Concert

November 15 – 16: Bob Dylan Camera rehearsals MTV Unplugged sessions 1994 (Videos)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Sony Music Studios
New York City, New York
15–16 November 1994
Camera rehearsals for MTV Unplugged taping sessions

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • John Jackson (guitar)
  • Brendan O’Brien (keyboards & guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Winston Watson (drums & percussion)

Amazon about the CD release:
THE RARE REHEARSAL RECORDINGS FOR THE CLASSIC DYLAN UNPLUGGED BROADCAST MTV s ever popular Unplugged series had been running more than five years before Bob Dylan a troubadour almost custom made to fit the program s format – agreed to take part. Having already achieved huge success with featured bands and artists as diverse as Nirvana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton – amongst numerous others – by 1994 the series was a much anticipated feature in the cable channel s schedules. Dylan had hoped to record a selection of folk traditionals for his episode, much in keeping with the two albums he d released prior to the MTV show, 1992 s Good As I Been To You and 94 s World Gone Wrong.

However, at MTV s behest, he settled on performing a set made up almost exclusively of classic album cuts from his early albums – perhaps a good move in retrospect, as 1995 s Columbia Records release MTV Unplugged album provided Bob with his best sales in years. The CD features the rehearsal sessions for the finally aired program, recorded during the afternoons of 15th and 16th November 1994, and includes some very different versions of a selection of the songs that would end up in the show and subsequently on the album. However, in true Dylan fashion, a number of tunes that were not performed for the actual transmission were also rehearsed and are included here alongside those that were. Continue reading “November 15 – 16: Bob Dylan Camera rehearsals MTV Unplugged sessions 1994 (Videos)” →

Classic TV concert: Emmylou Harris at the BBC 1977

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

Emmylou Harris was 30 at that time, and she is here accompanied by The Hot Band: Albert Lee, Emory Gordy, John Ware, Glen D Hardin, Rodney Crowell, Hank Devito. Superb band! They run through what was to become a greatest hit set, lovely rendition of well-known songs. The Highlights for me are, Making Believe and Luxury Liner.

Emmylou recorded some of her best albums with The Hot Band, one of the best backing bands in country history.

The concert was recorded for the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977. Continue reading “Classic TV concert: Emmylou Harris at the BBC 1977” →

Bob Dylan: 9 Videos from “Trouble No More – A Musical Film”

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_color=”mulled_wine” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-quote-left”]Bob Dylan is the greatest singer of our times. No one is better. No one, in objective fact, is even very close. His versatility and vocal skills are unmatched. His resonance and feeling are beyond those of any of his contemporaries. More than his ability with words, and more than his insight, his voice is God’s greatest gift to him.”
-Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone Magazine)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Continue reading “Bob Dylan: 9 Videos from “Trouble No More – A Musical Film”” →

Bob Dylan film and tv appearances through the years

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

This is a fun post, a post with some of those moments that makes a “Bob Dylan film” worth watching. There’s no order here, just a listing of the clips I really like.

I have included films that had cinema distribution, not including straight documentaries (yet).

Some of the clips are great concert clips, some are cinematic milestones, some are just funny and some are Bob Dylan in theme and spirit, at least that’s what I think.

And I have included one TV clip, it was just so damn funny, I couldn’t leave it out!

By the way, James Mangold is making a new Bob Dylan film set during the period when he was poised to become folk music’s most important figure. Bob Dylan instead chose rock ‘n’ roll and traded his acoustic guitar for an amp and an electric guitar, it created a huge outcry. Jeff Rosen, Dylan’s longtime manager, is working on Dylan’s behalf with Mangold on the film, which they say has no title yet but has been referred to as Going Electric. We will have to update this post when the film is ready.

Ok, lets start

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story

I was thinking a bit about this one, “maybe I should have included Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder film, but isn’t it a documentary no matter how “dramatised” it is?” As you can see I decided it should be included, it is a documentary, kind of, and it is a made up story, kind of, with worldwide release on Netflix. And Netflix is the new cinema, right?

Continue reading “Bob Dylan film and tv appearances through the years” →

Listen: Bob Dylan – Madison Square Garden, NY, 12/8/1975 – Rolling Thunder Revue

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

“This final night of the 1975 leg, when a huge entourage of musicians, celebrities and guests descended upon Madison Square Garden to raise awareness and funds for the defense of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, is the most monumental show of that tour.”
– Wolfgang’s Vault

This is a fantastic bootleg and a historic document, the sound is amazing. Why this wasn’t included in the official Bootleg series is a mystery to me.

“What the concert lacked in consistency it made up as a broadly inclusive compendium of musicians united in a cause. For all of the inevitable slow moments when guests shunt in and out of the spotlight, it made, for a long, relaxed yet—in Mr. Dylan’s parts, at least—zany, high‐energy, high‐intensity good time…

With this tour and with last night’s marathon concert, Mr. Dylan has reinvigorated the flagging New York folk‐rock scene, and he may well have reinvigorated the fashion of political commitment among artists. Most important of all. however, he has reinvigorated himself.”
– New York Times (Dec 9, 1975)

NYT article about the show: Continue reading “Listen: Bob Dylan – Madison Square Garden, NY, 12/8/1975 – Rolling Thunder Revue” →

Bob Dylan sings a fantastic Sara – Live Madison Square Garden – 1975

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

This is a very special upload. This was recorded on December 8, 1975, the final night of the first leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue. The next tour date was January 22, 1976.
– Swingin’ Pig (Youtube)

As usual from Swingin’ Pigs’ uploads, the video and especially the audio is excellent. It is very well edited and part of his alternative Rolling Thunder film.

Just too good to not share.

“I was just sitting outside my house one day thinking about a name for this tour, when all of a sudden, I looked into the sky and I heard a boom! Then, boom, boom, boom, boom, rolling from west to east. So I figured that should be the name.”
– Bob Dylan on why he called it The Rolling Thunder Revue

Sara by Bob Dylan last concert of the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue:

The Rolling Thunder Revue was a concert tour  Bob Dylan with a traveling caravan of notable musicians, including Joan Baez,Roger McGuinn, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Bob Neuwirth assembled the backing musicians, including T-Bone Burnett, Mick Ronson, David Mansfield, Steven Soles, and from the Desire sessions, violinist Scarlet Rivera, bassist Rob Stoner, and drummer Howie Wyeth. The tour included 57 concerts in two legs—the first in the American northeast and Canada in the fall of 1975, and the second in the American south and southwest in the spring of 1976.