This week’s episode is dedicated to just one song - Caribbean Wind. Recorded for 1981’s Shot of Love and ultimately discarded, it has long been regarded by fans as one of Dylan’s great unfinished masterpieces. The episode features an excerpt from a conversation between Laura and The Freewheelin’ Rob Kelly, recorded for an episode of his podcast Pod Dylan. If you’d like to hear the long, unedited version of our chat, head over to the Pod Dylan website.
As promised, here is a file with all sets of known lyrics to the song (including the official ones on the Dylan website and in the Lyrics publications). The font is tiny because I wanted to make it easier to compare different versions, but you can zoom in if it’s hard to read.
You can listen to the bootleg studio recording that is Rob’s favourite here.
Also, for good measure, here is the live performance in the version I had before Trouble No More was released. The mix in the official version is very different (very little bass and drums and a lot of guitar), so I think it’s worth hearing this. I think it gives you more of an idea of what it actually sounded like in the room.
I cannot believe it, but while putting together this episode, I thought of more things that are worth mentioning about this song! Let me know if you’re interested, maybe I’ll try to write an article about it or something.
Playlist:
Caribbean Wind (Biograph version)
Caribbean Wind (live 12 November, 1980, Fox Warfield Theatre, San Fracisco, CA)