Bob Dylan’s 1989 summer European tour wrapped up with a pair of shows in Greece. During an off-day, Dylan and Van Morrison climbed onto the picturesque Hill of the Muses in Athens for a stunning four-song acoustic set that thankfully was captured by cameras for the BBC documentary Arena: One Irish Rover – Van Morrison in Performances. They began with Morrison classics “Crazy Love” and “And It Stoned Me,” but the clear highlight was the 1986 Morrison obscurity “Foreign Window,” featuring Dylan on harmonica and Van on guitar and vocals. They wrapped up the set with a duet on “One Irish Rover.”
-Andy Greene (rollingstone.com)
Philopappos (The Hill Of The Muses) Athens, Greece 27 June 1989
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You were trying to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kind of wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
“Shooting star” was his first album closer since “Every Grain of Sand” to share that slightly somnambulant feel, a gorgeous melody, caressed vocal and an abiding conviction that there are two kinds of people, good (i.e. saved) and lost people.
~Clinton Heylin (Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2, . 1974-2008)
This was the 6th “Oh Mercy” recording session, and Dylan also landed another master: “Everything Is Broken”.
The Studio New Orleans, Louisiana 14 or 15 March 1989 6th Oh Mercy recording session, produced by Daniel Lanois
Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath’s as hard as kerosene
You weren’t your mama’s only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams
Stadio Lamberti Cava de’Tirreni, Italy 21 June 1989
I started writing songs after I heard Hank Williams.
~Bob Dylan (The Les Crane Show, Feb 1965)
If it wasn’t for Elvis and Hank Williams, I couldn’t be doing what I do today.
~Bob Dylan (to Robert Shelton, June 1978)
The tune utilized on ‘House Of Gold’ is an obvious variant of Williams’ own ‘Lost
Highway’. Williams’ original recording was made in 1949 as a demo and released, with
overdubs, in April 1951 (Polydor 833-752). It is currently available on the “Complete
Hank Williams” box set (Mercury Records, 2000).
~The songs he didn’t write (Derek Barker)
“Most of them [the songs on “Oh Mercy”] are stream-of-consciousness songs, the kind that come to you in the middle of the night, when you just want to go back to bed. The harder you try to do something, the more it evades you. These weren’t like that.”
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen, 21 September 1989)
While it would be unfair to compare ‘Oh Mercy’ to Dylan’s Sixties recordings, it sits well alongside his impressive body of work.
~Clinton Heylin (Behind The Shades)
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