Episode #100 - We're Taking Your Requests!

Huzzah, it’s Definitely Dylan’s 100th radio episode! That’s 100 hours of us playing and enthusiastically discussing Bob Dylan’s songs: the lyrics, the themes, and of course the music and performance!

To celebrate, I asked our lovely listeners to tell us what songs they’d like to hear, and we received many, many fantastic requests, out of which we’ve chosen a few for this hour.

If you enjoy this, and you have a particular song or performance you’d like to hear on the show, tell us in the comments, maybe we can play it in an upcoming episode.

A few notes on this week’s programme: if you’d like to listen to the very early episode in which I talk about the evolution of several Dylan songs on the stage (including “One Too Many Mornings”), you can find that here. I also thought I’d share the bootleg recording of the slightly earlier 1976 performance of the song that I mention in the episode. This version comes from 1 May, so it is almost a month before the Hard Rain version (I incorrectly remembered it only being a few days earlier). This is a stunning version, but I think you’ll agree with me that the version on Hard Rain is a much more confident vocal performance.

Also, “Too Much Of Nothing” was covered by Peter, Paul & Mary. Mary Travers does a terrific job on lead vocal and the song features, as you might expect, some wonderful harmonies. For better or worse, their version also rid the song of pretty much all of its chaotic energy.

If you like, you can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon.

Playlist:

1. One Too Many Mornings (Hard Rain)

2. When He Returns (Live in Toronto, Canada, 18 April, 1980)

3. Too Much Of Nothing

4. Born In Time (live in Newark, NJ, 1 February, 1998)

5. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Take 1)

6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh It' Takes A Train To Cry (Newport Folk Festival, 25 July 1965)

7. Girl from the North Country feat Johnny Cash (with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)

Happy 80th Birthday Bob Dylan! - Introspection and Life Lessons in Dylan songs Through the Decades

Please join us in wishing Bob Dylan’s a very happy milestone birthday!

As the man himself is turning 80 years young, we’re celebrating by playing one introspective song from each decade of his prolific career to see how they reflect Dylan’s outlook on life and creativity at that moment in time.

If you’d like to support the show, you can become a member on Patreon!

Playlist:

1. I Contain Multitudes

2. Restless Farewell

3. When The Deal Goes Down

4. Not Dark Yet

5. Every Grain Of Sand

6. Forever Young (recording demo 6/73)

A Closer Look At: "Most Of The Time"

I want to take you on a journey towards the heart of one of my favourite Bob Dylan songs of all time: “Most Of The Time” from Dylan’s 1989 album Oh Mercy. Deceptively simple, this song about pain and denial is wonderfully subtle in its development of the singer’s feelings, while also playing with the listener’s expectations. In other words: it’s a masterclass in songwriting. So let’s find out why and how it works!

I hope you enjoy this closer look at one particular Dylan song. Let me know if you enjoy this episode and what other songs you’d like me to take a close look at!

Here’s the link to the Daniel Lanois interview compilation I mention in the episode.

If you are in a position to support my work, you can do that over on Patreon, where you also find the exclusive companion extra to this episode, in which we talk about the recording process of the song, the production, and its shortlived incarnation onstage! Thank you!

Original theme music and sound design for this episode by Robert Chaney

Early Dylan ('61-'63): The Beginnings of a Unique Style

This week, Laura and Robert are going back to the beginning to examine what we can learn about Bob Dylan’s unique style from listening to some early recordings. In the early 1960s, Dylan developed at such rapid speed, these recordings are precious documents of an artist finding his style and finding an audience along with it. We discuss which skills he honed until they were just right, the things he tried that were ultimately discarded, and we answer the question of who is playing the guitar on “Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right)” (spoiler: we think a certain Dylan biographer is wrong).

Playlist:

1. House Of The Rising Sun [Mackenzie Home Tapes]

2. All Over You (Gerde's Folk City, "The Banjo Tape", 8 February, 1963)

3. Don't Think Twice (It's All Right) (Witmark Demo)

4. Hero Blues [Take 1]

5. That's All Right, Mama [Take 1]

6. He Was A Friend Of Mine

Talkin' Dylan's Process - Outtakes, Early Versions, Alternate Takes

In this hour, Laura and Robert return once again to talk about some of Dylan’s outtakes and alternate takes by taking a look at four recordings from four different decades. Part of Bob Dylan’s enduring appeal is that he, perhaps more than any other popular artist, has let the audience in on his creative process: box sets like the Bootleg Series have given us access to not only outtakes, but also sketches, rough early attempts, and alternate versions. This peek behind the curtain is never demystifying, but instead gives us an insight into the non-linear, often alchemical creative process, which is full of difficult decisions.

If you want to support the show, Definitely Dylan is now on Patreon!

Here’s the very early Definitely Dylan episode where a very nervous Laura tells you all about some of Dylan’s greatest outtakes.

If you’d like to listen to the “April is the cruelest month” episode, you can find it here.

And here’s the episode all about “Caribbean Wind” that I mentioned.

Playlist:

1. Mississippi (Alternate Version #3)

2. Desolation Row (Take 5 Remake, Complete)

3. Don't Ever Take Yourself Away

4. Someday Baby (Alternate Version)