Sean Paul Murphy, Writer

Sean Paul Murphy, Writer
Sean Paul Murphy, Storyteller
Showing posts with label Bob Dylan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Dylan. Show all posts

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Bob Dylan in Concert


I am a huge Bob Dylan fan, and I'm not just talking about my weight. To me, he is a poet, prophet and philosopher. I have seen him numerous times in concert. One of the frustrating things about seeing Bob Dylan live is that he is an incredibly erratic performer. Sometimes he barrels through the greatest hits in a croaky blur, other times his performances are thoughtful and articulate. He once sang that the times they were a'changing. Well. so is he. He constantly re-invents himself and his songs on stage. You never know what you are going to get. It can be maddening, but also very rewarding.

Here's where I've seen him over the years and the songs he sang placed in the cultural context of those changing times during the week of the concerts:


Date:  July 6, 1986
Venue: RFK Stadium, Washington D.C.
President: Ronald Reagan
#1 Hit Single: Simply Red, Holding Back The Years

Thumbnail Review:

Simply an amazing concert. Bob Dylan was backed up by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (they alternated sets) followed by The Grateful Dead. Dylan was in great voice and the Heartbreakers provided some serious musical muscle. They played a lot of hits. The arrangements were mostly similar to the recorded versions. As a final bonus, Dylan got up and played three songs with the Grateful Dead. They were amazing. Dylan and The Dead seemed a marriage made in rock and roll heaven, although, in retrospect, it might have been the contact high. When The Dead started playing the stadium was filled with brown marijuana smoke.

Speaking of drugs, I drove the wife of a friend of mine to the concert. When we found our seats, she remarked on how little drugs were present. She had expected more at a Grateful Dead concert. Obviously, she had missed the thirty or so people who walked up to us in the parking lot whispering, "Trips..." Or perhaps she dismissed them as travel agents.

This might have been my favorite concert experience ever.

1. So Long, Good Luck and Goodbye (cover)
2. Positively 4th Street
3. Clean Cut Kid
4. I'll Remember You
5. Shot of Love
6. That Lucky Old Sun (cover)
7. Masters of War
8. To Ramona
9. One Too Many Mornings
10. It Ain't Me, Babe
11. I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know
12. Band of the Hand
13. When The Night Comes Falling From the Sky
14. Lonesome Town (Cover)
15. The Ballad of a Thin Man
16. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
17. Seeing the Real You at Last
18. Across the Borderline (Cover)
19. I & I
20. Like a Rolling Stone
21. In the Garden
22, Blowin' in the Wind
23. Rock 'Em Dead
24. Knockin' on Heaven's Door


Date:  July 10, 1987
Venue: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President: Ronald Reagan
#1 Hit Single: Whitney Houston, I Want To Dance With Someone (Who Loves Me)

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The three numbers Dylan performed with the Grateful Dead the previous summer at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC., portended great things. I was extremely excited when the Dylan and The Dead tour was announced. However, my excitement turned to horror at the concert itself.

Now let me earn the wrath of the Dead fans reading this blog. To me, a Grateful Dead performance mainly serves as the aural background to a pharmacological experience. It seems to me, after seeing a couple of their concerts, that the group quickly settles into a consistent, mellow groove conducive to having a pleasant trip. I call it the Grateful Dead bop. Unfortunately, the Grateful Dead bop renders an unhappy sameness to the Dylan numbers. I couldn't stand it. I experienced my best and worst Dylan concerts back to back.

BTW, on the way home, I did see a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.

1. Tangled Up in Blue
2. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
3. Man of Peace
4. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
5. John Brown
6. Simple Twist of Fate
7. Ballad of a Thin Man
8. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
9. Chimes of Freedom
10. Queen Jane Approximately
11. Gotta Serve Somebody
12. Joey
13. All Along The Watchtower


Date:  February 22, 1991
Venue: Painter's Mill Music Fair, Reisterstown, Maryland
President: George H.W. Bush
#1 Hit Single: Whitney Houston, All The Man That I Need

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The Never Ending Tour has begun. At this concert, Dylan was backed up by this G.E. Smith led touring band. He ripped through the set at a breakneck pace with a croaking voice and indifferent arrangements. That said, I really liked it. After Dylan and The Dead, I was relieved to hear him rocking again.

1. You're Gonna Quit Me (cover)
2. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
3. All Along the Watchtower
4. Positively 4th Street
5. Silvio
6. Born In Time
7. Blackjack Davey (traditional)
8. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (A good pick for Baltimore)
9, Boots of Spanish Leather
10. God Knows
11. Maggie's Farm
12. A Series of Dreams (The live debut of this song)
13. Boots of Spanish Leather
14. It Ain't Me, Babe
15. Rainy Day Women #13 & 35


Date:  July 20, 1991
Venue: Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia
President: George H.W. Bush
#1 Hit Single: EMF, Unbelievable

 Thumbnail Review:

This concert was only a few months after the Painters Mill one, but the set list was almost entirely different with only a two song overlap. The tone and vibe was completely different as well. The pace was more relaxed and his vocals were clear and articulate. Around this time, I was wondering why Dylan was continually touring. Was it the money? I think I got the answer at this concert. I snuck up close and watched him. He was actually smiling. Wow. Maybe he was touring because he actually enjoyed it.

PS. Kris Kristofferson opened for him. Not a bad deal.

1. New Morning
2. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
4. All Along The Watchtower
5. Shelter From The Storm
5. Gotta Serve Somebody
6. Wiggle Wiggle
7. I'll Remember You
8. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry
9. Barbara Allen (traditional)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man
11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
12. It Ain't Me, Babe
13. Folsom Prison Blues (cover)
14. Everything Is Broken
15. Lenny Bruce
16. Highway 61 Revisited
17. What Good Am I?
18. Ballad of a Thin Man


Date:  February 22, 1998
Venue: Patriot Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
President: Bill Clinton
#1 Hit Single: Spice Girls, Too Much
#1 Film: Titanic

 Thumbnail Review:

This concert took place three days before the 40th Annual Grammy Awards where Dylan won Album of the Year for Time Out of Mind. This was considered a major comeback for Dylan, and this was an amazing concert. His singing was strong and attentive. This performance seemed to really matter to him and it showed.

Although the Bob Dylan/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers/The Grateful Dead show was probably my favorite concert overall, this show featured Bob Dylan himself at his best.

1. Absolutely Sweet Marie
2. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You
3. I Can't Wait
4. Simple Twist of Fate
5. Silvio
6. Little Sadie (Traditional) (Acoustic)
7. Masters of War (Acoustic)
8. Tangled Up in Blue (Acoustic)
9. Million Miles
10. Blind Willie McTell
11. Highway 61 Revisited
12. 'Til I Fell in Love With You
13. It Ain't Me, Babe (Acoustic)
14. Love Sick
15. Rain Day Women #12 & 35


Date:  November 12, 2019
Venue: Event Center, UMBC University
President: Donald Trump
#1 Hit Single: Lewis Capaldi, Someone You Loved
#1 Film: Midway
Thumbnail Review:

After the George Mason University show, I really didn't feel the need to see Dylan again. I felt I had seen a definitive performance. However, some shows tempted me. He played Salisbury University with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits (who had also produced Infidels, my favorite Dylan album.) Sadly, I couldn't get anyone to go with me. Ditto with the concert at Cal Ripken Stadium with Willie Nelson. However, I couldn't resist this one. If he was going to play this close to my house, I felt practically obligated to see him. Plus, my wife Deborah had never seen him. This would be a good opportunity for her to experience him.

Deborah was not a Dylan fan. We reached a compromise early in our marriage. On our many road trips, I wouldn't play Bob Dylan if she didn't play country music. She was a little wary about going to this concert, but Bob won her over. She left saying that now she got Dylan. Yay!

That said, although the band was terrific and the arrangements were always interesting, seventy-eight-year-old Dylan was not in the best voice. However, what he lost in range, he made up in heart.  I was glad to see him, and I look forward to seeing him again.

1. Things Have Changed
2. It Ain't Me, Babe
3. Highway 61 Revisited
4. Simple Twist of Fate
5. Can't Wait
6. When I Paint My Masterpiece
7. Honest With Me
8. Tryin' to Get to Heaven
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. Pay in Blood
11. Lenny Bruce
12. Early Roman Kings
13. Girl From the North Country
14. Not Dark Yet
15. Thunder on the Mountain
16. Soon After Midnight
17. Gotta Serve Somebody
18. Ballad of a Thin Man
19. It Take a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Here's some more of my music blogs:

Beatles Albums Ranked
My 20 Favorite Beatles Songs
My 5 Least Favorite Beatles Songs
My 5 Favorite Rolling Stones Albums
My 5 Favorite Dylan Albums

Here are some blogs about music videos I edited:

FD Automatic: Red Shoes
Crack The Sky: Mr. President
Greg Kihn: Horror Show
Nils Lofgren: Alone

Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined.




Here are some sample chapters:
Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished
Chapter 15 - Quarter To Midnight

Follow me on Twitter: SeanPaulMurphy
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Sunday, January 17, 2016

My Five Favorite Dylan Albums

Here's a list of my five favorite Bob Dylan albums.  My criterion?  Basically my own personal taste, and not their place in the canon of popular music.  I think many Dylan fans will be surprised that I tend to favor the later Dylan, but, then again, that was the Dylan of my time.  I picked the five albums that I enjoy listening too most in their entirety.  Albums that I find myself skipping tracks on were disqualified from the list.

(I know I should probably start with number five and work my way down to number one, but I am going in the reverse order since that is more reflective of my Dylan journey.)


1).  Infidels.  1983

Infidels was my real introduction to Bob Dylan.  I grew up without much interest in popular music -- aside from The Beatles.  My mother had both of Dylan's earlier greatest hits albums, but I never found myself drawn to them.  I wasn't into that whole folky thing.  However, one afternoon I was sitting in the Film Lab at Towson State and I read a favorable review of this album in the Towerlight, our student newspaper.  Somehow it inspired me to go over to Record and Tape Traders and pick up a copy.  And it blew my mind.

I had never heard a song like the opening track "Jokerman" before.  I found it equally cryptic and illuminating.  I was mesmerized.  Bob sounded like an Old Testament prophet.  "Freedom, just around the corner for you, but with truth so far off, what good will it do?"  Amen, brother.  The critics hailed this album as Dylan's return from Christianity, but they weren't listening.  Christianity seemed to permeate ever track.  I think the verse to the song "I & I" succinctly sums up the relationship between God and man.  "I and I, in creation where one's nature neither honors nor forgives, I and I, one said to the other, no man sees my face and lives."  Pretty deep stuff.  At least to me.  At the time.

And the musicianship....  Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor going neck-to-neck on the guitars backed up by the ace rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.  Things don't get much better than that.

The hunt was on for more Dylan.
2).  Highway 61 Revisited.  1965

After wearing down my copy of Infidels, I started researching Dylan in order to discover where to go next.  The arrows all pointed toward Highway 61 Revisited.

What an immense flood of words floating above a lively accompaniment.  I would later understand that Dylan was exalting in the ability to say whatever he wanted on this album, and the previous one, Bringing It All Back Home, after tiring of the restraints of folk music.  The album was rife with anger and judgement, as exemplified by "Like A Rolling Stone," which looked at the revolution he helped start and found it distinctly wanting, but it was also filled with humor.  A new songwriter myself, I could picture him smiling to himself as he reached for some of the most outlandish rhymes.  Listening to the album, I was surprised how the critics were later caught off-guard by Dylan's quote/unquote Christian period.  The Bible often showed up in his work.  Think of the opening of the title track:  "God said to Abraham:  kill me a son.  Abe said:  Man, you must be putting me on."  He's already wrestling with the divine.

Depending on my mood, this album often tops my list.  Highway 61 Revisited is definitely more influential, but Infidels was my first love.
3).  Oh Mercy.  1989

When I became a Dylan fan in 1983, I didn't realize that he was entering his creative nadir.  Although I always found something of value on each of his albums, it became tougher and tougher to wade through albums like Knocked Out Loaded, Down In The Groove, and Dylan &The Dead.*  I would take solace in his earlier work, but I couldn't help but wonder when, if ever, the real Dylan would show up again.

He did in 1989 with Oh Mercy.  I loved this album from the very first note as Dylan looked out at our "Political World" and discovered that "Everything Is Broken," and warned us about "The Man In The Long Black Coat."  Not only did I like the songs and the world-weary voice, I also loved the swampy production provided by Daniel Lanois.  It seems to me that, for the most part, Dylan's production seems to be rather slapdash:  A group of musicians gather around Dylan, they run through the songs a couple of times, and that's that.  Here, as on Infidels, which was skillfully produced by Mark Knopfler, Lanois places the songs in meaningful sonic context.

It was a great return to form, but it would be almost a decade before he would put together such a strong collection of original songs.

*Actually, I don't think I ever bought Dylan & the Dead.  After seeing one of the shows on this tour in Philadelphia, I didn't see the need to own the album.  Dylan's songs lost their distinctiveness when playing with the Dead.  They all seemed to blur together into the traditional mid-tempo Grateful Dead bop.  A pity.  I had seen Dylan play three songs with the Dead at RFK in Washington when he was touring with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Those three songs, which were also staples of the Dead's repertoire, were fabulous.   However, a whole concert of Dylan and the Dead together result in a dulling sameness.

Perhaps it was the contact high from the audience....


4).  Blood On The Tracks.  1975

Dylan seemed like an unstoppable creative force during the 1960s, but the 1970s found him much more muddled as his work careened wildly from genius to WTF.  Blood on the Tracks was definitely his best album of the decade.  It was the first of many acclaimed comebacks.

The album opens with one of Dylan's most celebrated tracks, "Tangled Up in Blue," and the blue mood continues throughout the rest of the album.  Returning to a simpler stripped down sound than some of his previous albums, most of the songs seem to look back at a past relationship.  Most critics credit turmoil in Dylan's marriage, which would eventually end in divorce, as the inspiration for the material.  However, to this day, Dylan contends that the album was not autobiographical.  Not that it needed to be.  At least for him anyway.  I certainly recognize myself in some of those songs in some of my more melancholy moments.  This is not an album I listen to often, but when I am in the right mood, it resonates very deeply.



5).  Love and Theft.  2001

Welcome to the new millennium, Bobby.

In this self-produced album, Dylan delivers a strong set of songs, backed up by his touring band, which stylistically reflect his interest in pre-rock popular music forms.  In "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," the old master remains as cryptic and intriguing as ever, and "Mississippi" easily ranks alongside best of his songs ever.  There isn't a bad song on the album.

Dylan himself considers this album to be part of a trilogy with Time Out of Mind, that preceded it, and Modern Times, that followed it.  Critics tend to hail the Grammy-award winning Time Out of Mind as the best of the three albums.  I prefer this one.  I appreciate Time Out of Mind, but a certain gloom hangs over it.  This album, however, is filled with wry humor and experimentation.   Dylan seems to be enjoying himself, and the masks he puts on, during album.  I enjoy it, too.

Honorable Mention:

Personally, I find it hard to believe Bringing It All Back Home didn't make it.  Every song is a classic.  I tried to include it in lieu of practically every other album on the list after the first two, but it kept getting pushed back.  I will credit it as number six.  I will confess that I am not quite as fond of Blonde on Blonde.  Most critics say it is his best album ever.  It certainly contains a number of classic tracks, but I have a hard time listening to it all the way through in a single sitting.  While creatively lost in the 1990s, Dylan released two albums of himself playing old folk and blues songs solo on acoustic guitar.  I really didn't care for the first one, Good As I've Been To You, but the second one, World Gone Wrong, is really terrific and moving.  Even better are the liner notes where Dylan describes why he chose the songs.  Usually, Dylan is too oblique for my taste in his prose writing, but these liner notes really gave a glimpse of his soul.   If this was a Top Ten list, John Wesley Harding would have definitely made it, even though Bobby Boy needed Jimi Hendrix to teach him how to really play "All Along The Watchtower."  Desire features some of his best story songs.  My favorite one on the album is "Black Diamond Bay."  I love how Dylan switches the perspective of the narrator, taking a step back from the material, in the final verse.  He employs the same device later in "Blind Willie McTell," an outtake from the Infidels album, which is one of the best songs he wrote.  The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is my favorite of his early albums.  It would definitely make my Top Ten List.  The official release of The Basement Tapes would have made my list once upon a time, until I grew a little disillusioned with it upon discovering how many overdubs were added.  I recently picked up the new "bootleg" version of the untouched original recordings.  I have figured out where they go in the official Dylan canon yet.  Although I always enjoy listening to Dylan exploring his faith, whatever it might be at the particular moment, none of his three strictly Christian albums would have made my Top Ten list.  The first one, Slow Train Coming, is generally regarded as the best one, but I prefer the harder rocking third album, Shot of Love, the best.  The album's final track, "Every Grain of Sand,"  is one of his best songs ever and a great depiction of trying to live the Christian life.

Worst Album:

I never heard Dylan, the outtake album Columbia released to spite him after he left for Asylum, but they say that it is pretty bad.  I don't hate Self Portrait as much as people did at the time of its release.  That's probably because I never sat down and really listened to it.  I can't say that I really hate any of Dylan's albums, but there are a few that just don't gel with me no matter how many chances I give them.  They include:  New Morning, Planet Waves, Street Legal, Down In The Groove and Knocked Out Loaded.

I haven't heard the Christmas album yet.  Or his Sinatra wannabe one.  They kinda scare me....

Check out some videos I edited here:
FD Automatic: Red Shoes
Crack The Sky: Mr. President
Greg Kihn: Horror Show
Nils Lofgren: Alone

Other Lists:


Have you bought my memoir "The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking to God" yet?  If not, you really should.  Get it on paperback or kindle here:  BUY IT NOW!  (How about that for subtle?)


Follow me on Twitter:  SeanPaulMurphy

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