Maggie's Farm

1997. Lyrics here, if you need them. One verse:

Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
I'll close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains don't pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers, like they did before
I been to Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down
Now I'm trying to get to heaven before they close the door

Live, Atlantic City, 2000

For Thursday Free Ad for Bob, his 1988 folk-rock recording of Shenandoah. To my mind, the best version of that tune I've ever heard. Give it a listen:

Here's Spirit on the Water (from Modern Times). Lyrics here.

Here's a partial clip of the song live in 2007. More interesting than the above, I think. Listen to the crowd when he sings the final verse:

You think I'm over the hill,
Think I'm past my prime,
Let me see what you got
We can have a whoppin good time.

The Dylanologist rolled into town on a ferris wheel yesterday, and managed to find some black market tix for Dylan's last performance of his touring season this year. The Dyl threw me in the horseless carriage and we drove down, through mid-town Manhattan,

and past the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (covered with scaffolding for the lighting), and down to Times Square to get the tickets from the scalper ticket agent,

then down to 34th street,

only to find that the ticket guy had already sent their left-over tickets way the heck uptown to the theater in now (largely-Hispanic) Washington Heights (where the Brits defeated Washington's army), so we had to turn around back north to do a cell-phone rendezvous in front of a restaurant across the street from the place (after finally finding a place to stow the car). The United Palace Theater on Broadway and 175th st:

Here's our photo of the lobby of the 77 year-old Loew's movie and vaudeville palace as people were leaving, (recently restored by the current owners, Christ United Church):

And here's the theater's (church's) photo of their splendid interior, minus people:

And here's Bob last night on the piano (we smuggled a camera in, but it seems impossible to get good rock concert photos):

Standouts were Thunder on the Mountain, Highway 61, Spirit on the Water, Ain't Talkin', and an acoustic Tomorrow is a Long time. They did a cheerful two-hour performance, and ended with Blowin' in the Wind with Bob on acoustic.

Dylan with Clapton. I don't know the date of this one:

Here's a 2005 performance. The camera shakiness stops quickly.

An old Stanley Brothers song. Lyrics here.  This sweet and soulful performance was at Irving Plaza, NYC, in 1997:

From 1989's Oh Mercy album (lyrics here):

A low-down blues from Love and Theft (2001). Was it really that long ago? Audio:

This is the last day of Dylan Week at Maggie's, but we will, of course, continue with our weekly Thurday Free Ad for Bob when we can. Our advice: Catch Bob when he's in your neighborhood - he will be there sooner or later. 

One verse from this song (which is reminiscent of The Bells of Rhymney, which The Byrds rocked in 1965):

Ring them bells St. Peter where the four winds blow,
Ring them bells with an iron hand so the people will know
that it's rush hour now, for the wheel and the plow,
and the sun is going down upon the sacred cow.

Full lyrics here.

From Dylan's 1989 record "Oh, Mercy" (audio only, with Dylan on piano):

This performance of the song is from Dublin, Sept. 2000:

Ed Bradley's 2004 interview. Dylan, as usual, shy, laconic and elusive, and seemingly more inward than the average bear. Part 1:

Part 2:

Dylan and The Band at the Isle of Wight Festival, Aug. 31, 1969:

This is Dylan's rousing version of Ledbelly's Duncan and Brady, in Dublin, 2000. I think Jerry Garcia brought the song to Dylan's attention. Some of the lyrics here. "Been on the job too long..."

The guy gets the job done. Listen to how you can rock a folk song, and make it new:

The song came out on Dylan's 5th album, Bringing it all Back Home, in 1965. Wiki says that Dylan said that the title is meant to be a fraction: Love Minus Zero divided by No Limit. Simple math.

Here's Dylan in Newport, 1965:

From his 2006 Grammy-winning album Modern Times. I like this smooth rocking song more each time I listen to it. "I got the pork chop, she got the pie, she ain't no angel and neither am I..."

Only Bob could write this song. Audio only, from the album, with distracting images:

Live in NYC's City Center, Nov, 2006:

The only Dylan song that ever made it to #1 in the charts was the Byrds' 1965 cover of Mr. Tambourine Man. Here's some background on that. 

Here are the Byrds playing the song at a 1990 Roy Orbison memorial, with Bob helping out, tentatively. If this won't improve your day, nothing will:

The lyrics are here.

Dylan's Visions of Johanna is one of his many masterpieces, in my opinion. You cannot really absorb the flavor of the song unless you have lived in NYC, used the subways, and lived in non-comfortable quarters and old lofts where the heat pipes cough. 

The version on Blonde on Blonde is excellent. This is an acoustic live performance from 1966, just audio.

The remarkable late-night lyrics are here.

That's from 2002. A good verse from this tune:

Politician's got on his joggin' shoes
He must be runnin' for office, got no time to lose
Suckin' the blood out of the genius of generosity
You been rollin' your eyes, you been teasin' me

The lyrics begin like this: