20 thoughts on “October 26: Bob Dylan Stay With Me, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California 2014 (video)”

1. I was at this show (third of three nights he did there) and this was a very welcome surprise for all of us. First live performance, I believe. For me, it had the feeling of those old folk songs he used to do in the early nineties, where it was a cover but nonetheless felt particularly like it was *him* singing and feeling the words. Did that even make sense? I dunno. Part of me believes there is no Bob so moved as the one who is enthusiastically interpreting o another person’s material. This reminded me of heading him do Hang Me Oh Hang Me or Golden Vanity or Little Moses.

   1. I usually love him doing covers, but I must confess I’m a bit tired of the Sinatra stuff. I like it more when he goes into his folk/country/rock’n roll heritage to find gems to present to us.

      …and it looks like his Sinatra phase is over, at least live 🙂

      – Hallgeir

2. Just about the time you start thinking “He’s getting old, he’s pretty much done”, he comes along and pulls out a stunner like this one, then you start thinking “Wow, he’s as good now as he ever was, maybe even getting better”.

3. ‘Stay With Me” is not listed on his website. Did Bob write it? Just saw him in Oakland and he was teriffic, he can still bend a line, his voice was terrific for a 73 year old blues singer who smoked most of his life. He sounds now like he wanted to sound in the early sixties.

   1. It will probably be part of the next album:

      http://www.daysofthecrazy-wild.com/bob-dylan-release-new-album-shadows-night-2015/

4. In all it’s cracked, ugly beauty, Bob delivers such a lovely, moving song. Just beautiful….

5. Bob does something different.
   Some people like it.
   Some people don’t.
   Again.

6. I know it’s controversial to say, but I think Dylan’s voice is fascinating. It’s not pretty, but then it never really was. The years have taken a toll, but Bob has always found a way to be interesting and the character in his voice has never, at least for me, faltered. This rendering is a prime example. Another is “Hard Times”, that with a more melodic voice would never be as memorable. He’s a treasure.

   1. I admire his resourcefulness. He works with whatever he’s got to make a memorable statement. His persistence in this performance also comes through. It starts rough but he improves as the song progresses. As Charlie Parker said, “improvisation is the art of recovery”.

7. If you dont like it,dont listen>

8. Bob Dylan has never stopped or never looked back. So what if his voice isn’t as strong as it used to be, he is a genius who keeps on going, keeps on touring and keeps on writing. His shows contain more of the last 15 years then of the previous 35 years of his output and i think that is great. I’d rather hear a song like ‘stay with me’ than another version of ‘like a rolling stone’ so fair play Bob is my humble opinion .

9. A beautiful song, delivered with heart and soul. Words of wisdom, Rene. I know I’ll be leaning forward in Chicago next weekend…

   1. Saw him in Seattle at the start of the tour. The shows were wonderful, but this is truly magical. How lucky those who were there were to see it.

      For what it is worth, i don’t understand why some visitors feel compelled to tell others they are wrong for liking something. Different strokes for different folks.

      And Bob at age 73 is still that kid on that high school stage who sand Little Richard until the curtain was pulled down. Always glad and inspired that he does not give up.

      Thanks for this blog, too. It’s wonderful.

      1. Thanks for appreciating our work Ishman.

         Nobody is wrong I agree, but at the same time it’s nice to hear different opinions.
         For what it’s worth.. I really like this performance of “Stay With Me”.
         I feel he really put his heart into this one.

10. I’d never heard of that song, but it really is a beautiful Prayer asking his Lord to stay with him during times of weakness. I hope he plays it in Chicago next weekend….

    1. You are wrong René, not Rajan. I´m a Dylan fan since 1968 and I´ve loved his voice until 1989. From then on, it was all downhill. His voice now is a sad shadow of what it used to be and his concerts are mostly boring. I love Dylan and always will but that doesn´t mean that I can´t see when the emperor has no clothes…

11. Rajan, you are so wrong. You hear the song but you don’t listen to it.

    This is someone talking about his life, his faults and his mistakes and praying to God not to leave him. I know it’s not his own song, but Dylan choosing this song and performing it as if it is his own is brilliant. This song should be song exactly like this by an old man with a crappy voice who has his faults and has made mistakes in his life.

    Spot on beautyful with every crack in his voice in the right place.

12. At the outset, please believe me, I’m an old Dylan-fan (since 1969 to date), as good as any of you. Which is precisely why I take the liberty of reminding “enough is enough”, beyond which it becomes not only unhealthy, but embarrassing as well. Anything in excess, even jogging, is bad. We know Dylan is a workaholic, so I believe, he would be better off writing that Vol.II of his “Chronicles” instead. Even if he recites only the alphabets, words will not fail him.

    1. Raman, I personally don’t think it’s fair to tell someone else how to live their life just because you don’t agree with it nor what to do with their time? He’s doing what he knows best, being an artist.

       Also, does anyone else think Receli looks very emotional at the end?

13. This is, in all its unsteadiness, quite moving, who says he doesn’t connect with his audience? Laying his heart bare…

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