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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan albums, Great albums

June 15: Bob Dylan released Street-Legal in 1978

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bob dylan street-legal

 

June 15: Bob Dylan released Street-Legal in 1978

“On this album, I took a few steps backward, but I also took a bunch of steps forward because I had a lot of time to concentrate on it. I also had the band sounding like I want it to sound. It’s got that organ sound from ‘Blonde on Blonde’ again. That’s something that has been missing.”
~Bob Dylan (to Robert Hilburn – May 1978)

Jonathan Cott interview – Sept. 1978:
Jonathan Cott: What do you think of all the criticisms of Street Legal?
Bob Dylan: I read some of them. In fact, I didn’t understand them. I don’t think these people have had the experiences I’ve had to write those songs. The reviews didn’t strike me as being particularly interesting one way or another, or as compelling to my particular scene. I don’t know who these people are. They don’t travel in the same crowd, anyway. So it would be like me criticizing Pancho Villa.

bob dylan street legal2

First of all… “Street-Legal” is a fantastic album. I have never “understood” all the criticism it got.. and still gets, and I even dig the original overall sound & production.

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts, Music Calendar

June 13: Bob Dylan live in San Diego 2016 (audio)

JUN 13, 2016
San Diego, CA
Humphreys Concerts By The Bay

“At 75, Dylan shows every sign of rising to new heights. He is doing so by embracing anew his own legacy, and adding new twists, as has long been his style, and by embracing some of the Great American Songbook gems he pointedly spurned in the spoken introduction to his 1962 song, “Bob Dylan’s Blues.”

“This is unlike all the rest of the songs comin’ out of uptown New York — a Tin Pan Alley thing,” he said at the time, the derision in his voice unmistakable. “This one wasn’t written up there … this was … written down in the United States.”

Today, 54 years later, Dylan’s songs are as indelible a part of the American music fabric as any batch of Tin Pan Alley classics. Things have changed, undeniably, since then. But Dylan — in the autumn of his years — remains sturdy and vital. We’re lucky to have him.”
– San Diego Union Tribune

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan albums, Music Calendar

June 10: Empire Burlesque by Bob Dylan was released in 1985

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empire1

June 10: Empire Burlesque by Bob Dylan was released in 1985

Empire Burlesque is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s 23rd studio album, it was released by Columbia Records 10 June 1985. The album peaked at #33 in the US and #11 in the UK.

Allmusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine):

“Say what you want about Empire Burlesque — at the very least, it’s the most consistent record Bob Dylan has made since Blood on the Tracks, even if it isn’t quite as interesting as Desire. However, it is a better set of songs, all deriving from the same place and filled with subtle gems — the most obvious being “Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?),” but also “Emotionally Yours” and “Dark Eyes” — proving that his powers are still there.”

I’ll Remember You (my favorite version from the movie Masked and Anonymous):

Bob Dylan fans and music critics continue to debate the album’s merits, especially when compared to the styles he pioneered in the 1960s and 1970s. It is one of Dylan’s most discussed albums in terms of quality, having a distinct “80s style” production to the songs. There are some really great songs on this album, but they seem hidden under the “80s sound”.

The sessions for Empire Burlesque were held in New York and Hollywood from July 1984 to April 1985.

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Bob Dylan, Music Calendar

June 6: Bob Dylan License To Kill, Rotterdam 1984

Bob_Dylan_1984

Man thinks ’cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don’t change soon, he will
Oh, man has invented his doom
First step was touching the moon

Now, there’s a woman on my block
She just sit there as the night grows still
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

 

Sportpaleis Ahoy
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
6 June 1984

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan - The songs he didn't write, Music Calendar

June 6: Bob Dylan People Putting People Down (John Prine), Rome 1991

bob dylan rome 1991

 People who are sad – sometimes they wear a frown
And people who are kings – sometimes they wear a crown
But all the people who don’t fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin’ people down
People puttin’ people down

Original song by John Prine:

Bob Dylan has covered this song twice… The other time was @ Palace Theatre, Sao Paolo, Brazil – 17 August 1991.

–

People without love – sometimes build a fence around
The garden up above – that makes the whole world go ’round
But all the people who don’t fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin’ people down
People puttin’ people down

So cold, sometimes it gets so cold

Roma Palaeur
Rome, Italy
6 June 1991

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