The Time: Thanksgiving, 1976.
The Place: Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco.
The Occasion: The final concert by the original lineup of the Band, with a jaw-dropping number of guests (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, etc.), all of it preserved forever by Martin Scorsese's cameras in the greatest rock-doc of all time, The Last Waltz.
Ticket Price: A then-scandalous $25, but everybody got a free turkey dinner
Continuing our mini-theme this weekend of iconic singer/songwriters, let's turn to Bob Dylan. To his credit, he hasn't released any cheesy Christmas tunes in his near 50-year career, though the holiday comes up in tunes like "Arthur McBride" and both Christmas and Santa are mentioned in "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie." But don't think that makes Bobby D some kind of scrooge. Two years ago, he recited "A Visit from St. Nicholas"--the poem of disputer authorship more commonly known by opening lin
In case you didn't realize how shitty the people in front of you were driving on your way to work this morning, or that the shoulders of your hoodie are exceptionally moist, I just though I'd inform you that it's raining. Now if your iPod is worth its weight, you should probably have a decent stack of songs at the ready for such an occasion. Its probably been a couple hours since you've settled into work and, if you're lucky, the head honcho allows you to have a little music in your life while y
I certainly have no interest in being one of those old dudes that complains whenever a current band covers a classic song. After all, Bob Dylan songs have been covered since the early days of his career ("All Along the Watchtower," "Mr. Tambourine Man," etc.), and his own first album was mostly covers. Even that Super Bowl commercial with will.i.am singing "Forever Young" didn't bug me. That having been said, My Chemical Romance cover of Dylan's superb "Desolation Row" from the Watchmen soundtra
Today isn't just your normal Tuesday. You've probably noticed. The air is thick with the smell of cogent lyrical metaphors and taut songwriting. It's a uniquely special day, a type of day that we haven't seen in nearly three years--a new Bob Dylan album day. Feel it. Love it.Together Through Life is out today, following on the heels of his last three universally acclaimed releases: 2006's Modern Times, 2001's "Love and Theft" and 1997's Time out of Mind. It's also the shortest amount of time bet
September 11, 2001 was a lot of things, but it was also a Tuesday, meaning that it was the day new CDs were out in stores (the iTunes Store was still a year and a half away from existence--how did we survive back then?). And not just any records, but quite a few fairly significant ones. Here are six.​Bob Dylan, "Love and Theft"Dylan's 31st studio album, but the second of three late-career masterpieces released in the late '90s and early '00s (sandwiched between 1997's Time Out of Mind and 2006