You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinningYou got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning
Ring them bells, ye heathen
From the city that dreams
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries
’Cross the valleys and streams
For they’re deep and they’re wide
And the world’s on its side
And time is running backwards
And so is the bride
Continue reading September 13: Bob Dylan Ring Them Bells, Dublin 2000 (Video)
1978 was one of Dylan’s darkest period and one of his most controversial tours. A lot of people thought the 1978 World Tour or “Alimony Tour” was bad, maybe because of to the Live at Budokan double LP. In fact, it was one of the most exciting, especially in Europe in Summer and the US in Autumn. There are many good, and some great bootlegs from the tour.
This tape is from the Pavillon de Paris concert in July. You can find it on the bootleg “Border Beneath the Sun”. It was the fourth night from a series of five concerts in Paris. Bob is on fire and you can hear the power of the big band. He’s rocking with all he can and the Street-Legal songs are amazing. The sound is excellent (if a bit low).
This is a must listen for any fan of Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Billy Cross (lead guitar)
Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
Steve Douglas (horns)
Jerry Scheff (bass)
Bobbye Hall (percussion)
Ian Wallace (drums)
Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals)
Bobsboots:
“An incredible audience recording of a powerhouse performance. The title is taken from the all new lyrics in The Man In Me. The artwork is fairly nice. As our friend David Elliot pointed, out Masters Of War is left off of the back cover track list. Oddly, it’s track number (6) is left off as well, so all songs remain numbered correctly. The sound quality is as good as many soundboards. The main problem with the sound is one that seemed to be indicative of the Silver Rarities Label. The signal to noise level is way too low. (This means that you have to crank the volume to hear the discs). Since it is digital, and from a fairly quiet analog tape source, that isn’t a major problem with this particular piece. This is definitely one to have in any collection.”
Continue reading My favourite Bob Dylan bootleg 1978: Border beneath the sun – July 6th Paris
Painting By Joachim Patinir, Landscape with The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
I will not pretend to know what Bob Dylan’s exact meaning with this song is but I will offer my thoughts on what I consider the second best song on Tempest.
Scarlet Town from the Bob Dylan album Tempest (with film footage from Masked & Anonymous):
The song feels like a mash of several songs, and that’s actually what it is. He draws inspiration from the old ballad Barbara Allen, but he just uses it as a framework to tell an even more sinister tale. The new parts of the song also feels like a split between two different songs, one set in biblical times and the other addressing the state of USA/The Western world today.
Lyrics Barbara Allen (The three first verses):
In younder town where I was born
There was a fair maid dwell’n
Made every youth cry well away
Her name was Bar-bry Ellen
Was in th merry month of May
When greenbuds they were swell’n
Sweet William come from th western state
An’ courted Bar-bry Ellen
Was all in the month o’ June
When everything was blooming
Sweet William on his death bed lay
For th love of Bar-bry Ellen
Bob Dylan has a long lasting relationship with Barbara Allen (the song) and I’ve included some versions here just as a reference.
Here is a wonderful separate post concerning Barbara Allen from Egil.
The first two verses from the Gaslight tapes (it’s eight minutes and has a lot of verses):
In Charlotte town, not far from here,
There was a fair maid dwellin.’
Had a name was known both far and near,
An’ her name was Barb’ry Allen.
‘Twas in the merry month of May,
Green buds they were swellin’,
Poor William on his death-bed lay,
For the love of Barb’ry Allen.
1988 live:
The first two verses in the -88 version:
In Scarlet Town where I was born
there was a fair maid dwelling,
and her name was known both far and near,
and they called her Barbara Allen.
T’was in the merry month of may
the green buds they were swelling,
sweet William on his death bed lay
for the love of Barbara Allen.
Two other artist that has used this song as a basis for an entirely new song are Gillian Welch and David Rawlings:
Not at all like the original Barbara Allen and the only two things it has in common with Bob Dylan’s song are, the title and it’s origin. The melody is different and the “story”/text is completely different (even if both have a distictly sombre tone). Gillian Welch/David Rawlings have more folksy/appalachian feel, while Dylan sings in a more talking blues style.
Dylan opens a European tour with his first shows in Israel. After his brief flirtation with the Dead, Dylan has returned to playing with a real rock & roll outfit, the Heartbreakers, unfortunately still augmented by the Queens of Rhythm.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
..this was nothing like the Dylan/Dead tour. As the concert tapes clearly demonstrate, it was the return of the real Bob Dylan, singer/bandleader/performer extraordinaire, the master of spontaneous music.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)
Continue reading September 5: Bob Dylan @ Hayarkon Park, Tel-Aviv, Israel 1987