NOTE: This is Part 2 of a 3 Post Series – Tribute To Bob Dylan
After the tour, Dylan and his wife became estranged. He filled three small notebooks with songs about relationships and ruptures, and recorded the album Blood on the Tracks in September 1974. Dylan delayed the album’s release and re-recorded half the songs at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis with production assistance from his brother, David Zimmerman. Dylan said about the opening song on the album “Tangled Up in Blue” that “I was trying to deal with the concept of time, and the way the characters change from the 1st person to the 3rd person, and you’re never sure if the 1st person is talking or the 3rd person. But as you look at the whole thing, it really doesn’t matter” Released in early 1975, Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews. In the NME, Nick Kent described the “accompaniments” as “often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes”. In Rolling Stone, Jon Landau wrote that “the record has been made with typical shoddiness.”…..but over the years critics have come to see the album as one of Dylan’s greatest achievements. For the Salon website, journalist Bill Wyman wrote: “Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960’s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years”.
Music – 1974 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks Album – “Tangled Up In Blue” (Official Audio)
Music – 1974 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks Album – “Simple Twist of Fate” (Official Audio)
Music – 1974 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks Album – “Shelter From The Storm” (Official Audio)
Music – 1974 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks Album – “If You See Her, Say Hello” (Official Audio)
In the middle of that year, Dylan championed boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter…..who had been imprisoned for a triple murder in Paterson, New Jersey, with his ballad “Hurricane“…..making the case for Carter’s innocence. Despite its length of over eight minutes, the song was released as a single….. while peaking at # 33 on the U.S. Billboard chart…..and performed at every 1975 date of Dylan’s next tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue…..which was a tour that featured about one hundred performers and supporters from the Greenwich Village folk scene….which including T-Bone Burnett, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Joni Mitchell, David Mansfield, Roger McGuinn, Mick Ronson, Joan Baez and Scarlet Rivera….whom Dylan discovered walking down the street with her violin case on her back. Running through late 1975 and again through early 1976, the tour encompassed the release of the album Desire…. with many of Dylan’s new songs featuring a travelogue-like narrative style, showing the influence of his new collaborator, playwright Jacques Levy. The 1976 half of the tour was documented by a TV concert special, Hard Rain, and the LP Hard Rain.
Music – 1975 – Recorded on “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story” by Martin Scorsese – Bob Dylan Live Performance “One More Cup of Coffee”
Music – 1975 – Special – Bob Dylan “Rolling Thunder Revue Concert” Live In New York City
Music – 1976 – Recorded On The “Desire” Album – Bob Dylan: “Hurricane”
The 1975 tour with the Revue provided the backdrop to Dylan’s nearly four-hour film Renaldo and Clara…..which was a sprawling narrative mixed with concert footage and reminiscences. Released in 1978, the movie received poor, sometimes scathing, reviews…..when later in that year, a two-hour edit, dominated by the concert performances, was more widely released. More than forty years later, a documentary about the 1975 leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue…..entitled Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese was released by Netflix on June 12, 2019.
Music – 1976 – Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue Live Concert At Fort Collins CO – Featuring “Hard Rain” – Blowin’ In The Wind – “Railroad Boy – “Deportee” (Woody Guthrie) – “Idiot Wind” Et Al
In November 1976, Dylan appeared at The Band‘s “farewell” concert…..along with Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison and Neil Young…..when Martin Scorsese’s 1978 cinematic chronicle of the concert, The Last Waltz, included most of Dylan’s set.
Music – 1976 – Bob Dylan & The Band At The Last Waltz Concert Live – “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”
Music – 1976 – The Band’s Last Waltz Concert Live – Bob Dylan & The Band Et Al – “I Shall Be Released”
In 1978, Dylan embarked on a year-long world tour…..while performing 114 shows in Japan, the Far East, Europe and North America, to a total audience of two million…..as Dylan assembled an eight-piece band and three backing singers. The concerts in Tokyo in February and March were released as the live double album Bob Dylan at Budokan…..however, reviews were mixed…. as evidenced by Robert Christgau awarding the album a C+ rating….while giving the album a derisory review…..whereas Janet Maslin defended it in Rolling Stone, writing: “These latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals”. When Dylan brought the tour to the U.S. in September 1978, the press described the look and sound as a “Las Vegas Tour”. The 1978 tour grossed more than $20 million…..and Dylan told the Los Angeles Times that he had debts because “I had a couple of bad years. I put a lot of money into the movie, built a big house … and it costs a lot to get divorced in California”.
Music – 1978 – Bob Dylan Live At Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – “I Want You”
Music – 1978 – Bob Dylan Live At Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – ” Simple Twist Of Fate”
Music – 1978 – Bob Dylan Live At Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – “Ballad of a Thin Man”
In April and May 1978, Dylan took the same band and vocalists into Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California, to record an album of new material called Street-Legal…..which was described by Michael Gray as, “after Blood On The Tracks, arguably Dylan’s best record of the 1970’s: a crucial album documenting a crucial period in Dylan’s own life”. However, it had poor sound and mixing (attributed to Dylan’s studio practices), muddying the instrumental detail until a remastered CD release in 1999 restored some of the songs’ strengths.
Music – 1978 – Peter Stone Archives Bob Dylan Documentary – “We Better Talk This Over” – Part 1
Music – 1978 – Peter Stone Archives Presents Bob Dylan Documentary – “We Better Talk This Over” – Part 2
In the late 1970’s, Dylan converted to Evangelical Christianity, undertaking a three-month discipleship course run by the Association of Vineyard Churches. He released three albums of contemporary gospel music…..as Slow Train Coming in 1979 featured Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler….. and was produced by veteran R&B producer Jerry Wexler…..who said that Dylan had tried to evangelize him during the recording….to which he replied, “Bob, you’re dealing with a 62-year-old Jewish atheist. Let’s just make an album.” Dylan won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song “Gotta Serve Somebody“. His 2nd Christian album was Saved in 1980…..which received mixed reviews…..while being described by Michael Gray as “the nearest thing to a follow-up album Dylan has ever made, Slow Train Coming II and inferior”. His 3rd Christian album was Shot of Love in 1981. When touring in late 1979 and early 1980, Dylan would not play his older, secular works…..while he delivered declarations of his faith from the stage, such as: “Years ago they said I was a prophet. I used to say, “No I’m not a prophet”, they say “Yes you are, you’re a prophet.” I said, “No it’s not me.” They used to say “You sure are a prophet.” They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, “Bob Dylan’s no prophet.” They just can’t handle it.” Dylan’s Christianity was unpopular with some fans and musicians. John Lennon, shortly before being murdered, recorded “Serve Yourself” in response to Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody”. By 1981, Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times that “neither age (he’s now 40) nor his much-publicized conversion to born-again Christianity has altered his essentially iconoclastic temperament”
Music – 1979 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Slow Train Coming – “Gotta Serve Somebody”
Music – 1979 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Slow Train Coming – “Precious Angel”
Music – 1980 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Saved – “Covenant Woman”
Music – 1980 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Saved – “What Can I Do For You?”
Music – 1980 – Bob Dylan Live On Stage During Christian Concert Tour – “Saved”
Music – 1981 – Bob Dylan Live On Stage During Christian Concert Tour – “I Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody”
Music – 1981 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Shot Of Love – “Property of Jesus”
In late 1980, Dylan briefly played concerts billed as “A Musical Retrospective” …..while restoring popular 1960’s songs to the repertoire. Shot of Love, recorded early the next year, featured his 1st secular compositions in more than two years, mixed with Christian songs…..as “Every Grain of Sand“ reminded some of William Blake‘s verses.
Music – 1981 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Shot Of Love – “Every Grain Of Sand”
In the 1980’s, reception of Dylan’s recordings varied, from the well-regarded Infidels in 1983 to the panned Down in the Groove in 1988. Michael Gray condemned Dylan’s 1980’s albums for carelessness in the studio and for failing to release his best songs. As an example of the latter, the Infidels recording sessions…..which again employed Knopfler on lead guitar….and also as the album’s producer…..which resulted in several songs that Dylan left off the album…..as the best regarded of these were “Blind Willie McTell“…. which was a tribute to the dead blues musician and an evocation of African American history…..“Foot of Pride”…..and “Lord Protect My Child“. These three songs were released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.
Music – 1980 To 1985 – Bob Dylan Bootleg Series 1 – 3 (Band Version) – “Too Late”
Music – 2011 – Bob Dylan At Age 70 Live at the Hollywood Palladium In Honor Of Martin Scorsese – “Blind Willie McTell” – From Bootleg Series 1 – 3 (1980 – 1985)
Music – 1980 To 1985 – Bob Dylan Album “Springtime in New York” – The Bootleg Series 1-3, Vol. 16 – “Lord Protect My Child”
Music – 1980 To 1985 – Bob Dylan The Bootleg Series 1-3 – Studio Outtake – “Foot Of Pride”
Between July 1984 and March 1985, Dylan recorded Empire Burlesque. Arthur Baker, who had remixed hits for Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper, was asked to engineer and mix the album. Baker said he felt he was hired to make Dylan’s album sound “a little bit more contemporary”.
Music – 1984 – Bob Dylan – “Jokerman”
Music – 1985 – Recorded On Bob Dylan “Empire Burlesque” Album Official Video – “Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)”
Music – 1983 – Bob Dylan – “Sweetheart Like You”
In 1985 Dylan sang on USA for Africa’s famine relief single “We Are the World”…..plus, he also joined Artists United Against Apartheid providing vocals for their single “Sun City”…..and on July 13, 1985, he appeared at the climax at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. Backed by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, he performed a ragged version of “Hollis Brown”, his ballad of rural poverty, and then said to the worldwide audience exceeding one billion people: “I hope that some of the money … maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe … one or two million, maybe … and use it to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks”. His remarks were widely criticized as inappropriate, but they did inspire Willie Nelson to organize a series of events, Farm Aid, to benefit debt-ridden American farmers.
Music – 1986 – Bob Dylan Live At Farm Aid – “Across The Borderline”
Music – 1985 – Bob Dylan & Friends Tom Petty + The Heartbreakers + Willie Nelson Live At Farm Aid – “Shake” + “I’ll Remember You” + “Trust Yourself” + “That Lucky Old Sun” + “Maggie’s Farm”
Music – 1985 – Bob Dylan + Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Farm Aid Rehearsal Live Footage
In April 1986, Dylan made a foray into rap music when he added vocals to the opening verse of “Street Rock”…..which featured on Kurtis Blow‘s album Kingdom Blow. Dylan’s next studio album, Knocked Out Loaded, in July 1986 contained three covers by Little Junior Parker, Kris Kristofferson and the gospel hymn “Precious Memories”….. plus three collaborations with Tom Petty, Sam Shepard and Carole Bayer Sager…..and two solo compositions by Dylan. One reviewer commented that “the record follows too many detours to be consistently compelling, and some of those detours wind down roads that are indisputably dead ends. By 1986, such uneven records weren’t entirely unexpected by Dylan, but that didn’t make them any less frustrating.” It was the 1st Dylan album since his 1962 debut to fail to make the Top 50. Since then, some critics have called the 11-minute epic that Dylan co-wrote with Sam Shepard, “Brownsville Girl”, a work of genius.
Music – 1986 – Bob Dylan Raps With The Godfather of Rap Kurtis Blow On His Album Kingdom Blow – “Street Rock”
Music – 1986 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Knocked Out Loaded – “Brownsville Girl”
Music – 1986 – Recorded On Bob Dylan Album Knocked Out Loaded – “Precious Memories”
In 1986 and 1987, Dylan toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night. Dylan also toured with the Grateful Dead in 1987….which resulted in a live album Dylan & The Dead…..which received negative reviews….as AllMusic said it was “quite possibly the worst album by either Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead”. Dylan then initiated what came to be called the Never Ending Tour on June 7, 1988 …..while performing with a back-up band featuring guitarist G. E. Smith. Dylan would continue to tour with a small, changing band for the next 30 years.
Music – 1987 – Live In Concert On Tour – Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead
In 1987, Dylan starred in Richard Marquand‘s movie Hearts of Fire…..in which he played Billy Parker….who was a washed-up rock star turned chicken farmer whose teenage lover (Fiona) leaves him for a jaded English synth-pop sensation played by Rupert Everett. Dylan also contributed two original songs to the soundtrack with“Night After Night” and “Had a Dream About You, Baby”…..as well as a cover of John Hiatt’s “The Usual”….as the film was a critical and commercial flop.
Music – 1987 – Filmed While Working On Movie “Hearts Of Fire” – Special – “Meet Bob Dylan” – Part 1
Music – 1987 – Filmed While Working On Movie “Hearts Of Fire” – Special – “Meet Bob Dylan” – Part 2
Music – 1987 – Filmed While Working On Movie “Hearts Of Fire” – Special – “Meet Bob Dylan” – Part 3
Music – 1987 – Filmed While Working On Movie “Hearts Of Fire” – Special – “Meet Bob Dylan” – Part 4
Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1988 ….with Bruce Springsteen’s introduction declaring, “Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual”.
Music – 1992 – Official Video – Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash – “Wanted Man”
Music – 1969 – Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan – “One Too Many Mornings”
Music – 1969 – Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan – “Girl From The North Country”
The album Down in the Groove in May 1988 sold even more poorly than his previous studio album. Michael Gray wrote: “The very title undercuts any idea that inspired work may lie within. Here was a further devaluing of the notion of a new Bob Dylan album as something significant.” The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the Traveling Wilburys…..when Dylan co-founded the band with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty…..and in late 1988 their multi-platinum Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 reached # 3 on the US albums chart…..which featured songs that were described as Dylan’s most accessible compositions in years. Despite Orbison’s death in December 1988, the remaining four recorded a 2nd album in May 1990 with the title Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Music – 1988 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Down In The Groove Album – “Death Is Not The End”
Music – 1988 – Recorded on Bob Dylan’s Down In The Groove Album – “Shenandoah”
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Roy Orbison + Tom Petty – Featuring “Handle With Care” + “Dirty World” + “Rattled” + “Last Night” + “Not Alone Any More” + “Congratulations” + “Heading For The Light” + “Margarita” + “Tweeter And The Monkey Man” + “End Of The Line”
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Roy Orbison + Tom Petty – Featuring “Handle With Care” Official Video
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Tom Petty – Featuring “End Of The Line” Official Video
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Tom Petty – Featuring “Inside Out” Official Video
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Tom Petty – Featuring “Wilbury Twist” Official Video
Music – 1989 – Bob Dylan’s Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 Album – With Bob Dylan + George Harrison + Jeff Lynne + Roy Orbison + Tom Petty – Featuring “Runaway” Official Video
Dylan finished the decade on a critical high note with Oh Mercy produced by Daniel Lanois…..when Michael Gray wrote that the album was “attentively written, vocally distinctive, musically warm, and uncompromisingly professional….as this cohesive whole is the nearest thing to a great Bob Dylan album in the 1980’s.” The track “Most of the Time”, a lost love composition, was later prominently featured in the film High Fidelity…..while “What Was It You Wanted?” has been interpreted both as a catechism and a wry comment on the expectations of critics and fans. The religious imagery of “Ring Them Bells” struck some critics as a re-affirmation of faith.
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Political World” (Official Video)
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Everything Is Broken”
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Most Of The Time”
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Ring Them Bells”
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Man In A Long Black Coat”
Music – 1989 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy Album – “Shooting Star”
Dylan’s 1990’s began with Under the Red Sky (1990), an about-face from the serious Oh Mercy…..as it contained several apparently simple songs including “Under the Red Sky” and “Wiggle Wiggle”….while the album was dedicated to “Gabby Goo Goo”, a nickname for the daughter of Dylan and Carolyn Dennis, Desiree Gabrielle Dennis-Dylan, who was four. Musicians on the album included George Harrison, Slash from Guns N’ Roses, David Crosby, Bruce Hornsby, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Elton John….but the record received negative reviews and sold poorly. In 1990 and 1991 Dylan was described by his biographers as drinking heavily, impairing his performances on stage. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan dismissed allegations that drinking was interfering with his music saying “That’s completely inaccurate. I can drink or not drink. I don’t know why people would associate drinking with anything I do, really”.
Music – 1991 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Under The Red Sky Album – “Unbelievable” (Official Video)
Music – 1991 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Under The Red Sky Album – “Under the Red Sky”
Music – 1991 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Under The Red Sky Album – “Wiggle Wiggle”
Defilement and remorse were themes Dylan addressed when he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from American actor Jack Nicholson in February 1991. The event coincided with the start of the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein and Dylan performed “Masters of War”…..when he then made a short speech saying “My daddy once said to me, he said, ‘Son, it is possible for you to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you. If that happens, God will believe in your ability to mend your own ways'”. The sentiment was subsequently revealed to be a quote from 19th-century German Jewish intellectual Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.
Music – 1991 – Special – Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards Presentation By Jack Nicholson To Bob Dylan
Music – 1963 – Recorded on Bob Dylan The Freewheelin’ Album – “Masters of War”
Over the next few years Dylan returned to his roots with two albums covering traditional folk and blues songs with Good as I Been to You in 1992 and World Gone Wrong in 1993….which were both backed solely by his acoustic guitar…..when many critics and fans commented on the quiet beauty of the song “Lone Pilgrim”, written by a 19th-century teacher. In November 1994 Dylan recorded two live shows for MTV Unplugged…..when he said his wish to perform traditional songs was overruled by Sony executives who insisted on hits….as the resulting album, MTV Unplugged, included “John Brown”….which was an unreleased 1962 song of how enthusiasm for war ends in mutilation and disillusionment.
Music – 1992 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Good As I Been To You Album – “Froggie Went A Courtin'”
Music – 1992 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Good As I Been To You Album – “Arthur McBride”
Music – 1992 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Good As I Been To You Album – “Hard Times”
Music – 1963 – Bob Dylan – “John Brown” – Video Made With KINEMASTER
With a collection of songs reportedly written while snowed in on his Minnesota ranch, Dylan booked recording time with Daniel Lanois at Miami’s Criteria Studios in January 1997…..when the subsequent recording sessions were, by some accounts, fraught with musical tension. Before the album’s release Dylan was hospitalized with a life-threatening heart infection, pericarditis, brought on by histoplasmosis….which resulted in his scheduled European tour being cancelled….but Dylan made a speedy recovery and left the hospital saying, “I really thought I’d be seeing Elvis soon”. He was back on the road by mid-year….and performed before Pope John Paul II at the World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna, Italy….as the Pope treated the audience of 200,000 people to a homily based on Dylan’s lyric “Blowin’ in the Wind”.
Music – 1997 – Bob Dylan Live Before Pope John Paul II At The World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna, Italy – “Hard Rain” + “Knocking On Heavens Door”
In September 1997, Dylan released the new Lanois-produced album, Time Out of Mind…..with its bitter assessment of love and morbid ruminations….as Dylan’s 1st collection of original songs in seven years was highly acclaimed…. when one critic wrote, “the songs themselves are uniformly powerful, adding up to Dylan’s best overall collection in years”. This collection of complex songs won him his 1st solo “Album of the Year” Grammy Award…..then in December 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton presented Dylan with a Kennedy Center Honor in the East Room of the White House….while paying tribute he said, “Bob Dylan probably had more impact on people of my generation than any other creative artist. His voice and lyrics haven’t always been easy on the ear, but throughout his career Bob Dylan has never aimed to please. He’s disturbed the peace and discomforted the powerful”.
Music – 1997 – Special – The Kennedy Center Honors Bob Dylan – Featuring Actor Gregory Peck’s Tribute
Music – 1999 – Bob Dylan & Eric Clapton Performing Live at Madison Square Garden – “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” + “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” + “Born In Time” – Part 1
Music – 1999 – Bob Dylan & Eric Clapton Performing Live at Madison Square Garden – “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” + “Not Dark Yet” + “Crossroads” – Part 2
Music – 1999 – Bob Dylan & Eric Clapton Performing Live at Madison Square Garden – “Sunshine Of Your Love” + “Bright Lights, Big City” – Part 3
Dylan started out the decade of the 2000’s by winning the Polar Music Prize in May 2000….then he won his 1st Oscar with his song “Things Have Changed“…..which was written for the film Wonder Boys…..and won an Academy Award for Best Song in 2001…..when the line “sapphire-tinted skies” echoes the verse of Shelley…..while “forty miles of bad road” echoes Duane Eddy’s hit single.
Music – 2001 – Bob Dylan Live At The 73rd Academy Awards Ceremony – “Things Have Changed” – Which Won Oscar For Best Song From Movie Wonder Boys
“Love and Theft” was released on September 11, 2001…..which was recorded with his touring band…..as Dylan produced the album himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost…..when the album was critically well received and earned nominations for several Grammy awards…..as critics noted that Dylan was widening his musical palette to include rockabilly, Western swing, jazz, and even lounge ballads. “Love and Theft” generated controversy when The Wall Street Journal pointed out similarities between the album’s lyrics and Japanese author Junichi Saga’s book Confessions of a Yakuza.
Music – 2001 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft Album – “Mississippi”
Music – 2001 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft Album – “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum”
Music – 2001 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft Album – “Lonesome Day Blues”
In 2003, Dylan revisited the evangelical songs from his Christian period and participated in the CD project Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan…..and that year Dylan also released the film Masked & Anonymous…..which he co-wrote with director Larry Charles under the alias Sergei Petrov…..when Dylan played the central character in the film, Jack Fate, alongside a cast that included Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz and John Goodman…..as the film polarized critics….when many dismissed it as an “incoherent mess”…..but a few treated it as a serious work of art.
Music – 2003 – Recorded On The Album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan – “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking” – Sung by Bob Dylan
Music – 2003 – Recorded On The Album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan – “Saving Grace” – Sung by Aaron Neville
Music – 2003 – Recorded On The Album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan – “Pressing On” – Sung by The Chicago Mass Choir
Music – 2003 – Recorded On The Album Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan – “When He Returns” – Sung by Rance Allen
In October 2004, Dylan published the 1st part of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One…..while confounding expectations, Dylan devoted three chapters to his 1st year in New York City in 1961–1962….while virtually ignoring the mid-1960’s when his fame was at its height. He also devoted chapters to the albums New Morning in 1970 and Oh Mercy in 1989. The book reached # 2 on The New York Times’ Hardcover Non-Fiction best seller list in December 2004…..and was nominated for a National Book Award.
Music – 2002 – Special – Bob Dylan: The Gospel Interview – From the Documentary Film “Bob Dylan – Both Ends Of The Rainbow”
Music – 2011 – BBC Radio Broadcast Special – “Bob Dylan: His Spiritual Journey From His Lyrics to His Conversion”
No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film biography of Dylan, was 1st broadcast on September 26–27, 2005, on BBC Two in the UK and PBS in the US…..as the documentary focuses on the period from Dylan’s arrival in New York in 1961 to his motorcycle crash in 1966……while featuring indepth interviews with Suze Rotolo, Liam Clancy, Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples and Dylan himself…..as the film received a Peabody Award in April 2006…..and a Columbia-duPont Award in January 2007. The accompanying soundtrack featured unreleased songs from Dylan’s early career.
Music & Movie – 2005 – Official Trailer of Movie “No Direction Home” By Martin Scorsese – The Story of Bob Dylan During The Early Years
Music – 2005 – Recorded On Soundtrack of Martin Scorsese Movie No Direction Home – Bob Dylan “Song to Woody”
Music – 2005 – Recorded On Soundtrack of Martin Scorsese Movie No Direction Home – Bob Dylan “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
Music – 2005 – Recorded On Soundtrack of Martin Scorsese Movie No Direction Home – Bob Dylan “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”
Music & Movie – 2005 – Ending Scene of Movie “No Direction Home” By Martin Scorsese – The Story of Bob Dylan During The Early Years
Dylan released his Modern Times album in August 2006…..and despite some coarsening of Dylan’s voice….when a critic for The Guardian characterized his singing on the album as “a catarrhal death rattle”……while most reviewers praised the album…..and many described it as the final installment of a successful trilogy…..when embracing Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft. Modern Times entered the U.S. charts at # 1…..thus making it Dylan’s 1st album to reach that position since 1976’s Desire. The New York Times published an article exploring similarities between some of Dylan’s lyrics in Modern Times and the work of the Civil War poet Henry Timrod. Nominated for three Grammy Awards, Modern Times won Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album…..and Bob Dylan also won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for “Someday Baby”…..plus Modern Times was named Album of the Year, 2006, by Rolling Stone magazine…..and by Uncut in the UK. On the same day that Modern Times was released the iTunes Music Store released Bob Dylan: The Collection…..which was a digital box set containing all of his albums (773 tracks in total)….along with 42 rare and unreleased tracks.
Music – 2006 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Modern Times Album – “Thunder On The Mountain” (Official Video)
Music – 2006 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Modern Times Album – “Thunder On The Mountain” (Official Video)
Music – 2006 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Modern Times Album – “When The Deal Goes Down” – Official Video Starring Scarlet Johansson
Music – 2006 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Modern Times Album – “Ain’t Talkin'”
Music – 2006 – Recorded On Bob Dylan’s Modern Times Album – “Spirit On The Water”
In August 2007, the award-winning film biography of Dylan I’m Not There, written and directed by Todd Haynes, was released….which bore the tagline “inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan”. The movie used six different actors to represent different aspects of Dylan’s life….with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw. Dylan’s previously unreleased 1967 recording from which the film takes its name was released for the 1st time on the film’s original soundtrack…..while all other tracks are covers of Dylan songs, specially recorded for the movie by a diverse range of artists…..which includes Sonic Youth, Eddie Vedder, Mason Jennings, Stephen Malkmus, Jeff Tweedy, Karen O, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Richie Havens and Tom Verlaine.
Music & Movie – 2007 – Official Trailer For Todd Haynes Film Biography of Bob Dylan I’m Not There – Starring Christain Bale + Heath Ledger + Ben Whishaw + Marcus Carl Franklin + Richard Gere + Cate Blanchett All As Bob Dylan
Music & Movie – 2007 – Todd Haynes Film Biography of Bob Dylan I’m Not There – As Bob Dylan Sings “I’m Not There”
Music & Movie – 2007 – Movie Clip From Todd Haynes Film Biography of Bob Dylan I’m Not There – “Seven Simple Rules For Life In Hiding”
On October 1, 2007, Columbia Records released the triple CD retrospective album Dylan…..which anthologizes his entire career under the Dylan 07 logo. The sophistication of the Dylan 07 marketing campaign was a reminder that Dylan’s commercial profile had risen considerably since the 1990’s….which became evident in 2004, when Dylan appeared in a TV advertisement for Victoria’s Secret lingerie. Three years later, in October 2007, he participated in a multi-media campaign for the 2008 Cadillac Escalade. Then, in 2009, he gave the highest profile endorsement of his career, appearing with rapper will.i.am in a Pepsi ad that debuted during the telecast of Super Bowl XLIII…..as the ad broadcast to a record audience of 98 million viewers….which opened with Dylan singing the 1st verse of “Forever Young” followed by will.i.am doing a hip hop version of the song’s 3rd and final verse.
Music & TV Ads – 2004 – Bob Dylan For Victoria’s Secret
Music & TV Ads – 2007 – Bob Dylan For Cadillac Escalade
Music & TV Ads – 2009 – Bob Dylan & Will.I.Am For Pepsi Cola – “Forever Young” – Aired During Super Bowl XLIII
Music & TV Ads – 2014 – Bob Dylan For Chrysler Cars – Aired During Super Bowl XLVIII
Music & TV Ads – 2014 – Bob Dylan’s Extended Ad For Chrysler Cars – Aired on TBS Conan
END OF PART 2
