Seven Days: July 15 – 21, 2024

Jan 1 - 7

The Week in Bob Dylan

This is Seven Days, a weekly summary of the best Bob Dylan news and links and everything new. You're seeing the free public edition.

Premium Members get an Extended Edition which includes 10-40 more links every week including lists of New Articles, Blog Posts, Reviews & Releases plus some extra videos.

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Tour Details

The Latest on Bob's Live Concerts

Dylan On Tour
- 27 Shows (June 21 - Sept 17)
- 11 Done / 16 Remaining
- Dates/Setlists | Details | BobServe.com | Setlist Summary
Tour Resumes July 29 in Chula Vista CA

Top News & Links

Our favorite Dylan-related stories and links

Happy Traum, Greenwich Village Folksinger and Bob Dylan Collaborator, Dead at 86 (Rolling Stone) [8]
- "Long before Dylan arrived in New York City in January 1961, Traum was enmeshed in the Village scene in the Fifties and Sixties, studying guitar with blues legend Brownie McGhee and participating in the fabled Sunday afternoon jam sessions at Washington Square Park."
'Extravagant example of Western prosperity': Hibbing High School turns 100 (Star Tribune) [5]
- "Bob Dylan, arguably the school's most famous graduate, was not in the lineup — but tours of his childhood home, now owned by memorabilia collector Bill Pagel, were available on request."
Riding the Train Around Europe with Dylan (Flagging Down) [10]
- "It's funny. You get this opportunity to spend all this free time with one of your idols from your youth, and you don't get to ask him questions. He gets to ask you questions."
The Guy on the Cover of Dylan’s Under the Red Sky (Recliner Notes) [8]
- "He’s not exactly smiling through his scraggly half-beard, and there’s a slight squint to his eyes. He has a mischievous, nonchalant air."
Dylan's Gospel Revisited (Peter Stone Brown) [8]
Happy Traum Folk Music Stalwart Dead at 86 (Best Classic Bands) [5]
- Happy Traum, a folk music stalwart and collaborator with Bob Dylan, has passed away at the age of 86.
Happy Traum, Greenwich Village Folksinger and Bob Dylan Collaborator, Dead at 86 (Rolling Stone) [8]
- "Long before Dylan arrived in New York City in January 1961, Traum was enmeshed in the Village scene in the Fifties and Sixties, studying guitar with blues legend Brownie McGhee and participating in the fabled Sunday afternoon jam sessions at Washington Square Park."
Recording with Bob Dylan - 1971 (Happy Traum Blog) [10]
- "Nearly 50 years ago, in October of 1971, I got a call from Bob Dylan asking me if I'd like record some songs with him for his "Greatest Hits, Volume II" compilation. Could I do it tomorrow, and would I bring my guitar and banjo..."
Addendum to My Dylan Recording Session Story (Happy Traum Blog) [8]
- "Actually, I am surprised and delighted at how good it sounds! I played an easy-going clawhammer banjo accompaniment and sang high harmony on the choruses, and the whole thing sounds like it was intended to..."
Interview with Happy Traum (Dylan Review) [10]
- "Happy Traum shares his experiences working with Bob Dylan and his influence on folk music."
'Extravagant example of Western prosperity': Hibbing High School turns 100 (Star Tribune) [5]
- "Bob Dylan, arguably the school's most famous graduate, was not in the lineup — but tours of his childhood home, now owned by memorabilia collector Bill Pagel, were available on request."
Nicolas Cage's Terrifying Look In Longlegs Was Inspired By A Music Legend (SlashFilm) [5]
- "The pale makeup is Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan's my god, and so I'm always looking for ways to use Bob's stuff."
Dylan Talk Ahead of Edinburgh Gigs (Southern Reporter) [5]
- "The world's leading authority on Bob Dylan (Michael Gray) will give a talk ahead of the singer's concerts in Edinburgh."
Rachmaninov Melody Recorded by Sinatra and Dylan (Classic FM) [5]
- "Full Moon and Empty Arms was co-written by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman, recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1945 and Bob Dylan in 2015."
Meet Bob Dylan's Six Children (HELLO!) [5]
- "Bob Dylan is a proud father of six children, each making their mark in various fields."
Matt McGinn: The Singer-Songwriter who Gave Bob Dylan Advice (Glasgow World) [3]
- "In 1961, he invited him to be part of a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City which is where he would meet a young Bob Dylan for the first time who sought out his advice about touring in the UK."
- "Both this and “Groom” emphasize one of the virtues of The Bootleg Series – they show how Dylan works on every level, as a songwriter and as a musician, constantly revising lyrics, changing chords, melodies and arrangements."
That Time Bob Dylan Played Elijah the Prophet in a Western (Forward) [8]
- MOVIE REVIEW "It is impossible to watch the movie and not connect Alias, played by Bob Dylan, to the ever-present soundtrack music, played by Bob Dylan. They work in tandem to help propel the plot, almost steering it from another dimension."

Special Announcement

New Articles

Stories from the press

New Blog Posts

New from fans and other writers

Riding the Train Around Europe with Dylan (Flagging Down) [10]
- "It's funny. You get this opportunity to spend all this free time with one of your idols from your youth, and you don't get to ask him questions. He gets to ask you questions."
The Guy on the Cover of Dylan’s Under the Red Sky (Recliner Notes) [8]
- "He’s not exactly smiling through his scraggly half-beard, and there’s a slight squint to his eyes. He has a mischievous, nonchalant air."
Now It Goes Like This: "Shelter From the Storm" (Flagging Down) [8]
- "Dylan had released the song a year earlier as an acoustic-guitar-and-bass ballad. The first time anywhere hears it live, though, he’s shredding an insane slide guitar (only time he ever played slide I believe) and screaming his head off."
Dylan in Cincinnati: July 2013 (Shadow Chasing) [5]
- "This song fits perfectly within Dylan’s late-career vocal range. His mike is turned way up in the mix, a wise decision for “Love Sick,” allowing him to sing low without being drowned out by the music."
Wallflower Pt.2 (Untold Dylan) [5]
- "In the three seasons of the radio show he plays a Doug Sahm record five times (twice Doug Sahm solo, three times Sir Douglas Quintet), each time with resounding words for the Texan. He calls him the great Doug Sahm..."
Covers We Missed: “Baby, Stop Crying” (Untold Dylan) [5]
- "The history of Baby, Stop Crying covers begins the same year Dylan released the song (1978) with a proper, correct cover, a smooth pop version which stays close to the original."
Lyrics & Music: Love Sick (Untold Dylan) [3]
- "And thus at the end of the song we are utterly lost, both via the lyrics and the music. He can’t say that it is over and he’s walking away, merely that it doesn’t know if she ever could be true."
Approaching the End of Bob Dylan’s Odyssey (Old Rookie) [3]
- "Later in the set, he brings the harmonica to his lips and in the yellow stage lighting, he is transformed. He is a lonely Civil War soldier playing a jaw harp around the campfire. He is my great-grandmother covering her face, lighting Shabbat candles."
58 Years Later: Dylan’s Back at Albert (John Nogowski Substak) [3]
- "“You’re not going to see me anymore and I’m not going to see you anymore,” he said, sounding tired, stoned, irritated all at once. Then, more than a bit of sarcasm. “All you people are wonderful."
Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance Pt. 1 (Untold Dylan) [3]
- "Goodbye Jimmy Reed had a short but intensive lifespan as a concert song, being played between 2 November 2021 and 6 April 2024."

New Releases & Reviews

News about new music or reviews

Dylan's Gospel Revisited (Peter Stone Brown) [8]
- "Both this and “Groom” emphasize one of the virtues of The Bootleg Series – they show how Dylan works on every level, as a songwriter and as a musician, constantly revising lyrics, changing chords, melodies and arrangements."
That Time Bob Dylan Played Elijah the Prophet in a Western (Forward) [8]
- MOVIE REVIEW "It is impossible to watch the movie and not connect Alias, played by Bob Dylan, to the ever-present soundtrack music, played by Bob Dylan. They work in tandem to help propel the plot, almost steering it from another dimension."
The Night the Folk Movement Died (Peter Stone Brown) [8]
- BOOK REVIEW "After Dylan left the stage, the Evening Concert continued and thanks to Seeger went longer than scheduled as he apparently tried to salvage what was left with an extended civil rights/peace in the world/all men are brothers finale, but Bob Dylan had pretty much let the air out of the Newport tire."
Bob Dylan Asbury Park 14 August 2011 (Peter Stone Brown) [8]
- "Bob Dylan is really singing again. It’s as if he’s finally figured out how to make his voice the way it is now do what he really wants it to do. The phrasing, the emphasizing of lines is back, and it’s revitalizing the songs and giving them meaning again, both new and old."
Cat Power Sings Dylan at the Folies Bergère in Paris (Sortira Paris) [5]
- CONCERT REVIEW "Then comes the sublime cover of " Ballad of a Thin Man ", a beautiful moment suspended in time. Once again, the American artist demonstrates her undeniable talent."
Rolling Stone Magazine Laid the Hammer Down on Dylan’s ‘Self Portrait’ (American Songwriter) [5]
- "Marcus didn’t write the usual record review essay, instead dividing it up into a couple dozen individual observations, a few of which go off on tangents about auteurism or the poet Rimbaud."
The Double Life of Bob Dylan. Pt. 5 (Untold Dylan) [5]
- BOOK REVIEW "Furthermore, calling Dylan a “song-snatcher” is insulting as well as misleading – because in the early days of pop, rock and commercial folk music songs were built on each other. Indeed one only has to consider the 12 bar blues to see how this works."
Zoran Paunovic: Rock and Roll is Literature, and Literature is Rock and Roll (Vijesti) [5]
- BOOK ANNOUNCE "Dylan is a good example of such incorruptibility: over the years, he too was often pushed to the brink of extinction, but always came back stronger. The consumer society - to touch on the final part of your question - as a rule liked him more when he delivered what was expected of him, with the fact that he only did so when it was in accordance with his inner artistic voice..."
Before The Flood – Dylan's Nostalgia Trip That Became The Future (Music Radar) [3]
- "The new year would see new music: Planet Waves, his first ‘proper’ album for three and a half years. Plus he and the Band would undertake a six week US tour, playing some 40 arena shows across 21 cities.
Label Dusts Off Treasure from Dylan & The Band (Barrie Today) [3]
- "A treasure trove of music from Bob Dylan and The Band has been rediscovered by the record label."
Bob Dylan at Slane Castle 1984 (Cult Following) [3]
- "Those excesses of excitement are featured well in Slane Castle 1984. A monumental collection of the very best works from Dylan all performed to the highest standard."
Screaming at the Moon: Volume 3 (Cult Following) [3]
- "What a song to listen to when infuriated by tech troubles. Life is just a constant swing of those tearful, rage-inducing moments."