With Bob Dylan’s 35th album, Tempest, coming out next month, the anticipation is stirring up a number of Dylan stories. Sean O’Neal at the Onion’s A.V. Club recently visited Bob Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota.
In the video, O’Neal ponders about how the town influenced Dylan’s music, and he takes us to several Dylan landmarks, including Dylan’s — er Robert Zimmerman’s — childhood home. Although that house is now on a road named after the singer, Hibbing does little else to acknowledge the hometown singer. O’Neal also showed the high school auditorium that was the location of Dylan’s disappointing talent show appearance.
[2018 Update] Unfortunately, the video is no longer available. So, instead here is a short video about Bob Dylan’s hometown made for a KTCA special.
Should Hibbing do more to honor Bob Dylan? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Below is “Early Roman Kings,” one of the new tracks from Bob Dylan’s upcoming album, Tempest, due for release on September 10. There is a bluesy riff through the song, and Dylan’s voice has the familiar croak of his recent albums. While his songs are always open to interpretation, it sounds like the lyrics on “Early Roman Kings” could be about the most recent economic recession and discussions about economic disparities.
They’re peddlers and they’re meddlers; They buy and they sell; They destroyed your city; They’ll destroy you as well.
Dylan is allowing the song “Early Roman Kings” to be used for the soundtrack of the trailer for HBO’s new series about terrorism, Strike Back.
Neil McCormick of The Telegraph was one of the few journalists who have heard the full album. He reports the songs are full of images and contradictions, and “There’s a lot of blood spilt on Tempest through murder and revenge, chaos and confusion.” Sounds good. Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that the new album could be the aging Dylan’s last, but it is the best work he has done in a decade. The reason for the speculation that Dylan’s 35th album might be his last is that Shakespeare’s final play was called “The Tempest.” On Dylan’s part, he has downplayed the connection, noting that his CD is called “Tempest,” as opposed to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” For now, I guess we will just be happy we have a new album coming out from Dylan.
Like the rest of us, comedian Tim Heidecker (of the comedy team Tim and Eric) is intrigued by the news that Bob Dylan’s upcoming album contains a 14-minute song about the Titanic. Unlike the rest of us, though, Heidecker decided to do something about it and give us his rendering of what Dylan’s new song might sound like in all its 14-plus-minute glory. Check out Heidecker’s “Titanic,” combining a Dylan imitation with some history and near the end, a dash of James Cameron’s movie about the ship.
Heidecker’s “Titanic” is available for download on his website. You will have to wait until September 11 for the release of Bob Dylan’s Titanic song on his new album, Tempest.
How close do you think Heidecker got to Dylan’s upcoming song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
As we celebrate the centennial of Woody Guthrie’s birthday this week, let us check in on what one of his disciples is doing. Bob Dylan, who visited Guthrie in New York before Guthrie passed away and who is rumored to be working on a new album, has been touring Europe. A few weeks ago on June 30 he performed at the Hop Farm Festival in Kent. Check out his performance of “Tangled Up in Blue” from his great Blood on the Tracks (1975) album below. [July 2014 Update: Unfortunately, the “Tangled Up in Blue” video is no longer available, so below is a video of Dylan singing part of “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” at the same performance.]
As you can hear, Dylan continues to reinterpret his songs in performances. Although his European tour ends July 22 in France, there are rumors that he will continue touring in the U.S.
What do you think of Bob Dylan’s recent performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On June 21, 1965, the Byrds helped launch the folk-rock movement with their release of their debut album with the title track of a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Below, The Byrds perform the song on television in the 1960s.
The Byrds — with Roger McGuinn singing lead as Gene Clark and David Crosby provided the harmony — recorded “Mr. Tambourine Man” in January for their debut album even before Dylan had a chance to record it himself. When Dylan heard what the Byrds did to his song, he reportedly exclaimed, “Wow, man, you can even dance to that!” By the time the Byrds released their album on June 21, 1965, Dylan was in the studio finishing up “Like a Rolling Stone.”
In this video below from a 2009 webcast, Chris Hillman of The Byrds tells how the band came to reinterpret “Mr. Tambourine Man” and how jazz great Miles Davis helped the band get its first record contract. Check it out.
