Bob Dylan
The 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was A Thing
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one either. Because that isn’t possible — actually, it is, if you wanted some compilation of who sold the most records/concert tickets/has the most fans/got the most death threats, etc., and someone could come up with a bunch of very empirical metrics and create a “heat index” or something, and could deliver an actual scientific ranking! But we, um, didn’t do that. In fact we didn’t even, technically, do the “we...
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Daniel Kohn, SPIN’s Editorial Director
Name Daniel Kohn Best known for Taking a photo of Prince Harry and Afrika Bambaataa backstage at Wireless Festival in 2009 (and SPIN’s Editorial Director). Current city San Fernando Valley. Really want to be in Tokyo – name a cooler city, I dare you. Excited about Being able to go to live shows again. My current music collection has a lot of Out of print CDs and extremely rare vinyl pressings. Been on a huge singer-songwriter kick as well. And a little bit of Live albums (actually, a lot of). Listening to a live album — even not in its purest of form — gives you the true essence of what an artist sounds like without the bells and whistles of the studio. Don’t judge me for Loving Van Hagar. If loving them is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. And yes, I was made fun of a lot during elementary a...
The 50 Best Live Albums of the 1970s
The concert industry exploded in the 1970s, and the live album, a stopgap project once reserved for only the biggest artists, became a compulsory ritual and a pivotal moment for many artists. Live albums captured legendarily loud bands like The Who and The Ramones in their natural element. Once obscure regional acts like Bob Seger, KISS and Cheap Trick exploded into the mainstream with live albums. The Band, The Stooges, and Velvet Underground put their final gigs on vinyl. Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young (as his ongoing archive series shows), and Jackson Browne recorded entire sets of new songs onstage. The Grateful Dead released several official live albums (and continue to do so) that only made fans want to bootleg shows on their own more. With the 50th anniversary of a landmark live album, Th...
Eddie Van Halen, Lady Gaga, Kurt Cobain, Prince and Bob Dylan Memorabilia Up For Auction
A guitar played by Eddie Van Halen, his brother Alex’s drumkit, and memorabilia from Kurt Cobain, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Cher, Lady Gaga, Madonna and more are up for grabs at the Music Icons auction by Julien’s Auctions, held June 11-13 2021. In total, more than 1,000 items will be auctioned off, with items from Prince, Elton John, Little Richard, Whitney Houston and more joining the sale’s lineup. “This kit from the 1980 Van Halen Invasion World Tour spent 5 years on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland,” said Alex Van Halen in a statement. “It’s the only one like it in the world and I’m happy that 100% of the selling price will be going to charity via the Frangioni Foundation and Mr. Holland’s Opus.” The drum has a conservative estimate o...
Bob Dylan Museum Opening in Tulsa in May 2022
Bob Dylan has rightfully been the subject of tribute concerts, documentaries, fictional films, books and other assorted projects. On May 10, 2022, Dylan will add a new museum dedicated to his life and career to that laundry list. The museum, aptly titled the Bob Dylan Center, is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the city’s arts district, near the Woody Guthrie Center (who is one of Dylan’s primary influences). According to its website, the three-story Center designed by Olson Kundig will contain a “collection of more than 100,000 items spanning Dylan’s career, including handwritten manuscripts, notebooks, and correspondence; films, videos, photographs, and artwork; memorabilia and ephemera; personal documents and effects; unreleased studio and concert recordings; musical instruments,...
Flaming Lips Cover Bob Dylan’s ‘Lay Lady Lay’ for Dylan Revisited Tribute LP
Bob Dylan is being honored with a covers album, and Uncut magazine, which is offering the Dylan Revisited LP with its June issue, has shared The Flaming Lips’ rendition of Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” off the collection. Dylan Revisited is in celebration of Dylan’s 80th birthday on May 24 and Dylan himself contributed an acoustic version of “Too Late” that is unavailable elsewhere. As for the slightly psychedelicized version of “Lay Lady Lay,” Lips main man Wayne Coyne told Uncut, “I think every songwriter loves this type of ‘romantic’ Bob Dylan song – he really can be very charming. That line ‘Whatever colours you have in your mind/I show them to you and you see them shine…’ It’s the type of wordplay, though it seems kind of like jumbled surrealism, that actually gets t...
Paul McCartney Recalls First Time Bob Dylan Got the Beatles High
For Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday next month (May 24), Paul McCartney spoke to Uncut for a special series on the legendary songwriter called “Dylan Revisited.” McCartney recounted the time Dylan gave the Beatles marijuana, getting them high for the first time. “I’m not sure whether he’s very keen on me telling this, but here we go,” McCartney said, innocently pretending this is his first time telling his favorite story of all time. But, in honor of the soon-to-be octogenarian, let us revisit: “It was at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th in New York City in August 1964,” McCartney began. “We were in a hotel room, all being good lads having our Scotch and Coke – it was an afterparty, I think. Dylan arrived and he went into the bedroom with h...
The Reissue Section: Winter 2021
While it’s been a challenge for bands to collaborate in person over the last year, archival releases have been booming. And over the course of this first quarter, lots of goodies have dropped. Here are some of the most worthy entries in the reissue world. Black SabbathVol. 4 Deluxe Edition (Rhino)Heaven and Hell Deluxe Edition (Rhino)Mob Rules Deluxe Edition (Rhino) What we have here are three essential Black Sabbath albums from two distinctly different periods in the band’s timeline. 1972’s Vol. 4 is renowned mostly for the hedonism and drug use that went down during the album’s creation in Los Angeles. But nearly 50 years later, it stands as the creative pinnacle of the Ozzy era. By bringing the production duties in-house, the original lineup of Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bi...
David Bowie’s Birthday Celebrated With His Covers of John Lennon and Bob Dylan Songs
David Bowie’s birthday today would have been the Starman’s 74th, and to celebrate, two previously unreleased covers are being shared — Bowie’s version of John Lennon’s 1970 classic “Mother” along with Bob Dylan’s “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven.” The tunes come as limited-edition singles and are on streaming platforms now. The Lennon song was done in 1998 with longtime producer Tony Visconti for a Lennon tribute collection that never came out. Bowie recorded the Dylan tune in 1998 as well. It was originally on Dylan’s 1997’s Time Out of Mind album. Listen to “Mother” below. [embedded content] Listen to ‘Trying to Get to Heaven’ below. [embedded content] Many musical peers are paying homage to Bowie on his birthday today via “A Bowie Celebration,” and Duran Duran issued their cover of “...
Bob Dylan to Release Outtakes Set 1970, Includes Nine Songs With George Harrison
A few weeks ago, a European record store got its hands on 1970, a limited-edition Bob Dylan compilation featuring outtakes and rarities, plus collaborations with George Harrison. It quickly sold out and Dylan fans were left in the dark on how they could score the coveted part of the Bob Dylan – 50th Anniversary Collection, which featured rare sessions released due to what Columbia Records/Legacy called the “copyright extension series (which began in 2012).” That previously limited-edition set will be widely released on Feb. 26, 2021. The three-disc collection of previously unavailable studio performances includes the complete May 1, 1970 session of nine songs featuring Harrison. The pair perform together on Dylan originals (“One Too Many Mornings,” “Gates of Eden,” “Mama, You Bee...
David Bowie Covers John Lennon and Bob Dylan on New Vinyl Single
To celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 74th birthday, on Jan. 8. 2020 two previously unreleased covers — John Lennon’s “Mother” and Bob Dylan’s “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” — will be released as a limited-edition seven-inch single. Bowie’s version of “Mother” was produced by Tony Visconti in 1998 for a Lennon tribute that never came to fruition. It was originally recorded by the Beatle for his 1970 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. Dylan’s “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” was recorded by Bowie in February 1998 during the mixing sessions for the live album LiveAndWell.com. Dylan’s original was released on his multiple Grammy-winning 1997 album Time Out Of Mind. Guitarist Reeves Gabrels, who played with Bowie from 1987 to 1999 and has been a member of the Cure since...
Bob Dylan Sells Entire Songwriting Catalog to Universal
In a blockbuster deal, Bob Dylan has sold the publishing rights to his entire back catalog, which goes back to 1962, to Universal Music Group. The New York Times reports that the deal was for a whopping $300 million. In the deal, UMG acquired over 600 of Dylan’s songs, which the legendary singer-songwriter controlled the copyrights to. It includes all of his songs through this year’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. Of course, UMG gets all Dylan’s big early hits as well: “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Tangled Up In Blue,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and like a Rolling Stone.” “It’s no secret that the art of songwriting is the fundamental key to all great music, nor is it a secret that Bob is one of the very greatest practitioners of that art,” L...
