TRUSTING HIMSELF – Bob Dylan 1986

 

1      Introduction.. 1

2      1986 At A Glance.. 1

3      The 1986 Calendar.. 3

4      Knocked Out Loaded.. 5

5      Hard To Handle.. 6

6      Superstar Concert Series. 7

 

Next

Trusting Himself

 

1           Introduction

Another year of extreme activity. A new tour in two parts, a new record, and on top of it, leading role in a film. For the return to the concert scene, Dylan chose to appear as the rejuvenated legend, rather punkish, in sleeveless shirts and leather vests, lots of amulets and one eardrop. The tour was a result of his collaboration with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at the Farm Aid benefit in September 1985. It was a tour that featured many of the new songs from Empire Burlesque as well as songs from his entire career and then also a lot of rock 'n' roll covers. True confessions?

 

2           1986 At A Glance

 

 

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3           The 1986 Calendar

January

Dylan is interviewed by Don McLeese for Chicago Sun-Times.

January

Telephone interview with Dylan by Toby Croswell for the Australian Rolling Stone.

January

Rehearsals continue at Soundstage 41, Universal Studios. According to Tom Petty some sixty songs are rehearsed. Among them All My Tomorrows and This Was My Love.

20 January

Dylan performs with Stevie Wonder at the Martin Luther King Day concert at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC.

25 January

Albert Grossman dies of a heart attack on a flight to London.

27 January

Bob Dylan gives a congratulations speech to Willie Nelson, when he receives the First Annual Award of Appreciation. The event is broadcast by the ABC-TV Network

Late January

George Negus interviews Dylan in Malibu for the Australian TV-program Sixty Minutes, broadcast 10 February.

5 February

The new tour named True Confessions with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers starts in Wellington, New Zealand.

8 February

Dylan is interviewed by Stuart Coupe for The Age.

9 February

A new Dylan song, Band Of The Hand, written for a film with the same name, is recorded by Dylan and Petty at Festival Studios in Sydney, Australia. An alternate title is It's Hell Time, Man!

10 February

Dylan gives a press conference at Brett Whitley's Studio in Sydney.

19 February

Dylan appears at a Dire Straits concert in Melbourne and sings four songs.

20 February

Dylan is interviewed at the poolside of the Rockman’s Regency Hotel in Melbourne. The interview is broadcast on EON – FM radio 21 February.

22 February

Dylan is interviewed by Maurice Parker in a hotel room in Melbourne. The interview is broadcast by Channel 7, Brisbane, 24 February in the program State Affairs.

24, 25 February

The two shows in Sydney are recorded and released in parts in Westwood One's Superstar Concert Series. The shows are also filmed and 10 songs are released on the Hard To Handle video.

4 March

Richard Manuel hangs himself in a motel room in Florida.

10 March

Last show of the Down Under Tour is played in the Budokan Hall in Tokyo.

31 March

Dylan receives yet another award, this time the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Founder's Award. Press conference and acceptance speech at Chasen's Restaurant in Los Angeles are broadcast by CNN in Showbiz Today. Dylan is also interviewed briefly by Dick Shoemaker, and this is broadcast by ABC in Entertainment Tonight.

1 April

Dylan contributes vocal to Street Rock, recorded by Kurtis Blow at the Greene Street Recording Studios in New York City, New York. The song is released on Kingdom Blow in September.

April

Release of the Band Of The Hand single with non Dylan B-side.

28 April19 May

Recording sessions for Knocked Out Loaded in Skyline Recording Studios in Topanga Park, California.

May

Release of the Band Of The Hand soundtrack.

15 May

Lorimar Productions announces that Dylan is to star in a film called Hearts Of Fire. Dylan is to write six new songs for the film.

21 May

Another telephone radio program with Bob Fass broadcast by WBAI-FM Radio in New York as a Bob Dylan birthday program. Bob Fass sounds exactly as he did in 1966. Bob Dylan doesn't.

6 June

Amnesty International Benefit Concert at The Forum in Los Angeles.

9 June

The US part of the True Confessions tour kicks off with a show in The Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

13 June

Dylan is interviewed by Jon Brem for the “Minneapolis Star and Tribune”.

26 June

Dylan is interviewed by Bob Ashenmacher backstage at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota for News-Tribune & Herald.

20 June

Release of the Hard To Handle video.

2 July

The show at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio is played in collaboration with The Grateful Dead. Dylan Joins the Dead during their set for three songs.

4 July

Three songs from the show at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York, are broadcast live via satellite for Farm Aid 2 and simulcast on various radio stations.

7 July

Another Grateful Dead collaboration, this time at the RFK Stadium in Washington.D.C. Dylan again joins The Grateful Dead on three songs.

17 July

Dylan is interviewed backstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City by David Hepworth for Q magazine.

5 August

During the soundcheck at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, Thank God is recorded. It is broadcast 14 September in a syndicated anti-drug program organized by The Lubavitcher’s Chabad Telethon.

6 August

Last concert at the Mid-State Fairground in Paso Robles, California, features the only live rendition of Brownsville Girl. Only the chorus is sung and Dylan comments after the song that they did it for TV. It is broadcast by ABC in Entertainment Tonight the next day.

8 August

Knocked Out Loaded is released. The "release an album, do a tour to promote it" routine in reverse.

August

Dylan is “interviewed” by Sam Shepard. It is published in Esquire July 1987 under the title True Dylan.

17 August

Hearts Of Fire press conference in the National Film Theatre in London.

27-28 August

Recording of the Hearts Of Fire songs in Townhouse Studios in London.

20 September

Dylan is interviewed by Christopher Sykes in the Colston Hall, Bristol, England, during the filming of Hearts of Fire.

30 September

Dylan is again interviewed by Christopher Sykes in London.

September

Dylan is interviewed by Donald Chase from San Francisco Chronicle.

17 October

The third Christopher Sykes interview is conducted in Toronto, Canada.

18 October

The fourth and final interview by Christopher Sykes takes place in Dylan's trailer in Toronto, Canada. It is broadcast by BBC1 in England in the documentary Getting To Dylan. A part of the first interview is also broadcast as well as a part of the London press conference.

1 November

Dylan performs with the Paul James Band at the Nag's Head in Markham, north of Toronto.

10 November

Dylan presents the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame award to Gordon Lightfoot in Toronto.

 

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4           Knocked Out Loaded

The recording of Knocked Out Loaded took place during a number of sessions April and May. There are many details missing and the summaries below give only a fragmentary picture. Below (X) stands for “released after later overdubbing”. Some of the sessions were produced by Bob Dylan.

Summary:

 

 

# of

take released on

Date

Song

takes

KOL[1]

GH3[2]

BEST[3]

single

 

28 April

You'll Never Walk Alone

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driftin' Too Far From Shore

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beautiful Life

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without Love

?

 

 

 

 

 

29 April

Driftin' Too Far From Shore

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll Never Walk Alone

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unchain My Heart

?

 

 

 

 

 

30 April

You'll Never Walk Alone

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Danville Girl

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unchain My Heart

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lonely Avenue

?

 

 

 

 

 

1 May

Without Love

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Danville Girl

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unchain My Heart

?

 

 

 

 

 

2 May

New Danville Girl

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unchain My Heart

?

 

 

 

 

 

5 May

Without Love

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

They Killed Him

?

(X)

 

 

 

 

 

You Wanna Ramble

?

(X)

 

 

 

 

6 May

Without Love

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's Too Late (She’s Gone)

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Precious Memories

?

 

 

 

 

 

7-13 May

Under Your Spell

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Precious Memories

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

They Killed Him

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come Back Baby (One More Time)

?

 

 

 

 

 

9 May

Driftin' Too Far From Shore

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild & Wicked World

?

 

 

 

 

 

14-23 May

Precious Memories

?

X

 

 

 

 

 

You Wanna Ramble

?

X

 

 

 

 

 

They Killed Him

?

X

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe Someday

2

2

 

 

 

 

 

So Good

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Need Your Lovin'

?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driftin' Too Far From Shore

?

X

 

 

X

 

 

Brownsville Girl

?

X

X

X

 

 

19 May

Got My Mind Made Up

?

 

 

 

 

 

18 June

Got My Mind Made Up

?

X

 

 

 

 

 

Live history

Song

Debut

Driftin’ Too Far From Shore

Concord Pavilion, Concord, California, 7 June 1988

Brownsville Girl

Mid-State Fairground, Paso Robles, California, 6 August 1986

Precious Memories

The Beacon Theatre, New York City, New York, 13 October 1989

Got My Mind Made Up

San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California, 9 June 1986

The following songs from Knocked Out Loaded have never been played live: They Killed Him, You Wanna Ramble, Under Your Spell, Maybe Someday.

There are no officially released live versions of the songs on Knocked Out Loaded.

Performances during The Never-Ending Tour

Driftin’ Too Far From Shore

1988, 1989

 

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5           Hard To Handle

This first Bob Dylan concert video was recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, 24 and 25 February 1986. The video was released in October on CBS/FOX and contains the following songs:

recorded

 

24

25

spoken introduction to In The Garden

 

l

In The Garden

l

 

Just Like A Woman

l

 

Like A Rolling Stone

 

l

It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

 

l

Girl From The North Country

l

 

Lenny Bruce

 

l

When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky

l

 

Ballad Of A Thin Man

l

 

I'll Remember You

l

 

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

 

l

 

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6           Superstar Concert Series

A number of live performances from the True Confessions tour were released on radio station discs in the series Superstar Concerts by Westwood One in August 1986. The songs were:

 

 

a

b

c

 

Introduction

 

 

l

*

Positively 4th Street

l

 

 

 

All Along The Watchtower

 

 

l

 

Masters Of War

l

 

 

 

I'll Remember You

l

 

 

 

I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know

l

 

 

 

Just Like A Woman

l

 

 

 

Blowin' In The Wind

 

l

 

 

That Lucky Old Sun

l

 

 

 

Like A Rolling Stone

 

l

 

 

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

 

l

 

 

Girl From The North Country

l

 

 

*

It Ain't Me Babe

 

 

l

*

When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky

l

 

 

*

a.      recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia 24 February.

b.     recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia 25 February.

c.      recorded at the Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington, 13 July.

*    released in February 1987 in countries outside USA and Canada.

 

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[1] Knocked Out Loaded

[2] Greatest Hits Volume 3

[3] The Very Best Of Bob Dylan