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Showing posts with label Bob Dylan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Dylan. Show all posts

Sunday, 5 May 2024

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan at Budokan (1978) - 2LP

posted by all-musicrecords

Bob Dylan at Budokan is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released August 1978 on Columbia Records in Japan only, followed by a worldwide release in April 1979. 
It was recorded during his 1978 world tour and is composed mostly of the artist's "greatest hits". 
The performances in the album are radically altered from the originals, using almost all the musicians that played on Street-Legal, but relying on a much larger band and stronger use of woodwind and backing singers. 
In some respects the arrangements are more conventional than the original arrangements, for which the album was criticized. 
For a few critics, such as Janet Maslin of Rolling Stone, the differences between the older and newer arrangements had become less important.
The audio recording is from shows on 28 February and 1 March 1978. Columbia Records released this double LP in Japan on 21 August 1978.
However it seems that during this era Dylan really wanted to try a Springsteen-esque approach to his repertoire: big, maybe slightly saccharine Arena Rock. I’m a fan of The Boss, it comes as part of my TriState Area residency, but the way Dylan brings these songs to the arena style is truly baffling at times.

On his third live album in a mere five years, Bob Dylan brings the big, professional showmanship of Street Legal to the stage, recasting recent and classic favorites into that album's image -- and, he does that over the course of two albums, no less. 
It's a bit much, even for the diehards, even if moments work pretty well. Nevertheless, those moments work because of pizzazz, although those are the very moments that will make most long-term Dylan fans bristle. 
Which, of course, raises the question -- who is this for? The dedicated aren't going to be dazzled by the slickness and the casual fans certainly aren't going to pay much attention to a live album from 1978. Interesting historically, perhaps, but only marginally.


Side one
1.  Mr. Tambourine Man - 4:54
2.  Shelter from the Storm - 4:30
3.  Love Minus Zero/No Limit - 3:52
4.  Ballad of a Thin Man - 4:47
5.  Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - 4:55

Side two
1.  Maggie's Farm - 5:06
2.  One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) - 3:19
3.  Like a Rolling Stone - 6:31
4.  I Shall Be Released - 4:12
5.  Is Your Love in Vain? - 4:02
6.  Going, Going, Gone - 4:22

Side three
1.  Blowin' in the Wind - 4:25
2.  Just Like a Woman - 5:03
3.  Oh, Sister  (Bob Dylan, Jacques Levy) - 4:44
4.  Simple Twist of Fate - 4:15
5.  All Along the Watchtower - 3:20
6.  I Want You - 2:34

Side four
1.  All I Really Want to Do - 3:37
2.  Knockin' on Heaven's Door - 4:00
3.  It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - 6:04
4.  Forever Young - 5:38
5.  The Times They Are a-Changin' - 5:31 

All tracks are written by Bob Dylan; except where indicated


Personnel

Companies, etc.

Production

Notes
Released:  21 August 1978 
Recorded:  28 February and 1 March 1978 Venue Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan 
Genre:  Folk Rock 
Length:  99:41 
Producer:  Don DeVito 

Label - CBS/Sony Records

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Bob Dylan - Good As I Been To You (1992)

Good as I Been to You is the twenty-eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on November 3, 1992, by Columbia Records.
It is composed entirely of traditional folk songs and covers, and is Dylan's first entirely solo, acoustic album since Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. It is also his first collection not to feature any original compositions since Dylan in 1973.
Since launching the Never Ending Tour in June 1988, traditional covers became a feature at virtually every concert, often as part of an acoustic set. After recording Under the Red Sky in 1990, Dylan would not release an original song until 1997, and during that time, he would increasingly rely on his stockpile of covers for 'fresh' material. Dylan called these covers "the music that's true for me."
According to Dylan's friend Susan Ross, Good as I Been to You began life as a contractual filler. Dylan had scheduled two weeks at Chicago's Acme Recording Studio sometime in 1992, hiring long-time associate David Bromberg as his producer. An album's worth of songs, including the contemporary Christian ballad "Rise Again," were recorded at those sessions with the accompaniment of a full band. Bromberg was left to mix the recordings while Dylan completed a brief, 11-show tour in mainland Europe. There are several songs known to have been recorded during these sessions, including "I'll Rise Again" (trad.), "Nobody's Fault but Mine" (Blind Willie Johnson), "Lady From Baltimore" (Tim Hardin), "Polly Vaughan" (trad.), "Casey Jones" (trad.), "Duncan and Brady" (trad.), "Kaatskill Serenade" (David Bromberg), "World Of Fools" (David Bromberg), "Sloppy Drunk", and "Miss the Mississippi."
Prior to the release of Volume 8 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Tell Tale Signs, the only songs known to be circulating from these sessions are "Kaatskill Serenade", "Sloppy Drunk", "Polly Vaughan", and "Miss the Mississippi". "Duncan and Brady" was included in that set.
When he returned to Malibu in mid-July, Dylan decided to record some solo acoustic material in his garage studio. The intention was to break up the Bromberg recordings with a few solo performances in between. As those garage sessions progressed, plans were changed, and the Bromberg recordings were pulled from the album.
Neither Dylan nor Bromberg have explained why the Bromberg recordings were rejected and put away—they have never been released—and whether Dylan actually disliked them is unknown. It was made clear that Dylan was pleased with the results he was getting in his garage studio, particularly in the minimal production work given to the recordings. Producer credit was given to Debbie Gold, a friend of Dylan's who took a hands-off approach to the entire proceedings.
Without the use of notes or lyrics, Dylan recorded a wide range of traditional songs. "Froggy Went A-Courtin'," "Blackjack Davey," and the anti-recruiting "Arthur McBride" were part of the British and Irish tradition of folk songs. "Little Maggie" was a popular bluegrass standard. "Diamond Joe" was well-known thanks to fellow folk revivalist Ramblin' Jack Elliott. "Frankie and Albert" and "Sittin' on Top of the World" both had long, deep roots in folk-blues.
Dylan also covered songs that weren't authentically traditional, such as "Tomorrow Night" (best known for Lonnie Johnson's hit version in 1947 and a version by Elvis Presley released in 1965) and Stephen Foster's "Hard Times."
Though Dylan is credited with all of the arrangements, several arrangements clearly belong to other artists, including the Texas songster Mance Lipscomb. A number of publications, including Folk Roots, criticized the album for making this error. Lipscomb's posthumous oral biography, "I Say Me for a Parable," edited by Glen Alyn, notes that Dylan listened to Mance play backstage at Newport in the early 1960s and then later took the stage and sang Mance's songs as his own.

Track listing

01.  "Frankie & Albert"  (arranged by Mississippi John Hurt) - 3:50
02.  "Jim Jones"  (arranged by Mick Slocum) - 3:52
03.  "Blackjack Davey"  - 5:47
04.  "Canadee-i-o"  - 4:20
05.  "Sittin' on Top of the World"  - 4:27
06.  "Little Maggie"  - 2:52
07.  "Hard Times"  (Stephen Foster) - 4:31
08.  "Step It Up and Go"  - 2:54
09.  "Tomorrow Night"  (Sam Coslow and Will Grosz) - 3:42
10.  "Arthur McBride"  (arranged by Paul Brady) - 6:20
11.  "You're Gonna Quit Me"  - 2:46
12.  "Diamond Joe"  - 3:14
13.  "Froggie Went A-Courtin'"  - 6:26

All songs are traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan, except where noted.

Credits
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Stephen Marcussen – mastering
Micajah Ryan – mixing
Jimmy Wachtel – front cover photography
Producer - Debbie Gold

Notes
Release date:  November 3, 1992
Recorded:  Mid-1992
Genre:  Folk, blues
Length:  55:31
© 1992

Label - Columbia Records