Tag Archives: 1981

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts

Bob Dylan – East Rutherford, New Jersey – 27 October 1981 (full concert audio)

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bob dylan new jersey 1981

A fascinating performance by a magnetic renegade
~The New York Times (according to Clinton Heylin in “A Life in Stolen Moments”)

Meadowlands Brendan T. Byrne Sports Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
27 October 1981

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Fred Tackett (guitar)
  • Steve Ripley (guitar)
  • Al Kooper (keyboards)
  • Tim Drummond (bass)
  • Jim Keltner (drums)
  • Arthur Rosato (drums)
  • Clydie King, Regina Havis, Madelyn Quebec (background vocals)

Setlist:

  1. Gotta Serve Somebody
  2. I Believe In You
  3. Like A Rolling Stone
  4. I Want You
    Thank you, you’re great. You all feel pretty good tonight huh? Oh heaven, I wish I felt that good. If I stay here long enough I might feel that good. Oh yeah? All right! So, how you doing? How far you’d come? Is that right? I might be acting a little strange right now. That’s because this is a mighty strange place. Oh yes, it is. I ain’t seen nowhere like this. Back in the dressing room there, I got a black mirror in my room! I was looking through it just half an hour ago, I see two eyes looking back at me.
  5. Man Gave Names To All The Animals
  6. Maggie’s Farm
    Thank you. You feeling all right? Am I singing on key tonight? I’ll try sing this one for you in key.
  7. Girl From The North Country
    Thank you. Anybody here tonight paid to get in? What? I can’t hear you. Talk up, yeah. I’m glad you’re sitting there. Phew!
  8. Ballad Of A Thin Man
  9. Simple Twist Of Fate
  10. All Along The Watchtower
  11. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
    We’re gonna do this song here. The songwriter who wrote it is here tonight. There’s a lot of famous people here tonight. I wanna just tell you that you may be sitting next to somebody that’s famous. I know you are. You definitely are. That man over there’s famous too, yes he is. [plays Let’s Begin] I hope we did that right Jim.
  12. Let’s Begin (Jim Webb)
  13. Forever Young
    It’s easy to say that, but hard to do it. Any gambling men out there? I guess there should be. Yeah! Don’t you have a big gambling resort around here somewhere. What’s it called? What’s that gambling town around here? Reno? Atlantic City. Big gambling town, yeah? Well here’s a gambling song for you gambling men. Gambling women too. I don’t think any women are gamblers though do you?
  14. Gamblin’ Man (trad.)
  15. The Times They Are A-Changin’
  16. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
  17. Watered-Down Love
  18. Masters Of War
  19. Mr. Tambourine Man
  20. Solid Rock
  21. Dead Man, Dead Man
  22. Just Like A Woman
    All right, all right. I want to play …. We had a single record released a while back. I think it sold about five copies. But I like it so much I just got to play it. Anyway, it sold about three copies right here.
  23. Heart Of Mine
    All right. I wanna say hello to all the editors of Rolling Stone magazine, oh yeah. All the writers and editors are here tonight I think, checking me out. They’re gonna come back stage later, I’m gonna check them out.
  24. When You Gonna Wake Up
  25. In The Garden
    All right, hello. Thank you. I wanna say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Kooper who are out there tonight. Wherever they are, I wanna say greetings! I’m glad you could make it. Anyway this is Mr. and Mrs. Kooper’s relative on keyboards over here. A man I’ve known for quite some time now. I’m not gonna tell you his name but that’s him on keyboards. I should tell you his name anyway. Al Kooper is his name. Played with me twenty years. Maybe some of you heard of him, maybe some of you haven’t. A legend in his own time though. On the drums tonight, Jimmy Lee Keltner from Tulsa, Oklahoma. From New Jersey, state of I think he’s from, Ashbury Park, New Jersey, on the guitar, Steve Ripley. On the other guitar, Fred Tackett. All right, on the guitar, bass guitar Tim Drummond. On the backing vocals, Clydie, Regina, and Madelyn Quebec. On the other set of drums, also from New Jersey is Arthur Rosoto. Give Arthur Rosoto a big hand. I hope I sung something on key tonight, I really do.
    —
  26. Blowin’ In The Wind
  27. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
  28. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Bob Dylan - New Jersey 1981

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-Egil

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan albums, Music Calendar

Today: Bob Dylan released Shot of Love in 1981 – 32 years ago

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Bob_Dylan-Shot_Of_Love

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?

At the time of its release, Shot of Love received mixed reviews; Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone in particular savaged the album, though he did single out the last track, “Every Grain of Sand,” as a stand-out. Shot of Love, while reaching UK #6, continued Dylan’s US commercial decline, reaching #33 during a brief chart stay. By contrast, Bono of Irish band U2 described Shot of Love as one of his favourites, particularly due to Dylan’s singing ability.

“To those who care where Bob Dylan is at, they should listen to “Shot of Love.” It’s my most perfect song. It defines where I am spiritually, musically, romantically and whatever else. It shows where my sympathies lie. It’s all there in that one song.”
– Bob Dylan (NME 1983)

Shot of Love (Avignon 1981, audio) one of my favorite versions of the song, and it is so much better than the album track:

Don’t need a shot of heroin to kill my disease

Don’t need a shot of turpentine, only bring me to my knees

Don’t need a shot of codeine to help me to repent

Don’t need a shot of whiskey, help me be president

I need a shot of love.

Heart of Mine (live, Avignon, 1981), a wonderful rendition:

The song is a roller coaster of expression due to the way Dylan sings it, and due to a host of often hilarious couplets throughout the song. The musicians seem similarly inspired and give the song a feel comparable to something from Highway 61 Revisited.
– Thomas Ward (allmusic)

 

A large number of songs recorded during the Shot of Love sessions were ultimately omitted from the final album, but several outtakes later found their way into private circulation.

Best of the outtakes is Caribbean Wind & Angelina…follow the links to listen to some fantastic versions and read about those two gems!

A number of critics had already turned on Dylan for the evangelism of his last two albums, but the reception for Shot of Love was particularly harsh. Despite lavish praise of “Every Grain Of Sand,” Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone savaged the rest of the album. Nick Kent of New Musical Express called it “Dylan’s worst album to date.” Despite heavy touring in Europe and North America (in which all but two songs were performed), sales of Shot of Love were below CBS’s expectations. Still, in an interview taken in 1983, Dylan would describe Shot of Love as a personal favorite.

Great live version of Every Grain of Sand – Paris 84 (audio, with Mick Taylor on lead guitar):

Shot of Love finds Dylan still in born-again mode, but he’s starting to come alive again — which isn’t as much a value judgment as it is an observation that he no longer seems beholden to repeating dogma, loosening up and crafting songs again. And it’s not just that his writing is looser, the music is, too, as he lets himself — and his backing band — rock a little harder, a little more convincingly. Shot of Love still isn’t a great album, but it once again has flashes of brilliance, such as “Every Grain of Sand,” which point the way to the rebirth of Infidels.

– Stephen Thomas Erwine (allmusic)

Now here is a real gem! – The Grooms Still Waiting At The Altar – live (probably Nov 1980):

I still believe it is an underrated album, yes I know that it has been somewhat reassessed, but the new reviews normally says: “It’s not as bad as they said…”. I think that is wrong, it is in fact a very good album. Put in on, play it loud and marvel at yet another great Bob Dylan record!  And check out all these fantastic versions of Every Grain of Sand!

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylans's best songs

Bob Dylan’s best songs – Lenny Bruce – #148

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Lenny Bruce 2

 Maybe he had some problems, maybe some things that he couldn’t work out
But he sure was funny and he sure told the truth and he knew what he was talkin’ about
~Bob Dylan (From the lyrics of “Lenny Bruce”)

Here’s a song I wrote a while back about a guy who died pretty miserably  actually. I figured I didn’t write this song, nobody would so, somebody had to write it. There’s a great American playwright named Tennessee Williams. He said, “I’m not looking for your pity, I just want your understanding. No, not even that, but just your recognition of me and you and time, the enemy in us all.” Anyway, he died pretty miserably too. So this is a man who got no recognition really during his lifetime. But he laid down a lot of road for a lot of people to walk on. People still walking on that road, making lots of money, living in fine houses. Have plenty of women and eating good food. And he didn’t have none of them things.
~Bob Dylan (before “Lenny Bruce”  @ Nippon Budokan Hall – Tokyo, Japan – 10 March 1986)

@ #148 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs. A song about the great stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce.

shot of love

spotify:

The original version from “Shot Of Love” is a very good song.. but there are many live versions that are superior…

Here is a great example:

Live @ Kooyong Stadium – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – Feb 1986

Musicians playing on this video:

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Tom Petty (guitar)
  • Mike Campbell (guitar)
  • Benmont Tench (keyboards)
  • Howie Epstein (bass)
  • Stan Lynch (drums)
  • –
    The Queens Of Rhythm:
  • Debra Byrd
  • Queen Esther Marrow
  • Madelyn Quebec
  • Elisecia Wright (backing vocals)

bob-dylan 1986 live

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Bruce Springsteen, Great albums, Music Calendar

Today: Bruce Springsteen released “Live/1975–85” in 1986 – 26 years ago

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It’s not enough. By anyone else’s standards, of course, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live/1975-85 is an embarrassment of riches — five albums and ten years’ worth of barroom, hockey-arena and baseball-stadium dynamite; greatest hits, ace covers, love songs, work songs, out-of-work songs — the ultimate rock-concert experience of the past decade finally packaged for living-room consumption, a special gift of thanks to the fans who shared those 1001 nights of stomp & sweat and the best possible consolation prize for the poor bastards who could never get tickets.
~David Fricke – rollingstone.com

“Thunder Road” – October 18, 1975 at The Roxy Theatre:

a short promo:

From Wikipedia:

Released November 10, 1986
Recorded October 18, 1975 – September 30, 1985
Genre Rock
Length 216:13
Label Columbia
Producer Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen

Live/1975–85 is a live album by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. It consists of 40 tracks recorded at various concerts between 1975 and 1985. It was released as a box set with either five vinyl records, three cassettes, or three CDs. There was also a record club only release which came on three 8-track cartridges, which is extremely hard to find.

Spirit in the Night – July 7, 1978 at The Roxy Theatre:

Springsteen’s long-awaited and highly-anticipated live album generated advance orders of more than 1.5 million copies, making it the largest dollar-volume pre-order in the history of the record business at the time. Record stores around the country found fans waiting in line on Monday morning before opening and one New York store reportedly sold the album right off the back of the delivery truck. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart, a rare occurrence that hadn’t happened in ten years since Stevie Wonder‘s Songs in the Key of Life in 1976.

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) – (again) – July 7, 1978 at The Roxy Theatre:

Not surprising, given Springsteen’s reputation as a live performer and the sheer scope of the 40-song set, most reviews were overwhelmingly positive. There were, however, a few critics that felt the album could have been better, citing the omission of several concert highlights such as Springsteen’s live rendition of “Prove It All Night” and his rousing cover of John Fogerty’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain”, among others.

—

..I need to address this issue of leaving out a 78-version of “Prove It All Night”. This is a tragedy.. it’s alright for those of us collecting bootleg concerts… and thus having heard the 78-version countless times, but what about the rest ? IMO Bruce made a real bad judgement…

So I really need to include a brilliant version in this post:

Prove it all Night – Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ. 19-9-1978:

–

But.. back to “Live/1975-85”.. Here is the brilliant “The River” w/rap:

The River – September 30, 1985 at the LA Coliseum:

Let’s close the “youtubes” with Badlands..

Badlands – November 5, 1980 at Arizona State University, the night after the election of Ronald Reagan to the United States presidency:

Album of the day @ Spotify:

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