Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, Playlist, Sound

Nigel Williamson playlist: Bob ain’t dead

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bobaintdead

“You thought it was all over after Blood On The Tracks? Well it’s not dark yet. In fact, it’s not even getting there. Here are ten songs you need, from Street Legal onwards.”
– Nigel Williamson

Nigel Williamson is a British journalist and author. Educated at University College London, Williamson worked as a reporter on Tribune (1982–84) and was then briefly its literary editor (1984) before becoming editor (1984–87) as successor to Chris Mullin.

He writes on pop and world music for a variety of publications, including the magazines Uncut and Songlines. He has also written books, among them, The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. He made 4 Bob Dylan playlists for The Rough Guide Book of playlists.

His first three playlists:
Nigel Williamson playlist 1 – Bob Dylan The Protest Years
Nigel Williamson playlist 2 – Bob Dylan Electric Messiah
Nigel Williamson playlist 3 – Bob Dylan After the crash

…and here is the 4th:

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Bob Dylan, Playlist

Nigel Wiliamson playlist – Bob Dylan After The Crash

Bob-Dylan-After The Crash

“After the motorcycle crash in the autumn of 1966, Dylan retreated to Woodstock. When he re-emerged with John Wesley Harding, he sounded very different. His output over the next eight years was decidedly patchy. Yet it contained some fine songs, even before the release of 1975’s Blood On The Tracks, one of his absolute masterpieces.”
– Nigel Williamson (The Rough Guide Book of Playlists)

Nigel Williamson is a British journalist and author. Educated at University College London, Williamson worked as a reporter on Tribune (1982–84) and was then briefly its literary editor (1984) before becoming editor (1984–87) as successor to Chris Mullin.

He writes on pop and world music for a variety of publications, including the magazines Uncut and Songlines. He has also written books, among them, The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan.

His first two playlists:
Nigel Williamson playlist 1 – Bob Dylan The Protest Years
Nigel Williamson playlist 2 – Bob Dylan Electric Messiah

He made 4 Bob Dylan playlists for The Rough Guide Book of playlists, this is the 3rd of them:

Continue reading Nigel Wiliamson playlist – Bob Dylan After The Crash →

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan recording sessions

Feb 18: Bob Dylan’s 5th recording session for “Nashville Skyline” (w/Johnny Cash) in 1969

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bob dylan nashville skyline

I like Johnny Cash a lot. I like everything he does really.
~Bob Dylan (to Nat Hentoff – Autumn 1965)

In the end, Nashville Skyline is a lovely album but not a heavyweight contender, though its effects were major ones. Country music was despised, hick music when Dylan took it up. People were divided into the hip and the non-hip. The counterculture was in full swing and riddled with its own self-importance and snobbery. Nashville Skyline was a hard pill to swallow: but it did ’em good.
~Michael Gray (Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)

The 5th recording session for ‘Nashville Skyline’ took place on February 18, 1969. One master versions emerged.. the lovely “Girl from the North Country”. Johnny Cash shared vocal on all 38 takes…this is a highly bootlegged sessions… and people have uploaded most of it on youtube… 

bob-dylan-and-johnny-cash-tv-special
picture of Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan.. NOT from the studio sessions

 

Some background from wikipedia:

Nashville Skyline is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in April 1969 by Columbia Records.

Building on the rustic style he experimented with on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline displayed a complete immersion into country music. Along with the more basic lyrical themes, simple songwriting structures, and charming domestic feel, it introduced audiences to a radically new singing voice from Dylan—a soft, affected country croon.

The result received a generally positive reaction from critics, and was a commercial success. Reaching number 3 in the US, the album also scored Dylan his fourth UK number 1 album.

bob dylan nashville skyline back

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan recording sessions, Johnny Cash

Feb 17: Bob Dylan’s 4th recording session for “Nashville Skyline (w/Johnny Cash) in 1969

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bob dylan nashville skyline

I like Johnny Cash a lot. I like everything he does really.
~Bob Dylan (to Nat Hentoff – Autumn 1965)

In the end, Nashville Skyline is a lovely album but not a heavyweight contender, though its effects were major ones. Country music was despised, hick music when Dylan took it up. People were divided into the hip and the non-hip. The counterculture was in full swing and riddled with its own self-importance and snobbery. Nashville Skyline was a hard pill to swallow: but it did ’em good.
~Michael Gray (Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)

The 4th recording session for ‘Nashville Skyline’ took place on February 17, 1969. Two master versions emerged.. the lovely “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” & “Nashville Skyline Rag”. Johnny Cash joined the session halfway through & they tried out “One Too Many Mornings”, “I Still Miss Someone” (Cash) & “Don’t Think Twice”. A video from one of the takes on “One Too Many Mornings” is available (& included in this post).. fantastic stuff!

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Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan recording sessions

Feb 13: Bob Dylan – 2nd Nashville Skyline session in 1969

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bob dylan nashville skyline

Well, Jann, I’ll tell you something. There’s not too much of a change in my singing style, but I’ll tell you something which is true… I stopped smoking. When I stopped smoking my voice changed… So drastically, I couldn’t believe it myself. That’s true. I tell you, you stop smoking those cigarettes (laughter)… and you’ll be able to sing like Caruso.
~Bob Dylan (to Jann Wenner Nov 1969)

Anyway, on Nashville Skyline you had to read between the lines. I was trying to grasp something that would lead me on to where I thought I should be, and it didn’t go nowhere – it just went down, down, down.
~Bob Dylan (to Jonathan Cott, Sept 1978)

The first recording session for “Nashville Skyline” was held on February 12, 1969 – but no recordings sheets are available from this session. The second session took place the day after – February 13, 1969. Dylan landed 3 master versions this evening.

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