In Season One, we focused on one album for the whole year. This year we’re going to move along a little faster.
We like focus, and digging deep into specific topics, so we’re adopting a quarterly format. Each quarter we’ll focus on one major theme — usually one of Dylan’s major studio releases. We’ll dive into that theme but also cover topics related to the central them, such as tours, events, or a movie.
Here are the themes we’ll cover this year:
Q1: FRAGMENTS: The Bootleg Series 17
After nine-months diving into Time Out Of Mind, we finally get the official release of more songs and more details – we take a deep look at everything in the box, as well as the making of it. This gives us the perfect way to wrap up our look at this great album.
Q2: The Mid-Career Covers Albums
Dylan returned to his roots in the early ‘90s, surprising everyone with two solo covers albums full of old covers and folk songs – Good As I Been to You / World Gone Wrong. We’ll look at these records, the role this shift played in Dylan’s own career and songwriting, plus Dylan’s live performances in the years 1990-1994, and the 30th Anniversary Concert (1993).
Q3: The Late 80’s Tragedy/Trilogy
Three of the four albums Dylan made in the late 80’s are considered his worst, but everything is relative – Bob’s worst is better than many artists best. These are Knocked Out Loaded, Down In The Groove, & Under the Red Sky. We’ll dig into these three albums, the live Dylan & Dead album and show from this time period, as well as the movie Hearts of Fire.
Q4: Street Legal
Street Legal is a Dylan phase all by itself, as distinct from the Blood On The Tracks / Desire / Rolling Thunder years that proceeded it, as it is from the Gospel Years that follow. Yet it’s a huge album, supported by an equally distinct World Tour. We’ll examine all of it as well as the Renaldo & Clara movie.
