Comrades From The North

Comrades From The North

A very warm welcome to the final issue of the year. After a lengthy exile from European shores due the long shadow of Covid-19, it was wonderful to welcome Dylan back for this leg of his World Tour. Anticipation was high, regardless of fact that everyone knew what was going to be played. The shows were very professionally played, the band obviously well-honed and certain of the material they were playing. As ever the feel of the shows varied depending on Dylan’s mood, the sound, the audience reactions and the room. As an example, consider the final two concerts we witnessed at the London Palladium The Sunday show, viewed from the third row, felt competent without being spectacular. The sound was variable with Dylan’s vocals being drowned out occasionally by noisy guitars and, when Dylan sat down at the piano, he disappeared from our view!! Switch to the Monday show, this time viewed from the Royal Circle, and the sound was perfect, the view excellent and Dylan was seemingly in a good mood. And he never disappeared! The audience reaction was very positive with Dylan feeding from it. So much so that he took two extra curtain calls at show’s end. The only surprise of the tour came at the Nottingham show when Dylan spoke of the recent demise of Jerry Lee Lewis: "I don't know if many of you know but Jerry Lee is gone, and we're gonna play this song, one of his. Jerry Lee will live forever” and proceeded to perform a heartfelt version of I Just Can’t Seem To Say Goodbye as an encore. Hope that you managed to catch a show and that your experience was a good one.

Dylan's latest literary work The Philosophy of Modern Song is now on the bookstands and has received much attention in the press, not all of it positive. It is not always easy to spot the philosophy contained therein but there is plenty of song! At turns humorous, incisive, satirical and occasionally vulgar it has the very definite Dylan literary DNA running through it. It reads like Theme Time Radio Hour sounded and then, when you listen to the Audiobook version, that is precisely how it does sound. You will find extended reviews in this issue with which you may, or may not, agree. Tell us what you think.

Details of Fragments - Bootleg Series Vol 17 have now emerged. The 5-CD set could, realistically, be regarded as a 3-CD set given that one of the discs is a new mix of Time Out Of Mind and another is a disc of outtakes that have already been released. Worse still, like the recent box set of The Beatles’ Revolver, the price is unapologetically exploitative. At Ł110 or so it is beyond reasonable even for 5 CDs but certainly for 3 CDs of new material. What is the rationale for including a set of outtakes that collectors have already shelled out a lot of cash for on an earlier Bootleg Series?

We end this issue’s editorial with the very sad news that our long-term friend Brian Wells passed away at the end of October. Brian was an old-school Dylan collector. He gathered material assiduously and was an inveterate letter writer to TV companies, radio stations, record companies and individuals in search of Dylan information. He tracked people down and held interviews with those in the Dylan story. He was one of a small coterie of collectors who helped to keep Dylan’s name and work in the public eye at a time when very few people wanted to know. At the time of Dylan’s lowest profile in the media, Brian was there talking him up. He also collected cover versions of Dylan songs and had a huge collection of them - the most extensive we have seen. He shared with others - his time, his findings, his material. But, most of all, Brian was a great fella who would never let you down. RIP Brian.

On that sombre note we still wish you a Happy Christmas and hope that the New Year fulfills your hopes.

May you climb on every rung ..........

Mike & John

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