Tag Archives: Idiot Wind

May 23: Bob Dylan: Fort Collins, Colorado 1976 (videos)

bob dylan 1976

The last three songs on the album (“You’re a Big Girl Now,” “I Threw It All Away,” and “Idiot Wind“) are as powerful and exciting as anything Dylan has done (comparable, for instance, to the May 1966 versions of “Ballad of a Thin Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone”). As phenomenal as every aspect of each of these performances is, the unique orchestration of guitars, keyboards, violin, drums and voice on “Big Girl” must be singled out for particular praise. Stoner’s bass-playing while Dylan sings “Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstacy” on “Idiot Wind” will have a special place in my heart as long as I live.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)

Fantastic concert from the penultimate show of Rolling Thunder Revue 2. Five songs from this show were chosen to be included on Bob Dylan’s brilliant live album “Hard Rain”: Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Shelter from the Storm, You’re a Big Girl Now & Idiot Wind.

Hughes Stadium
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
23 May 1976

Continue reading May 23: Bob Dylan: Fort Collins, Colorado 1976 (videos)

Bob Dylan: 5 great songs recorded in 1974





This is not a “best from 1974” list, just 5 Great songs Bob Dylan recorded in 1974.

Up To Me

In its own way ‘Up To Me’ is as masterful an achievement as ‘Tangled Up In Blue’, using much the same technique to create a well-crafted juxtaposition of ‘what I know to be the truth’ and what I’m projecting’.
~Clinton Heylin (Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2, . 1974-2008)

A & R Studios
New York City, New York
19 September 1974

4th Blood On The Tracks recording session, produced by Bob Dylan.

First released on  BIOGRAPH, October 28, 1985.

Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing
Death kept followin’, trackin’ us down, at least I heard your bluebird sing
Now somebody’s got to show their hand, time is an enemy
I know you’re long gone, I guess it must be up to me

Continue reading Bob Dylan: 5 great songs recorded in 1974

Bob Dylan’s best songs – Idiot Wind #10




bob dylan 1974

It was gravity which pulled us in and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, you’ll find out when you reach the top
You’re on the bottom.
~Bob Dylan (Idiot wind)

Idiot Wind. Yeah, you know, obviously, if you’ve heard both versions, you realise, of
course, that there could be a myriad of versions for the thing. It doesn’t stop. It
wouldn’t stop. Where do you end? You could still be writing it, really. It’s something
that could be a work continually in progress.
~Bob Dylan (to Paul Zollo, April 1991)

…”Idiot Wind” [album version] is shock treatment. The voice that had been so gentle in “Simple Twist” now is right in your face, one moment reasonable and remarkably lucid, the next moment filled with fury.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)

Finally a new post in my series of Bob Dylan’s 200 best songs.

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May 9: Bob Dylan – San José, California 1992


bob dylan san jose revisited

This is a great sounding audience recording of a loose, fun show. The setlist is amazing.
~bobsboots.com

Perhaps the best of the West-coast shows..[1992]
~Clinton Heylin (A Life In Stolen Moments)

San José Event State Center
San José, California
9 May 1992

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • John Jackson (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Ian Wallace (drums)
  • Charlie Quintana (drums & percussion)

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September 16: Bob Dylan “Blood On The Tracks” first recording session 1974

blood-on-the-tracks-album-cover

Bob Dylan started recording Blood On The Tracks September 16, 1974.

Here are some quotes, facts & music….

When Dylan began work at A&R one Monday afternoon in September he seemed unusually keen to get on with the recording process. The songs themselves were no more than 2 months old, and he was still excited by the new approach to language he had uncovered.
Even behind closed studio doors he was determined to get the songs out of his system as quickly, and with as much impact, as possible
~Clinton Heylin (The Recording Sessions)

From Wikipedia:

Dylan arrived at Columbia Records’ A&R Recording Studios in New York City on September 16, 1974, where it was soon realized that he was taking a “spontaneous” approach to recording. The session engineer at the time, Phil Ramone, later said that he would “go from one song to another like a medley. Sometimes he will have several bars, and in the next version, he will change his mind about how many bars there should be in between a verse. Or eliminate a verse. Or add a chorus when you don’t expect”. Eric Weissberg and his band, Deliverance, originally recruited as session men, were rejected after two days of recording because they could not keep up with Dylan’s pace. Dylan retained bassist Tony Brown from the band, and soon added organist Paul Griffin (who had also worked on Highway 61 Revisited) and steel guitarist Buddy Cage. After ten days and four sessions with the current lineup, Dylan had finished recording and mixing, and, by November, had cut a test pressing on the album. Columbia soon began to prepare for the album’s imminent release, but, three months later, just before the scheduled launch, Dylan re-recorded several songs at the last minute, in Minneapolis’ Sound 80 Studios, utilizing local musicians organized by his brother, David Zimmerman. Even with this setback, Columbia managed to release Blood on the Tracks by January 17, 1975.

Continue reading September 16: Bob Dylan “Blood On The Tracks” first recording session 1974