Dylan records a half-hour program as part of the CBC-TV series “Quest.” The half a dozen songs he sings-“Talkin’ World War III Blues,” “Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” “Girl from the North Country,” “The Times They Are a-Chang in’,” “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” and “Restless Farewell”-are all performed within the most incongruous of settings, a log cabin filled with working men pretending to pay attention.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
CBC TV Studios Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1 February 1964 Produced by Daryl Duke.
The message isn’t in the words, …. I don’t do anything with a sort of message.
I’m just transferring my thoughts into music. Nobody can give you a message like that.
~Bob Dylan (to Ray Coleman, May 1965)
Dylan’s third album reflects his mood in August-October 1963. It is also a product for his need to live up to and expand on the role he found himself in, topical poet, the restless young man with something to say, singing to and for a new generation.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan Performing Artist I: The Early Years 1960-1973)
Released January 13, 1964 – 54 years ago today… it is one of his weakest albums from the 60’s.. and still a fantastic album.
“The Times They Are A-Changin'” @ The White House in Feb 2010:
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The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll – 5/7/65 – Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England:
…
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now’s the time for your tears
(The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll)
The story I took out of the newspaper and I only changed the words.
~Bob Dylan (to Steve Allen, Feb 1964)
Don’t let that scare you. It’s just Halloween. I have my Bob Dylan mask on. I’m masquerading ha ha.
~Bob Dylan (before If You Gotta Go, Go Now)
‘Live 1964 brings back a Bob Dylan on the cusp. . . . It brings back a time between his scuffling sets at the downtown clubs and his arena-rock tours of the 1970s and after. It brings back a long gone era of intimacy between performer and audience, and the last strains of a self-aware New York bohemia before
bohemia became diluted and mass marketed.’
~Sean Wilentz
Here is “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”:
There are…. Hey anything you say! Hope I never have to make a living. This is called It’s Alright Ma It’s Life An Life Only. Yes it’s a very funny song.
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