The George Harrison Sessions (1970 Anniversary Collection)

In the last radio episode of the year, Laura and Robert sink their teeth into the latest cloak-and-dagger Dylan release, the 50th Anniversary Collection with all previously unreleased recordings from the year 1970. We’re particularly putting our focus on the session from the 1 May where Dylan was joined in the studio by George Harrison. We discuss the impact of Harrison’s presence on Dylan’s performance, as well as what these recordings can tell us about Dylan’s creative process in the studio, and we wonder whether a particular harmonica solo in this session already foreshadowed a song released years later on Blood On The Tracks.

If you have enjoyed listening to the show this past year and would like to show your support for Definitely Dylan, you can buy us a virtual coffee here.

Playlist:

1. Song To Woody

2. Yesterday

3. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

4. All I Have To Do Is Dream

5. It Ain’t Me Babe

6. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)

7. I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Bob Dylan and George Harrison – Their Musical Friendship

In the penultimate radio episode before the winter break, Laura and Robert are talking about the latest instalment of the 50th anniversary collection, which was surprise-released last week and covers the remaining unreleased material from 1970, including a session with George Harrison. We’re talking about what to expect and discuss the difference between these releases and the Bootleg Series. By the time we recorded, we hadn’t gotten our hands on the CD yet, so expect more on the topic next week! In the meantime, if you want to brush up on the friendship between Bob Dylan and George Harrison, you can listen to this episode on Dylan and the members of the Beatles after the band broke up. We also discuss other stuff and there’s lovely music. Enjoy!

PS: I don’t remember if I said in the episode that If Not For You was the only thing from the Harrison session that had been officially released, but just in case: a few other tracks for the session have also been released, for example the versions of “Time Passes Slowly” and “Working On A Guru” on the Another Self Portrait Bootleg Series.

If you’re still looking for a Christmas present for the Bob Dylan fan in your life (or for yourself), why not check out the Definitely Dylan shop, where you can find t-shirts and tote bags!

Playlist:

1. If Not For You (with George Harrison)

2. Honey Just Allow Mr One More Chance (with Earl Scruggs)

3. I Contain Multitudes

4. Hard Times

5. I Threw It All Away (Hard Rain)

6. Silver Bells

John Wesley Harding – Bob Dylan's 60s Wildcard

This week, Laura and Robert are dedicating the hour to an album that has a special place in Bob Dylan’s back catalogue: John Wesley Harding. We discuss what the album is and, crucially, what is isn’t, and how the album sits in the context of the rest of Bob Dylan’s 1960s output.

As mentioned in the episode, if you feel like making a direct comparison, here’s a video of Bob Dylan performing live acoustic in 1966.

Playlist:

1. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

2. Sign On The Cross

3. As I Went Out One Morning (Take 1)

4. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (Live at the Isle Of Wight Festival, 1969)

5. All Along The Watchtower

6. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Post-Apocalyptic Jams?

This week’s Definitely Dylan features a sweet selection of songs (this time chosen by Robert), which we then talk about. The theme is post-apocalyptic but hopeful - “we’ll meet again”, but also, there’s no strict theme, we were just having fun listening to music and chatting.

If you’re in the mood for some in-depth lyric analysis, don’t forget to subscribe to Definitely Dylan on your podcast platform of choice, because the next chapter in my Rough And Rowdy Ways series is coming soon!

Here’s the link to the episode where we talk about Moonlight being potentially a murder ballad.

And here’s a previous episode where we discuss Where Teardrops Fall further.

Playlist:

1. This Wheel’s On Fire

2. Death Is Not The End

3. Farewell (WFMT Radio Studio-Studs Terkel Wax Museum, 26 April, 1963)

4. Where Teardrops Fall

5. Moonlight

6. Isis (Live at Harvard Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 20 November, 1975)

Bob Dylan's Creative Process in Performance

After taking a look at Dylan’s creative process in the studio last week, Laura and Robert turn their attention to Bob Dylan’s performances on the stage for this week’s episode.

One thing I didn’t get to mention - if you enjoy diving into expansive universe of Dylan live recordings, you MUST check out the series Pretty Good Stuff, curated by one of our favourite Dylan experts James Adams for Aquarium Drunkard. A true connoisseur of Bob Dylan’s bootlegs, his selections are simply inspired and not to be missed.

The performance of One More Cup Of Coffee that I was referring to was from the 4 April 2009 in Munich Germany, and you can listen to it here. However, I misremembered how often Bob Dylan had played it since the seventies: he did play it once in 1988 and a few times during the 90s, as well as once in 2007 before reviving it for two shows in 2009 (in Stockholm and Munich).

If you’d like to check out the episode on the significance of twins and doubles in Bob Dylan’s songs, you can find the Gemini episode here.

Lastly, something he probably wouldn’t let me say on air, but Robert has just released a beautiful song last week called “Whatshisname”, and you can find it on Spotify, as well as on Bandcamp. If you like great songwriting (why else would you be here) and sad country songs, this one might be right up your street.

Playlist:

1. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York City, NY, 31 October 1964)

2. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) (Live at Memorial Auditorium, Worcester, MA, 19 November 1975)

3. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below) (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 28 February or 1 March, 1978)

4. Cover Down, Pray Through (Live at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY, 1 May, 1980)

5. Handsome Molly ( Live at The Gaslight Café, New York City, NY, 1962)

6. I And I (Live at Le Forum, Dijon, 1 July, 1998)