August 10: Bob Dylan released Shot of Love in 1981
I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other times it’s only me I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
Shot of Love is Bob Dylan’s 21st studio album, it was released by Columbia Records in August 1981.
It is generally considered to be Dylan’s last of a trilogy of overtly religious, Christian albums. Also, it was his first since becoming born-again to focus on secular themes, from straight-ahead love songs to an ode to the deceased comedian Lenny Bruce. Arrangements are rooted more in rock’n’roll, less in gospel than on Dylan’s previous two albums. So maybe it is more of a new start than a gospel-tinged end?
Dylan’s response to all the media excitement was to wear a ludicrous wig and a ridiculous false beard. There was a reason for this, he had been wearing them to tape a music video for a Civil War film – Gods and Generals – but nevertheless even with that explanation it was quite a bizarre appearance. This did mean that, handily enough, although Bob was for once open to photographers taking his picture, they could only take a snap of a man in a false wig and a false beard.
-Andrew Muir (One More Night)
Fort Stage
Fort Adams State Park
Newport, Rhode Island
3 August 2002
Apple & Eve Newport Folk Festival
As quoted above “Bob was for once open to photographers taking his picture”, so there are lots of pictures available using a google image search.
July 30: Bob Dylan: 4th recording session for Highway 61 Revisited 1965
“I never wanted to write topical songs,…. Have you heard my last two records, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61? It’s all there. That’s the real Dylan.”
~Bob Dylan (to Frances Taylor – Aug 1965)
“Dylan had not only changed his sound, but his persona, trading the folk troubadour for a streetwise, cynical hipster. Throughout the album, he embraces druggy, surreal imagery, which can either have a sense of menace or beauty, and the music reflects that, jumping between soothing melodies to hard, bluesy rock. And that is the most revolutionary thing about Highway 61 Revisited — it proved that rock & roll needn’t be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic, and complex.”
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
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Wikipedia: On July 30, Dylan and his band returned to Studio A and recorded three songs. A master take of “From a Buick 6” was recorded and later included on the final album, but most of the session was devoted to “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” Dylan was unsatisfied with the results and set the song aside for a later date; it was eventually re-recorded with the Hawks in October.
Lovely versions of the song. The Video is not very good but it has ok audio of this very fine performance.
