Well, if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Who was Bob Dylan thinking of when he wrote and then recorded “Girl from the North Country”? Maybe Echo Helstrom, who had been his girlfriend when he lived in Hibbing. Or perhaps Bonnie Beecher, whom he had also met in Minneapolis, and whom he kept on seeing after he settled in Greenwich Village. But it is more likely his erstwhile girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. Suze had gone to Italy to pursue her studies, leaving Dylan in deep distress. Dylan put the final touches on this superb ballad during his trip to Perugia.
– Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel. Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
Bob Dylan has played this wonderful song 546 times live, here are 6 great performances.
..His talent takes many forms. He is one of the most compelling white blues singers ever recorded. He is a songwriter of exceptional facility and cleverness. He is an uncommonly skillful guitar player and harmonica player.
~Stacy Williams (“Bob Dylan” LP. liner notes)
–
Dylan’s first album can hardly be faulted. It is a brilliant debut, a performer’s tour de force,….
~Michael Gray (BD Encyclopedia)
Almost done
almost done
but I don’t stand missed
but you’re the one
oh you’re the child
I’m a-trustin’ you
to trust me down
just trust me too
-from “Angel of rain”
One of three new originals Dylan was threatening to play on his 1984 tour of European stadiums, this gorgeous song was worked on a number of times at pre-tour rehearsals, of which recordings remain, but was never performed or recorded at the post-tour sessions in New York.
– Clinton Heylin (The gems that Bob Dylan discarded – The Telegraph)
Of the three nights in Detroit the second night [March 16] is
by far my favorite. Every performance this night was
dead on and there was never a moment when I felt that
the intensity was not red hot and pouring from the
stage like molten lava.
-Charles Eric Cicirella (boblinks.com)
This concert features a great cover version of Bob Seger’s “Get Out of Denver”.
State Theater
Detroit, Michigan
16 March 2004
Bob Dylan (vocal & piano)
Freddie Koella (guitar)
Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
Tony Garnier (bass)
George Recile & Richie Hayward (drums & percussion)
