1993 ON THE RISING CURVE

 

 

1      A SHORT SUBJECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE

2      The Year at a glance

3      CALENDAR

4      RECORDINGS

5      NEW TAPES 1958-1987

5.1       1958 John Bucklen tape

5.2       George Harrison session tape

5.3       Eric Clapton session tape

5.4       Down In The Groove Outtakes

6      WORLD GONE WRONG

 

Next

Contents

 

 

1       A SHORT SUBJECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE

The perennial rumour about a longer rest, pursuing other interests, putting an end to The Never-Ending Tour etc, once again proved to be false. This year was business as usual with a new album, four TV performances and 80 shows all over the world. The most pleasant about 1993 was the quality of all these performances, all in all better than 1992 with the grandiose finale at The Supper Club in November.

 

2       The Year at a glance

 


 

 

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3       CALENDAR

 

13 January

Dylan appears together with Willie Nelson in the CBS program "A Country Music Celebration". They perform their jointly written Heartland backed by among others Don Was and Jim Keltner.

17 January

Dylan makes a surprise appearance at the Bill Clinton Inauguration Concert at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the same place where he thirty years earlier sang Only A Pawn In Their Game during the Washington Rights March. This time he sings Chimes Of Freedom backed by a big band led by Quincy Jones and watched by the presidential family, whose members seem to find the performance great Bill), hilarious (Hilary) and unbelievable (Chelsea).

Later the same night Dylan turns up at the "Absolutely Unofficial Blue Jeans Bash For Arkansas" held at the Ntional Building Museum in Washington. He performs To Be Alone With You backed by Steven Stills and The Band.

January

Rehearsals in LA still find Ian Wallace in the band. When the tour starts in February he has suddenly left leaving Winston Watson as the only drummer.

3-4 February

Continued rehearsals at The Factory in Ringsend, Dublin.

5 February

The nth leg of The Never-Ending Tour, the by now almost perennial Europe Winter Tour, starts with a show in Dublin, Ireland. Two songs from Good As I Been To You, Tomorrow Night and Jim Jones make their first appearance, both in the acoustic set.

6 February

Dylan joins Van Morrison at his show in Dublin. He plays harmonica on It's All Over Now, Baby Blue but declines to sing. Also on stage at this time are Chrissie Hynde, Kris Kristofferson and Stevie Winwood.

7-13 February

For the third time in four years Dylan plays a series of concerts in February at the Hammersmith Apollo (formerly Odeon). All six shows are more or less sold out. This can be contrasted to Paris where two out of three planned shows had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

17 February

During the show in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, a girl comes on stage and gets to sing The Time They Are A-Changin' with Bob.

25 February

The Winter Tour in Europe ends with a show in Belfast.

12 April

The first show of a very short US Spring tour takes place in Louisville, Kentucky. Hard Times from Good As I Been To You played acoustic with the band opens the show. Dylan is from now on to start all his shows, with just a few exceptions, with an acoustic song.

23 April

Spring Tour ends at the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival.

28 April

Recording of "The Big Six-0", the Willie Nelson Birthday Celebration in the Austin City Limits Studios. Dylan performs Pancho And Lefty with Willie Nelson and later Hard Times with his touring band. There is also an interview, parts of which are broadcasted in the TV-program 22May. The whole thing is released on video in early June.

30 April

Dylan attends Daniel Lanois' "launch party" in New Orleans, for For The Beauty Of Wynona. Dylan watches Lanois and his band perform but does not join them. Lanois dedicates one of the songs to Dylan.

May

World Gone Wrong studio sessions.

8 May

BBC 2 broadcasts a program called Highway 61 Revisited, which is the final part of a serie called TALES OF ROCK 'N' ROLL. The program is (partly) about Dylan growing up in Hibbing listening to and dreaming about rock 'n' roll and featured childhood friend John Bucklen driving around Hibbing reminiscing. John Bucklen also provided the (so far) earliest tape we have of Dylan, where he and Bucklen sings and talks. Four fragments and some chats were broadcast.

6 June

Rehearsals start at Studio Instrumental Rentals in New York City, but Dylan is in Ireland on holiday joining the band on

12 June

in London for the Fleadh Festival where Van Morrison precedes him and later joins Dylan on One Irish Rover.

1 July

After the show in Barcelona a new song with someone who sounded very much like Dylan was played over the PA system.

16 July

For the first time ever Dylan has to cancel a show due to medical problems. His ailing back, which first started giving him problems in 1986, forces him to cancel the show in Lyon at a very short notice, the rest of the band is already in Lyon when the decision made.

17 July

The last show in Bern can be held as planned. Dylan shows no sign of illness, nor does he play a shorter set than usual.

18 July

Dylan attends a Neil Young show in Bad Mergentheim, Germany and spends some time backstage. Booker T. Jones, who heads Neil's backing band on this tour, tries to get Bob on-stage. Neil introduces All Along The Watchtower, which is the regular last encore with "a song for my friend Bob Dylan, who is near here somewhere, ... maybe just around the corner". Unfortunately Bob decides to stay backstage.

21 July

The recording of the promotional video for Blood In My Eyes takes place on Camden High Street in North London. Various other pictures in the English newspapers sees Dylan drinking tea in different tea shops and restaurants in the area. The video is directed by David Stewart.

22 July

Dylan is checking out houses on sale in North London.

31 July

Dylan is scheduled to appear at a benefit concert for the victims of the Mississippi floods in St Louis. The event, named CONCERT FOR THE HEARTLANDS, has to be cancelled due to the never-ending rain.

August

Mixing/mastering of World Gone Wrong in New York City.

20 August

The long fall tour opens with a show in Portland, Oregon. This is a joint tour with Santana, with Dylan opening for Santana every other show or so. Dylan's set is now shorter, typically 13 songs in 90 minutes. Unlike 1984, when they toured Europe together, they never appear during each other sets.

21 August

Dylan and Carlos Santana are interviewed twice in Seattle before the show at the Waterfront. One interview is done by Dennis Michael from CNN and a part is broadcast August 30. The other is done by MTV and snippets are broadcast by MTV in early September.

23 August

Release of 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration on CD/cassette/video/laser disc. The video formats contain snippets from rehearsals including My Back Pages and It Takes A Lot To Laugh with Eric Clapton, a song planned to appear before My Back Pages but eventually dropped due to time shortage. Song To Woody is omitted from all releases officially due to technical problems with the miking of Dylan's guitar. Most surprising of all Dylan's vocal on My Back Pages is overdubbed! This apparently took place shortly after the event in New York.

29 August

Dylan is interviewed by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune and says that his new album is due soon and that it is similar to the last one "but more structured".

31 August

Release of Joan Baez: Rare, Live & Classic, a three CD retrospective containing three unreleased duets with Dylan:

Troubled And I Don't Know Why from Forest Hills, 17 August 1963,

Mama, You Been On My Mind from the Halloween Concert at the Philharmonic Hall in New York City, 1964 and

Blowin' In The Wind from Fort Worth, 16 May 1976.

Early September

Dylan is again interviewed, this time by Jennifer Bowles from New York Post.

5 September

The soundcheck at the Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton includes Series Of Dreams. It has been heard before during soundchecks in Europe, but then always instrumental or with John Jackson doing the vocals. This time Dylan is present.

8 September

The first of the shows at the Filene Center in Vienna sees the live debut of Series Of Dreams. This version is still a little unfinished and sadly it is to be the only rendition in 1993.

After Series Of Dreams Dylan starts Boots Of Spanish Leather for the second time this night. He discovers the mistake after one line and then starts It Ain't Me, Babe

9 September

The second of the shows in Vienna is professionally filmed

7 October

The Swedish Academy announces that Toni Morrison wins the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature, stating that Morrison “delves into the language itself, a language she wants to liberate from the fetters of race. And she addresses us with the luster of poetry.” She is the first American to win the prize since Joseph Brodsky in 1987. The next American to win the prize will be Bob Dylan in 2016.

9 October

The fall tour ends in Mountain View, California after no less than 31 shows. Neil Young joins the band and plays guitar on the last encore, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat.

24 October

Release of World Gone Wrong.

16-17 November

Four acoustic shows are played at The Supper Club on West 47th Street in New York City. 150 tickets to each show are given away at Tower Records in Greenwich on Monday 15.

All four shows are filmed and the rights kept by Dylan for a possible future "Unplugged" TV-film.

19 November

Dylan with band appear at Late Night With David Letterman and perform Forever Young.

 

 

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4       RECORDINGS

Here’s a list of recordings from 1993 other than concerts. For details please refer to the corresponding session pages in Still On The Road.

 

13 January

Recording of Heartland with Willie Nelson.

17 January

Surprise appearance at the Bill Clinton inauguration concert.

17 January

The Absolutely Unofficial Blue Jeans Bash (For Arkansas).

January

Recording of Trust Yourself with Carlene Carter.

27-28 April

Filming of Willie Nelson 60th  birthday party.

19 May

Mike Seeger Session

May

World Gone Wrong Sessions

18 November

Guest appearance at Late Night With David Letterman.

December-January

Stevie Nicks recording session.

 

5       NEW TAPES 1958-1987

Two new PA-tapes started circulating:

In addition to all audience tapes from the 1993 shows, the following new tapes became available in 1993:

5.1      1958 John Bucklen tape

The Home of Bob Dylan, Hibbing, Minnesota

 

          1.  Hey Little Richard

          2.  Buzz, Buzz, Buzz (Gray/Byrd)

          3.  Jenny, Jenny (Johnson/Penniman/Crewe)

          4.  Blue Moon (Lorenz Hart/Richard Rogers)

                    

         1, 3  Bob Dylan (vocal & piano), John Bucklen (vocal).

         2  Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar), John Bucklen (vocal).

         4  Bob Dylan and John Bucklen (vocals).

         All songs are fragments.

         The tape also contains discussions between Dylan and Buckley.

         Broadcast in the BBC 2 ARENA TV show HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, 8 May 1993.

         Mono TV recording, 5 minutes

 

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5.2      George Harrison session tape

Columbia Studio B, New York City, New York, 1 May 1970. Produced by Bob Johnston.

 

            1.  Song To Woody

            2.  Mama, You Been On My Mind

            3.  Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

            4.  Yesterday (John Lennon-Paul McCartney)

            5.  Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

            6.  Da Doo Ron Ron (Jeff Barry-Ellie Greenwich-Phil Spector)

            7.  One Too Many Mornings

            8.  One Too Many Mornings

            9.  Working On A Guru

           10.  If Not For You

           11.  Ghost Riders In The Sky

           12.  Cupid

           13.  All You Have To Do Is Dream

           14.  Gates Of Eden

           15.  I Threw It All Away

           16.  I Don't Believe You

           17.  Matchbox (Carl Perkins)

           18.  True Love

           19.  Telephone Wire

           20.  Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance

           21.  Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35

 

         Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal), George Harrison (guitar), Charlie Daniels (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums).

 

         1, 10  Bob Dylan harmonica.

         2, 4-8, 11  Charlie Daniels backup vocal.

         2-9 Bob Johnston (piano).

         3  instrumental.

 

         1-8 available from COLUMBIA RECORDING STUDIO'S REFERENCE RECORDINGS.

         10 released on THE BOOTLEG SERIES (RARE & UNRELEASED) 1961-1991, Volume 2,
                                                                                                 Columbia 468 086 2, 26 March 1991.

         11-21  started circulating in 1993.

         Stereo studio recordings, 50 minutes.

 

5.3      Eric Clapton session tape

Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, California, 30 March 1976

 

           1.  Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (Charles Badger Clark)

           2.  Unknown Spanish Song

           3.  The Water Is Wide (trad.)

           4.  When I Paint My Masterpiece

           5.  Idiot Wind

           6.  Idiot Wind

           7.  Idiot Wind

           8.  Big River (Johnny Cash)

           9.  Steppin' Out (James Bracken)

          10.  Steppin' Out (James Bracken)

 

         1-8  Bob Dylan (piano & vocal), Eric Clapton (guitar), unidentified guitarist and drummer.

 

         4  fragment only.

         8  Eric Clapton shared vocal.

         9-10  Eric Clapton (guitar & vocal), Bob Dylan (guitar),

               unidentified guitarist and drummer.

 

         Notes.

         The second song is actually the same as the second song performed with "Chopped Liver"
         on Chabad TV 24 September 1989!

         Bob Dylan may not be present on track 9 and 10.

         Stereo studio recording, 25 minutes.

 

5.4      Down In The Groove Outtakes

Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, April 1987

 

          1.  Just When I Needed You Most (Randy Vanwarmer)

          2.  Important Words (Gene Vincent)

          3.  When Did You Leave Heaven? (W. Bullock/R. Whiting)

          4.  Willie And The Hand Jive (Johnny Otis)

          5.  Twist And Shout (Phil Medley/Bert Russel)

 

         Backed by two guitars, bass & drums.

 

         Stereo studio recording, 15 minutes

 

 

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6       WORLD GONE WRONG

This second album was recorded in May at Bob Dylan’s Garage Studio in Malibu, California. It is the second of two solo albums with only covers. This one is more polished compared to Good As I’ve Been To You and contains more blues material.

The songs on the album are:

track

song

Live debut

1.

World Gone Wrong

2.

Love Henry

3.

Ragged & Dirty

New York City 16 November 1993 - late show

4.

Blood In My Eyes

New York City 16 November 1993 - early show

5.

Broke Down Engine

6.

Delia

St. Paul May 1960, Sydney 15 April 1992

7.

Stack A Lee

8.

Two Soldiers

Sacramento 9 June 1988

9.

Jack-A-Roe

New York City 16 November 1993 - late show

10.

Lone Pilgrim

For more info on the songs on this album, please refer to the articles mentioned in Articles.