Seven Days: March 17 – 23, 2025

March 17 - 23, 2025

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

NEW Spring & Summer Tours (ALL DATES ON SALE)

Rough and Rowdy Ways (2025)
- 20 Shows: March 25 - April 22 (details)
- Midwest USA: 14 States from Tulsa to Minnesota to Pennsylvania
Outlaw Music Festival (2025) (tour info)
- 34 Shows: May 13 - Sept 19 (details)
- Across the USA: 21 States in the West, Midwest, and East

Special Announcement

There are no special announcements this week.

New Articles

Stories from the press

How Odetta Turned Bob Dylan Onto Folk and Recast the Genre (American Songwriter) [8]
- “After hearing her album Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues, Bob Dylan said he put down his electric guitar and went acoustic.”
Bob Dylan’s Workaholic Attitude Could Be The Key To Unlocking Bringing It All Back Home (cultfollowing.co.uk) [5]
- “Dylan moving away from that with the protest fans who swooned whenever he and Joan Baez stood on stage is not just necessary for the survival of his sound, but of his ongoing service to music.”
The Story of How The Clancy Brothers Inspired Bob Dylan (epicchq.com) [5]
- “Dylan met, followed and studied The Clancy Brothers who inspired him to write songs.”
Crumpled Up In Vein: The Lyrics Bob Dylan Threw Away (faroutmagazine.co.uk) [5]
- “While Dylan might have had some form of natural ability, his work results from spending hours mulling over lines, trying to make words fit and ensure the lyrics are the best they can be.”
60 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan ‘Went Electric’ With Bringing It All Back Home (Hot Press) [5]
- “To mark the occasion, we’re looking back at Niall Stokes’ reflections on Dylan in the ’60s…”
Peter Wolf’s Close Encounters (Houston Press) [5]
- “Growing up near Greenwich Village, a teenage Wolf became fascinated and then tags along to a young singer just arrived in town—Bob Dylan.”
Jeff Bridges Shares Confusion Over Bob Dylan Biopic A Complete Unknown (independent.co.uk) [5]
- “Bridges appeared confused about A Complete Unknown and its portrayal of Dylan.”
From Jewish Summer Camp To Gospel To Chabad, Bob Dylan’s Faith Doesn’t Fit In A Box − But He’s Long Had A Connection To Israel (Lake Chelan Mirror) [5]
- “Many fans interpret ‘Neighborhood Bully’ as sympathetic to Israel.”
Does Bob Dylan Do Any Critical Thinking? (lectoraatchangemanagement.nl) [5]
- “I found something, but I don’t really know if it was Bob’s critical thinking.”
Cate Blanchett Praises Timothee Chalamet’s Performance As Bob Dylan (musicradar.com) [5]
- “Blanchett revealed she was impressed by Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan, calling it ‘fantastic’.”
From Jewish Summer Camp To Gospel To Chabad, Bob Dylan’s Faith Doesn’t Fit In A Box − But He’s Long Had A Connection To Israel (Pierce County Journal) [5]
- “Dylan’s religious and spiritual identity, one that has undergone many transformations, is particularly elusive and baffling.”
Blowin’ Up A Storm: Bob Dylan Electrifies Folk, And Horrifies The Folk Community (Record Collector Magazine) [5]
- “Over 12 pages, Richie Unterberger homes in on ’65, magnifies Dylan’s movements, and decides there were early tremors of his seismic transformation some time before that incredible year.”
Meaning of Highway 61 Revisited By Bob Dylan (songlexicon.com) [5]
- “Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” is not just a song; it’s a cultural artifact that encapsulates the zeitgeist of the 1960s.”
Meaning Of Fourth Time Around By Bob Dylan (songlexicon.com) [5]
- “Dylan appears to be poking fun at the stylized, safe confessions of the pop world, injecting them with real psychological weight.”
How Obstacles Became the Way in Bob Dylan’s Life (substack.com) [5]
- “Obstacles aren’t roadblocks. They are stepping stones.”
A Tour Of Bob Dylan’s ‘Complete Unknown’-Era Greenwich Village, With Day-One Fan Peter Wolf (Variety) [5]
- “Wolf recounts vivid experiences from the Greenwich Village folk scene where he met Dylan and witnessed his rise.”
A Tour of Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village With Peter Wolf (Variety) [5]
- “Wolf recounts his experiences of attending Bob Dylan’s early performances in Greenwich Village during the 1960s.”
Dont Think Twice, It’s All Music History in Bob Dylan’s Minnesota (yahoo.com) [5]
- “Robert Allen Zimmerman’s dismal childhood in Hibbing shaped his music career, highlighting the influences that would lead to his Nobel Prize in Literature.”
We Are Better Than This – Part 4 (allenmesch.com) [5]
- “Watching the movie A Complete Unknown was a trip down memory lane.”

New Blog Posts

New from fans and other writers

How a Tin Pan Alley Songwriter Captured Bob Dylan’s Imagination (Nick DeRiso) [8]
- “Dylan shares a deeper notion about his craft – and, really, the mysteries of creativity – with Carmichael, who once famously said of a song: ‘Maybe I didn’t write you, but I found you.’”
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry Part 1: Like I’d Been Hit By A Tranquilizer Bullet (Untold Dylan) [8]
- “Dylan often reveals how he has been influenced by musical greats over the decades.”
Jack White And Bob Dylan (Flagging Down The Double E's) [8]
- “One is that Bob covered Bob—that is, Bob Dylan covered local hero Bob Seger, with a raucous ‘Get Out of Denver.’”
Highlands (1997) Part 4 (Final): She Studied The Lines On My Face (Untold Dylan) [8]
- “A beautiful, peaceful, thoroughly melancholic ending to a wonderful song.”
On Bob Dylan’s Song, “Disease Of Conceit” (From Insults To Respect) [5]
- “Dylan often employs vivid metaphors to capture issues he feels strongly about.”
Dylan’s “Shelter From The Storm” (John’s Substack) [5]
- “The version is far and away the best thing on “Hard Rain,” the show that was filmed for NBC, Bob in his turban, playing as loud and singing with as much sarcasm as will fit the legal limit.”
The Geometry of Innocent Flesh on the Bone, Explained (pioneerproductions.blogspot.com) [5]
- “Here’s yet another psychologically stimulating painting by Dylan interpreter Daniel Botkin.”
Bob Dylan’s Instagram Posts Part Six (Steven’s Substack) [5]
- “Dylan’s new post of Cash performing “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord” is a gorgeous response, in this tale about the spiritual necessity of song.”
Bob Dylan & The Ancient Philosophy That Shaped His Life (The Daily Dylan) [5]
- “Dylan’s constant reinvention, his refusal to let external opinions define him, his ability to embrace obstacles rather than resist them—all of it aligns with what the Stoics taught over 2,000 years ago.”
The Songs Bob Wrote And Then Ignored: Tell Ol Bill (Untold Dylan) [5]
- “What I would also add is that around the 30-minute mark however, we are getting remarkably close to that final “take nine” edition of the song.”
Why Does Bob Dylan So Often Re-Write The Music Of His Songs? (Untold Dylan) [5]
- “What fascinates me further is that not only has any other musician gone as far as Bob has with such an endeavour, few writers have tackled this issue of Bob’s regular re-writing of his music.”
Breaking Down The Rigidity Of The Popular Song. Dylan In 1963 (Untold Dylan) [5]
- “Dylan spoke extensively about the influence Robert Johnson’s music had on him.”

New Releases & Reviews

News about new music or reviews

Bob Dylan’s ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ Turns 60 (Albumism) [8]
- “Happy 60th Anniversary to Bob Dylan’s fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, originally released March 22, 1965.”
If You Don’t Like Bringing It All Back Home, You Don’t Like Music (loudersound.com) [5]
- Bringing It All Back Home is as punk as Never Mind The Bollocks; it’s a key influence on The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Byrds, even Led Zeppelin.”
Bob Dylan - Not at Budokan: Volume One Review (cultfollowing.co.uk) [8]
- Not at Budokan: Volume One remains a remarkable time.
Steve Knightley – Positively Folk Street: Dylan, Carthy & Me (At The Barrier) [5]
- “The timing of Positively Folk Street is, of course, spot on, with James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown Dylan biopic currently generating such huge waves of interest.”
The Traveling Wilburys – Volume Two Review (cultfollowing.co.uk) [5]
- “Volume Two is a fine route through the sound of the time, with most members hoping Lynne can guide them out of career ruts.”
Jeffrey Lewis – The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis (For Folk’s Sake) [5]
- “The cover recalls Dylan’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan but goes one better by featuring Lewis and his girlfriend on New York’s West 4th Street sans clothes.”
The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis (klofmag.com) [5]
- “Lewis has never been afraid to combine clever lyrics, sly asides and brash statements.”
Book Review: Slow Train Coming (loureviews.blog) [5]
- “With its strongest appeal to those who know and love the show, this book’s chatty and open style is a fascinating companion to the cast recordings and stage productions.”
Sean Egan’s Book ‘Decade Of Dissent’ Explores Bob Dylan’s Revolutionary 1960s (That Eric Alper) [5]
- “Dylan’s 60s recordings constitute a dizzying run that includes landmark albums and classic songs, setting the template for his genius.”
Peckinpah’s Death Poem: Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid (cinema.wisc.edu) [5]
- “Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” enters the soundscape, underscoring the film’s themes of mortality.”