(NOTE: This episode is substantially the same as the earlier version posted on A Bob Dylan Primer – you might have already heard it.) Before television, a boy was born in springtime Minnesota. 25 years later he was the most beloved, and most reviled – pop star on the planet. A Bob Dylan Primer is a series that tells the …

Not Completely Unknown – Series Announcement (+) We’re kicking off a new series on Dylan.FM called “Not Completely Unknown” focused on helping new Dylan fans learn more about the guy they met in the film, or the musician that they’ve never taken the time to get to know well. This will be an ongoing series of podcasts, blog posts, and …

In 1983 Bob Dylan recorded Blind Willie McTell, but it remained unreleased until The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, and became one of Dylan’s most revered songs. It finally appeared in concert in 1997 where it remained an occasional highlight for a long long time. On this episode we dive into this well loved Dylan song with Michael Gray, who researched …

In 1984 Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone that Jokerman was ‘very mystical’, which may explain why many of us have been puzzling on the song for forty years. On this episode we dive into this well loved Dylan song with Michael Gray, who researched and wrote extensively about it in his book Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob …

This is a 2007 BBC Documentary about the band and its history. Available for a limited time …

This is the audio from the official documentary of the band. It’s a video documentary you can watch on YouTube at the link below, but if you don’t have time to sit and watch, you can get all the info by listening. It’s pretty great. Available for a limited time. LINKS The True History Of The Traveling Wilburys (Documentary YouTube) …

Dylan’s participation in The Traveling Wilburys was a clear career bright spot of the 1980s. What started as a few friends dropping by the house turned into a hit record. In this episode Musician Jeff Slate talks to us about how this happened, what it produced, and what it mean to Dylan and his career. ** There is a video …

Continuing our discussion with Michael Gray on his book Song & Dance Man Vol.2, we discuss Chapter 4 which focuses on Groom Still Waiting At The Altar and also covers Angelina and Caribbean Wind. Michael explains the biblical references from the title of Groom, we discuss the lyrical changes as sung from those in the lyric books, the various and …

Bob Dylan struggled in many ways in the mid 80’s, no matter how you look at it. We talk about the perception and reality of that struggle, along with his triumphs, with Professor Erin Callahan. Erin often hosts The Dylantantes podcast, is co-author/co-editor of The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performances – a recent book looking at Dylan …

We continue our series with Michael Gray on Song & Dance Man, Vol. 2 with a discussion of two chapters on great songs from Bob’s Born-Again Period. The first is Yonder Comes Sin, and outtake captured at a live show soundcheck, and unreleased until the Trouble No More Bootleg Series. The Second is the beloved Every Grain of Sand. The …

Dylan & The Dead is much more than an album, it’s a relationship. In this episode we talk to Dylan and Dead expert Harold Lepidus about all aspects of that history, the shows, the rehearsals, the inspiration, and the impact. This a part of our ‘Five Worst Years’ series looking at all sides of 1984-1988. Dylan first started spending time …

Following 18 months after Infidels, nothing about the making of this record – the recording process, the sound, the songs, or even the cover art – suggested that Dylan was on solid footing. The times were a-changin’ again. Yet the music did impress some: Rolling Stone asked: “Is Dylan “back”? Again? One is tempted to trumpet some such tidings. …Empire …

Bob Dylan has had an incredible career for over sixty years. But Dylan hit a bit of a rough patch in the 1980’s – especially the mid 80s. Or did he? This is the question we’re going to look at as we revisit the years 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988 – and everything that took place during those years, …

Dylan fans have always focused on setlists, but this may be the first book to use them as a theme, around which a series of writers look at how the list of songs Bob chooses to sing in any given night or tour has evolved, the different roles certain songs have played over the years, and the larger story or …

In this episode we talk with author Michael Gray about Chapter One of Volume 2 of Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan – Yonder Comes Sin, which was just released. A lot of the discussion is about Street-Legal, and how that album revealed Dylan’s evolving search for salvation – in a way that perhaps foreshadowed the gospel …

In our review of Mixing Up The Medicine we quoted Dylan from his 1963 radio appearance with Studs Terkel. It has inspired us to start what will likely be an occasional series of bonus episodes featuring some great old Dylan interviews – exclusively for FM+ and Premium Members. This interview took place before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was released, and …

Nobody Else Can Be Influenced By The Pre-War Blues like Bob Dylan – or so says author Michael Gray in Chapter 8 in Song & Dance Man Vol.1 (The 50th Anniversary Edition). In 112 pages in that book he explains Dylan’s relationship with the blues, which we discuss in this episode. Our Guest Reader for this episode is Scott Bunn …

Mixing Up The Medicine is a new book that takes us all inside The Bob Dylan Archives, and shares a wealth of photos, memorabilia, manuscripts, and new original writing. We talk with authors Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel to learn how they created it. You can order Mixing Up The Medicine at Amazon. Mark Davidson has a PhD in musicology …

Only one song from Dylan’s 1960s output earned a dedicated chapter in Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1), and it’s a song that Dylan didn’t even release until over 20 years later. In this episode we talk to Michael Gray about “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” (later released on Biograph in 1985 and it later appeared …

Following our two episodes on complexity in Dylan’s lyrics, our discussion turns to the trend towards simplicity in the late 60’s and early 70’s work. This covers Chapter 5 in Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) and includes comments on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, New Morning, Self Portrait, Planet Waves and Blood On The Tracks …

This episode continues our discussion with Michael Gray on Chapter 4 from the new book Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1). Here we focus primarily on the two most extreme example of language complexity: Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. Again in this episode, we’ll listen to passages from the book and then Michael comments, …

In Pleasantville NY, about an hour north of NYC, at the Jacob Burns Theater, The Bob Dylan Center and Director Steve Jenkins held a film event on Aug 30, 2023 – where they showed rare clips from the Bob Dylan Archives on a large movie screen in a beautiful room. And after the show, Janet Maslin – former film and …

In this fourth episode in our Series on the new book release Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) we talk to author Michael Gray about Chapter Four: Dylan’s Use of Language: Toward Complexity. We discuss the changes on songs seen over the course of Dylan’s first seven albums – from Bob Dylan through Blonde on Blonde …

In this third episode in our Series on the new book release Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) we talk to author Michael Gray about Chapter Three: Dylan and Rock Music. We discuss the influence the early Rock & Roll performers had on Dylan. Things he heard over those distant AM Radio signals in his youth: …

In this second episode in our Series on the new Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) we talk to author Michael Gray about Chapter Two: Dylan and The Literary Tradition. We talk about the influence both classical english writers as well as both early and modern American writers had on Dylan, and what he came to …

Well over 100 musicians have played in Dylan’s band over the past 60 years, and Ray Padgett spoke to nearly 50 of them for his new book ‘Pledging My Time – Conversations With Bob Dylan Band Members’. In this episode we talk with Ray about the book and all these interesting conversations. Ray is responsible for the “Flagging Down The …

The first serious book to analyze and critique the work of Bob Dylan was Michael Gray’s Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan – and it’s back in print after over a decade, in a new 50th Anniversary Series. To celebrate we’re doing our own series of interviews with Gray, walking through the book to create a kind …

It was over seven years ago that we learned of ‘Bob Dylan’s Secret Archives’ from The New York Times, and just over a year since the Bob Dylan Center opened those archives up to visitors in Tulsa OK. On the anniversary, we sat down in Tulsa with Center Director Steven Jenkins to talk about the Center, the first year and …

When Bob Dylan returned as a solo acoustic recording artist in the early 90’s, many were surprised. A lot of folks thought they would never again hear Bob alone with a guitar. But few thought if they did, the playing would be described as “magnificent, skilled, exciting” guitar work – as it was called by today’s guest. While it’s often …

The World Gone Wrong album cover stands out amongst all the Dylan covers – Bob has a top hat on, the colors are vibrant, and he has a detached look that doesn’t exude the confidence you find on all of his other covers. The picture was taken during the filming of a video for Blood In My Eyes, and it’s …

In the third book in the Troubadour Tales series, Keith Miles and his co-authors take us on a tour through Dylan’s Minnesota homeland via a series of short stories about the homes he lived in, the girls he dated, the places he went, the people he knew, and the events of his life. Like the previous books about London and …

Bob Dylan knew – and often played – most of the songs he covered on Good As I Been To You for his entire professional life. In this episode we examine the original versions of these songs (there are always more than a few) and other interesting covers that have been done since Dylan’s 1992 release. Joining is Ray Padgett, …

Michael Gray invented analysis and criticism of Bob Dylan songs with the 1972/3 release of Song & Dance Man. And over the last 50 years and through two major updates of that book, he has remained one of our best and most eloquent of the Dylan scholars. In this episode we talk about the Good As I Been To You …

It’s often been observed that the road to Time Out Of Mind began when Dylan recorded two solo acoustic albums in the early 90’s. Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong were yet another unexpected twist in Dylan’s path, but by playing alone, at home, on songs he’d known for years, the feeling is Bob reconnected with …

There have been over 75 proper reviews of or articles about Bootleg Series 17: Fragments – The Time Out Of Mind Sessions. In this episode we look at these reviews, and share the best of their comments and complaints. Our Reviews Collection offers links to all of them, and we recommend reading the best of them. This is an extended …

Make You Feel My Love is a song that has received a lot of attention – but not entirely out of admiration – a lot of Dylan fans just don’t like it. On this episode Laura Tenschert talks about the song and those reactions. Laura is a writer, podcaster and musician who runs Definitely Dylan where she looks at art …

Whirly Gig is a new book that takes an interesting look at the making of Time Out Of Mind – it’s named after a note in the recording logs that referenced the organ Jim Dickinson was playing on the sessions. This episode we talk with author John Lewis – who was a friend of TOOM Musician Jim Dickinson and who …

It turns out Fragments wasn’t the last Time Out Of Mind release for the year. A few days ago SuperDeluxeEdition.com made the surprise announcement of a new Time Out Of Mind BluRay disc offering the 2022 Remix in 24/96 High Resolution and the Dolby Atmos Mix. This is on pre-sale until Feb 24, 2023 and then will be out-of-print. Paul …

Steven Hyden was asked to write liner notes for The Bootleg Series 17: Fragments – The Time Out Of Mind Sessions, and in this episode talks to us about the assignment, his assessment of Bob Dylan in 1997, and how the narrative of the times stood up to 25 years of additional Bob Dylan output. Hyden is a respected music …

Michael Brauer talks about his recent work remixing Time Out Of Mind for the Fragments Bootleg Series 17 box set. Reimagining an Album Of The Year is no small task, and Michael tells us his personal goals, what he was asked to do, and how he went about rebuilding this classic album and give it a new sound and yet …