NEARER TO THE FIRE – Bob Dylan 1981

1 Introduction

A new year, a new album, a new tour. For once Bob Dylan did things in the expected order. First he recorded a new album, then he hit the road to promote it. Only, CBS didn't grasp this new approach of his and forgot to release it till after the summer tour in Europe, much to Dylan's disappointment and irritation. The new album, Shot Of Love, was described by him as his best since Blonde On Blonde. This year also saw the return of some secular Bob Dylan love songs as well as a few last gospel songs. It was the fourth year in a row that he was touring, but it was to be the last for two years and the last for five years in the US.

2 1981 At A Glance

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3 The 1981 Calendar

26 March	The recording of Shot Of Love starts at Rundown Studios in Santa Monica, California. Angelina is recorded but eventually fails to make the final release. It is released exactly ten years later on The Bootleg Series.
27 March	Second Shot Of Love recording session. The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar is run through at least eleven times.
31 March	Third Shot Of Love recording session is used to work on Caribbean Wind.
1 April	The 4^th Shot Of Love recording session takes place is a new studio, Cream Studio in Los Angeles and consists largely of loose jams and work-outs of half-finished songs.
2 April	Yet another studio is tried for the 5^th Shot Of Love recording session, United Western Studio A. Again this is largely a work-out session. Material from this session and the Cream Studio session has been circulating among collectors as “1980 Work Tape” and its content has been dated from 1980 to 1984. Please refer to the corresponding session pages for details.
April	A number of studios are tried during April and some of the songs appear on the “1980 Work Tape”.
23-30 April	Recording for the new album continues at the Clover Recorders studio in Los Angeles. You Changed My Life from 23 April and Need A Woman from 27 April are later released on The Bootleg Series. Caribbean Wind from 30 April is released on Biograph.
1-15 May	In three different recording sessions at the Clover Recorders studio the songs that make up the Shot Of Love album are recorded.
10-14 June	The Shot Of Love tour starts with a show at the Hoffman Estates in Chicago and is followed by three more "warm-up" shows in US before the European tour starts in France. Dead Man, Dead Man, Watered-Down Love, Lenny Bruce and In The Summertime from the new album get their first live treatment.
12 June	A series of transatlantic telephone interviews are organized to promote the return to Europe: · with Tim Blackmore at the Capitol radio in London, broadcast 15 June · with Yves Bigot at Radio Europe 1, Paris, broadcast in parts 22 and 23 June · with Paul Gambaccini at Radio One, BBC, broadcast in the 'Rock On' program 20 June
21 June	The tour in Europe starts with a show in Toulouse, France. All shows are recorded by Dylan’s crew, except the show in London 30 June.
23 June	Let It Be Me is played live for the first time during the show in Colombes, France. This song is later released as a single in Europe only.
26 June – 1 July	Dylan plays six shows in Earls Court, London. Shot Of Love and Heart Of Mine get their live debuts at the last show.
2 July	Dave Herman interviews Dylan at the White House Hotel in London. The interview is broadcast by WNEW-FM Radio in New York on 27 July.
9 July	A new gospel song, Jesus Is The One, is played at the show in Drammen, Norway. It remains unreleased.
13 July	After having seen a fake interview in a Danish paper, Dylan calls a press conference at the Maritime Hotel in Travemünde, West Germany. The press conference starts at 11pm and goes on for two hours.
14 July	For the first time since 1978 there were no opening gospel songs by the backup singers at the show in Bad Segeberg, West Germany. They return the next night but are then dropped for the rest of the shows in 1981.
20 July	Dylan is interviewed by Neil Spencer. The interview is published in New Musical Express 15 August.
25 July	During the final show in Avignon, France, two tragic accidents occur. First a member of the crowd gets killed after falling into the electric cables, causing total blackout, and in the resulting confusion a girl falls off a wall and gets killed too. Dylan and the band improvise acoustic rhythms on stage until power is restored.
12 August	Shot Of Love is released.
1 September	Heart Of Mine/Let It Be Me single is released in Europe only.
11 September	Release of Heart Of Mine/The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar single.
September	The Dave Herman interview from July 2 is released on the promotional album Dylan London Interview July 1981
16-17 October	The American part of the Shot Of Love tour starts with two shows at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
19, 21 October	Dylan's wheelchair-bound friend Larry Kegan sings Chuck Berry's No Money Down as the last encore while Dylan plays tenor saxophone for the first time in concert.
10 November	The show in New Orleans, Louisiana is recorded by Dylan’s crew. This show features the only known version of Thief On The Cross, one of Dylan’s last gospel songs. Heart Of Mine is later released on Biograph. The recording is remixed by Daniel Lanois in 1989 and Dead Man, Dead Man is released on CD-single in October 1989.
21 November	Last fall show takes place in Lakeland, Florida. It is one of the longest Dylan shows ever, 28 songs including six encores. This show features the first live rendition of Every Grain Of Sand, making it the seventh song from Shot Of Love to be performed during 1981.

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4 Shot Of Love

Shot Of Love took a long time to record and a large number of songs were recorded and abandoned. The recordings started in late March and continued in a number of studios until mid May. No recordings from the many March and April sessions were included on the final release. Most astonishing is the fact that a number of great songs were left off like Angelina, Caribbean Wind, Need A Woman.

The sessions resulted in at least 212 recordings of 54 different songs and a large number of unidentified songs.

Here’s a breakdown:

	#	takes
released songs	15	125
outtakes	35	82
covers	4	5
unidentified		34
Total	54	246

Most of the sessions were produced by Chuck Plotkin. This is a summary of these sessions:

			# of		take released on
Date	Song	takes		SOL[1]		BIOG[2]	BOOT[3]	single
26 March	Angelina	2					2
27 March	The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar	11
31 March	Caribbean Wind	8
1 April	Almost Persuaded	3
	Borrowed Time	1
	Cold Cold Heart	1
	Gonna Love You Anyway	2
	I Want You To Know I That Love You	5
	I Wish It Would Rain	5
	In The Summertime	1
	Is It Worth It?	5
	It's All Dangerous To Me	1
	My Girl (It's Growing)	1
	My Oriental House	1
	Need A Woman	3
	Rockin' Boat	1
	Straw Hat	1
	Well Water	1
	Wild Mountain Thyme	1
	You Changed My Life	1
2 April	Ah Ah Ah	2
	Fur Slippers	1
	Is It Worth It?	4
	Let It Be Me [4]	4
	Movin'	1
	Reach Out	1
	Singing This Song For You	5
	Yes Sir, No Sir (Hallelujah)	13
	You Changed My Life	1
April	All The Way Down	2
	Child To Me	1
	More To This Than Meets The Eye	1
	Straw Hat	1
	Walking On Eggs	1
	Wind Blowin' On The Water	1
23 April	Be Careful	2
	Bolero	2
	Dead Man, Dead Man	1
	Don't Ever Take Yourself Away	2
	Half As Much [5]	1
	Heart Of Mine	1
	Magic	1
	Mystery Train [6]	1
	Shot Of Love	1
	The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar	1
	Trouble	5
	You Changed My Life	11					11
24 April	Magic	2
27 April	Need A Woman	4					4
	Dead Man, Dead Man	3
	In The Summertime	11
28 April	Watered-Down Love	4
	Heart Of Mine	4
	Dead Man, Dead Man	3
	Blue T/L	1
	Property Of Jesus	1
29 April	Every Grain Of Sand	1
	Heart Of Mine	1
	Dead Man, Dead Man	2
	The Girl From Louisville	1
	Lenny Bruce	2
	The Ballad Of Ira Hayes [7]	1
	Property Of Jesus	1
	The King Is On The Throne	1
	Fur Slippers	1
30 April	Dead Man, Dead Man	6
	Lenny Bruce	1
	Caribbean Wind	1				1
1 May [8]	It's All Dangerous To Me	1
	My Oriental House	1
	Caribbean Wind	1
	Ah Ah Ah	1
	Let It Be Me [9]	1						1
	Dead Man, Dead Man	1
	Don't Let Her Know	1
	Watered-Down Love	1		1
	Property Of Jesus	1		1
Early May [10]	Shot Of Love	1		1
	Every Grain Of Sand	1		1		1
	The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar	1		1[11]				1
14 May [12]	Dead Man, Dead Man	1		1
	Lenny Bruce	1		1
	Trouble	1		1
	In The Summertime	1		1
15 May	Glory Of Love	1
	Heart Of Mine	7		7
	In A Battle	1
	Minute By Minute [13]	1
	Mystery Train [14]	1
	Watered-Down Love	9

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Songs in alphabetical order:

n	means session from which the released take was pulled, n = # of takes recorded

		March							April							May
	26		27	31	1	2	?	23		24	27	28	29	30	1	?	14	15	S
Ah Ah Ah						2									1				3
All The Way Down							2												2
Almost Persuaded					3														3
Angelina	2																		2
The Ballad Of Ira Hayes													1						1
Be Careful								2											2
Blue T/L												1							1
Bolero								2											2
Borrowed Time					1														1
Caribbean Wind				8										1	1				10
Child To Me							1												1
Cold Cold Heart					1														1
Dead Man, Dead Man								1			3	3	2	6	1		1		17
Don't Ever Take Yourself Away								2											2
Don't Let Her Know															1				1
Every Grain Of Sand													1			1			2
Fur Slippers						1							1						2
The Girl From Louisville													1						1
Glory Of Love																		1	1
Gonna Love You Anyway					2														2
The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar			11					1								1			13
Half As Much								1											1
Heart Of Mine								1				4	1					7	13
I Want You To Know I That Love You					5														5
I Wish It Would Rain					5														5
In A Battle																		1	1
In The Summertime					1						11						1		13
Is It Worth It?					5	4													9
It's All Dangerous To Me					1										1				2
The King Is On The Throne													1						1
Lenny Bruce													2	1			1		4
Let It Be Me						4									1				5
Magic								1		2									3
Minute By Minute																		1	1
More To This Than Meets The Eye							1												1
Movin'						1													1
My Girl (It's Growing)					1														1
My Oriental House					1										1				2
Mystery Train								1										1	2
Need A Woman					3						4								7
Property Of Jesus												1	1		1				3
Reach Out						1													1
Rockin' Boat					1														1
Shot Of Love								1								1			2
Singing This Song For You						5													5
Straw Hat					1		1												2
Trouble								5									1		6
Walking On Eggs							1												1

		March							April							May
	26		27	31	1	2	?	23		24	27	28	29	30	1	?	14	15	S
Watered-Down Love											1	4			1			9	15
Well Water					1														1
Wild Mountain Thyme					1														1
Wind Blowin' On The Water							1												1
Yes Sir, No Sir (Hallelujah)						13													13
You Changed My Life					1	1		11											13
Unidentified songs			4		6	19	1							2				2	34
Total # of songs	2		15	8	40	51	8	29		2	19	13	11	10	9	3	4	22	246

Released songs:

		March							April							May
	26		27	31	1	2	?	23		24	27	28	29	30	1	?	14	15	S
Dead Man, Dead Man								1			3	3	2	6	1		1		17
Every Grain Of Sand													1			1			2
Heart Of Mine								1				4	1					7	13
In The Summertime					1						11						1		13
Lenny Bruce													2	1			1		4
Property Of Jesus												1	1		1				3
Shot Of Love								1								1			2
The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar			11					1								1			13
Trouble								5									1		6
Watered-Down Love											1	4			1			9	15
Angelina	2																		2
Caribbean Wind				8										1	1				10
Let It Be Me						4									1				5
Need A Woman					3						4								7
You Changed My Life					1	1		11											13
Total # of songs	2		11	8	5	5	0	20		0	19	12	7	8	5	3	4	16	125

Outtakes:

		March							April							May
	26		27	31	1	2	?	23		24	27	28	29	30	1	?	14	15	S
Ah Ah Ah						2									1				3
All The Way Down							2												2
Almost Persuaded					3														3
Be Careful								2											2
Blue T/L												1							1
Bolero								2											2
Borrowed Time					1														1
Child To Me							1												1
Cold Cold Heart					1														1
Don't Ever Take Yourself Away								2											2
Don't Let Her Know															1				1
Fur Slippers						1							1						2
Glory Of Love																		1	1
Gonna Love You Anyway					2														2
Half As Much								1											1
I Want You To Know I That Love You					5														5
I Wish It Would Rain					5														5
In A Battle																		1	1
Is It Worth It?					5	4													9
It's All Dangerous To Me					1										1				2
Magic								1		2									3
More To This Than Meets The Eye							1												1
Movin'						1													1
My Girl (It's Growing)					1														1
My Oriental House					1										1				2
Reach Out						1													1
Rockin' Boat					1														1
Singing This Song For You						5													5
Straw Hat					1		1												2
The Girl From Louisville													1						1
The King Is On The Throne													1						1
Walking On Eggs							1												1
Well Water					1														1
Wind Blowin' On The Water							1												1
Yes Sir, No Sir (Hallelujah)						13													13
Total # of songs	0		0	0	28	27	7	8		2	0	1	3	0	4	0	0	2	82

Unreleased covers:

		March							April							May
	26		27	31	1	2	?	23		24	27	28	29	30	1	?	14	15	S
Minute By Minute																		1	1
Mystery Train								1										1	2
The Ballad Of Ira Hayes													1						1
Wild Mountain Thyme					1														1
Total # of songs					1			1					1					2	5

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Live history

Song	Debut
Caribbean Wind	San Francisco, California 12 November 1980, only known performance
Dead Man, Dead Man	Chicago, Illinois 10 June 1981
Every Grain Of Sand	Lakeland, Florida 21 November 1981
The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar	San Francisco, California 13 November 1980
Heart Of Mine	London, England 1 July 1981
In The Summertime	London, England 28 June 1981
Lenny Bruce	Chicago, Illinois 10 June 1981
Let It Be Me	Colombes, France 23 June 1981
Shot Of Love	London, England 1 July 1981
Trouble	Holmdel, New Jersey 21 July 1989
Watered-Down Love	Chicago, Illinois 10 June 1981

Officially released live versions

Live 1961-2000 - Thirty-nine years of great concert performances	Dead Man, Dead Man	New Orleans, Louisiana, 10 November 1981
Video: Hard To Handle	Lenny Bruce	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 25 February 1986

Performances during The Never-Ending Tour

Dead Man, Dead Man	1989
Every Grain Of Sand	1988-2003
Heart Of Mine	1989, 1990, 1992
In The Summertime	2002
Lenny Bruce	1989-1997, 1999, 2000
Shot Of Love	1989
Trouble	1989

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[11] released on the so called “new version” in 1986 and on the CD version same year, but excluded from the original LP release.

1 Introduction

2 1981 At A Glance

3 The 1981 Calendar

4 Shot Of Love

Debut