The Whole Wide World is watching

The best of the web
(with thanks to Expecting Rain)

by Martin Stein
 

And so, after an all-too-brief Winterlude, we’re back with more info and updates. Of course, news is always old. 

1. It's Halloween - On 9^th March 2004 Sony will issue the sixth title in its Bob Dylan bootleg series, the two-disc Bob Dylan Live 1964 — Concert at Philharmonic Hall. 

2.  Not Far From The Coast of Barcelona - Bob will be performing in July 2004 at Poble Espanyol.

3.   The Classic Interview - The Weberman Tapes CD will be available for order via the Isis website in late January 2004. The infamous 1971 A.J. Weberman interview with Dylan comes complete with a 16-page illustrated booklet including a front cover picture by Elliott Landy. Weberman has written an introduction especially for the CD and there are extensive sleeve notes written by Derek Barker. 

4.  Seven Days - A Bob Dylan 2004 calendar is now available from Cowboy Angel.

5. I’ll Know My Song Well - A Bob Dylan Song Index has been compiled by David McMillan and can be found here. 

6.  Collector's Items - According to the Observer newspaper the rarest record in the world is the original The Freewheelin^’ Bob Dylan LP that has the original tracks listed on the sleeve, the labels and the record Copies are worth approximately £17,000-£22,000. 

Also Sony have announced that their Custom Mix CD service is no longer available. If you ordered one too, keep it with mine. 

7. Alias Bob Dylan Revisited  by Stephen Scobie. Red Deer Press, 2003.
This is a new, revised, updated, and greatly expanded edition of Scobie’s 1991 volume Alias Bob Dylan. It provides a critical overview of Dylan's entire career, up to and including "Love and Theft." More than simply an update of the first edition, it is a complete rewriting and rethinking of the earlier volume (at 350 pages, it is twice the length of the original edition). 

8. A Simple Twist of Fate Bob Dylan And The Making Of Blood On The Tracks by Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard. (Available 29^th January 2004, 256 pages, £16.99 Hardback ISBN: 0-306-81231-2).
In 1974 Bob Dylan wrote, recorded, reconsidered, and then re-recorded Blood on the Tracks, and to this day, no one who hears it can avoid being blown away by its emotional power. Commonly referred to as "the greatest break-up album of all time," it was written as Dylan's own twelve-year marriage began to painfully unravel. Songs like "Tangled Up in Blue," "Idiot Wind," and "Shelter from the Storm" have become the template for multidimensional, adult songs of love, longing, and loss. Yet the full story behind the creation of this album has never been told. The authors have drawn upon first-hand information and interviews with the musicians, producers, industry insiders, as well as Dylan's friends, associates, and relatives. A Simple Twist of Fate is an engaging chronicle of how one artist transformed his personal pain and confusion into great art.