Bob Dylan News

Bob Dylan's "Must Be Santa" video

bobdylan.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:32:59 -0600

Watch Bob Dylan's new video for "Must Be Santa" from Christmas In The Heart

Rolling Stone's article about the video.

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"Christmas In The Heart" Now Available Everywhere

bobdylan.com — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:55:52 -0500

ALL ARTIST’S ROYALTIES TO BENEFIT MILLIONS IN NEED THROUGH FEEDING AMERICA AND INTERNATIONAL CHARITIES

About World Food Programme
About Crisis

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Christmas In The Heart

MORE THAN 4 MILLION MEALS TO BE PROVIDED DURING HOLIDAYS

Bob Dylan has released a brand new album of holiday songs, Christmas In The Heart. All of the artist's U.S. royalties from sales of these recordings will be donated to Feeding America, guaranteeing that more than four million meals will be provided to more than 1.4 million people in need in this country during this year's holiday season. Bob Dylan is also donating all of his future U.S. royalties from this album to Feeding America in perpetuity.

Additionally, the artist is partnering with two international charities to provide meals during the holidays for millions in need in the United Kingdom and the developing world, and will be donating all of his future international royalties from Christmas In The Heart to those organizations in perpetuity.

"Christmas in the Heart is an acknowledgment of an underappreciated musical tradition from one of the most important innovators and interpreters of American popular song."
Paul Snyder - Huffington Post

“When we reached out to Bob Dylan about becoming involved with our organization, we could never have anticipated that he would so generously donate all royalties from his forthcoming album to our cause,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. “This major initiative from such a world renowned artist and cultural icon will directly benefit so many people and have a major impact on spreading awareness of the epidemic of hunger in this country and around the world.”

Bob Dylan commented, “It’s a tragedy that more than 35 million people in this country alone -- 12 million of those children – often go to bed hungry and wake up each morning unsure of where their next meal is coming from. I join the good people of Feeding America in the hope that our efforts can bring some food security to people in need during this holiday season.”

Christmas In The Heart is the 47th album from Bob Dylan, and follows his worldwide chart-topping Together Through Life, released earlier this year. Songs performed by Dylan on this new album include, “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “Must Be Santa.”

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 25 million Americans each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks supports 63,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit feedingamerica.org.

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bobdylan.com — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:05:44 -0500

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Something was happening, but we're not sure what it was

bobdylan.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:54:45 -0600

From the McAlester News-Capital (Oklahoma)

Something was happening, but we're not sure what it was.
James Beaty has some insight into Dylan's Tulsa show
By James Beaty
Senior Editor

"I'm just a song and dance man."
Bob Dylan -- 1965

Beneath a waxing moon on a crisp autumn night, Bob Dylan strode onto the stage at the Brady Theater in Tulsa and used his masterful musical mojo to reinvent himself once again.

For much of the performance, Dylan stepped from behind the keyboards where he's spent most of his of time performing in recent years, and stood, sans guitar, behind a lone microphone on center stage.

Dressed in shiny black boots, black trousers with white piping, a round-rimmed black Goucho hat, a white shirt and -- of course -- a long, black coat, Dylan resembled a hipster Zorro, or maybe a more congenial phantom of the Brady, who might have swung down from one of the ropes backstage at the majestic old theater.

At times extolling the audience, pointing at them, holding his hand over his heart, or making sweeping grand gestures, Dylan continued his exploration of American music. He exuded a new stage presence, holding a microphone center stage and belting out tunes in the style of -- yep -- a song and dance man.

It's fitting that he did it in a classic theater, such as the Brady. From where I sat, in the second row at stage right, I could see catwalks and ropes looming high behind him.

It seems as if two types of people go to see Dylan in concert these days -- those who are seeing him for the first time and are hoping to hear "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits," and those who have seen him many times before and are hoping to hear a set filled with rarities and his remarkable newer songs.

I'm sure plenty of those who were jammed into the 2,800-seat capacity Brady Theater on the night of Oct. 24 were hard-core admirers of Dylan and were pumped because guitarist extraordinaire Charlie Sexton had rejoined the band just a few weeks earlier in Seattle, Washington -- adding another dimension to an already outstanding ensemble.

And some were no doubt praying that Dylan would open the Brady concert with "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking," a little-performed gem from his 1979 Christian music album "Slow Train Coming" -- something he'd already done several times since the current tour started on Oct. 4.

Following an introduction which ended with "Ladies and gentlemen, Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan," the stage lights arose and the band tore into a thunderous opening riff.

"As Dylan sang "Gonna change my way of thinkin," a man to my right shot from his seat like he'd been jolted with electricity, with both fists extended high in the air -- making it fairly obvious which song he'd hoped would open the concert.

Dylan does something few major recording artists do. He shuffles his set list every night. I once read a post from a guy who'd gone to see Dylan three nights in a row and heard 40 different songs.

Dylan also rearranges his songs in concert and sometimes changes the lyrics. In the recorded version of "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking," Dylan, full of fire and brimstone, had sang "Jesus said 'Be ready, for you know not the hour in which I come."'

At the Brady though, Dylan revised it to "Jesus is coming, coming to gather His jewels."

Dylan whipped up another rarity on the concert's second song, "The Man in Me," from 1970s "New Morning." He dispensed with singing the opening "la-la-las" which had been on the original recording and instead, on the new version, steel guitar player Donnie Herron blew a trumpet while Dylan wailed away on a harmonica.

Dylan gave his raspiest vocal performance of the night on the song, but the pipes had cleared by the time he and the band ripped into "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" -- a minor-keyed journey "through boulevards of broken cars" from Dylan's recent number one album "Together Through Life."

With Dylan constantly rearranging his songs, it's often difficult to guess what's coming next from the instrumental introductions alone.

While Dylan and the band played what sounded like the opening to a lilting, winsome country waltz, he suddenly leaned forward and sang about poor Hattie Carroll, murdered by a wealthy man "with a cane that he twirled 'round his diamond ring finger."

With Dylan's performance of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," his 1963 indictment of injustice in America following the revved up "Beyond Here Lies Nothing," it began to sound like this might be a special concert indeed.

Dylan has what many of his admirers consider one of the best rhythm sections in music: His longtime bass guitarist Tony Garnier and drummer George Recile. As they started playing with a pounding, driving beat, Dylan sang the opening lines to "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum," a morality tale from his 2001 masterwork, "Love and Theft."

Dylan stood behind his keyboards, bumping and grinding like some early-day Elvis, as Sexton stalked the stage like a panther, shooting stinging riffs right and left, up and down. The newly unleashed Stu Kimball, who'd been restricted to mostly playing rhythm guitar at some previous concerts I'd seen, released some lightning volleys himself, holding his own while going head-to-head with the great Sexton.

Although Dylan had made a brief trip to center stage earlier for "The Man in Me," the maestro next decided to fully introduce the new Dylan to the Brady

With steel guitarist Herron picking a mandolin, Sexton playing a Dobro and Garnier now plucking a stand-up acoustic bass, the sounds of a Mexican cantina band emanated from the stage as Dylan used two microphones -- one for his voice and another for harmonica -- to give a poignant vocal and harp performance on the beguiling, Latin-tinged, "This Dream of You" -- another new song from this year's "Together Through Life."

Following the gentle sounds of "This Dream," Dylan and the boys now unfurled the fury of "Cold Irons Bound" from his 1997 Grammy-winning album "Time Out of Mind."

With a cacophony of blues-grunge licks erupting from Sexton's and Kimball's guitars, and with Garnier and Recile beating out their own rhythmic dins, Dylan spat out his words in a soul-shaking rasp about aloneness and isolation, about being 20 miles out of town and "cold irons bound."

Dylan stood stage-center and bent double, blowing a harmonica solo powerful enough to shake the bones of Howlin' Wolf. Sexton crouched to the floor, carefully caressing notes from his guitar before catapulting them into the ether with timing so sharp that it seemed to split seconds.

While the crowd thundered its enthusiasm, Dylan started to calm things down once more.

Dylan doesn't utilize a light show, per se, but instead uses more theatrical style of lighting, perfectly suited for the Brady. As the stage lights resembled hundreds of twinkling stars on the huge dark curtain behind him, Dylan returned to the keyboard for "Po' Boy," a song from "Love & Theft" with lyrics both poignant and humorous, about a "poor boy 'neath the stars that shine, washin' them dishes, feedin' them swine."

Dylan and the band were ready to roar, with Dylan staying behind the keyboard for powerful, dynamic-punched versions of "Honest With Me" and "Highway 61 Revisited." The two blues-rockers bookended the lazy soul-romp of the 2009 song "I Feel a Change Comin' On."

"Some people they tell me, I've got the blood of the land in my voice," Dylan sang -- and a couple of songs later, he proved it.

Again standing center stage, holding just a microphone and a harmonica, Dylan gave one of the most heartfelt vocals I've ever heard -- "Workingman's Blues # 2," a prophetic song from his 2006 masterpiece "Modern Times."

Now, with Dylan looking like a world-weary circuit-riding preacher who's just emgerged from the haunted woods, his voice floated through the Brady, filled with empathy for everyone with the ''workingman's blues."

With every word ringing clear, Dylan sang "The buyin' power of the proletariat's gone down, money's getting shallow and weak," followed a few lines later by "They say low wages are a reality, if we want to compete abroad."

A lot of working men and women must have been seated in the Brady, because spontaneous cheers of agreement arose when Dylan sang "Some people never worked a day in their life, don't know what work even means."

When Dylan served up a double shot of "Modern Times" songs by breaking into a rocking version of "Thunder on the Mountain" that had much of the crowd (including many in the balcony) literally dancing in the aisles, I figured that might be the end of the main set.

Fortunately, I was wrong.

Dylan strode once more to center stage and proceeded to show the Brady why he's the stuff of legend.

With the theatrical lighting shining an orange-yellowish glow on the performers and with lower lighting casting their dark, giant shadows on the curtain behind them like some group of rhythmically-inclined, bone-bending scarecrows, the band began the eerie, minor chord intro into 1965's "Ballad of a Thin Man."

Taking the stage with an evangelistic fervor, Dylan drew the listeners into a nightmare vision filled with geeks, freaks, sword swallowers and a bewildered protagonist who is unknowing and ignorant -- but oh so far from being filled with bliss.

"And you know something's happening, but you don't know what it is, do you... Mr. Jones?" Dylan sang in the shimmering oranage and yellow hues as the minor chords slammed together and the looming shadows kept up their frantic, ghostly dance.

As the song ended, the Brady sat filled with silence for a few seconds, as some people around me literally sank back in their seats, momentarily overwhelmed by the performance.

Then, the Brady erupted into a huge roar, as those who weren't already standing abruptly rose to their feet. Dylan and the band left the stage for several minutes before returning for a three-song encore of "Like a Rolling Stone," the new rockabilly-spiced "Jolene" and a revelatory "All Along the Watchtower."

As I left the Brady, I primarily saw two looks on many people's faces -- looks of either joy, or awe.

Not bad for a song and dance man.

Bob Dylan, still rollin'

bobdylan.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:55:10 -0600

Bob Dylan, still rollin'

By Maxwell Webster | The News Record (University of Cincinnati)

Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009

The standing room only crowd was a mixed up bunch. Burnt out hipsters looking for that one last hit of nostalgia, glossy-eyed college students, mop-headed teenagers, clusters of oxford clad businessmen, haggard old groupies and the just plain curious. The delegates of three generations crammed together on the floor of Columbus' Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Tuesday, Nov. 3, waiting for Rock and Roll's poet laureate to step onto the stage.

When Dylan finally emerged dressed in a black suit with a pink shirt, tie and tuxedo stripe and a wide-brimmed black top hat, the crowd erupted and Dylan wasted no time diving straight into a 17- song tour de force.

It becomes obvious when he begins that this isn't the Bob Dylan of the '60s - alone on a stage strumming an acoustic guitar, whining out folk songs. For one thing, Dylan's voice has become so faint that it's impossible for him to hit the notes that trademarked his early sound. You can see right away that the band's hardline blues drive is meant to work with Dylan's vocal regression.

The days of Dylan playing guitar through an entire set are also gone. Only a few times did he venture out from behind his keyboard and only once did he pick up a guitar.

With that said, the performance was nothing short of spectacular. Dylan might be 68, but he plays like a man possessed: jerking, grimacing, stomping, twisting and grinning with every note he pounded on his keys. It isn't the unbelievable stage raving antics of Mick Jagger, but Dylan is still sharp enough to work the crowd with every move he makes.

And although Dylan's voice now is something like marbles rattling inside a tin can, he's done a fantastic job rearranging his songs so they'll work with his vocal range. Classics like "All Along the Watchtower" and "Like a Rolling Stone" may be altered, but in such a way that their power is not lost.

Like any good show, though, the performance was a reflection of the crowd and they couldn't have been better. It's a peculiar thing, but somewhere in the middle of the set you are forced to realize that the crowd is just full of love and appreciation for this man. Shouts of, "Bobby D we love you!" and "Anything for you Bob!" seem to fall on deaf ears during the performance, with Dylan hardly lifting an eye in the crowds direction. But by the time the encore rolled around he couldn't help but smile back and the crowd's clamoring was finally answered when he said, "Thank You friends."

And let's not forget about the band, on their own they would be a show worth going to. Lead guitarist Johnny Sexton's fingers danced over the fret board and he squeezed every last drop out of his solos.

With the last round of "How does it feel," as Dylan took a bow and blew a kiss to his adoring fans, I was forced to wonder what has made this man the preeminent voice of American music for 50 years. The answer has to be that in every song the listener can see themselves: their own reality and their own dreams reflected and immortalized in a way that they could never communicate before.

An A+ to Dylan and to us, the fans, together through it all.