (September 3).
Kevin Ring, publisher of the excellent long running “Beat Scene” magazine, is about to publish a new chapbook. These small (circa 5,000-word) booklets are basically an essay in book form. Beat Scene Press’ latest title, “Bob Dylan in Jack Kerouac’s Lowell, 1975” – number 42 in their series of chapbooks and available mid September – might be of interest to hardened Dylan collectors. This title, which is available in a limited issue of 100 numbered copies, is now available to pre-order from ISIS.
One final thing; not wishing to oversell, we pulled the Michael Krogsgaard “Twenty Years of Recording” and “Master of the Tracks” special limited offer books down from our website. Having now completed the mailing out of these books (see previous item, below!) we have a handful left (2 pairs of “Twenty Years of Recording” and “Master of the Tracks”; 2 single “Master of the Tracks”, and half-dozen marked copies of “Twenty Years of Recording”. Due to the fact that these numbers are so limited we are only accepting telephone orders on a first come first severed basis (02476 – 749501).
26 August 2013
What We Did On Our Bank Holiday
(With Apologies to Fairport Convention)
It’s been a busy week at ISIS HQ. The latest issue of ISIS arrived back from our new printer on Tuesday so we had a hard day of enveloping and mailing the magazine. Wednesday saw the arrival of “Another Self Portrait” from Sony, and a very stylish looking package it is too. Although I’ve always had a soft spot for “Self Portrait”, these pre-overdub versions are a real joy to behold and Bob’s voice is just beautiful! Some of Bob Johnson’s overdubs and production worked on the original album but I’ve almost always had a preference for a stripped down Bob of any type and I certainly don’t miss the irritating female vocals on the likes of ‘Copper Kettle’!
Anyway, we finished packing and mailing those on Thursday just in time to unload the transport from Copenhagen carrying the copies of “Twenty Years of Recording” and “Master of the Tracks” which Michael Krogsgaard had very kindly donated to ISIS. Unavailable for more than a decade and highly collectable, these newly discovered copies have been numbered and signed by Michael especially for ISIS. So, with so many books to pack and mail out that’s Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday taken care of! With “Character Sketches” also due in this week and “Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs” not far behind, it looks like we’ll be up to our eyes in book wraps and parcel tape for a while longer.
To my great surprise I got a message from Sony on Saturday morning informing me that they had suddenly “found” a few more copies of the 4-CD “BS 10 – Another Self Portrait” Deluxe box set and that we would now be receiving a second delivery!!! Many of you will probably have managed to find copies by now but if anyone is still in need of a Deluxe copy we now have a few more available, or will have by the middle of the week. Due to the fact that we don’t have many of these we are only accepting telephone orders (02476 – 749501).
Finally, although we don’t yet have confirmation, we are hearing that “Bob Dylan: The Complete Album Collection” could be with us in early November, in time for the Christmas market. There is also a possibility that Sony might release a “condensed” version (Maybe Bob Dylan: The Incomplete Album Collection. Just joking), to meet the Dad and Granddad Christmas market. Okay, that’s about all for now; back to packing those Krogsgaard books.
16 August 2013
With everything that has been happening in ISIS land of late I’ve not had time to think about a blog never mind write one! Anyway, here is a quick update on what’s been happening.
As our subscribers will know over the past few months we have been hit by an extraordinary run of extreme bad luck. Many of you have responded to our recent plight by sending donations. You have been extremely generous. It’s certainly a great pleasure working with and being part of this Bob Dylan community. Thank you one and all. The names of those who have donated so far will appear in the upcoming issue of ISIS. The most pressing problem has been finding a new print company to work with after the sudden demise of our long-time printer, Centreprint UK. This has been a monumental headache for us but it’s now all systems go and the latest ISIS, issue 169, should be back from our new printer and mailed out to subscribers on Monday August 19.
Many of you will already be aware of the supply problems surrounding “The Bootleg Series Volume 10 – Another Self Portrait”. As stated in our July newsletter, the 4-CD Deluxe Box Set and the vinyl LPs are extremely limited and Sony (certainly Sony UK), appear to have oversold by huge amounts. Sellers have, therefore, had their orders cut and outside of the U.S. there has been a frantic scramble to get hold of copies, especially the 4-CD set. I notice that one eBay seller is already asking £135 for the vinyl set and it’s not even released yet!
Anyway, staying with “The Bootleg Series Volume 10” but on a more positive note, our New York correspondent Anne Margaret Daniel has written an extremely detailed track-by-track review of “Another Self Portrait” and the bonus Isle of Wight disc. Anne Margaret’s review for ISIS Magazine includes an interview with Happy Traum.
OTHER NEWS: Thanks to the kindness of Michael Krogsgaard, some new original copies of “Twenty Years of Recording” and “Master of the Tracks” are being made available exclusively through ISIS Magazine!
Unavailable for a decade or more, ISIS is extremely pleased to be able again to offer these books for sale!! Although these two volumes have now been superseded by other works, they remain highly collectable and sought after. These titles rarely come up for sale and when they do, used copies often sell for three figure sums.
To make these books even more collectable, these newly discovered copies are being stamped, numbered and signed by Michael Krogsgaard. Both books are currently limited to 75 numbered copies. Order now, only from ISIS.
ISIS broke the news back in May that the National Portrait Gallery, London would be exhibiting 12 portraits by Bob Dylan. The London exhibit, which is called “Bob Dylan: Face Value”, is confirmed as running from August 24, 2013 to January 5, 2014. The display will be part of the Contemporary Collection displays in Room 40, on the Ground Floor Lerner Galleries in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Admission is free of charge.
The 48-page book which accompanies the exhibition and features all 12 works plus “comparatives” and text is already on sale through ISIS. Publication date is September 2.
Finally, on October 3, 2013 (19:00-20:00), award-winning political journalist and author of the latest Dylan biographies, Ian Bell, will be giving a lecture entitled “Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan”. The talk will be in the Ondaatje Wing Theatre. Free ticket required, available to book in advance.
News Update (6 April 2013)
For various reasons it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here so today I’m going to play a bit of catch up. ISIS magazine was mailed out on Thursday April 4. It should arrive with most of our UK subscribers today, Saturday, or at worst early next week. We are also pleased to say that we have now received copies of Bob Dylan’s “Revisionist Art” book which were also mailed to customers mid last week. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It’s a very nice looking item which has been put together with a great deal of thought and the presentation and finish is superb.
***
It was with deep regret that I heard last week that the “The Godfather of Rock Criticism” Paul Williams had passed away.
In January 1966, a year-and-a-half before Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone, Paul Williams, at the time a 17-year-old student at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, launched the first journal of serious rock criticism, “Crawdaddy!”. The mimeographed magazine was solely written, edited and published by Paul in his dorm room. Over time “Crawdaddy!” reached a circulation of some 25,000.
Williams was also the author of more than 25 books, of which the best-known are “Outlaw Blues”, “Das Energi”, and the three-part “Bob Dylan: Performing Artist” series. In 1979, Paul wrote the book, “Dylan: What Happened?” about Bob Dylan’s conversion to Christianity. Famously, Dylan’s office ordered 114 copies of the book because Dylan wanted to give them out to friends.
I interviewed Paul for ISIS in the summer of 1990 and he also contributed several columns to the magazine during the mid-1990s. Perhaps surprisingly, the last time I talked with Paul face to face was in March 1995 when we spent some time together in Prague. We were there for the opening concerts of Dylan’s European tour at the Palác kultury.
Back home in the USA and shortly after the ’95 Prague concerts, Paul suffered an accident riding his bicycle and was hospitalized for a month with a brain injury. He recovered, but later began to show signs of early-onset dementia brought on by the accident. Paul suffered a steady decline to the point where his wife, singer-songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill, had no choice but to put him in a managed-care facility in Encinitas, Calif., in 2008. Paul Williams died on March 27, 2013. He was age 64.
Cindy Lee Berryhill, made a short post to Facebook about Paul’s passing: “Rock-writer Paul S Williams, author and creator of CRAWDADDY magazine, (and my husband), passed away last night 10:30pm PST while his oldest son was holding his hand and by his side. It was a gentle and peaceful passing”.
There will be a full and fitting tribute to Paul in ISIS issue 168.
***
On Friday April 5, 2013 the UK arm of US restructuring specialist Hilco secured a deal to rescue HMV, Britain’s last remaining high street music retail chain. The news will be extremely welcomed by both the UK music industry and music enthusiasts.
Hilco, which acquired HMV Canada almost two years ago, is reported to have purchase 132 HMV shops and all nine branches of the Fopp chain from collapsed group’s administrators Deloitte. The purchase could save more than 2,600 high street jobs.
The 92-year-old iconic UK retailer, famous for its Nipper the dog trademark, had a hand in the Beatles’ big break in early 1960s, recommending the band’s demo record to publishers.
***
Bob Dylan kicked off his touring for 2013 last evening (April 5) with a concert at Alumni Arena, SUNY Buffalo, New York. Perhaps fittingly, the show opened with ‘Things Have Changed’. As expected, veteran guitarist Duke Robillard has joined the tour band. Robillard has replaced Charlie Sexton on lead guitar. The remainder of the band remains unchanged.
The early reports that have arrived here are that Bob was either centre stage or was playing the baby grand. There was no guitar and no electric keyboard, although the Korg keyboard was on stage in its usual position. In actual fact, Bob appeared to be drifting away from playing the electric keyboard during the November 2012 tour. I’m told that Bob’s vocals were extremely good and that his singing really shone on ‘Scarlet Town’ and ‘What Good Am I?’. The setlist looks very interesting.
April 5, 2013, Buffalo, New York – SUNY Buffalo Alumni Arena
Things Have Changed / Love Sick / High Water (For Charley Patton) / Soon After Midnight / Early Roman Kings / Tangled Up In Blue / Pay In Blood / Visions Of Johanna / Spirit On The Water / Blind Willie McTell / Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ / What Good Am I? / Thunder On The Mountain / Scarlet Town / Highway 61 Revisited / Ballad Of A Thin Man
Happy New Year
A happy New Year from Tracy and me. We are pretty much snowed in here at the moment so I am taking this opportunity to write a somewhat overdue blog. We are currently in the final stages of putting the next ISIS to bed. We hope to get it into the printer in the next few days and have it mailed out before the end of January. That issue, 166, will be the final magazine of the 2012 subscription year.
A number of people have enquired why ISIS has not yet commented about the emergence of “Bob Dylan – The 50th Anniversary Collection”. The answer is simply that I was away on a Christmas / New Year break in France when this item was announced by Sony (December 28, 2012) and by the time I returned to the office (January 7) it was already old news! By January 7 the physical product had come and gone (all 100 of them) and the download, which had been made available only in France and Germany, had been taken down by Sony. From what I gather, the download was only accessible in these two countries from December 28 to January 1.
Also by January 7 Rolling Stone magazine and New York Times had written about Sony’s so called copyright extension release, both using official quotes from Sony representatives. For once therefore, ISIS had missed the scoop. Through our “Dylan Digest” – Breaking News page we pride ourselves in generally being first with all the important news; you can’t however win them all!
Nevertheless, far from ignoring this topic, I have written a lengthy three-part 7,500-word article about the Public Domain in general, Dylan recordings that have been made available as Public Domain releases, and a detailed look at “Bob Dylan – The 50th Anniversary Collection”.
We have no firm news re touring in 2013 other than the report in ISIS last year that talks have taken place with a Japanese promoter and that dates there, and possibly elsewhere in the Far East, may take place in spring/summer 2013.
For now, keep one eye open for your post person and if you haven’t yet re-subscribed to ISIS don’t forget to do so.
If like me you are watching the snow get deeper by the minute then in the words of the late and much-lamented John Bauldie, “Stay Warm”.
Best wishes to everyone, Derek Barker.
Bootleg Series 10 Release
Quite some time ago, it was hinted that Dylan’s people wanted to rehabilitate “Dylan”, the 1973 album that Columbia put out when Dylan left them for Asylum Records.
A little later (October 22, 2012), ISIS suggested that recording sessions from 1969 / 1970 were being considered. In particular, we had heard mention of “Self Portrait” sessions.
More recently, the rumours have focused on “stripped down” material from “Self Portrait” – that is, recordings from the “Self Portrait” sessions but without the overdubs and, what we might call, the peripheral stuff. Some of these tracks could be previously unreleased outtakes, while other tracks previously released material but without the overdubs. Our various sources, quite separately, seem excited by this prospect.
A recast version of “Self Portrait” seems unlikely to constitute a double-CD Bootleg Series release. Nevertheless, there would certainly be many recordings from the period on which to draw for such a Bootleg Series release.
Finally, we should point out that Dylan’s staff are apparently working on a number of different projects at the moment, that everything is subject to change (even at the last minute) and that the final decision will not rest with executives at Sony.
Touring In 2013 (03 December 2012)
Over the past month or so there has been some Internet chatter about whether Bob Dylan will continue touring in 2013! Not rumours, just idle speculation. My information is that Dylan’s people have for quite some time been talking to Japanese promoter Udo re concerts there in 2013
As reported in ISIS at the time, Dylan was interested in touring Japan in 2011, but the local promoter felt that it was not the right time to do so.
For some months, Dylan’s people have been looking at several options but a tour of Japan now seems the most likely to come to fruition. Any tour there would almost certainly be in “Zepp” concert venues. The Zepp halls play host to many international tours of Japan and Dylan has previously played these venues. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in which it is located. Zepp is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan.
Dylan is rumoured to be performing at Zepp Tokyo, Zepp Nagoya, and Zepp Sapporo. Osaka has also been mentioned, however, the Zepp Theatre in Osaka has recently closed, so a concert in this city would have to be in another venue. There is a possibility of 10 shows in all. The capacity of the venues range from Nagoya, 1800 to Tokyo, 2700
Most of the other tour news is with regard to shows that will not take place! Some excitement was created a couple of days ago when it was “announced” that Dylan would play a summer festival in Carhaix, France. Information that Dylan would play in Carhaix in 2013 was posted on the “Fnac” website. Tickets were said to be on sale on December 5.
As soon as I was sent this information alarm bells began ringing. Firstly, touring for Spring 2013 has not yet been announced and secondly, it is most unusual (maybe even unprecedented?) for Dylan to play the same festival two years running. In any event, it transpires that Fnac had somehow managed to post a listing containing last year’s acts!
Over the past couple of weeks there has been publicity that Dylan could headline an event called “50th Anniversary Bob Dylan Folk Festival”. Reported in “Brandeis Hoot” (Brandeis University’s Community Newspaper) the event, the brainchild of student organisers, would be held in the 2013 Spring semester to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s 1963 concert there
However, the same student paper has now announced that Dylan’s booking price, nearly $300,000, would hamper the net finances of the university. It seems the event will still go ahead, but without Bob Dylan!!
No further news is available with regard to touring in 2013, and it is unlikely that we will hear anything further until the beginning of next year. However, it is rumoured that the UK and mainland Europe may be in the mix for autumn 2013. Summer festivals, either in Europe or the USA, are always under consideration. One thing is for certain, Bob Dylan will be back on the road in 2013.
NOTE: Tomorrow, Tuesday December 4, we’ll post information regarding “The Bootleg Series Vol. 10”.
More on Gagosian BabyTalk
Shortly after writing my Gagosian Gallery blog, I was sent a news clipping by Wiebke Dittmer. The clipping had appeared on a blog by Scott Warmuth. The newspaper article is about the Canadian midget wrestler Lionel Giroux, best known by his ring name Little Beaver. Giroux, who began his wrestling career in 1950, was forced to retire in 1987, at the age of 52, after suffering a back injury in the ring. Giroux died on December 4, 1995 of emphysema.
Babytalk (with a small “t”) is a genuine magazine. Launched in 1935 as a supplement, it is America’s oldest baby magazine. Unlike Bob Dylan’s “Vietnam” Life cover, which merely had text added to a genuine Life cover, it appears that Dylan has “designed” his “spoof” BabyTalk magazine cover from scratch.
I can’t find another version of the Little Beaver photograph online, so it seems likely that Dylan has added colour to the black and white image as well as reinstating the cropped parts of the wrestler’s arms. It seems he’s discovered the delights of “Photoshop”.
We await with interest the unveiling of the remaining 29 creations. Are they all magazine covers? Maybe Bob will produce a spoof ISIS cover!
Another Side Of Dylan’s Art At Gagosian
We would have got this information up earlier today (01 Nov 2012) but we’ve had major problems with updating our website. These things are way beyond my comprehension but what I do know is that Tracy gave up smoking six weeks ago and almost took up the habit again after today!
We mentioned in ISIS quite some time back that Dylan would have another art exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, New York in November 2012. In actual fact, this had slipped my mind but as the month of November came rushing in, perhaps blown along by the horrifying winds of Sandy, Gagosian, Madison Avenue, presented us with a small taste of what’s to come.
The exhibition, entitled “Revisionism”: Thirty New Works by Bob Dylan, will run from Wednesday, November 28, 2012 to Saturday, January 12, 2013. It is Dylan’s second exhibition at the space in a little over a year. One piece of artwork, “Baby Talk Magazine: Strengthen Your Baby (2011–12)” is displayed on the Gagosian Gallery website. From the look of this (cough) artwork, it would appear that the Life Magazine cover that was previously seen (by mistake?) at Gagosian might have been a precursor to this latest exhibition. As these pieces of art appear to be straight reproductions of magazine covers with perhaps a little added, I guess there won’t be much of an opportunity for the “Wussies and pussies” to accuse Dylan of plagiarism.
Best wishes to all our friends and subscribers on the American East Coat.
The Bootleg Series Volumes 10 & 11!
Subscribers to the ISIS Magazine “Dylan In-Between” Newsletter will no doubt have read the following news:
Under the heading “Black Friday Records” we previously mentioned that a special release of ‘Duquesne Whistle’ will be on sale in the US for the November Record Store Day.
Much interest (and, indeed, much speculation) has concerned the B-side, which was announced as a previously unreleased version of ‘Meet Me In The Morning’.
In the past, there have been rumours that this song was recorded at the December 1974 sessions for “Blood On The Tracks” in Minneapolis. The version on the Record Store Day single, however, will in fact come from the New York sessions.
When the RSD 7-inch disc was announced, ‘Meet Me In The Morning’ was said to be taken from “The Bootleg Series Volume 11”. This is what the official Record Store Day website had to say about the release:–
“‘Duquesne Whistle’ appears on “Tempest”. B-side is a previously unreleased version of ‘Meet Me In The Morning’ from the “Blood on the Tracks” sessions and is a forthcoming track from “The Bootleg Series Volume 11”.”
This write-up was very quickly amended and now omits any mention of “The Bootleg Series 11”, but where did the Record Store Day people get their information from?
Given that “The Witmark Demos” constituted Volume 9 in the series, this caused a few raised eyebrows. In an attempt to lower those eyebrows, ISIS has made some enquiries.
A little digging confirmed, as I imagined, that Sony, New York had given the information to the good people Record Store Day and yes, ‘Meet Me In The Morning’ is definitely taken from “The Bootleg Series Volume 11”. As to Volume 10, no concrete information was forthcoming from Sony.
For some time, there have been strong rumours that there will be a “Blood On The Tracks” release, based around the withdrawn version of the album that used only the New York session recordings. Beyond repeating that rumour, ISIS will speculate no further. Nevertheless, the Sony/RSD slip-up would seem to confirm this.
Meanwhile, there is the question of “Bootleg 10”. Official lips remain tightly sealed on this subject.
Nevertheless, it is my understanding that the “Bootleg Series Volume(s) 10 & 11” will not be simultaneous or combined releases (as in “The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3”), as suggested elsewhere.
“The Bootleg Series Volume 10” could be with us as soon as the first half of next year and it will not be one of the usual longstanding rumours, i.e. “Blonde On Blonde” outtakes, the Supper Club or a “Hard Rain” DVD.
Although we have not received official information regarding this release, we understand that the powers that be are considering something from the 1969/70 period.
We think we know what this might be, but ISIS is not willing to speculate further at this point.
Tempest Talk
Much has already been written about “Tempest” in the press and ISIS has two lengthy reviews of the album in issue 164, which is currently at the printer and due to be mailed out to subscribers on Monday, September 17. All I’ll say here therefore is that from the very first play I thought it was a knockout! A tour de force! And after a dozen plays I can’t see any reason to change my way of thinking. “Tempest” hangs together extremely well as a complete work– you could almost call it a concept album. To my ears there isn’t a weak track in evidence.
For those who want to read more about “Tempest” right now, Jeff Daily has written “A Chronicle of Anticipation” which we have posted elsewhere on the ISIS website and our Facebook page has many more thoughts on the subject.
The Sony hype machine has been working overtime to promote Bob this time round. Sneak previews, an MP3 single, video, free iTunes streaming and even pop-up stores in NYC, LA and London.
On Thursday 5, less than 24 hours before their Dylan “Tempest” promotion was due to start, the Dussmann store in Berlin still had no idea if they would be receiving signed copies of “Tempest” so people hoping to travel, in some case long distances, were left hanging. As one might have predicted, when the store opened on Friday morning nothing was delivered. Disappointed customers were told the CDs would arrive on Friday afternoon, but again they didn’t. Some of the lucky ones who persevered were eventually rewarded with a silver ink signed CD copy of “Tempest”. Thanks to Sony Germany, the Dussmann store also gave away free Dylan T-shirts with “Fifty Years of Music” on the front and “And 34 Years of Berlin Concerts” on the back. Nice touch.
It had to happen, but some individuals have already put copies of the signed CDs up for sale on eBay. The first one I spotted (bought from the LA store) was up for grabs for a mere $2,999.99. Another seller, also from LA has now listed a copy for the exact same price. A third copy has now appeared, again on eBay, but this time from London, for a slightly more realistic price of £500. My understanding is that there were a total of just 60 available from the four “Tempest” outlets. Mind you, Bob Dylan signatures ain’t what they used to be. By my calculations there are now a staggering 19,075 signed prints in the “Drawn Blank Series Limited Edition Graphics” collection. This brings a whole new meaning to the term “limited
Strange Tempest coins, also available from pop-up shops.
The Worst Of Times – John Hume Rest In Peace
I’ve just returned from a week away so I am only now able to update this site with the extremely sad news that John Hume passed away in his sleep July 26-27, 2012.
Last week began badly for me as 10 minutes before Tracy and I were due to leave home for a week away I somehow managed to fall down stairs! I bounced off several walls, went round the corner of the dog-leg staircase, and came to rest on top of 10,000 plastic ISIS mailers. My ankle had made a sickening crunching sound during the fall and I was convinced it was broken. Luckily, it was not. In retrospect, I think someone was trying to tell me not to go away. I didn’t heed the call.
After 48 hours away I got a telephone call to say that my mother had been taken into hospital. She was dying, and although it was half expected (having been ill for some time), the news was still shocking.
Another 48 anxious hours passed and I received a message from Dylan fan Steinar Daler that John Hume had died.
I’m sick of writing obituaries and I’m only going to say a few words here. When I’ve got my head straight I’ll put together a celebration of John’s life for publication in next ISIS magazine. Messages of sympathy were quickly posted on the ISIS Facebook page and on the Expecting Rain Discussion Forum.
John had spent a week in the cardiac unit of a Belfast Hospital and had undergone what he described as a “small op on the arteries close to the heart”. He returned for tests and was given the all clear. John emailed me to say that although he would need an extra suitcase to carry all of the medication he was now on he was fit enough to attend a reduced number of concerts on Dylan’s European tour.
John went to those concerts and then decided to take a break in Norway at the home of fellow Dylan fan and long-time close friend Knut. It was there he died in his sleep.
Our deepest sympathies go to Valeria, John’s mother, Knut, Steinar and all others close to John.
John Hume – I’ll Remember You.
Love, Derek and Tracy Barker.
Bum(stead) Review
There still seems to be much confusion as to the validity of the Alan Bumstead review.
We can confirm 100% that the review is fake.
Surrounded By Fakery, or “Tempest Over Interstate 80”
Because the deluge of emails coming in to ISIS asking questions about the Alan Bumstead review of “Tempest”, here are just a few comments from me.
I’m fairly certain that review copies of the album have not yet been sent out.
A review copy on vinyl !!!
The catalogue number looks totally wrong!
Take a close look at the centre of the LP label(s)– it’s actually a CD!!!
I could go on but I won’t.
Derek Barker.
A Few Random Thoughts On “Tempest” (July 17, 2012)
I won’t go into great detail here, there is plenty of time for that anon.
The album title is interesting in itself. The Tempest is of course a play by Willie the Shake and much has already been made of the fact that many consider it to be Shakespeare’s final play. On the other hand, maybe Bob borrowed the title from the 1997 bootleg release, “Tempest Storm”. After all, some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff!
The cover image is clearly a close-up of one the world famous sculptures from in front of The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna.
The statue shown on the cover is part of the Pallas Athena Fountain. The main standing sculpture is of the Greek goddess Athena. A multi talented lady, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, strength, the arts and crafts and mathematics! Bob always did like mathematical songs!
The image used on the album cover is one of the sculptures at the base of the fountain. The figure, sculpted by Carl Kundmann, symbolizes the river Vltava.
The album opens with ‘Duquesne Whistle’, a song about the “Duquesne Works” steel mill, home to “Dorothy Six”, the largest blast furnace in the world.
The Works, located in the Pennsylvania steel town of Duquesne, was part of the Carnegie Steel Company (later U.S. Steel). Andrew Carnegie was of course the man responsible for the construction of New York’s Carnegie Hall complex, part of which, the Chapter Hall, played host to Bob Dylan’s first ever concert– Saturday, November 4, 1961 (see ISIS 160).
During the 1930s and ’40s, the town of Duquesne, which thrived because of the steel works, had more than 22,000 residents. After the decline of the steel industry – and the closure of the works in 1984 – the population plummeted to just over 5,000.
Dylan appears to have taken inspiration for his song from an article, “Business & Finance: Whistle”, TIME Magazine (Monday, June 26, 1933):–
“Pennsylvania steel town, twelve miles up the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh. For two years its 21,000 inhabitants watched the tires die in the blast furnaces one by one. Then for two more years the furnaces were cold. Duquesne called it Depression. One day last week, Duquesne whistles shrieked, Duquesne bells clanged…”
As indicated some time back, we had come by a number of rumours concerning “Tempest”, some we confirmed and printed, others we didn’t. One such rumour suggested that there would be a longish ballad that was in the vein of ‘Gypsy Davy’. Another mentioned that one song was inspired by Robert Burns. It was never too clear whether these two rumours were connected. In any event, Scarlet Town was the home of Barbara Allen.
The album’s title track, ‘Tempest’, is the long rumoured 14-minute song about the demise of the supposedly unsinkable British passenger liner RMS Titanic.
The album’s closing track, ‘Roll On John’, borrows its title from a traditional number that Dylan was known to perform back in 1962 (played on the Cynthia Gooding radio show, “Folksinger’s Choice”). The track on “Tempest” is, however, the John Lennon tribute mentioned in the June ISIS Newsletter.
The song quotes lines from several Beatles’ numbers, including ‘Come Together’ and ‘A Day In The Life’ (think ‘Tweeter And The Monkey Man’ and Dylan’s use of Springsteen lyrics). Although slightly veiled, Bob Dylan had previously written about John Lennon in the title track to his 1981 album “Shot Of Love”. The track was written shortly after Dylan met with Yoko Ono on January 8, 1981, a month after Lennon had been murdered by Mark David Chapman. At the Travemunde Press Conference (July 1981) Dylan said “He [Lennon] was actually shot by someone who supposedly loved him. But what kind of love is that? That’s fan love. That’s what hero worship can breed, if you worship a man in that kind of way”.
For the time being, that seems like a good place to leave things.
The 10-song 68-minute album will be released on September 11, 2012.
It will be available as a “standard” CD jewel case release; a “deluxe” CD release, possibly complete with a booklet, and as a 2-LP set.
TRACKS:
1. Duquesne Whistle / 2. Soon After Midnight / 3. Narrow Way / 4. Long and Wasted Years / 5. Pay In Blood / 6. Scarlet Town / 7. Early Roman Kings / 8. Tin Angel / 9. Tempest / 10. Roll On John
Currently, Sony UK do not have prices for the album. As soon as the details are confirmed ISIS will take pre-release orders.
Citadel Music Festival, Berlin, Germany July 2, 2012
1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob on Korg keyboard) / 2. It Ain’t Me, Babe (Bob on guitar) / 3. Things Have Changed (Bob centre stage with harp) / 4. Tangled Up In Blue (Bob centre stage with harp) / 5. Cry a While (Bob centre stage with harp) / 6. She Belongs To Me (Bob centre stage with harp) / 7. Love Sick (Bob on grand piano) / 8. The Levee’s Gonna Break (Bob on grand piano) / 9. High Water (For Charley Patton) (Bob centre stage with harp, then grand piano) / 10. Desolation Row (Bob on grand piano) / 11. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on grand piano, Korg keyboard, back to grand piano) / 12. Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on guitar) / 13. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on grand piano) / 14. Ballad Of a Thin Man (Bob centre stage with harp) / 15. Like a Rolling Stone (Bob on grand piano / 16. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on grand piano) / 17. (encore) Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob on grand piano, then centre stage with harp)
A full 17-song set last night in Berlin, the encore being ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. Any talk that the baby grand might have been borrowed from another Hop Farm act was dispelled. Bob played piano on nine songs but on a couple of songs he also moved between piano and keyboard, and piano and harp on the same number. There were six song changes from Hop Farm. The probability is that last night’s concert set the tone for the rest of the tour but any major changes will be noted here.
Hop Farm Festival June 30, 2012
This, the first concert of Bob Dylan’s Summer tour of Europe, began with Stu Kimball strolling onto the stage playing a rather bluesy guitar riff. Kimball’s appearance, a couple of minutes ahead of scheduled start time, combined with the absence of the usual Al Santos pre-concert spoken introduction (the first time since I can’t remember when– 2002 I think), caught many Dylan watchers by surprise. The rest of the band followed with Dylan taking up his customary position behind the now familiar electric Korg keyboard. Proceedings began as they had at the Spring concerts with ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’. This was a noticeably laidback rendition. Bob then moved centre stage to play his Rick Kelly eagle-head Strat on ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’. Bob laid down his guitar and performed the next three songs, ‘Things Have Changed’ (nice version), ‘Tangled Up In Blue’, and ‘Cry a While’ (reworked), centre stage with harp. So far, this was pretty much standard fare. For the next number, however, Bob took a seat at the grand piano which stood centre stage and from there on in the mood of the concert was altered. For the next 11 songs (the remainder of what was probably a slightly a truncated “festival” set), Bob did not return either to the guitar or to the Korg keyboard). Instead, he spent a total of eight songs on grand piano and a further three centre stage with harp. The one song that you would have thought would benefit from being performed at the piano, ‘Ballad Of a Thin Man’, was instead one of the three played centre stage with harp. Seemingly, Bob is not yet ready to move away from atmospheric echo-laden version just yet.
Overall though, the Hop Farm set had a lighter feel to it than of late. Those who complained about the supposed excess volume of last year’s out-and-out rock concerts will no doubt be delighted with the new sound. Not able to trade guitar licks with Bob, Charlie Sexton took something of a back seat compared with previous shows.
With nine of the 16 songs performed seated, several people complained to me that they couldn’t see Bob. However, that was probably made worse by the fact that this was a festival crowd. In any event, Bob was animated, the voice was strong, the weather good and the crowd mostly enthusiastic. ‘Can’t Wait’ was a great performance. Tonight’s set closed with the now obligatory ‘All Along The Watchtower’, in the middle of which, Bob made the band introductions! There was no encore. The burning question – which will be answered tonight in Berlin, Germany – is, does the grand piano belong to Bob, or was it borrowed from another performer– Randy Crawford?
Thanks to those who emailed their thoughts.
Set List
1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob on Korg keyboard) 2. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob on guitar) 3. Things Have Changed (Bob centre stage with harp) 4. Tangled Up In Blue (Bob centre stage with harp) 5. Cry a While (Bob canter stage with harp) 6. Love Sick (Bob on grand piano) 7. Ballad Of Hollis Brown (Bob centre stage with harp) 8. Spirit On The Water (Bob on grand piano) 9. High Water (For Charley Patton) (Bob centre stage with harp) 10. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bob on grand piano) 11. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on grand piano) 12. Can’t Wait (Bob on grand piano) 13. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on grand piano) 14. Ballad Of AaThin Man (Bob centre stage with harp) 15. Like a Rolling Stone (Bob on grand piano) 16. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on grand piano)
Muttering Small Talk At The Wall
That Sinking Feeling – Bob’s New Album
Much of the talk in Dylan circles at the moment is about a new Bob Dylan studio album. Although we mentioned this in our “Dylan Digest” page back in early March 2012, very little news has since been forthcoming. It was leaked on the Internet that Uncut’s Alan Jones would get to hear the album week commencing May 14, but it’s not certain that such a listening session took place. We understand, however, that New York and London listening session for Sony executives have taken place.
Water Pearl
The heading to our previous entry, “That Sinking Feeling”, would also have been appropriate for this piece. We wrote about Bob Dylan’s gaff schooner Water Pearl way back in ISIS 87 (November 1999). We had been sent a postcard entitled “The Launching of Bob Dylan’s ‘Water Pearl’ Bequia West Indies” that had been made from a painting by long-time Bequia habitué, Sam McDowell. The painting was made in 1979 while the postcard (re-printed in ISIS 87, page 39) was first printed in 1997.
We wrote about the circumstances in which the boat sank in a recent issue of ISIS (156, June 2011). The information had appeared in the May 2011 issue of “Classic Boat”. Chris Bowman, who was in the small Grenadine island of Bequia in the early ’70s, built a very nice 40/45ft local-type sloop. She was so nice that Bob Dylan financed Bowman to build Water Pearl of Bequia, a 65-70ft gaff schooner with topmasts on both masts. It seems that Bowman sailed her around the Caribbean for three or four years and had ironed out all of the bugs. He was on his way to the Pacific for a long cruise “financed by Bob Dylan” when disaster struck. En route, Bowman approached the Panama Canal at about 4am. Instead of heaving to and waiting for dawn, he tried to enter the harbour, missed the entrance and piled up on the beach. It seems that he could not organize a salvage tug in time and the Water Pearl slowly broke up over six days.
Anyway, all of this leads me to the recent discovery of another rather nice picture of Water Pearl, different from the one previously printed in ISIS.
Photo from Vanishing Sail Project
Been On The Job Too Long
Derek Barker (2008)
I was in the throes of putting the finishing touches to my book, “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence”, when the much talked about (often for all the wrong reasons) “Tell Tale Signs” arrived at my door. With a publisher’s deadline to meet, the tracks of immediate interest were the cover songs that were new to me: ‘32-20 Blues’, ‘Mary And The Soldier’ and ‘Duncan And Brady’. In the end ‘32-20 Blues’ and ‘Mary And The Soldier’ would both disappoint. Perhaps it’s the repetitive guitar pattern on ‘32-20 Blues’, or maybe it’s simply that the guitar dominates the mix, especially when compared with Robert Johnson’s original recording. ‘Mary And The Soldier’ is a fine song and I can’t quite put my finger on why it doesn’t excite me more. The guitar on this one is so similar to ‘Love Henry’ that I doubt both tracks should have made it onto the same album, and of the two, Bob certainly made the right choice in retaining ‘Love Henry’.
Anyway, the infamous disc three, which coincidentally contained two of the three tracks I needed to hear, was too tantalizing to resist. So, I popped it into my CD player and sat back to listen. Wow! This was not the ‘Duncan And Brady’ that I expected, or indeed the one I was familiar with from live performances. This studio take, driven by David Bromberg’s slide guitar and Richard Crooks’ drumming, with some lovely organ fills from Christopher Cameron, is a revelation. Track two on disc three of “Tell Tale Signs” is a truly remarkable version of ‘Cold Iron Bound’. However, this would have to wait as I hit and re-hit the replay button for repeats of ‘Duncan And Brady’. For me, this stunning studio outtake alone is worth the (very expensive) price of admission to “Tell Tale Signs”. What follows therefore is a short examination of this intriguing song, the majority of which is taken from my book “The Songs He Didn’t Write”.
Duncan And Brady (Traditional)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Up comes Brady in a ‘lectric car,
Got a mean look all ‘round his eye,
Gonna shoot somebody jus’ to see them die.
A stunning version of this song was recorded by Bob Dylan during the aborted “Good As I Been To You” album sessions which took place in Acme Recording Studios, Chicago in June 1992 with David Bromberg producing. It is this track that was released in October 2008 on the rarities compilation album “The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs: Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006”.
Dylan has performed this song in concert many times, the first instance being November 17, 1999 at University Of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire. The song was played forty-eight times in 2000, twenty-four times in 2001 and nine times in 2002. The last performance of the song thus far was on September 1, 2002, at the Janus Jazz Festival in Aspen, Colorado.
It is difficult to identify exactly where Dylan learned the song. An early printing, entitled ‘Brady’, appeared in Carl Sandburg’s 1927 “American Songbag”. One of the earliest recordings was by Lead Belly, but this version definitely is not Dylan’s source. Likewise, New Riders of the Purple Sage, John Koerner and the Grateful Dead can also be discounted. The main contenders are therefore Dave Van Ronk, who released the song on “Dave Van Ronk Sings Ballads, Blues And a Spiritual” (1959) and Tom Rush, who included the song on his 1963 album “Got a Mind To Ramble”. These two recordings have almost identical lyrics and are quite similar to the lyrics performed by Dylan.
Van Ronk says he learned the song from Paul Clayton whose version is entitled ‘Been On The Job Too Long’. In turn, Clayton says that he learned it from a copy of a Wilmer Watts record that he found while collecting songs in Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky.
Although some of the “facts” have been altered, there is no doubt that the song ‘Duncan And Brady’ portrays an actual event. The incident happened on Monday, October 6, 1890 in the Charles Starkes Saloon at 715 North 11th Street in St Louis. A fight broke out in the bar but, when police attended, the brawl turned into a gunfight and police backup was called. One of the officers, Patrolman James Brady, was hit by gunfire and died. Harry Duncan was arrested for the murder but he reportedly claimed his innocence, insisting that the shot was fired by the owner of the bar, Charles Starkes. Duncan filed a series of appeals that took his case all the way to the US Supreme Court. Duncan’s appeal was dismissed and he was subsequently hanged on July 27, 1894. According to some, Charles Starkes would later confess to the murder on his deathbed. Most versions of the song depict Brady as a corrupt officer who, to use Dylan’s phrasing, had “been on the job too looooong”.
The opening verse, which has Officer Brady arriving on the scene by ‘lectric car, is both intriguing and inaccurate. The first electric vehicle in the USA was designed in 1891. It ran, as a test on the streets of Chicago in late 1892 and production began in 1895. It was around 1900 before the vehicles began appearing on the streets in the form of taxicabs and ambulances.
It is a matter of fact that the affray at Charles Starkes’ Saloon occurred on October 6, 1890, a year before the first electric vehicle was invented and a full five years before production began. It would have been impossible therefore for Officer Brady to have attended the incident in his ‘lectric car. (This is probably a remarkable coincidence, but it is interesting that one of the first automobiles to be driven in Manhattan was an electric car purchased by a man named “Diamond” Jim Brady).
My research indicates that the song ‘Duncan And Brady’ was probably written at around the time of Brady’s murder (1890) or possibly shortly after Harry Duncan was hung (1894) and that the original song did not include what is now commonly the opening ‘lectric car verse. This premise can be supported in part by the fact that one of the earliest recordings of ‘Duncan And Brady’, that of Lead Belly, does not contain this verse.
I have always thought it quite odd that a murder ballad should begin with a reference to the nursery rhyme – ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ – and it is my supposition that this ill-worded line was used simply to provide a rhyme for the word “car”. Staying with nursery rhymes, Bob Dylan is not averse to beginning a song with “Once Upon A Time”.
Two rather unusual variant fragments are quoted in Carl Sandberg’s “The American Songbag”. Geraldine Smith, an attorney-at-law in Chicago, provided Sandberg with this version, which she heard from a group of Omaha railroad men. This version is, I think, unique in providing a supposed location.
Down in St. Louis at 12th and Carr,
Big Bill Brady was a-tendin’ bar,
In came Duncan with a star on his chest,
Duncan says, “Brady you’re under arrest”.
This second version, from the R.W. Gordon collection and also included in Sandberg, is interesting because of the lyric variations which include a stanza that has Brady “struttin’ in hell with his Stetson on!”
Duncan and his brother was playing pool,
When Brady came in acting a fool,
He shot him once, he shot him twice,
Saying, “I don’t make my living by shooting dice!”
Brady went to hell lookin’ mighty curious,
the devil says, “Where you from?” “East St. Louis”,
“Well, pull off your coat and step this way,
For I’ve been expecting you every day!”
When the girls heard Brady was dead
They went up home and put on red,
And came down town singin’ this song –
“Brady’s struttin’ in hell with his Stetson on!”
Neither of these early versions contains the ‘lectric car verse or the “been on the job too long” refrain.
The earliest known recording of the song is by Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles who recorded it on October 29, 1929. The recording was issued in 1930 under the title of ‘Been On The Job Too Long’ (Paramount 3210). The other main early source is Lead Belly, who recorded the song twice in 1947; one version was a-capella while the other was on twelve-string guitar. Both these cuts can be found on the Smithsonian Folkways album “Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Leadbelly Legacy Vol 1”. Lead Belly’s version has no ‘lectric car and also omits the “been on the job too long” refrain.
Below are the first and final stanzas of Wilmer Watts’ version, which is perhaps the earliest rendition to include the ‘lectric car verse. This version also has a twist in the Devil’s tale because when corrupt and apathetic police officer Brady tells the Devil that he will soon be out of there, he is informed by the Devil that no “sucker” has ever got away from him because he’s “been on the job too long”.
Twinkle, twinkle like this star,
Yonder goes Brady on a ‘lectric car,
Makin’ his way to the freedom land,
He’s gonna kill him a sucker like a bullnose man,
Been on the job too long.
Brady went to hell with a crutch under his arm,
Says, “Mr Devil, well I ain’t here long”,
Devil says, “Brady, just this-a way,
Well, there’s never been a sucker here that ever got away,
Been on the job too long”.
As is common with folk songs, especially murder ballads, the lyrics to this tune have been changed and added to over the years, often to fit with different events and locales. In the book “On The Trail Of Negro Folk-Songs” – Dorothy Scarborough 1952 – Mrs. Tom Barret, a resident of Marlin, Texas, identifies the place of the shooting as being Waco, Texas.
According to Mrs Barret, the version(s) she knows are from “a genuine ballad” that celebrates the final adventure of a ‘bad Nigger” who shot up the town … “Waco was the scene of the fray”.
Although Waco is not the setting for our version, Mrs Barret lists two fragments of lyrics which are of interest. In one song, “Brady come down on – Gabriel car”, while in another, “Brady come home on a cable car”. One version also mention’s someone by the name of “Diamond Joe” ( a popular name in American folk songs).
It has been written elsewhere that after Brady’s death the women in the song all dressed in red either to celebrate the fact that the corrupt officer was dead, or that the women might have been prostitutes who, with Brady out of the way, were able to work without hindrance. It should be noted, however, that wearing red was an accepted dress for funerals in some African-American traditions. The bright colour was perhaps a celebration of the deceased’s life rather than a mourning of his or her death.
Several blues numbers have the women dressing in red for funerals. Jim Kweskin’s ‘Ella Speed’ contains the line: “The women all heard that Ella Speed was dead / And they all went home and re-ragged in red”.
Even more interesting is this verse from Jesse James’ 1936 recording of ‘Southern Casey Jones’.
When the news reached town Casey Jones was dead,
Women went home and had it out in red,
Slipping and sliding all across the streets,
With their loose mother hubbards in their stocking feet, stocking feet, stocking feet,
loose mother hubbards in their stocking feet.
Extremely popular in the1880s, the Mother Hubbard was a full, loose, unbelted cotton dress with long sleeves and a high neck. The dress was introduced by missionaries to the South Seas islands (to cover the semi-naked “savages”), but became popular with African-Americans who originally wore it for cool comfort around the house. The name of the dress comes from illustrations made for Sarah Catherine Martin’s nursery rhyme character Mother Hubbard who wore a similar dress.
It seems that the women in the song were so eager to discover what had happened between Harry Duncan and James Brady that they were still wearing their indoor clothing and hadn’t even bothered to put on shoes!
Barker, Derek, first published in “The Songs He Didn’t Write: Bob Dylan Under The Influence” (Chrome Dreams 2008). Updated in ISIS Magazine issue 141 (December 2008).
