A great night, and a pleasure to see Bob and the band enjoying themselves and sounding fantastic. I’ve listened to my share of bootlegs and have seen him in concert a handful of times, but something really special is happening now. Great music, great delivery, but also intimate and just plain fun. Best live show I’ve seen from Dylan. Lots of dates coming up – get tickets and bring some friends – you won’t regret it!
~Robert (boblinks.com)
Final concert from Japan tour 2016
Pacifico
Yokohama, Japan
April 28, 2016
Bob Dylan – piano, harp
Tony Garnier – bass
George Recile – drums
Stu Kimball – rhythm guitar, maracas
Charlie Sexton on lead guitar
Donnie Herron – violin, banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel
I wasn’t quite sure how to do it and what material to use. I would have liked to do old folk songs with acoustic instruments, but there was a lot of input from other sources as to what would be right for the MTV audience. The record company said, “You can’t do that, it’s too obscure.”
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen May 1995)
May 2: Bob Dylan 3rd Slow Train Coming Recording Session 1979
It’s in my system. I don’t really have enough time to talk about it. If someone really wants to know, I can explain it to them, but there are other people who can do it just as well. I don’t feel compelled to do it. I was doing a bit of that last year on the stage. I was saying stuff I figured people needed to know. I thought I was giving people an idea of what was behind the songs. I don’t think it’s necessary any more. When I walk around some of the towns we go to, however, I’m totally convinced people need Jesus. Look at the junkies and the winos and the troubled people. It’s all a sickness which can be healed in an instant. The powers that be won’t let that happen. The powers that be say it has to be healed politically.
~Bob Dylan (to Robert Hilburn – Nov 1980)
Slow Train Coming was a collection of songs Dylan had originally intended to donate to backing singer Carolyn Dennis.
~Clinton Heylin (The Recording Sessions)
The first 2 recording sessions for “Slow Train Coming” had only resulted one master take for the album – Precious Angel (recorded the previous day).
The May tape has never enjoyed the same popularity [as the December tape – The Minnesota Hotel Tape]. Partly because of the low quality of the original recording, and partly due to a remarkably uninspired performance. One of the first times that a young Bob would hear himself on tape, nerves, inexperience, and limited repertoire would result in, at best, this mediocre offering. The tape is significant, however, not only for its historical importance, but also as a standard to compare the December tape. A short seven months that separate the two. A lifetime that separate the two. The interim shows the explosive growth from a kid with a guitar to a Folk Phenomenon.
~Bobsboots.com
Unidentified coffeehouse Minneapolis, Minnesota May 1961
, 30 April 2012.