Retroactive Apology Post (Written 7/19)

I had intended to keep up with this blog daily.  Then finals happened.  Then, silly me, I actually thought I’d have free time during my internship-no, I’ve been completely busy with projects, readings, whatever.  But, I am finally done August 1.  So August 1 is the tentative date for my glorious return to blogging.  Meanwhile, I have had some time to review some places on yelp- you can’t wait too long to review food, you lose it.  Check my reviews out at ejoseph212.yelp.com

Some Explanations

In the coming days I will post some short, daily explanations about the albums in my pyramid- reasons for their position, key songs, etc.

Dylan Pyramid

Not all Bob Dylan albums are created equal.  Some are classics (Freewheelin’), and some have been punching bags for critics since they came out (*cough*Self Portrait*cough*). Now, most of my friends know I am obsessed  a huge Dylan fan, and when meeting other Dylan fans the question that usually comes up is what my favorite Dylan album is.  I’ve been asked this enough times to really make me think about my response.  The truth is, I have no favorite album.  It’s really more like a pyramid, with albums of one tier being more or less equal in standing.  Starting at the top of my pyramid:

Tier One

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), Bringing It All Back Home (1965)-Highway 61 Revisited (1965)-Blonde on Blonde (1966) [the Dylan Trinity*], Blood on the Tracks (1975)

-Bootleg Tier One: Live 66, Live 75, Live 64, The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3

Tier Two

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964), John Wesley Harding (1967), Desire (1976), Time Out of Mind (1997),  Modern Times (2006)

-Bootleg Tier Two: No Direction Home, Tell Tale Signs, The Witmark Demos

Tier Three

Bob Dylan (1962), Nashville Skyline (1969), New Morning (1970), Planet Waves (1974), Street Legal (1978), Shot of Love (1981), Infidels (1983), Oh Mercy (1989), Together Through Life (2009)

-Bootleg Tier Three: In Concert: Brandeis

Tier Four

Slow Train Coming (1979), Empire Burlesque (1985), Knocked Out and Loaded (1986), Under the Red Sky (1990), Good As I Been to You (1992), World Gone Wrong (1993),

Tier Five

Patt Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Saved (1980), Before the Flood (1974), Hard Rain (1976), At Budokan (1979), Real Live (1984), Dylan and the Dead (1988), Down in the Groove (1988), Christmas in the Heart (2009)

Tier Six

Self Portrait (1970), Dylan (1973)

* Fueled by amphetamines, Dylan unleashed an artistic onslaught- three of, not only his, but rock’s greatest albums ever released in the span of 18 months.  Coupled with an intense tour, it has been speculated that Dylan’s motorcycle crash and subsequent hiatus provided a much needed break.

I did not include the Basement Tapes since they merit their own series of posts, and as an album, they are a whole different animal then the ones I listed here

Bob Dylan at 70

First off, happy birthday, Bob (as many famous admirers have all ready said).  This birthday has gained a good amount of press, some amazed (some unfocused, but Hadju has a habit of drifting in his writing), some whimsical, and some downright sexy (for a comprehensive list check out the excellent blog Expecting Rain).  Dylan is on the cover of Rolling Stone, celebrating his 70th birthday with a plethora of articles on his importance, greatest songs (70 of them, fittingly), photos, and bootlegs.  This post is not meant to talk of Bob Dylan’s legacy, give a quick rehash of his career, and talk about his current “comeback.”  No, Bob Dylan’s life has been written about before.   Here, I am concerned with Bob Dylan’s fan base as he turns 70.  Very recently, some news of a heroin addiction Dylan told author Robert Shelton (author of the excellent biography No Direction Home) back in the mid sixties, has been a topic of discussion.  Personally, at best I take it with a grain of salt, this is, after all, the same young Bob Dylan who told Shelton he briefly worked as a prostitute uptown.

The linear notes to his first album, Bob Dylan, talks of how a young Dylan lived briefly in “Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Gallup, New Mexico,” all of which are untrue.  To this day, Dylan’s relationship with the media (and thereby fans) consists of his running narrative, changing whenever he sees fit.  Chronicles:Volume One, Dylan’s New York Times bestselling memoir?  The entire “Oh Mercy” section is a work of fiction, according to Clinton Heylin, a great critic and Dylan authority.

But the details of Dylan’s massive narrative are unimportant.  Bob Dylan’s shifting personality and musical output are encapsulated by the Todd Haynes film, I’m Not There, where he uses six characters to represent one Bob Dylan.  This film, a topic for another post, shows why Bob Dylan is still relevant at seventy years old.  No two Dylan fans view him the same way, hell, as the same person; he is a folk singer to some, aging bluesmen to others, prophet, poet (Nobel prize nominated), born-again Christian, and unwashed phenomenon, original vagabond. Few artists have changed their style so often, changed their voice even; few artists keep on keepin’ on fifty years after they debut; and few artists mean so many different things to their fans, as Bob Dylan.

All I Really Want To Do

All I Really Want to Do

Is, actually, not really be friends with you.  What I really want to do is provide a mix of thorough analysis of Bob Dylan’s plethora of songs as well as my general musings on food, sports, economics, and, of course, Mr. Dylan.  I think that sums up the intentions of this blog pretty nicely.  I have a few posts coming up concerning the title of my blog (Love and Theft), and a recent letter from Mr. Dylan to his fans (really, a monumental event), and finally a Rolling Stone piece for Bob’s 70th birthday.